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name
RIDDEL, Jacques Eugene - Date of
birth
7 March 1918 -
Age
25 - Place of
birth
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois -
Hometown
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-735454 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
Co-Pilot -
Unit
546th Bombardment Squadron,
384th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
28 July 1943 - Place of
death
Kortwoude, the Netherlands
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| M | 22 | 7 |
Immediate family
-
Members
William A. Riddel (father)
Irene (Beck) Riddel (mother)
William C. Riddel (brother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-30032 -
Data
Type:B-17F
Nickname: Sky Queen
Destination: Kassel, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the aircraft industry
MACR: 15165
More information
Jacques Riddel attended college and was a clerk before he volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States in Los Angeles, California on 7 January 1942.The airplane was attacked by enemy fighters, causing the #3 engine to start burning. The pilot made a dive, probably to extinguish the fire, but after leveling off, it blew up in midair.
This B-17 had a crew of eleven men because there was an observer on board. Nine crew members were killed, and two men were taken prisoner.
The crew was on its seventh mission.
One was taken at Casper Airfield, Wyoming, one month before his death.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / Family Tree, www.fold3.com - MACR
Photo source: FOHF, Association des Sauveteurs d'Aviateurs Alliés