Missing information?

Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?

Submit

Personal info

Full name
COVEL, Orlin Eugene
Date of birth
14 September 1922
Age
21
Place of birth
Slaterville Springs, Tompkins County, New York
Hometown
Canandaigua, Ontario County, New York

Military service

Service number
15118784
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Ball Turret Gunner
Unit
334th Bombardment Squadron,
95th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
25 August 1944
Place of death
Stettin, Poland

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Leo S. Covel (father)
Mildred A. (Warren) Covel (mother)
Jane E. Covel (sister)
Warren L. Covel (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
44-6085
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Politz, Poland
Mission: Bombing of the oil refinery
MACR: 8279

More information

S/Sgt Orlin E. Covel graduated from Canadaigua Academy in 1941 and was a student at Miami University.

He joined the U.S. Army Reserve in Cincinnati, Ohio on 12 October 1942 and was sent overseas on 10 July 1944.

The airplane was hit by flak directly in the n° 3 main fuel tank over the target. The wing came off almost immediately and after dropping several thousand feet, it broke into at least three parts. Crew members of other bombers saw the airplane explode and the pieces fell into Stettin Lake.

Probably not all pieces fell into the lake because German records mention that wreckage was found some 2 km south of Stettin. Also Sgt Covel 's remains were found in the ball turret.

Seven crew members survived and were taken prisoner, three men were killed.

After the war, American investigators found several graves of American airmen at different civilian and military cemeteries in the area, most of them buried as unknown. These remains were evacuated to the identification center at Ardennes Cemetery but not one of them could be identified as being of Sgt Covel.

Sgt Covel is also remembered at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Canandaigua, New York.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.fold3.com, www.ancestry.com, www.newspaperarchive.com - Canandaigua Daily Messenger, IDPF

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Mariusz, 95 BG Memorial Foundation via Arie-Jan van Hees, www.ancestry.com - Canandaigua Academy Yearbook 1941