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Submit- Full
name
LAJKOWICZ, Joseph F - Date of
birth
18 January 1920 -
Age
24 - Place of
birth
New York -
Hometown
Brooklyn, Kings County, New York
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
32323643 -
Rank
Staff Sergeant -
Function
Nose Gunner -
Unit
828th Bombardment Squadron,
485th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
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
Adam Lajkowicz (father)
Mary (Miksza) Lajkowicz (mother)
Anna T. (Panek ) Lajkowicz (sister)
Anthony Lajkowicz (brother)
Benjamin A. Lajkowicz (brother)
John A. Lajkowicz (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
S/Sgt Joseph F. Lajkowicz was a construction worker before he enlisted at Fort Jay, New York, on 24 April 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, Terry Hirsch, Peter Schouteten, www.485thbg.org, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com Lajkowicz Family Tree , Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Photo source: Peter Schouteten (Walls of the Missing), Anthony A. Kujawa (personal photo)