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name
WESTPHAL, William Frederick J - Date of
birth
3 August 1924 -
Age
19 - Place of
birth
Maryland -
Hometown
Baltimore, Maryland
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
13136344 -
Rank
Technical Sergeant -
Function
Radio Operator -
Unit
331st Bombardment Squadron,
94th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
Death
-
Status
Finding of Death - Date of
death
3 March 1944 - Place of
death
Itzehoe, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Walter F. Westphal (father)
Margaret E. (Meagher) Westphal (mother)
Kathleen M. Westphal (sister)
Peggy Westphal (sister)
Walter Westphal (brother)
Frances Westphal (sister)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-38075 -
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Berlin
Mission: Bombing of the industrial areas
MACR: 2794
More information
T/Sgt William F. J. Westphal graduated from Catonsville High School.He volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States in Baltimore, Maryland on 4 November 1942. He was sent overseas nine months later.
His father was an immigrant from Norway and his mother from Northern Ireland.
On their way to the target, the formation crossed another formation that was returning without bombing their target, due to bad weather. The airplane collided head on with plane 42-31112, killing the entire crew of both planes.
There is a contradiction about the exact place where the plane crashed. According to certain documents, it crashed in Itzehoe, but other documents mention that the body of Thomas Robey washed ashore in Busum on 5 May 1944. This can mean that the airplane crashed in the North Sea.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, http://aad.archives.gov, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.ancestry.com - 1940 Census, www.newspapers.com - The Baltimore Sun
Photo source: www.findagrave.com, Greg Lampman