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name
BROWN, Herbert Winthrop - Date of
birth
20 January 1920 -
Age
23 - Place of
birth
Raymond, Rockingham County, New Hampshire -
Hometown
Raymond, Rockingham County, New Hampshire
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-794624 -
Rank
First Lieutenant -
Function
Co-Pilot -
Unit
548th Bombardment Squadron,
385th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
17 August 1943 - Place of
death
Zoersel, Belgium
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Harry F. Brown (father)
Nellie (Guptill) Brown (mother)
Anna L. (Wall) Brown (wife)
Herbert W. Brown Jr. (son)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-5886 -
Data
Type: B-17F
Nickname: The Jolly Roger
Destination: Regensburg, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the Messerschmitt aircraft factory
MACR: 387
More information
1st Lt Herbert W. Brown graduated from Raymond High School, Class of 1939, where he was prominent in athletics, particularly in cross-country and track. He met his wife Anna Lou Wall while attending flying school in Avon Park, Florida. His son Herbert Winthrop Brown was born nearly five months after his father was declared Missing in Action.At about 10 o'clock, when the formation passed over the woods of Zoersel, Belgium, it came under heavy anti-aircraft fire. One airplane was hit and began to lurch from side to side, completely out of control. Belgian boy scouts saw six parachutes leave the plane.
Three men land on the castle grounds of Baron van de Put. It is not clear what happened to these men, but they probably disappeared without a trace. After all, four crew members are still missing. T/Sgt Schreppel landed not much further and his story is well known. This means Parker Crabtree, Olin Wieneke and Herbert Brown must be these men.
Three crew members survived and were taken prisoner, one evaded capture and with the aid of the Belgian resistance could return to England, and six men were killed.
The airplane crashed in Nieuwe Hinkelenpolder, 2 km southwest of Woensdrecht, The Netherlands.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.fold3.com, www.missinginaction.be, http://thisweekinraymond.com/raymonds-hero-cousins-p1245-118.htm
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, http://thisweekinraymond.com/raymonds-hero-cousins-p1245-118.htm