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Personal info

Full name
LAKE, Allan L
Date of birth
19 October 1923
Age
21
Place of birth
Illlinois
Hometown
Greenville, Bond County, Illinois

Military service

Service number
O2060318
Rank
First Lieutenant
Function
Navigator
Unit
714th Bombardment Squadron,
448th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
4 April 1945
Place of death
Ludwigslust, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
George B. Lake (father)
Wilma A. (Cruthis) Lake (mother)
Doris G. Lake (sister)
J. Lake (wife)

Plane data

Serial number
44-50838
Data
Type: B-24M
Nickname: Red Bow
Destination: Wesendorf, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the airfield
MACR: 13730

More information

1st Lt Allen L. Lake was a clerk before he joined the Air Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve as an aviation cadet in Miami, Florida on 14 December 1942.

The aircraft was attacked by Me 262s and broke in two.

Nine crew members were killed, and their remains were never found, except for 1st Lt Robert L. Mains and Sgt Charles H. Daman, for whom the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced on 12 and 15 September 2017 that their remains were accounted for.

One crew member was taken prisoner.

There is a famous photograph of this plane falling after being hit. It was cut in half by a Me 262. It can be found here: http://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/15076

Lt Lake is remembered at the Sunnyside Cemetery in Sorento, Bond County, Illinois.

Source of information: André Koch, Raf Dyckmans, Astrid van Erp, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.ancestry.com - Family Tree

Photo source: André Koch, www.findagrave.com - Dale Eccles,
http://forum.armyairforces.com/Lt-Robert-L-Mains-shot-down-040445-m164283.aspx, Arie-Jan van Hees.