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Personal info

Full name
DAVIDSON, Burton Sanford
Date of birth
7 March 1921
Age
22
Place of birth
New Albany, Bradford, Pennsylvania
Hometown
Athens, Bradford County, Pennsylvania

Military service

Service number
33345105
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Top Turret Gunner
Unit
614th Bombardment Squadron,
401st Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Missing in Action
Date of death
4 February 1944
Place of death
Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Clarence L. Davidson (father)
Alice M. (Chilson) Davidson (mother)
Laurence L. Davidson (brother)
Helen M. Davidson (sister)
Max E. Davidson (brother)
Sarah Davidson (sister)

Plane data

Serial number
42-31036
Data
Type: B-17G
Nickname: Nobody's Baby
Destination: Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the railroad yards
MACR: 2285

Biography

http://www.remember-our-heroes.nl/davidson.htm

More information

S/Sgt Burton S. Davidson worked in a machine shop of the Ingersoll-Rand company in the Athens plant.

He enlisted on 1 June 1942 and was graduated from the Army Air Force training school at Keesler Field, Mississippi as an airplane mechanic. He went to Morrison Field, Florida, and later was transferred to Fort Myers, Florida, where he attended gunnery school. He received further training in other courses before going overseas in October 1943, as an aerial engineer.

The aircraft was apparently hit by flak, was straggling some 4,000 feet lower than the formation (about 18,000 feet). All four engines were turning over and the aircraft seemed to be under control. Flak was bursting around it when it was last seen.

The entire crew of 10 men was killed. Eight of them are remembered at the Walls of the Missing at Margraten; Two, Frank J. Zitkovic and Bascom O. Clifton, are remembered at the Walls of the Missing at Cambridge Cemetery.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.ancestry.com - Davidson Family Tree / Veteran Compensation Application File, www.newspapers.com - The Evening Times (Sayre, Pennsylvania)

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.newspapers.com - The Evening Times (Sayre, Pennsylvania)