Missing information?
Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?
Submit- Full
name
FISCHER, Alfred Walter - Date of
birth
20 December 1918 -
Age
25 -
Place of birth
Giddings, Lee County, Texas -
Hometown
La Grange, Fayette County, Texas
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-748392 -
Rank
Captain -
Function
Pilot -
Unit
750th Bombardment Squadron,
457th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Distinguished Flying Cross,
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
7 October 1944 - Place of
death
The bay of Szczecin
Szczecin, Poland
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
August Fischer (father)
Annie (Melde) Fischer (mother)
Gertrude Fischer (sister)
Helen R. Fischer (sister)
Plane data
- Serial
number
44-8046 -
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Politz, Poland
Mission: Bombing of the synthetic oil refinery
MACR: 9767
More information
Capt Alfred W. Fischer was a baker.He enlisted in San Antonio, Texas on 1 April 1942.
The group was the subject of intense, accurate flak, both barrage and tracking type. The #2 engine and perhaps #3 caught on fire. The aircraft went down in a steep dive, spiral, of flat spin. The engine and piece of the right wing came off. Then a section of the tail came off. The plane blew up or fell apart. Some pieces were seen to land in Stettiner harbor.
In 2022 a group of researchers of the Polish Arms Museum in KoĊobrzeg discovered remains of the wreckage in the bay of Szczecin. Of three crew members, the remains were never found and they could still be inside the wreckage. It is now investigated if the wreckage can be salvaged. A report on the search can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=856GeNDah5E
Capt Alfred W. Fischer is remembered at the La Grange Cemetery in La Grange, Fayette County, Texas.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.ancestry.com - 1940 census
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Homepage - The 457th Bomb Group (H) Association (457thbombgroupassoc.org), www.findagrave.com