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Personal info

Full name
FITZSIMMONS, Willis Ray
Date of birth
1921
Age
unknown
Place of birth
Missouri
Hometown
Meta, Osage County, Missouri

Military service

Service number
unknown
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Function
Navigator
Unit
547th Bombardment Squadron,
384th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
13 April 1944
Place of death
Reichenbach-Lautertal, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
Plot Row Grave
G 9 29

Immediate family

Members
Charles H. Fitzsimmons (father)
Bessie B. Fitzsimmons (mother)
Sanford M. Fitzsimmons (brother)
Robert S. Fitzsimmons (brother)
Patrick C. Fitzsimmons (brother

Plane data

Serial number
42-97231
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Schweinfurt, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the ball-bearing factories
MACR: 3872

More information

Willis R. Fitzsimmons attended college and was a clerk.

He volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States in St. Louis, Missouri on 3 November 1942.

At 1320 hours, the formation was attacked by fifteen enemy aircraft (Me 109s) from eleven o'clock high, while the escorting P-47s were attacked by other enemy aircraft. The #4 engine was hit, and the B-17 was seen to go down and explode.

Six crew members were taken prisoner. Four men were killed.

Source of information: André Koch, Raf Dyckmans, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov – WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - 1930/1940 Census / Headstone and Interment Record, www.fold3.com - MACR, http://www.8thafhs.com
Photo source: -