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name
MORNEAU, Francis J - Date of
birth
22 July 1921 -
Age
22 - Place of
birth
Windham, Rockingham County, New Hampshir -
Hometown
Salem, Rockingham County, New Hampshire
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
31174758 -
Rank
Sergeant -
Function
Right Waist Gunner -
Unit
427th Bombardment Squadron,
303rd Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
11 January 1944 - Place of
death
Klöster Oesede, southeast of Osnabrück, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| N | 22 | 6 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Louis E. Morneau (father)
Florence M. (Greenwood) Morneau (mother)
Ronald E. Morneau (brother)
Gilbert L. Morneau (brother)
Norman M. Morneau (brother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-3131 -
Data
Type: B-17F
Nickname: Flak Wolf
Destination: Oschersleben, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the AGO-Focke-Wulf aviation industry
MACR: 1966
More information
Sgt Francis J. Morneau enlisted in Manchester, New Hampshire on 11 September 1942.The airplane was attacked by enemy fighters.
S/Sgt Harvey E. Scott, Engineer and surviving crew member, stated after the war:
"our plane went down soon after crossing the Dutch/German border on way in. When we left formation, our plane was in a flat spin and not noticeably on fire. Via hectic intercom conversation I learned that both waist gunners and our tail gunner were injured but extend was not known. When I jumped out of the nose escape hatch, our navigator and bombardier also bailed out via the nose hatch, I saw our pilots slumped over the controls. Our plane did not explode until it hit the ground. The explosion was a tremendous one with so much noise that I think that the bombs exploded. I landed very close to the crash site of our plane and saw two bodies in the nearby trees."
Three crew members survived, seven were killed. They were initially buried at the POW cemetery of Achmer air base, Germany.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, Raf Dyckmans, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.ancestry.com - U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil / Family Tree, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, WWII Draft Card
Photo source: Michel Beckers, Peter Clark