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Personal info

Full name
LAING, Richard Blake
Date of birth
10 November 1923
Age
20
Place of birth
Lomen Linda, San Bernardino County, California
Hometown
San Diego County, California

Military service

Service number
19164878
Rank
Sergeant
Function
Tail Turret Gunner
Unit
714th Bombardment Squadron,
448th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
22 December 1943
Place of death
In the vicinity of the Frisian Islands, North Sea

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
William B. Laing (father)
Elinor N. (Goudey) Laing (mother)
Bruce F. Laing (brother)
Rodger S. Laing (brother)
Esther A. Laing (sister)
Marion D. Laing (sister)
Stanley H. Laing (brother)
Dorothy A. Laing (sister)
William B. Laing, Jr. (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
41-28609
Data
Type: B-24H
Destination: Osnabrück, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the marshalling yards
MACR: 2442

More information

Sgt Richard B. Laing volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States at Fort Rosecrans, California on 24 November 1942.

The airplane was shot down on the return flight at approximately 5:00 PM by Hauptmann Peter Jenne of JG 26/I, and exploded in mid-air.

Two crew members managed to bail out and were taken prisoner; eight were killed. Seven are remembered on the Walls of the Missing at Margraten, Sgt Homer C. Risner is remembered on the Walls of the Missing at the American Military Cemetery and Memorial at Cambridge, England.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.fold3.com - MACR, http://www.8thafhs.com, www.ancestry.com - 1940 Census / Clark Family Tree

Photo source: André Koch, Blake Laing