Missing information?
Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?
Submit- Full
name
FRENCH, Bernard John - Date of
birth
17 December 1923 -
Age
20 - Place of
birth
Belmont, Middlesex County, Massachusetts -
Hometown
West Chelmsford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-825421 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
Pilot -
Unit
351st Fighter Squadron,
353rd Fighter Group
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
25 October 1944 - Place of
death
North Sea, north of Terschelling, the Netherlands
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Herbert L. French (father)
Lillian B. (Copp) French (mother)
Kendall S. French (brother)
Doris C. French (sister)
Jason H. French (brother)
Shirley D. French (sister)
Plane data
- Serial
number
44-14558 -
Data
Type: P51D
Destination: Hamburg, Germany
Mission: Bomber Escort
MACR: 9638
More information
Bernard French was a clerk.He joined the Air Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve in Boston, Massachusetts, on 14 December 1942.
Statement from 1st Lt Richard F. Vomaske, who participated in the mission: "I was leading Jockey Yellow Flight, withdrawing along the Frisian Islands. At about 23,000 feet, Lt French, who was flying my wing, reported that he was low on oxygen, so we let down to 15,000 feet on a course of 250 degrees. We passed to the right of a box of B-24s, and I noticed one belly turret firing at about a thousand yards distance. I turned away and a few minutes later Lt French said he thought he had been hit. Smoke began coming from his aircraft, and 3 or 4 minutes later he bailed out. I observed him to hit the water and get into his dingy, at a point just north of Terschelling Island."
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.ancestry.com - Family Tree
Photo source: Arie-Jan van Hees