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Personal info

Full name
DEAN, Jim H
Date of birth
25 February 1921
Age
23
Place of birth
McLennan County, Texas
Hometown
Waco, McLennan County, Texas

Military service

Service number
18148539
Rank
Sergeant
Function
Top Turret Gunner
Unit
525th Bombardment Squadron,
379th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Finding of Death
Date of death
24 August 1944
Place of death
Marrum, the Netherlands

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Fortune J. Dean (father)
Viola (Lackwood) Dean (mother)
Mary A. Dean (sister)
Fortune J. Dean (brother)
Sam E. Dean (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
43-37903
Data
Type: B-17G
Nickname: Toodles Boy
Destination: Merseberg, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the Leuna oil refinery
MACR: 8285

More information

Sgt Jim H. Dean graduated from Waco High School.

He joined the Air Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve in Dallas, Texas on 5 February 1943 and was sent overseas in July 1944.

The airplane was hit by flak over the target but continued the return flight with the formation until reaching coordinates 53°20'N-05°50'E at 1336 hours. At this point the plane went down under control and appeared to be leaking gasoline. Dutch civilians saw it crash and no parachutes were observed. They also stated that the plane could not be approached because of intense fire, explosions of ammunition and the presence of Germans.

The entire crew of nine men was killed, from which eight men are remembered at the Walls of the Missing at Margraten. Only the remains of the bombardier, Edward R. Bromage, were recovered after it washed ashore near Eenrum.

The crash occured on very marshy ground off the bank of a canal and due to the speed of the aircraft, it buried itself deeply in the ground. In August 1950, an American Graves Registration search team, although hampered in excavating the location by onrushing water from the canal, dug to a dept of about twenty-two feet without locating any remains.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.fold3.com, www.ancestry.com - 1930 Census / Family Tree, IDPF

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Mrs. Mickey Paulson Aranki, www.e-yearbook.com - Waco High School Yearbook 1938, Men and Women in the Armed Forces from McClellan County, Texas