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Personal info

Full name
POSSINGER, Delmar E
Date of birth
1923
Age
unknown
Place of birth
Pennsylvania
Hometown
Stroudsburg, Monroe County, Pennsylvania

Military service

Service number
12049884
Rank
Sergeant
Function
Engineer/Gunner
Unit
720th Bombardment Squadron,
450th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
19 July 1944
Place of death
Near Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
Plot Row Grave
C 30 65

Immediate family

Members
Delmar H. Possinger (father)
Elizabeth F. Possinger (mother)
Hoyt C. Possinger (brother)
Milton R. Possinger (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
42-78284
Data
Type: B-24G
Destination: Munich, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the aircraft factory
MACR: 7096

More information

Sgt Delmar E. Possinger attended high school for 2 years before he volunteered for the Air Corps of the U.S. Army in Newark, New Jersey on 7 January 1942.

Sgt Walter H. Lucia:

“I was flying as tail turret gunner in ship #519 in the lead position of the first attack unit. Lt Fredd was flying ship #42-78284 in the #6 position in the lead element of the second attack unit. About three minutes before target time, Lt Fredd’s ship was hit by flak in the bomb-bay. Fire broke out and the ship fell out of formation and dived down about five hundred feet. He dropped his bombs and then went into a dive. I saw four parachutes leave the ship. I did not see the ship explode because it passed out of my line of vision. According to my navigator’s report, the coordinates were 4809N 1127E. The time was 1155.”

Sgt Seth P. Staples:

“He was trapped by flames in the flight deck. The ship blew up before he could bail out.”

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov – WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1930 Census, www.fold3.com, www.findagrave.com – Russ Pickett, http://aircrewremembered.com/USAAFCombatOperations/Jul.44.html
Photo source:
450th Bomb Group Memorial Association