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name
SOMMERS, Paul Adams - Date of
birth
21 February 1916 -
Age
27 - Place of
birth
Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio -
Hometown
Maplewood, Essex County, New Jersey
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-793450 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
Pilot -
Unit
548th Bombardment Squadron,
385th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
17 August 1943 - Place of
death
Nieuwen Hinkeloord-polder, Woensdrecht, the Netherlands
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| B | 20 | 16 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Paul B. Sommers (father)
Florence H. (Adams) Sommers (mother)
Suzanne Sommers (sister)
Margaret Sommers (sister)
Otho L. Sommers (brother)
Cynthia Sommers (sister)
Barbara Sommers (sister)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-5886 -
Data
Type: B-17F
Nickname: The Jolly Roger
Destination: Regensburg, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the Messerschmitt aircraft factory
MACR: 387
More information
Paul A. Sommers graduated from Columbia High School and from Duke University and worked as an insurance salesman.He volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States in Newark, New Jersey.
At about 10 o'clock, when the formation passed over the woods of Zoersel, Belgium, it came under heavy anti-aircraft fire. One airplane was hit and began to lurch from side to side, completely out of control.
Three crew members survived and were taken prisoner, one evaded capture and, with the aid of the Belgian resistance, returned to England, and six men were killed.
The airplane crashed in Nieuwe Hinkelenpolder, 2 km southwest of Woensdrecht, the Netherlands. The remains of Lt Sommers were found in the wreckage. He was initially buried at the cemetery of Bergen-op-Zoom, the Netherlands.
Lt Sommers is remembered at Saint Stephens Episcopal Cemetery in Millburn, Essex County, New Jersey.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans Terry Hirsch, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / Jewish Serviceman Card, Duke Alumni Register - November 1943, WWII Draft Card
Photo source: FOHF, Bill Zipse, Duke Alumni Register, http://library.digitalnc.org - Duke University Chanticleer - 1937, www.findagrave.com - NotYourTime