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Personal info

Full name
THOMPSON, Howard B
Date of birth
1919
Age
unknown
Place of birth
Indiana
Hometown
Auburn, King County, Washington

Military service

Service number
6581777
Rank
Technical Sergeant
Function
Photographer
Unit
346th Bombardment Squadron,
99th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
12 April 1944
Place of death
On the way to Bad Sulza, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
Plot Row Grave
K 19 11

Immediate family

Members
Blaine J. Thompson (father)
Hazel Thompson (mother)
Eugene Thompson (brother)
John B. Thompson (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
42-38210
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Fischamend Markt, Austria
Mission: Bombing of the aircraft factory
MACR: 3955

More information

T/Sgt Robert W. Waldrop:
"#42-38210 was flying at our right wing. Flak seemed to strike about #3 main fuel tank. Flames quickly enveloped the plane from the nose to the middle of the plane. He peeled off sharp to the left and exploded at about 12,000 feet. I saw five chutes open up."

The exact circumstances of T/Sgt Thompson's death are not clear. After the war, a surviving crew member, 1st Lt Stanley Perlman, stated that another crew member, Sgt Reynolds, saw T/Sgt Thompson in a prison camp in East Prussia. He believed that T/Sgt Thompson must have died during a forced evacuation of the camp before the Russians reached the area. Taking this statement into account, it is possible that the official date of T/Sgt Thompson is not correct. More information about where the remains of the T/Sgt was found, which could make clear where and when he died, is not available.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1930 Census, www.fold3.com, http://aircrewremembered.com/USAAFCombatOperations/Apr.44.html
Photo source: -