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name
PAPADOPULOS, Michael C - Date of
birth
22 November 1925 -
Age
19 - Place of
birth
Middlesex County, Massachusetts -
Hometown
Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
11139313 -
Rank
Sergeant -
Function
Tail 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 Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
George E. Papadopulos (father)
Magdaline H. (Drepanos) Papadopulos (mother)
Nickolas G. Papadopulos (brother)
Demetrius Papadopulos (brother)
Elias G. Papadopulos (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 Michael C. Papadopulos joined the Air Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve at Fort Devens, Massachusetts on 1 February 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 - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - 1930 Census
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, O. A. Schouten, Michel Beckers, Ed Cornelia