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name
TENAGLIA, Nicholas Albert - Date of
birth
28 August 1922 -
Age
21 - Place of
birth
Camden, Camden County, New Jersey -
Hometown
Camden, Camden County, New Jersey
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
12132226 -
Rank
Technical Sergeant -
Function
Top Turret Gunner/Engineer -
Unit
351st Bombardment Squadron,
100th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Finding of Death - Date of
death
11 December 1943 - Place of
death
The North Sea near Norderney Island, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Dominick Tenaglia (father)
Lucia Tenaglia (mother)
Josephine Tenaglia (sister)
Maria Tenaglia (sister)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-37715 -
Data
Type: B-17G
Nickname: Sugarfoot
Destination: Emden, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the U-boat yards
MACR: 1570
More information
T/Sgt Nicholas Tenaglia was employed at New York Shipbuilding Corporation.He volunteered for the Army of the United States in Camden, New Jersey on 11 September 1942.
As the bombers approached the North Frisian Islands, the German flak batteries began to fire. Within five minutes Sugarfoot took a direct hit between the #3 and #4 engines. High octane aviation fuel poured across the wing toward the radio operators compartment, gravitating along the fuselage into the waist gun opening. Simultaneously, the 390th Bomb Group was attacked by six twin engine ME-110 fighter planes that dived out of the sun firing rockets and cannons. Sugarfoot took a hard hit in the nose that knocked out communications and caused an oxygen fire, impairing the oxygen supply to some of the crew.
Some crew members in the cockpit & nose may have bailed out since a the only surviver, Gorsskopf, saw several parachutes in the air before he jumped but apparently those from the radio room back were unconscious from lack of oxygen.
Nine crew members were killed, one was taken prisoner.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.100thbg.com, National WWII Memorial, Footnote, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.8thafhs.com, WWII Draft Card
Photo source: Michel Beckers, www.100thbg.com, www.abmc.gov