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Personal info

Full name
MOTTS, Ross Ebert
Date of birth
30 July 1922
Age
22
Place of birth
Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio
Hometown
Franklin County, Ohio

Military service

Service number
35634126
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Nose Turret Gunner
Unit
701st Bombardment Squadron,
445th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Distinguished Flying Cross,
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
21 November 1944
Place of death
8 miles north of Bremerhaven, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
C 20 30

Immediate family

Members
George I. Motts (father)
Daisy G. (Mason) Motts (mother)
Charles Marcum (adoptive father)
Harold M. Baird (halfbrother)
Rosa B. Marcum (halfsister)
Robert Marcum (halfbrother)
Juanita F. Motts (wife)

Plane data

Serial number
42-100337
Data
Type: B-24J
Destination: Hamburg, Germany
MACR: 10409

More information

Ross E. Motts attended Hamilton High School in Columbus, Ohio.

He enlisted on 24 March 1943 at Fort Thomas Newport in Kentucky.

Ship 337 was hit over Hamburg, and one engine was on fire. The plane was escorted by two P-47's of the 56th Fighter Group. The two fighters reported escorting a ship with our tail marking to a point 8 miles North of Bremershaven where the wings and engine, which were on fire, fell off, and the plane went down. There were no chutes observed and the plane had previously lost use of it's instruments.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, Carla Mans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1930 Census / Family Trees, Casper Star Tribune - 10 April 1944, WWII Draft Cards

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, The Columbus Dispatch 6 August 1944 - Lori Samuelson, NBCT Emeritus & Genealogist