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Personal info

Full name
ZAKE, Henry W
Date of birth
July 1916
Age
27
Place of birth
Clear Lake, Sangamon County, Illinois
Hometown
Riverton, Sangamon County, Illinois

Military service

Service number
16052865
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Radio Operator/Gunner
Unit
333rd Bombardment Squadron,
94th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Missing in Action
Date of death
9 April 1944
Place of death
Baltic Sea, 1 km off the beach of Elmenhorst, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Henry M. Zake (father)
Elizabeth M. (Clement) Zake (mother)
Elizabeth Zake (sister)
Minnie Zake (sister)
Martha H. Zake (sister)
Charles O. Zake (brother)
Walter Zake (brother)
Wanda Zake (sister)

Plane data

Serial number
42-97080
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Warnemunde, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the Arado/Heinkel aviation industry
MACR: 3800

More information

S/Sgt Henry W. Zake was a mechanic before he volunteered for the Air Corps in Peoria, Illinois on 15 January 1942.

This aircraft was seen to circle down immediately after bombs away and crashed into the sea near the target and exploded. Time of this observation and happening was at 1225 hours. Various crews reported seeing two, three, six and ten chutes leave the aircraft.

The 10 men of the crew tried to parachute. Seven of them drowned, threemen were brought ashore by a revenue cutter and handed over to the Naval Airbase HQ. of Warnemunde. Further plane crashes and downings were not reported at the county district of Rostock.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.fold3.com, www.ancestry.com - U.S. Census Records 1920-1940, Illinois / U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 / Rodgers Family Tree

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Joshua E. Steinlicht / Sangamon County, Illinois Historical Society