Missing information?

Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?

Submit

Personal info

Full name
BONDY, Edward James
Date of birth
7 March 1923
Age
21
Place of birth
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan
Hometown
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan

Military service

Service number
16176647
Rank
Technical Sergeant
Function
Engineer/Top Turret Gunner
Unit
338th Bombardment Squadron,
96th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Missing in Action
Date of death
8 May 1944
Place of death
In the vicinity of Schwarmstedt, 6 km west of Gut Hustedt, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Ernest J. Bondy Sr. (father)
Edna G. (Kraus) Bondy (mother)
Ernest J. Bondy Jr. (brother)
Mary Elizabeth Bondy (sister)
Elnora Bondy (sister)
Casper Bondy (brother)
Catherine Bondy (sister)

Plane data

Serial number
42-102525
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Berlin, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the city
MACR: 4576

More information

T/Sgt Edward J. Bondy volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States in Detroit, Michigan on 15 December 1942. He attended high school for 4 years and was a toolmaker before he joined the army.

The airplane was attacked by fighters and broke in half prior to the crash. The entire crew of 10 was killed.

Eight of them were recovered and buried at the Jewish cemetery of Hoya on 10 May 1944. Only the remains of James V. Ball, then listed as unknown, was buried at the Russian POW Cemetery of Vechta on 11 May 1944. Eight days after the crash, a Luftwaffe guard detail discovered the totally burned remains of the last two crewmembers in the wrackage (Edward J. Bondy and Charles B. Birdsey). Their are no records what happened with these bodies.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - 1930/1940 Census, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, IDPF

Photo source: FOHF