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name
SHURTLEFF, Dwight Knowlton - Date of
birth
23 July 1919 -
Age
25 - Place of
birth
Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania -
Hometown
Windham County, Connecticut
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
31141379 -
Rank
Corporal -
Function
Waist Gunner -
Unit
833rd Bombardment Squadron,
486th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
6 December 1944 - Place of
death
About 100 yards off the end of the breakwater
North Sea, off the coast of IJmuiden, The Netherlands
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Dwight K. Shurtleff (father)
Mary S. Shurtleff (mother)
Wilma W. (Iverson) Shurtleff (wife)
Dwight W. Shurtleff (son)
Plane data
- Serial
number
43-37927 -
Data
Type: B-17G
Nickname: The Last Roundup
Destination: Merseberg, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the oil refinery
MACR: 11048
More information
Cp. Dwight K. Shurtleff graduated from Balboa High School in 1936 in the Panama Canal Zone. He attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C.He enlisted in Hartford, Connecticut on 23 June 1942.
According to Capt. Smith of the 78th Fighter Group, one of the escorting fighterpilots, #1 and #2 engines already went out over the target, due to flak hits. The B-17 was escorted back with an escort of six fighters. It headed for a flak area at IJmuiden, the Netherlands. The fighters tried to contact the B-17 on VHF but there was no answer. Then they tried to signal him visually but withour any luck. It went trough the flak area and had #3 and #4 engines shot out and catching fire. The right wing fell off and the plane went down in flames. It was seen to explode as it hit the water at about 100 yards off the end of the breakwater at IJmuiden.
Although three parachutes were seen, nine crew members were killed and only one man survived and was taken prisoner.
Cp. Shurtleff is remembered at Knowlton Cemetery in Ashford, Windham County, Connecticut
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.486th.org, National WWII Memorial, Footnote, www.findagrave.com, www.ancestry.com - Family Tree
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, George Washington University Yearbook 1941