Memorial

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2nd Lt Harold E. White graduated from Attleboro High School in 1938.

He joined the Air Corps on 22 June 1943.

That day, 234 B-17s and 138 B-24s were dispatched to hit Brunswick, but no B-24s hit this primary target. 58 hit Meppen, 1 hit Lingen, and 7 hit other targets.

It was just after noon as the rural silence of the village of Dwingeloo was disturbed by roaring engines and volley firing. The community of Dwingeloo is witness to a heavy air battle between a group of heavy bombers and German fighters. Due to partial cloudiness, people on the ground were not able to observe exactly what was happening in the air. It’s clear that it is serious because they hear heavy shooting. Suddenly, a big smoking bomber comes out of the clouds, gliding down and falls with a shaking blow into the marshy grassland of the Lheedermade near Dwingeloo. Immediately, there followed an explosion, which scattered the plane into pieces and set it on fire. Four crewmen were still aboard the plane. The unfortunate plane was the B-24H, serial no.41-28593, "The prodigal son."

It was piloted by the 25-year-old 2nd Lt Donald D.C. Schumann from South Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The crew was flying their second mission over enemy territory.

After one plane was shot out of the air, the remaining seven B-24s were still heading for home on a westerly course and were continuously heavily attacked by the Germans. During these attacks, an engine of The Prodigal Son was hit by German gunfire and wasn’t working well. The crew now had to carry on in a crippled plane and try to keep up with the small formation.

Five crew members survived and were taken prisoner. Five were killed

According to statements of surviving crew members, Lt White landed in the back seat of an automobile. The people pulled in his parachute and drove on. Another statement mentions he was found in the meadow where the plane crashed.

They found his crucifix and gave him a Catholic burial at the cemetery of Dwingeloo on 13 January 1944. The remains of two unknowns were also buried at this cemetery.

On 10 January 1946, these remains were disinterred and removed to Margraten and interred in a temporary grave. His remains were again disinterred on 16 September 1948 and prepared and placed in a casket on 30 September 1948. He was given his final resting place on 9 February 1949.

The remains of the other killed crew members, Jim Biggerstaff, Willard Malwitz, Raymond Thurber, and Harvey Smith, are interred as a group burial in the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.