William T. JACOBS
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Source : Mary Kaye | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
ARMY SERIAL NUMBER | 20302151 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
AGE | 22 yo | |||||||||||||||||||||||
DATE OF BIRTH | 1922 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
STATE | PENNSYLVANIA | |||||||||||||||||||||||
FAMILY | Single | |||||||||||||||||||||||
RANK | Pvt | |||||||||||||||||||||||
FONCTION | paratrooper | |||||||||||||||||||||||
JOB before ENLISTEMENT | Clerks, general office | |||||||||||||||||||||||
DATE of ENLISTEMENT |
14 november 1942 Washington DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA National Guard | |||||||||||||||||||||||
BATTALION | 2nd Battalion | |||||||||||||||||||||||
REGIMENT | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment | |||||||||||||||||||||||
DIVISION | 101st Airborne Division | |||||||||||||||||||||||
DATE OF DEATH | 6 june 1944 |
Source : Dominique Potier | ||||||||||||||||||||||
STATUS | KIA | |||||||||||||||||||||||
PLACE OF DEATH | Wood of Limors - VARENGUEBEC | |||||||||||||||||||||||
DATA PLAN |
Douglas C-47 - type A-75-DL - s/n 42-101025 Z4*? Chalk #54 Macr: 7271 Mission: #15 - Mission Albany Take Off: Station 464 Merryfieldl, SOMERSET Shot by flak 01h42 - Explosion | |||||||||||||||||||||||
CEMETERY TEMPORARY |
CEMETERY TEMPORARY of Blosville N°3508 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
CEMETERY | NORMANDY AMERICAN CEMETERY from Colleville | |||||||||||||||||||||||
GRAVE |
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DECORATION |
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Pvt William T. Jacobs, paratrooper of Company D, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (2nd Battalion), took off from station 464 in Merryfield, United Kingdom in C-47 42-101025 to drop over DZ-D as part of Operation Albany during the Normandy invasion (5 hours before the amphibious landings). DZ-D was north and east of the town of Carentan. The mission was to sieze key canal locks at La Barquette and destroy the bridges over the Douve River. The target time was 0134.
The plane was flow by pilots from the 301st Troop Carrier Squadron, 441st Troop Carrier Group. The plane was the last of five waves to cross the Contentin peninsula (Normandy), over air defenses now on full alert. To complicate matters, there were heavy clouds at 1,500 feet, gone unreported due to the strict radio silence. Some pilots decided to pull up and find their DZs with the Eureka-Rebecca system, others went low to obtain a visual of their DZs, and a rare few stayed the course through the cloud bank. While approaching their drop, the plane came under heavy flak fire. It exploded in mid-air at 0142 and crashed in the Bois de Limors, France. A memorial has been erected on the site, with monument listing the names of those aboard the aircraft and two flags, one U.S. and one France. |
Source : Jaap Vermeer | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Source : Jaap Vermeer |
Abbe Levert was the priest in charge of the parish of Varenguebec in 1944. He wrote this gruesome report about the crash in Limors. It says that: “On June 9, we carried out the burial of the 22 allied paratroops killed in Limors forest during the night of the invasion. They were on board a plane, probably flying low, which hit the top of the trees, capsized and took fire. The passengers were burnt to death and one of them was still hanging from the higher branches of a tree. Several had probably attempted to escape. In any case, six had retained a human shape and were interred in coffins, the others, in an advanced state of decomposition, and for the most part only shapeless forms, were wrapped in parachutes. The identify of every one of them was carefully records and reported to the Mairie [village authorities], together with a detailed plan of all the graves. These 22 victims were buried with the prayers of the church. All the bodies were recovered about 10 days later after the Americans passed through the village and transported to a military cemetery.” | |||||||||||||||||||||||
101st AIRBORNE DIVISION - SCREAMING EAGLES
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Crew of Douglas C-47 - type A-75-DL - s/n 42-101025 Z4*? Chalk #54 |
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2nd Lieutenant | Eugène Frederick "Sack" HENNIG | Pilot | 301st Troop Carrier Squadron | Dead - Mem. Forest Park Cem. Fort Smith, ARKANSAS | |
2nd Lieutenant | Albert Anson Jr DORRANCE | CoPilot | 301st Troop Carrier Squadron | Dead - Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer - Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA | |
T/Sergeant | Dave KRAMER | Ch/Equip | 301st Troop Carrier Squadron | Dead - Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer - Milwaukee, WISCONSIN | |
Cpl | James Erbine DAVISON | Radio | 301st Troop Carrier Squadron | Dead - Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer - Princeton, MISSOURI | |
Passager of 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment |
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1st Lieutenant | Ian D NICOLSON | Paratroopers | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment | Dead - Golden Gate Nat Cem. San Bruno, CALIFORNIA | |
Tech 4 | Joseph Jr LLOREDA | Paratroopers | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment | Dead - Oleander Cem. Galveston, TEXAS | |
Sergeant | Robert A KENNEL | Paratroopers | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment | Dead - Arlington Nat Cem. VIRGINIA | |
Pvt | Clifford K SMITH | Paratroopers | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment | Dead - Mountain View Cem. Rural Retreat, VIRGINIA | |
Pvt | Claude E HOPE | Paratroopers | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment | Dead - Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer - FLORIDA | |
Pvt | Ellsworth H ONGER | Paratroopers | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment | Dead - Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer - MINNESOTA | |
Pvt | Zale WELLS | Paratroopers | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment | Dead - Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer - MONTANA | |
Pfc | James B SHEEN | Paratroopers | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment | Dead - Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer - IDAHO | |
Pfc | Doyce F SPRUELL | Paratroopers | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment | Dead - Salem Baptist Church Cem. Carroll Co, GEORGIA | |
Pvt | Robert W VAIL | Paratroopers | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment | Dead - Wayne Co, MICHIGAN | |
Cpl | Thomas HARRIS | Paratroopers | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment | Dead | |
Tech 5 | Dale C KNIGHT | Paratroopers | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment | Dead - Pleasant View Cem. Burley, IDAHO | |
Pvt | William T JACOBS | Paratroopers | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment | Dead - Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer - PENNSYLVANIA | |
Pfc | San Juan CHAVEZ | Paratroopers | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment | Dead - Santa Fe Nat Cem. NEW MEXICO | |
Pvt | Sterling D HAMMOND | Paratroopers | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment | Dead - New Albany Nat Cem. Floyd Co, INDIANA | |
S/Sergeant | George F HURT | Paratroopers | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment | Dead - Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer - ILLINOIS | |
1Sergeant | Fred MUELLER | Paratroopers | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment | Dead - Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer - IOWA | |
Sergeant | Louis WESTCOAT | Paratroopers | 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment | Dead - Redstone Cem. Brownsville, Fayette Co, PENNSYLVANIA | |
Stéle in memory of the men died during the crasch of the C47 in Varenguébec |
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SOURCE INFORMATION & PICTURE |
Aerosteles.net - Francecrashes39-45.net - Westcoast(Findagrave.com) - Nicholson(FindaGrave.com) - Spruell (FindaGrave.com) - Knight (FindaGrave.com) - |
INFORMATION SOURCES | Francecrashes39-45.net - Aad.archives.gov - Findagrave.com |
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PICTURE SOURCE | Findagrave.com |
PROGRAMMER | Frédéric & Renaud |