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Personal info

Full name
CASTLE, Mark Willis
Date of birth
9 March 1924
Age
20
Place of birth
Stuart, Adair County, Iowa
Hometown
Cook County, Illinois

Military service

Service number
O-927500
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Function
Co-Pilot
Unit
575th Bombardment Squadron,
391st Bombardment Group, Medium
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
23 December 1944
Place of death
3 miles east of Ahrweiler, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Luxembourg
Plot Row Grave
C 6 6

Immediate family

Members
Lynn E. Castle (father)
Doris A. (Utterback) Castle (mother)
Robert L. Castle (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
42-95932
Data
Type: B-26B
Nickname: Fifinella Dog
Destination: Ahrweiler, Germany
Mission: Bombing of a railroad viaduct
MACR: 11551

More information

2nd Lt Mark W. Castle graduated from Riverside-Brookfield high school in 1942 and attended Iowa State college.

He joined the Army in Des Moines, Iowa on 9 December 1942 and was sent overseas in November 1944.

Upon completion of the second bomb run, the formation was attacked by an estimated fifty to seventy-five FW-19Us and ME-109's. As a result, sixteen aircraft were missing in action, and the returning planes were badly battle-damaged.

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 / Kryger Craswell Family Tree, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.newspapers.com - Chicago Daily Tribune, WWII Draft Card

Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Luxembourg American Cemetery, www.ancestry.com - Riverside-Brookfield High School Yearbook 1939, www.newspapers.com - Chicago Daily Tribune, Riverside-Brookfield High School 1942