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Submit- Full
name
BURNS, Travis M - Date of
birth
27 April 1923 -
Age
21 - Place of
birth
Winston County, Alabama -
Hometown
Haleyville, Winston County, Alabama
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
34916638 -
Rank
Sergeant -
Function
Upper Gunner -
Unit
828th Bombardment Squadron,
485th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
26 December 1944 - Place of
death
Blechhammer, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle - Tablets of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Charles H. Burns (father)
Lovina C. Burns (mother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-50486 -
Data
Type: B-24J
Nickname: Butch
Destination: Blechhammer, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the Blechhammer South synthetic oil refinery
MACR: 10924
More information
Sgt Travis M. Burns was a mechanic.He joined the U.S. Army Reserve at Fort McPherson, Atlanta, Georgia on 17 January 1944.
Approximately one minute after bombs away, which was at 1230 hours, flak made a direct hit on this airplane just aft of the bomb bay by the ball turret. The aircraft then broke in half and started to spin to earth.
Blechhammer was the name of an area in Upper Silesia, containing chemical plants, prisoner of war camps and a forced labor subcamp of Auschwitz. It is now a city in Poland with the name Kedzierzyn-Kozle.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, www.485thbg.org, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, IDPF
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, 485thgb.org