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Personal info

Full name
COSTLOW, Joseph Regis
Date of birth
1 September 1917
Age
26
Place of birth
Sidman, Cambria County, Pennsylvania
Hometown
Sidman, Cambria County, Pennsylvania

Military service

Service number
13031785
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Right Waist Gunner
Unit
337th Bombardment Squadron,
96th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
16 December 1943
Place of death
Between Rauwerd and Poppingawier, 9 miles southwest of Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
E 5 26

Immediate family

Members
Charles B. Costlow (father)
Margaret M. (Topper) Costlow (mother)
Cecil Costlow (brother)
Florece E. Costlow (sister)
Elise C. Costlow (sister)
Edith G. Costlow (sister)
Eugene B. Costlow (brother)
Margaret M. Costlow (sister)
Lenora M. Costlow (sister)

Plane data

Serial number
42-37739
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Bremen, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the port
MACR: 1566

More information

S/Sgt Joseph R. Costlow was a chauffeur.

He volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on 27 December 1941.

The airplane was shot down by a FW 190A of JG 1/1 and may have collided with B-17 #42-31086. The entire crew of both planes (20 men in total) were killed and were initially buried at the cemetery of Poppingawier on 21 or 31 December 1943.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.fold3.com, www.ancestry.com - Family Tree / Veteran Compensation Application File

Photo source: Erik Bosma, www.findagrave.com - Ralph Peeters