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name
DE BARDELEBEN, William A - Date of
birth
25 January 1920 -
Age
23 -
Place of birth
Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana -
Hometown
Alabama
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
T-190832 -
Rank
Flight Officer -
Function
Navigator -
Unit
207 RAF Squadron,
12th Replacement Depot
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
2 January 1944 - Place of
death
Genshagen, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| A | 44 | 30 |
Immediate family
-
Members
William D. De Bardeleben (father)
Marie R. De Bardeleben (mother)
Corinne M. De Bardeleben (sister)
Plane data
- Serial
number
W-4892 -
Data
Type: Lancaster
Destination: Berlin, Germany
Mission: Bombing
More information
Bill De Bardeleben went to Canada and joined the RCAF before the US entered WWII. He later transferred to the USAAC, but continued to fly with British squadrons. Bill´s last posting was with 207th Squadron RAF. 207 Squadrons flew Avro Lancasters (a 4-engine bomber) and Bill served as Navigator. On the night of January 1, 1944 his plane took off as part of a raid of nearly 400 planes for targets around Berlin. The aircraft that night was EM-T (Serialnumber W4892). They took off at 2350 from the RAF field at Spilsby, England. Sometime early on 2 January his plane was brought down (either by flak, night-fighters or unknown causes) and crashed in the vicinity of the Daimler-Benz works at Genshaven, 4 km ENE of Ludwigsfelde, where the crew originally was buried. The entire crew was lost, so no one knows exactly the circumstances. In October 1947, Bill and the Pilot of the crew (also American) were exhumed and their remains were taken to the US Military Cemetery at Neuville-en-Condroz in Belgium.
Source of information: Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.findagrave.com, www.fold3.com
Photo source: The Birmingham News - 24 April 1945