Missing information?

Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?

Submit

Personal info

Full name
WEST, Thorne Grant "Kicka"
Date of birth
19 February 1918
Age
27
Place of birth
Los Angeles County, California
Hometown
Mount Shasta, Siskiyou County, California

Military service

Service number
19070018
Rank
Technical Sergeant
Function
Engineer / Gunner
Unit
352nd Bombardment Squadron,
301st Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
4 March 1945
Place of death
Gratkorn, Austria

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
Plot Row Grave
A 15 22

Immediate family

Members
Thorne D. West (father)
Bernice (McClure) West (mother)
Francis West (brother)
Jean B. West (sister)
Lavora H. West (wife)

Plane data

Serial number
44-6351
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Bruck an der Mur, Austria
Mission: Bombing of the marshalling yard
MACR: 12903

More information

T/Sgt Thorne G. West attended college and was a driver before he joined the Air Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve in Santa Ana, California on 24 March 1943.

The aircraft was hit by flak at the beginning of the bomb run and caught fire in the bomb bay and the radio room. It went out of formation, went into a dive and broke in half.

Five crew members survived and were taken prisoner, five were killed. Their remaines were found in Gratkorn, Austria.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Raf Dyckmans www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / Anderson Tresham Family Tree, www.fold3.com, https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=196896 / https://catalog.archives.gov/id/18238601 - page 278
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - A Osman