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Personal info

Full name
HAMMOND, Harold Franklin "Tag"
Date of birth
21 October 1918
Age
24
Place of birth
Sangamon, Piatt County, Illinois
Hometown
Sangamon, Piatt County, Illinois

Military service

Service number
16052869
Rank
Technical Sergeant
Function
Top Turret Gunner
Unit
547th Bombardment Squadron,
384th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
22 June 1943
Place of death
English Channel

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
D 6 37

Immediate family

Members
Herbert G. Hammond (father)
Rhuba C. (Bennett) Hammond (mother)
Anna D. Hammond (sister)
James W Hammond (brother)
Rolland E. Hammond (brother)
Lorean A. (Plummer) Hammond (wife)

Plane data

Serial number
42-5853
Data
Type: B-17F
Nickname: Salvage Queen
Destination: Antwerp, Belgium
Mission: Bombing of the General Motors truck factory
MACR: 14667

More information

Harold Hammond was a maintenance painter before he volunteered for the Air Corps of the United States Army in Peoria, Illinois, on 15 January 1942.

The aircraft was attacked by FW190s of II/JG 26 on the return from the target before leaving the coast. It was observed making a gliding approach to the water halfway across the English Channel.

Three crew members survived and were taken prisoner; seven men were killed.

His body washed ashore on the Belgian coast on 3 July 1943. He was buried at the cemetery of Zeebrugge, Belgium, the same day.

Source of information: Terry Hirsch, Raf Dyckmans, www.ancestry.com - family tree, WWII Draft Card, Missouri Marriage Records

Photo source: Jac Engels, Daily Illinois State Journal - 14 April 1942, Daily Illinois State Journal - 4 July 1943, Daily Illinois State Journal - 8 November 1942