Missing information?

Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?

Submit

Personal info

Full name
SCHALLEY, Harold Edward
Date of birth
31 August 1917
Age
27
Place of birth
Kansas City, Wyandotte County, Kansas
Hometown
Buchanan County, Missouri

Military service

Service number
37199058
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Ball Turret Gunner
Unit
527th Bombardment Squadron,
379th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Air Medal with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
10 April 1945
Place of death
12 miles north of Berlin, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
B 25 7

Immediate family

Members
Albert A. Schalley (father)
Margaret G. Schalley (mother)
Thomas W. Schalley (brother)
Albert Schalley (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
43-39003
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Oranienburg, Germany
Mission: Bombing of an ordnance depot
MACR: 13879

More information

S/Sgt Harold E. Schalley graduated from Christian Brothers High School.

At approximately four or five minutes after bombs away the group encountered enemy jetfighter opposition. This B-17 immediately burst into flame. The controls were jammed or shot out and it went into a spin. The cockpit was on fire and the auto pilot would not work. Also #3 en #4 engines were on fire and the right stabilizer was shot off. The airplane exploded before it hit the ground.
Five crew members were taken prisoner, three men were killed.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1930 Census, www.fold3.com - MACR

Photo source: Jac Engels, St. Joseph News Press Gazette 9 December 1945