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name
SPARKS, William Coppinger - Date of
birth
28 April 1922 -
Age
21 - Place of
birth
Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee -
Hometown
Alton, Madison County, Illinois
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
16075081 -
Rank
Staff Sergeant -
Function
Tail Gunner -
Unit
427th Bombardment Squadron,
303rd Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
4 January 1944 - Place of
death
Nort Sea, west of Heligoland, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
De Bow H. Sparks (father)
Victoria Sparks (mother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-31526 -
Data
Type: B-17G
Nickname: Sweet Anna
Destination: Kiel, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the port
MACR: 1682
More information
William C. Sparks attended Marquette High School and Notre Dame University.He volunteered for the Army of the United States in Peoria, Illinois on 8 October 1942.
The airplane was heard giving a distress signal after it was hit by enemy fighters and left the formation. The aircraft ditched in the North Sea with the loss of all 10 crew members.
Only the remains of S/Sgt Madak were recovered on Ameland Island, the Netherlands on 4 October 1944.
It was the plane's first combat mission.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.303rdbg.com, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.ancestry.com - 1930 census - 1940 census, St Louis Public Library - St. Louis Post-Dispatch 3 February 1944
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, St Louis Public Library - St. Louis Post-Dispatch 3 February 1944