Missing information?
Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?
Submit- Full
name
PHILLIPS, Murray R - Date of
birth
8 September 1921 -
Age
22 - Place of
birth
Kankakee, Kankakee County, Illinois -
Hometown
Vanderburgh County, Indiana -
Religion
Jewish
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
35490827 -
Rank
Staff Sergeant -
Function
Waist Gunner -
Unit
347th Bombardment Squadron,
99th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
1 October 1943 - Place of
death
Alvaneu, Switzerland
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Epinal
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| B | 36 | 49 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Harry Phillips (father)
Fannie E. (Mahlin) Phillips (mother)
Lucille D. Phillips (sister)
Sidney M. Phillips (brother)
George Phillips (brother)
Josephine J. Phillips (wife)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-5856 -
Data
Type: B-17F
Nickname: Rangy Lil
Destination: Augsburg, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the Messerschmidt aircraft factory
MACR: 795
More information
S/Sgt Murray R. Phillips attended and was a retail manager before he enlisted in Evansville, Indiana, on 24 August 1942.1st Lt William J. Cantwell:
"I landed near Alvaneu, Switzerland on 1 October 1943. Number 1, 2, and 3 engines knocked out and #3 engine was on fire. Fire in left wing between #1 and #2 engines. Communication all shot out. I bailed out at 15,000 feet. The bombardier and Navigator were wounded in right arm. Those who bailed out are Navigator, Bombardier, Co-Pilot, Engineer and myself, the pilot. All the chutes opened safely. The ship came apart in the air and exploded on contact with the ground. I saw bodies of six deceased members of my crew. The plane was completely destroyed. Other members of the crew were either wounded or dead at the time of bail-out.
He was first buried at the Temporary American Military Cemetery in Münsingen, Switzerland.
His brother George was killed in 1942 while training at Fort Sheridan, Illinois.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record, www.fold3.com
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Andy, Jane Phillips Belkin (niece) - courtesy of Kathy McDermott