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name
ETHRIDGE, Henry Shecut - Date of
birth
28 September 1924 -
Age
20 - Place of
birth
Orangeburg, Orangeburg County, South Carolina -
Hometown
Orangeburg, Orangeburg County, South Carolina
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
34652710 -
Rank
Technical Sergeant -
Function
Radio Operator -
Unit
350th Bombardment Squadron,
100th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
31 December 1944 - Place of
death
Horumersiel, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Henry E. Ethridge (father)
Dora L. (Dukes) Ethridge (mother)
Lila R. Ethridge (sister)
Plane data
- Serial
number
43-38457 -
Data
Type: B-17G
Nickname: Nine Lives
Destination: Hamburg Germany
Mission: Bombing of the Rheunania Ossag oil refinery
MACR: 11359
More information
T/Sgt Henry S. Ethridge was a blacksmith before he enlisted at Fort Jackson, Columbia, South Carolina on 1 April 1943.The airplane pancaked together with another B-17 (42-31987). They circled and crash landed still attached to each other. There was no fire from the planes with in the air or on the ground although there was some smoke.
Four crew members were taken prisoner, five were killed. According to statements of surviving crew men after the war, their comrades all bailed out but it is supposed they all landed in the water.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.ancestry.com - Family Tree, www.8thafhs.com
Photo source: Michel Beckers, www.ancestry.com - Joshua Family Tree, www.findagrave.com - Josh