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Personal info

Full name
CREUTZMANN, Harry Emil
Date of birth
6 June 1923
Age
20
Place of birth
Queens County, New York
Hometown
Queens, Queens County, New York

Military service

Service number
O-681343
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Function
Co-Pilot
Unit
339th Bombardment Squadron,
96th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Missing in Action
Date of death
16 December 1943
Place of death
Waddenzee, approximately 2 miles northwest of Harlingen, The Netherlands

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Frederick E. Creutzmann (father)
Harriet (Dengler) Creutzmann (mother)
Frederick A. Creutzmann (brother)
Muriel H. Creutzmann (wife)

Plane data

Serial number
42-31113
Data
Type: B-17G
Nickname: Zilch
Destination: Bremen, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the port
MACR: 1564

More information

The airplane was attacked by enemy aircraft. One engine was knocked off the airplane, falling on aircraft no # 42-30872. Both airplanes went down. No parachutes were seen.

The entire crew of both airplanes was killed.

Lt Creutzmann's IDPF contains interesting documents about his crash helmet that was discovered on 8 April 1945 in a field in Skåne län, Sweden. A paper strip was found in this helmet with the name and address of one Eric S. Keeley. This discovery was the subject of a major investigation in 1950 which revealed that Lt Creutzmann was friends with Mr. Keeley during his time in England and that he agreed to keep this strip in his helmet during all missions. It is possible that during the mission to Bremen the aircraft followed a route that extended over this part of Sweden. This crash helmet probably fell out of the plane somehow.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Carla Mans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.ancestry.com - 1930 Census, www.8thafhs.com, IDPF

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Laura Phillips via Arie-Jan van Hees, Pilot Class Book 43-E, Lubbock, Texas, www.findagrave.com - Phil