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Submit- Full
name
MILLER, Athel J - Date of
birth
10 January 1918 -
Age
25 - Place of
birth
California -
Hometown
Colton, San Bernardino County, California
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-734372 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
Bombardier -
Unit
550th Bombardment Squadron,
385th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
28 July 1943 - Place of
death
North Sea, off Heligoland
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Athel A. Miller (father)
Fannie (Nolan) Miller (mother)
Cherrie V. Miller (sister)
Helen J. (Caldwell) Miller (wife)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-3316 -
Data
Type: B-17F
Nickname: Betty Boom
Destination: Oschersleben, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the Focke Wulf aviation industry
MACR: 189-B
More information
Lt Miller attended Colton Union High School and Santa Barbara College.He volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States at March Field, Riverside, California, on 27 March 1942. Commissioned a bombardier at Roswell, New Mexico, in December 1942, Lt Miller was assigned to a bombardment group based at Cut Bank, Montana, and later at Ephrata, Washington, and at a Nebraska field before being ordered to the American Flying Forces attack bases in England. He arrived in England on 26 June 1943.
Airplane 42-30257, 42-3316 and 42-30285 were flying in an echelon on a combat mission. Off Heligoland, at a time when visibility was poor, ship 30257 was struck by flak at a point in the fuselage about where the Navigator sits. Part of the fuselage was blown away, and the plane was thrown up into ship 42-3316. These two planes locked together for probably 30 seconds and fell into ship 42-30285. All went down together and blew up.
The entire crew of 10 was killed.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Astrid van Erp, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.newspapers.com - The San Bernardino County Sun, www.ancestry.com - Birth Index
Photo source: Astrid van Erp, www.newspapers.com - The San Bernardino County Sun