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name
ABBOTT, Wilton L - Date of
birth
22 March 1917 -
Age
27 - Place of
birth
Spartanburg, Greenville County, South Carolina -
Hometown
Simpsonville, Greenville County, South Carolina
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
14062121 -
Rank
Technical Sergeant -
Function
Engineer -
Unit
778th Bombardment Squadron,
464th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
13 October 1944 - Place of
death
On the premises of IG Farben, South of Heydebreck, Germany
Heydebreck, Ehren Forst, Bischofstal, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| B | 31 | 55 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Harmon W. Abbott (father)
Minnie O. (Cox) Abbott (mother)
Haineline A. Abbott (sister)
Sophie M. Abbott (sister)
Virginia Abbott (sister)
Calvin B. Abbott (brother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
44-41043 -
Data
Type: B-24J
Nickname: White Dog
Destination: Blechhammer, Germany
Mission: Bombing of Blechhammer South, synthetic oil refinery
MACR: 9149
More information
T/Sgt Wilton L Abbott attended college and was a stock clerk.He volunteered for the Air Corps of the U.S. Army in Charlotte, North Carolina on 15 January 1942.
Witness statement of 1st Lt Jean Jolin, navigator:
"At approximately 1122 hours, our plane received three direct hits over Blechhammer. The outboard section of the left wing was shot off. The nose section was hit, and left wing was burning. Our electrical system and interphone communication system was out. Our altitude at the time we were hit was approximately 24,000 feet. I bailed out through the nose section."
Blechhammer was the name of an area in Upper Silesia, containing chemical plants, prisoner of war camps, and a forced labor subcamps of Auschwitz. It is now a city in Poland with the name Kedzierzyn-Kozle.
His brother Calvin was taken prisoner of war.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, www.zplace2b.com, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - Family Trees, www.fold3.com - MACR
Photo source: Jac Engels, www.newspapers.com - The Greenville News