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name
BAZIA, Walter F - Date of
birth
1915 -
Age
unknown - Place of
birth
Illinois -
Hometown
Cook County, Illinois
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
36351268 -
Rank
Sergeant -
Function
Left Waist Gunner -
Unit
414th Bombardment Squadron,
97th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
2 June 1944 - Place of
death
Bulgaria
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| B | 29 | 49 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Bruno Bazia (father)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-30319 -
Data
Type: B-17F
Nickname: Shirley our Girlie
Destination: Debrecen, Hungary
Mission: Bombing of the marshalling yards
MACR: 6310
More information
Sgt Walter F. Bazia was a driver before he enlisted in Chicago, Illinois, on 18 June 1942.Sgt Billie Magby:
"I was flying as Ball Turret gunner on aircraft #470, of the 342nd bomb squadron. When aircraft #319, fell out of formation, and came back to level flight, just off our left wing, about 2,000 feet below us. From my ball turret position, it looked as though #2 engine had been feathered. Smoke was coming out of #2 engine. The aircraft then exploded, I saw three parachutes come out and they opened OK. I also saw three burning objects that could have been chutes. That was the last I saw of the aircraft."
S/Sgt Austin J. Cronin:
"I believe that Bazia either bailed out or was carried to the tail portion of the plane and bailed out over Bulgaria. As his death was reported several months before the others, and he was reported to have been killed in Bulgaria, while the others in Hungary."
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, http://aircrewremembered.com/USAAFCombatOperations/Jun.44.html
Photo source: -