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name
WINTER, Raymond Kriel Jr - Date of
birth
4 June 1921 -
Age
21 - Place of
birth
Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky -
Hometown
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
18039537 -
Rank
Technical Sergeant -
Function
Engineer -
Unit
359th Bombardment Squadron,
303rd Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters
Death
-
Status
Finding of Death - Date of
death
14 May 1943 - Place of
death
North Sea, near Heligoland, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Raymond K. Winter (father)
Lucille (Covington) Winter (mother)
Dorothy Winter (stepsister)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-5243 -
Data
Type: B-17F
Nickname: FDR's Formerly Potato Peeler Kids
Destination: Kiel, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the U-boats yards
MACR: 15593
More information
T/Sgt Raymond K. Winter, Jr attended college and was a sales clerk.He volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States in Dallas, Texas on 12 January 1942.
The airplane was shot down by enemy aircraft. Crew members of other B-17's in the group reported seven parachutes leaving the plane. It ditched near the island of Heligoland.
The entire crew of ten men was killed. The remains of nine men were never recovered. Only the body of waist gunner Francis W. O'Reilly washed ashore.
Six crew members are commemorated at the Walls of the Missing at Margraten, three men are commemorated at the Walls of the Missing at Cambridge.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, 303rdBomberGroup.com, www.fold3.com - MACR
Photo source: Michel Beckers, www.memorial.com, Dorothy Winter Kilpatrick, www.fold3.com