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Personal info

Full name
WATERMAN, George W
Date of birth
22 February 1922
Age
21
Place of birth
Passaic, Passaic County, New Jersey
Hometown
Passaic, Passaic County, New Jersey

Military service

Service number
12136487
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Waist Gunner
Unit
545th Bombardment Squadron,
384th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
22 June 1943
Place of death
Wilhelminadorp, the Netherlands

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
C 9 44

Immediate family

Members
Charles E. Waterman (father)
Helen M. (Lotz) Waterman (mother)
Richard C. Waterman (brother)
Robert Waterman (brother)
Doris P. Waterman (sister)
Phillis I. Waterman (sister)

Plane data

Serial number
42-30076
Data
Type: B-17F
Destination: Antwerp, Belgium
Mission: Bombing of the former Ford and General Motors plant
MACR: 2165

More information

S/Sgt George W. Waterman was a chauffeur before he volunteered for the Army of the United States in Newark, New Jersey on 3 September 1943.

This was the first loss for the 384th Bomber Group. The airplane was 9,000 feet below the formation when it was being attacked by at least eight Fw-190 fighters off the coast of Belgium. Three engines seemed to be on fire. The plane seemed to explode in midair.

Four crew members were killed, and six men were taken prisoner.

His parachute did not open.

He was first buried at the Noorder Cemetery in Vlissingen, the Netherlands

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Carla Mans, www.384thbombgroup.com, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1930 Census / Family Trees / U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, www.newspapers.com

Photo source: Guy Maes, Menno Polderman