Missing information?

Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?

Submit

Personal info

Full name
PALMER, Wendell Oliver
Date of birth
30 October 1917
Age
25
Place of birth
Anaconda, Deer Lodge County, Montana
Hometown
Anaconda, Deer Lodge County, Montana

Military service

Service number
O-734732
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Function
Bombardier
Unit
525th Bombardment Squadron,
379th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Finding of Death
Date of death
17 July 1943
Place of death
Off the Dutch Coast, The Netherlands

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Frank B. Palmer (father)
Annie (Perkins) Palmer (mother)
Albert L. Palmer (brother)
Frank B. Palmer (brother)
Susan A. Palmer (sister)
Elbert Douglas (halfbrother)
Merrill Douglas (halfbrother)
Vere A. Douglas (halfbrother)
Ruth A. (Glase) Palmer (wife)

Plane data

Serial number
42-29886
Data
Type: B-17F
Nickname: Scheherazade
Destination: Hanover, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the industrial area

More information

Wendell O. Palmer graduated from Anaconda High School and was employed at the Anaconda Reduction works.

He joined the Air Corps of the Regular Army in Missoula, Montana on 22 August 1941.

On the return flight, the navigator, 2nd Lt George J. Mattan Jr. and the bombardier 2nd Lt Wendell O. Palmer who bailed out at the Dutch coast landing within 100 yards off shore after the missunderstood a stand by order.
Only the remains of Lt Mattan were recovered.

The airplane and the rest of the crew of eight men returned safely to their homebase in England.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.archives.gov - WWII Army Enlistment Records, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com - National Archives / ABMC Tablets of the Missing, www.findagrave.com - CWGC/ABMC, www.ancestry.com - 1920/1940 Census / Murphy Family Tree / Tennant Family Tree / Headstone Applications, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.newspapers.com - The Montana Standard

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.ancestry.com - Tennant Family Tree, www.newspapers.com - The Montana Standard