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Submit- Full
name
COOMBS, Kenneth Melzar - Date of
birth
7 March 1921 -
Age
24 - Place of
birth
Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts -
Hometown
Methuen, Essex County, Massachusetts
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-557614 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
Co-Pilot -
Unit
365th Bombardment Squadron,
305th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Finding of Death - Date of
death
15 October 1945 - Place of
death
Flittard, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Everett C. Coombs (father)
Emma (Bastow) Coombs (mother)
Robert Coombs (brother)
Russell Coombs (brother)
Jim Coombs (brother)
Edith L. (Mitchell) Coombs (wife)
Kenneth R. Coombs (son)
Plane data
- Serial
number
43-38066 -
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Cologne, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the marshalling yard
MACR: 9474
More information
2nd Lt Kenneth M. Coombs graduated from Reading Memorial High School in 1938 and the Massachusetts State College of Agriculture in 1942.The incident took place on 14 October 1944. Lt Coombs was officially declared dead one day and one year after he was reported missing in action.
Aircraft 43-38066 collided in midair with aircraft 43-38108, probably caused by #108 being caught in the propwash. #066 was chewed up completely. The propellers of the other airplane cut through the radio room.
Eight crew members were killed, one survived and was taken prisoner.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.fold3.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - Poland Family Tree / 1940 Census
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.wwiimemorial.com - Jim Coombs, Reading Memorial High School - 1938