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Personal info

Full name
MC AVOY, James P
Date of birth
1917
Age
unknown
Place of birth
New York
Hometown
Queens, Queens County, New York

Military service

Service number
O-797351
Rank
First Lieutenant
Function
Navigator
Unit
401st Bombardment Squadron,
91st Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
3 November 1943
Place of death
West of Wilhelmshaven, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
B 18 21

Immediate family

Members
Mary G. Mc Avoy (wife)

Plane data

Serial number
42-30805
Data
Type: B-17F
Nickname: Bomb Boogies Revenge
Destination: Wilhelmshaven, Germany
Mission: Bombardment Submarine Pens
MACR: 1155

More information

1st Lt James P. Mc Avoy enlisted at Camp Upton, Yaphawk, New York on 4 March 1942.

He was KIA while on a mission to bomb the submarine pens at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. His plane was hit over the target by fighter attacks. One section of the wing was on fire and fell off. The plane went down west of Wilhelmshaven. 7 of the 10 man crew were KIA, 3 survived to became POWs.
Footnote to the photo: This photo is from the scrapbook of M.H. (Bill) Jewett Jr. The photo was taken in front of the Bassingbourn Station rest home. The first man in the photo, Julian M. Hexum was the only one in this photo to survive the War. Kenneth B. Rutledge was KIA on the mission as James P. Mc Avoy but in another plane. Kenneth Rutledge is buried in the Cambridge Cemetery.

Source of information: Jody Kelly, Janet Larocco, Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.fold3.com, www.archives.gov,
www.ancestry.com - Enlistment, www.fold3.com - MACR

Photo source: FOHF, M.H. (Bill) Jewett Jr. Family