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Personal info

Full name
STEVENSON, Louis Charron
Date of birth
27 August 1918
Age
25
Place of birth
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Hometown
Edgewood, New Rochelle County, New York

Military service

Service number
O-742219
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Function
Co-Pilot
Unit
558th Bombardment Squadron,
387th Bombardment Group, Medium
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
31 August 1943
Place of death
Airfield
Lille, France

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
C 10 2

Immediate family

Members
John S. Stevenson (father)
Loretta C. Stevenson (mother)
John Stevenson (brother)
Isabella Stevenson (sister)

Plane data

Serial number
41-31653
Data
Type: B-26B
Nickname: King Bee
Destination: Lille, France
Mission: Bombing of the airport
MACR: 471

More information

John S. Stevenson graduated from A.B. Davis High School and attended Columbia University. He was employed at American Cyanamide and Chemical Corporation.
He joined the National Guard on 3 February 1941 in Eastchester, New York. He served in the Coast Artillery for 14 months. He completed basic flight training in Chico, California.
Statement from T/Sgt Clinton C. Guy, a crew member of another B-26 in the same group:
"We were over target and bomb-bay doors were just opening. I was facing the rear of our ship, and looking through our front bomb-bay. The lost ship was at that time flying to the right of ours, suddenly, I saw it nose over and as it came into full view, I saw that the rear third of the ship was missing. The remaining section went into a tight spin for about 1500 feet. then went into a flat spin. I followed it visually until the ship was almost to the ground, and knowing the crash was inevitable, turned away."

One crew member survived. He was wounded, taken prisoner and evacuated to the Albert Calmette hospital in Lille. The other five crew members were killed and initially buried at the cemetery of the hospital.

Source of information: André Koch, Terry Hirsch, Raf Dyckmans, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.fold3.com - MACR 471, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1940 Census

Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Des Philippet, http://www.b26.com/historian/trevor_allen/king_bee.htm, Mount Vernon Argus - 30 March 1943