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Submit- Full
name
RYAN, Joseph D - Date of
birth
14 August 1924 -
Age
20 - Place of
birth
Providence County, Rhode Island -
Hometown
Providence, Providence County, Rhode Island
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
11116316 -
Rank
Sergeant -
Function
Right Waist 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
Thomas F. Ryan (father)
Mary A. Ryan (mother)
Thomas F. Ryan (brother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-50486 -
Data
Type: B-24J
Nickname: Butch
Destination: Blechhammer, Germany
Mission: Blechhammer South synthetic oil refinery
MACR: 10924
More information
Sgt Joseph D. Ryan worked in transportation.He volunteered for the Army of the United States in Boston, Massachusetts, on 9 November 1942.
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
Photo source: Jac Engels, 485thbg.org