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Submit- Full
name
BRACH, Bernard Conrad - Date of
birth
24 October 1918 -
Age
26 - Place of
birth
St. Louis, Missouri -
Hometown
St. Louis, Missouri
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
37188729 -
Rank
Technical Sergeant -
Function
Radio Operator/Gunner -
Unit
816th Bombardment Squadron,
483rd Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
25 April 1945 - Place of
death
Near Amstetten, Austria
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Epinal - Tablets of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
William O. Brach (father)
Hedwig A. (Juebner) Brach (mother)
Elizabeth Brach (sister)
Ernest J. Brach (brother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
44-6327 -
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Linz, Austria
Mission: Bombing of the marshalling and freight yard
MACR: 14060
More information
T/Sgt Bernard C. Brach was employed at Illinois Terminal Railroad Company.1st Lt Edward J. Beller:
"Ship 44-6327 was flying on our right in the box. I observed him in this position just before bombs away. The next time I saw the ship, it was passing about 3,000 feet below us with its right wing on fire. He passed almost to the target area, and six chutes were seen leaving the plane. After this, the ship appeared under control, although still on fire, and was heading toward the Russian lines. The ship then exploded, and pieces of it spread all over the terrain. No other chutes were observed."
T/Sgt Brach was killed when his parachute failed to open.
He is remembered at the Lakewood Park Cemetery in Affton, St. Louis County, Missouri.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com – Bender Family Tree, www.fold3.com, www.findagrave.com – Sharon Matlock, WWII Draft Card
Photo source: www.findagrave.com – Have Paws will travel / Sharon Matlock, www.ancestry.com – St. Louis Post Dispatch Missouri - 20 July 1945