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Personal info

Full name
PFAHLER, Ervin J
Date of birth
8 June 1919
Age
24
Place of birth
Ohio
Hometown
Cranberry, Crawford County, Ohio

Military service

Service number
O-695081
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Function
Co-Pilot
Unit
358th Bombardment Squadron,
303rd Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
28 May 1944
Place of death
Albrechtshain, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
B 7 20

Immediate family

Members
Charles M. Pfahler (father)
Emma Pfahler (mother)
Dorothy Pfahler (sister)
Marion C. Smalley (half-brother)
Mary E. (Powell) Pfahler (wife)
Ruth Ann Pfahler (daughter)

Plane data

Serial number
42-107028
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Dessau, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the oil refinery
MACR: 5340

More information

The plane received direct flak hit to the no.4 engine at 14:25 in the vicinity of Leipzig, Germany. The right wing immediately caught fire. The B-17 slid under the formation, the right wing came off, it rolled over on its back and the tail came off at the rear entrance door. The plane crashed.

Six crew members were killed and were buried at the cemetery of Beucha on 31 May 1944.

According to witness statements of surviving crew members, 2nd Lt Pfahler was shot by civilians upon landing with his parachute.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans,Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, Carla Mans, www.abmc.gov, www.303rdbg.com, www.findagrave.com - SavingRecordsForOurFuture, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record, www.fold3.com - MACR

Photo source: Michel Beckers, www.303rdbg.com, www.findagrave.com - Loren Bender, Arie-Jan van Hees, Pilot Class Book 43-J Perrin, Texas