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Personal info

Full name
TOOMBS, Jack Patterson Jr
Date of birth
1922
Age
unknown
Place of birth
Michigan
Hometown
Oakland County, Michigan

Military service

Service number
O-677327
Rank
First Lieutenant
Function
Pilot
Unit
423rd Bombardment Squadron,
306th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Distinguished Flying Cross,
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
22 February 1944
Place of death
Near Herfen-Waldbröl, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
D 3 12

Immediate family

Members
Jack P. Toombs (father)
Norma A. (Candler) Toombs (mother)

Plane data

Serial number
42-39945
Data
Type: B-17G
Nickname: Holy Hellcat
Destination: Bernburg, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the Junkers-Zweigwerke aviation industry
MACR: 2649

More information

1st Lt J.P. Toombs Jr. graduated from Cooley High School in 1940 and attended college for one year. He was a salesman.

He volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States in Detroit, Michigan on 13 April 1942.

The airplane was shot down by enemy fighters on the return flight. Seven crew members were killed. They were initially buried at the Evangelical Cemetery of Waldbröl on 25 February 1944.

Three crew members survived and were taken prisoner.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.fold3.com,
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/MACRmonthly/44FebMACR.htm, www.armyairforces.com

Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Michel Beckers, "306th Bomb Group - First Over Germany" via Rik Verhelle, http://www.8thafhsoregon.com/archive/306th/306th-BG-Combat-Crews-14.pdf, Cooley High School 1940