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Personal info

Full name
WILSON, James Eugene
Date of birth
7 April 1921
Age
22
Place of birth
Caddo, Atoka County, Oklahoma
Hometown
Canadian, Hemphill County, Oklahoma

Military service

Service number
38106799
Rank
Sergeant
Function
Radio Operator
Unit
455th Bombardment Squadron,
323rd Bombardment Group, Medium
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Finding of Death
Date of death
13 December 1943
Place of death
North Sea, 20 km southwest of Zandvoort, the Netherlands

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Joseph D. Wilson (father)
Ora J. (Brooks) Wilson (mother)
J.D. Wilson (brother)
Oley M. Wilson (brother)
Ora E. Wilson (sister)
Bonnie L. Wilson (sister)
Arvil L. Wilson (brother)
Nathaniel M. Wilson (brother)
Alton K. Wilson (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
41-34940
Data
Type: B-26C
Destination: Schiphol, the Netherlands
Mission: Bombing of the airfield
MACR: 1497

More information

Sgt James E. Wilson enlisted in Lubbock, Texas on 16 July 1942.

During the bombing run the formation met intense and accurate heavy flak. Immediately after the bomb release, the airplane was damaged. It peeled off to the left and began to go down rapidly, but still under control, towards the coast.

The entire crew of six men was killed. They are commemorated at the Walls of the Missing at Margraten, except S/Sgt Thomas J. Carpenter Jr, who is commemorated at the Tablets of the Missing at Cambridge Cemetery and Memorial.

Sgt Wilson is memorialized at Edith Ford Memorial Cemeteries in Canadian, Hemphill County, Texas.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.fold3.com, www.ancestry.com - Family Trees

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Owen Williamson, www.findagrave.com