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name
DYE, Filbert Frank - Date of
birth
14 April 1923 -
Age
21 - Place of
birth
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan -
Hometown
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-828122 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
Co-Pilot -
Unit
548th Bombardment Squadron,
385th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
6 October 1944 - Place of
death
1.5 km west of Klein Behnitz, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Ersel R. Dye (father)
Bertha M. (Greenside) Dye (mother)
Betty Dye (sister)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-97079 -
Data
Type: B-17G
Nickname: Dozy Doats
Destination: Berlin, Germany
MACR: 9521
More information
2nd Lt Filbert F. Dye attended Kettering University.He joined the U.S. Army Reserve in Chicago, Illinois, on 29 November 1943.
At 1207 hours, at the I.P., enemy fighters attacked in mass formation from the rear and above, coming out of the clouds. The first attack reduced the Group strength to 2 B-17s (which two is undetermined). The fighters then returned and in another mass attack, using the same tactics, shot down the remaining two. Attacks were very aggressive and sudden.
No exact information of the attack is available because no A/C of the Group concerned returned.
According to surviving crew members, the airplane blew up in midair.
Four crew members were taken prisoner, and five men were killed.
It is believed that Lt Dye didn't have the opportunity to bail out before the airplane blew up.
Lt Dye was initially buried at the community cemetery of Buschow on 7 October 1944.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - WWII Enlistment Record, www.archives.gov, www.fold3.com, WWII Draft Cards
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Kettering University