VAN KIRK N C - 839 BS 487 BGH

 

Norman C VAN KIRK

 

vankirk norman c
NUMERO DE SERVICEO-815020 (32660098)
AGE22 ans
DATE DE NAISSANCE1922
ETATGreenwich, Comté de Washington, NEW YORK
FAMILLEParents: Herbert & Margaret R. VAN KIRK
Soeur: Margaret "Peggy"
GRADESecond Lieutenant
FONCTIONCoPilote
PROFESSION AVANT INCORPORATIONChimistes, testeurs et métallurgistesINDIANA
DATE D'INCORPORATION4 novembre 1942 Albany NEW YORK
SQUADRON839th Bomber Squadron
GROUP487th Bomber Group, Heavy
ARMY8th Air Force
DATE DU DECES7 juin 1944 vankirk norman c tombe
STATUTKIA - Gravement brûlé, décédé à l'Hopital de Rennes
LIEU DU DECES

Bruz "La Rabine" , ILLE-ET-VILAINE

10 Km de Rennes

DONNEE DE PLAN

B-24 H-15-FO  # 42-52624  Codé M-5R/  Carré P 

"Box Car"

b24

Macr 5483

Mission : Angers, Maine-et-Loire ( 49 )

Décollage : station 137 LAVENHAM, Suffolk

Circonstance : L' avion a reçu un coup direct de la flak à 19h53 

Avion partiellement évacué en vol avant de s'ecraser, exploser et brûler.

Crash observé par le Lt Robert T HALL, Richard J. L'Ecuyer & Edward J. GIBBENS.

CIMETIEREBRITTANY AMERICAN CEMETERY de St James

Plan du Cimetière Américain de St James

TOMBE
BlocRangTombe
M19
DECORATION
Purple HeartPhoto FDLM
 usaf 8AIRFORCE487bg487bg
HISTOIRE

Ce 7 juin 1944, à 16h précises, 39 avions décollent de la base aérienne de Lavenham, dans le Suffolk.

Leur cible : Angers.

Les deux escadrons de bombardiers doivent pilonner la ville.

Mais la visibilité n’est pas bonne sur les bords de la Maine, la formation se rabat alors sur la gare de triage de Châteaubriant, à 60 km à l’ouest.

Sur le retour, en remontant vers l’Angleterre, une partie de l’escadrille survole Rennes où les Allemands ont installé une batterie anti-aérienne, une “flak”. Le B-24 du lieutenant Floyd Schwab est pris comme cible et reçoit un coup direct.

La forteresse volante s’enflamme et part en piqué.

Trois hommes sautent alors par l’écoutille arrière, deux sont en feu.

Quelques secondes plus tard, le Box Car se désintègre et s’écrase sur Bruz. 

 

Monument en mémoire des membres d'équipage du B24 "Box Car" à Bruz
42 52624 moument 1 42 52624 monument

 

Equipage du B-24 Liberator - type H-15-FO - s/n 42-52624 R5*M Carré-P

"Box Car"
2nd Lieutenant Floyd SCHWAB Pilote Prisonnier- O-750864 - Né en 1918 - Madison, WISCONSIN - Hal Mil Rennes
2nd Lieutenant Norman C VAN KIRK CoPilote Décédé - Cim Brit Am St-James

1922 - Greenwitch, NEW YORK

Gravement brûlé

décédé à l'Hal de Rennes
2nd Lieutenant Louis SWIRIDOW Navigateur Décédé - O-697935 - Né en 1920 - Coraopolis, PENNSYLVANIA
2nd Lieutenant Cecil J SMITH Bombardier Décédé - Cim Brit Am St-James 1919 à Nemaha, IOWA
T/Sergeant August M Jr OLSEN Radio Décédé - Cim Brit Am St-James

1922 - Hammond, INDIANA

Gravement brûlé

décédé à l'Hal de Rennes
T/Sergeant Billy Dean GROSS Mecanicien

Prisonnier -  35598080 - Né en 1924 - Coshocton, OHIO -

Hopital de Rennes : blessures légères
S/Sergeant Robert K MARXMILLER Mitrailleur Décédé - Cim Brit Am St-James 1922 - Santa Barbara, CALIFORNIA
S/Sergeant Melvin SIEGEL Mitrailleur Prisonnier

1923 - Brooklyn, NEW YORK -

Hal Mil de Rennes (35)
Sergeant Seymour Jr COE Mitrailleur

Décédé - Restland Mem Park, East Hanover,

Morris Co, NEW JERSEY

 1922 - New Jersey - 
S/Sergeant Clarence Edward WALKER Mitrailleur Décédé - Cim Brit Am St-James 

1923 à Nartland, MAINE

Gravement brûlé

décédé à l'Hal de Rennes

42 52624 team

Equipage du B24 "Box Car"

Rang 2 de gauche à droite: Cecil J. SMITH (bombardier), Howard F. SEABORN (navigator), Norman C. VAN KIRK (copilot), Floyd SCHWAB (pilot)

Rang 1 de gauche à droite : Billy D. GROSS (flight engineer), Melvin SIEGEL (tail gunner), August M. OLSEN (radio operator), Clarence E. WALKER (waist gunner), Robert K. MARXMILLER (ball turret gunner)

42 52624 b24

Emplacement des membres d'équipage
B 24 Liberator

 

8th AIR FORCE

8AIRFORCE

D-Day - Order of battle

U.S. Strategic Air Force: Lieutenant General Carl SPAATZ

8th Air Force: Lieutenant General James H. Doolittle

1st Bombardment Division: Major General R. B. Williams
1st Bombardment Wing: Brigadier General William M. Gross
91st Bombardment Group (Bassingbourn airfield): Colonel Henry W. Terry
381st Bombardment Group (Ridgewell airfield): Colonel Harry P. Leber, Jr
398th Bombardment Group (Nuthampstead airfield): Colonel Frank P. Hunter, Jr
40th Bombardment Wing: Brigadier General Howard M. Turner
92nd Bombardment Group (Podington airfield): Colonel William M. Reid
305th Bombardment Group (Chelveston airfield): Colonel Ernest H. Lawson
306th Bombardment Group (Thurleigh airfield): Colonel George L. Robinson
41st Bombardment Wing: Brigadier General Robert F. Travis
303rd Bombardment Group (Molesworth airfield): Colonel Kermit D. Stevens
379th Bombardment Group (Kimbolton airfield): Colonel Maurice A. Preston
384th Bombardment Group (Grafton Underwood airfield): Colonel Dale O. Smith
94th Bombardment Wing: Brigadier General Julius K. Lacey
351st Bombardment Group (Polebrook airfield): Colonel Eugene A. Romig
401st Bombardment Group (Deenethorpe airfield): Colonel Harold W. Bowman
457th Bombardment Group (Glatton airfield): Colonel James R. Luper

 

2nd Bombardment Division: Major General J. P. Hodges
2nd Bombardment Wing (Hethel airfield): Brigadier General Edward J. Timberlake
389th Bombardment Group (Hethel airfield): Colonel Robert B. Miller
445th Bombardment Group (Tibenham airfield): Colonel Robert H. Terrill
453rd Bombardment Group (Old Buckenham airfield): Colonel Ramsay D. Potts, Jr
14th Bombardment Wing (Shipdham airfield): Brigadier General Leon W. Johnson
44th Bombardment Group (Shipdham airfield): Colonel John H. Gibson
392nd Bombardment Group (Wendling airfield): Colonel Irvine A. Rendle
492nd Bombardment Group (North Pickenham airfield): Colonel Eugene H. Snavely
20th Bombardment Wing (Hardwick airfield): Colonel Jack W. Wook
93rd Bombardment Group (Hardwick airfield): Colonel Leland G. Fiegel
446th Bombardment Group (Bungay airfield): Colonel Jacob J. Brogger
448th Bombardment Group (Seething airfield): Colonel Gerry L. Mason
95th Bombardment Wing (Halesworth airfield): Colonel Frederick R. Dent, Jr
489th Bombardment Group (Halesworth airfield): Colonel Ezekiel W. Napier
491st Bombardment Group (Metfield airfield): Lt. Colonel Carl T. Goldenburg
96th Bombardment Wing (Horsham St. Faith airfield): Brigadier General Walter R. Peck
458th Bombardment Group (Horsham St. Faith airfield): Colonel James H. Isbell
466th Bombardment Group (Attlebridge airfield): Colonel Arthur Pierce
467th Bombardment Group (Rackhealth airfield): Lt. Colonel Albert H. Shower

 

3rd Bombardment Division: Major General C. E. Le-May
4th Bombardment Wing: Brigadier General Frederick W. Castle
94th Bombardment Group (Bury St. Edmunds airfield): Colonel Charles B. Dougher
385th Bombardment Group (Great Ashfield airfield): Colonel Elliot Vandevanter
447th Bombardment Group (Rattlesden airfield): Colonel Hunter Harris, Jr
13th Bombardment Wing: Brigadier General Colonel Edgar M. Wittan
95th Bombardment Group (Horham airfield): Colonel Karl Truesdell
100th Bombardment Group (Thorpe Abbotts airfield): Colonel thomas S. Jeffrey
390th Bombardment Group (Framlingham airfield): Colonel Frederick W. Ott
45th Bombardment Wing: Brigadier General Archie J. Old Jr
96th Bombardment Group (Snetterton Heath airfield): Colonel James L. Travis
388th Bombardment Group (Knettishall airfield): Colonel William B. David
452nd Bombardment Group (Deopham Green airfield): Colonel Thetus C. Odom
92nd Bombardment Wing: Colonel Harold Q. Huglin
486th Bombardment Group (Sudbury airfield): Colonel Glendon P. Overing
487th Bombardment Group (Lavenham airfield): Colonel Robert Taylor III
93rd Bombardment Wing: Brigadier General John K. Gerhart
34th Bombardment Group (Mendlesham airfield): Lt. Colonel Ernest F. Wackwitz, Jr
490th Bombardment Group (Eye airfield): Colonel Lloyd H. Watnee
493rd Bombardment Group (Debach airfield): Colonel Elbert Helton

 

VIII Fighter Command: Major General W. E. Kepner
65th Fighter Wing (Saffron Walden airfield): Brigadier General Jesse Auton
4th Fighter Group (Debden airfield): Colonel Donald M. Blakeslee
56th Fighter Group (Boxted airfield): Colonel Hubert A. Zemke
355th Fighter Group (Steeple Morden airfield): Colonel William J. Cummings, Jr
356th Fighter Group (Martlesham airfield): Lt. Colonel Philip E. Tukey, Jr
479th Fighter Group (Wattisham airfield): Lt. Colonel Kyle L. Riddle
66th Fighter Wing (Sawston airfield): Brigadier General Murray C. Woodbury
55th Fighter Group (Wormingford airfield): Colonel George T. Crowell
78th Fighter Group (Duxford airfield): Colonel Frederick C. Gray, Jr
339th Fighter Group (Fowlmere airfield): Colonel Hohn B. Henry Jr
353rd Fighter Group (Raydon airfield): Colonel Glenn E. Duncan
357th Fighter Group (Leiston airfield): Colonel Donald W. Graham
67th Fighter Wing (Walcot Hall): Brigadier General Edward W. Anderson
20th Fighter Group (Kings Cliffe airfield): Lt. Colonel Harold Rau
352nd Fighter Group (Bodney airfield): Colonel Joe L. Mason
359th Fighter Group (East Wretham airfield): Colonel Avelin P. Tacon, Jr
361st Fighter Group (Bottisham airfield): Colonel Thomas J. J. Christian, Jr
364th Fighter Group (Honington airfield): Colonel Roy W. Osborn

 

Source Information Americandday.org

SOURCES INFORMATIONSAad.archives.gov - Absa3945.com - American Battle monuments Commission - HonorStates - Find a Grave - Pilots/Soldiers/Monuments (Lacey-Davis) - France-Craches 39-45 - 487thbg.org - FrédéricLAVERNHE 
PROGRAMMEURSFrédéric & Renaud
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