Missing information?
Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?
Submit- Full
name
AIBAVICH, Julius William - Date of
birth
29 June 1917 -
Age
27 - Place of
birth
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois -
Hometown
Hartford County, Connecticut
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
31142104 -
Rank
Sergeant -
Function
Tail Gunner -
Unit
728th Bombardment Squadron,
452nd Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
7 April 1945 - Place of
death
Schwarmstedt, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| H | 13 | 10 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Julius Aibavich (father)
Petronele (Mileikitis) Aibavich (mother)
Eva Aibavich (sister)
Susan W. (Busch) Aibavich (wife)
Plane data
- Serial
number
43-38868 -
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Kaltenkirchen, Germany
Mission: Bombing
MACR: 13888
More information
Sgt Julius W. Aibavich was employed at the Republic Steel Company.He enlisted in Hartford, Connecticut on 27 June 1942. After training in the United States and in the Panama Canal Zone, he was sent overseas in February 1945.
Aircraft 43-38868 was hit by fighters on the first attack. Several minutes afterward this straggling plane was again under attack when another ME-109 crashed into the B-17 between the left waist and tail, splitting the plain in two. The aircraft had already been a flame in the nose. The ME-109 crashed into it at 1321 hours, just after the initial point. The plane dove out of formation for about 3,000 feet and blew up. Only 2 chutes were seen.
Sgt Aibavich is remembered at Northwood Cemetery in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut with a memorial marker.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.emolachance.com, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com, www.newspapers.com - Hartford Courant
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.newspapers.com - Hartford Courant, www.findagrave.com - msimonds