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Personal info

Full name
CANNON, William F Jr
Date of birth
17 November 1921
Age
22
Place of birth
Ozark, Franklin County, Arkansas
Hometown
Boston, Franklin County, Arkansas

Military service

Service number
38236783
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Assistant Radio Operator/Tail Gunner
Unit
413th Bombardment Squadron,
96th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
12 May 1944
Place of death
Near Kamberg, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
P 3 4

Immediate family

Members
William F. Cannon (father)
Ruby (Collins) Cannon (mother)
Mary G. Cannon (sister)

Plane data

Serial number
42-97654
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Brux, Czechoslovakia
Mission: Bombing of Sudetenlandische Treibstoffwerke AG - Hydrogenation Plant
MACR: 4861

More information

S/Sgt William F. Cannon ttended college and was a blacksmith before he enlisted in Little Rock, Arkansas on 9 September 1942.

The plane was the lead pathfinder of this mission and went down in a tight spiral with the right wing cut off at #4 engine and was on fire.

Only two men survived: the pilot Capt Jim Knupp and the radio operator Manuel Reuben. The plane crashed at 1215 hours in an open pasture near Kamberg

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com, www.fold3.com

Photo source: www.ancestry.com, www.findagrave.com, Des Philippet