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Personal info

Full name
TAYLOR, Thomas Joseph
Date of birth
7 February 1922
Age
23
Place of birth
Gilbertville, Worcester County, Massachusetts
Hometown
Gilbertville, Worcester County, Massachusetts

Military service

Service number
O-823174
Rank
First Lieutenant
Function
Pilot
Unit
358th Fighter Squadron,
355th Fighter Group
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with 5 Oak Leaf Clusters

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
9 February 1945
Place of death
Northeast of Giessen, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
D 26 7

Immediate family

Members
Samuel Taylor (father)
Sarah (Weir) Taylor (mother)
John E. Taylor (brother)
Hazel M. Taylor (sister)
Marion D. Taylor (sister)
Margaret R. Taylor (sister)
Milton Taylor (brother)
William G. Taylor (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
44-14428
Data
Type: P-51D
Mission: Bomber escort
MACR: 12335

More information

Thomas J. Taylor worked as a toolmaker apprentice at the General Electric Company.

After escorting bombers and a short strafing run, the fighters set course to base. Lt Taylor flew into a cloud and none of his comrades saw his plane again. Later it was found out that he had crashed. His body was preserved by a German family and returned to the Americans.

Lt Taylor is remembered at Aspen Grove Cemetery in Ware, Hampshire County, Massachusetts with a memorial marker.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil / 1930 Census, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.newspapers.com, WWII Draft Card

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.wwiimemorial.com - Mrs. Hazel Marci (sister), www.littlefriends.co.uk - Bill Marshall, www.findagrave.com