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name
MC CONNAHA, Wendell Keith - Date of
birth
30 May 1915 -
Age
28 - Place of
birth
Bloomfield, Stoddard County, Missouri -
Hometown
Washington County, Nebraska
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-734944 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
Navigator -
Unit
350th Bombardment Squadron,
100th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Died of Wounds - Date of
death
10 December 1943 - Place of
death
Pyrenees on the border of France and Spain
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| C | 1 | 11 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Robert E. Mc Connaha (father)
Nancy E. Mc Connaha (mother)
Mark M. Mc Connaha (brother)
Elizabeth Mc Connaha (sister)
Ray F. Mc Connaha (brother)
Robert E. Mc Connaha (brother)
Richard L. Mc Connaha (brother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-3452 -
Data
Type: B-17F
Destination: Paris, France
Mssion: Bombing of the Renault Motors Works - aviation industry
MACR: 645
More information
2nd Lt Wendell K. Mc Connaha attended college and was a manager before he volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States as an aviation cadet in Omaha, Nebraska on 22 January 1942.The airplane was on a mission on 15 September 1943 and was hit in the #2 engine by flak at 1900 right over Paris. It crashed in Saint-Just-en-Chaussée.
This was the fourth mission for this crew.
Together with 2n Lt Mc Connaha, eight other crew members could escape capture. Only one was taken prisoner.
Lt Mc Connaha died of exposure when he fell from a cliff in the Pyrenees as he was trying to reach Spain.
The third picture was taken in September or the beginning of October 1943 when Lt Mc Connaha was hidden by the Fleury family in Clermont, Oise, France. His stands on the right with the white shirt.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, www.100thbg.com, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / Family Trees
Photo source: Michel Beckers, Dominique Lecomte, Herman Record - 30 September 1943, The Enterprise - 30 September 1943