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Personal info

Full name
BUSSARD, Eugene Price
Date of birth
26 May 1921
Age
23
Place of birth
West Virginia
Hometown
Frost, Pocahontas County, West Virginia

Military service

Service number
35268159
Rank
Sergeant
Function
Radio Operator
Unit
751st Bombardment Squadron,
457th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
24 March 1945
Place of death
Rheine-Hopsten Air Base, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
M 13 14

Immediate family

Members
Alfred W. Bussard (father)
Ella I. (Ware) Bussard (mother)
Floyd E. Bussard (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
43-38854
Data
Type: B-17G
Nickname: Tennessee Toddy
Destination: Hopsten, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the airfield
MACR: 13616

More information

The aircraft was apparently hit directly by a shell which did not burst on contact. About 8 or 9 feet of the right wing was cut off. There was a flash where the flak hit but no fire visible thereafter. After being hit, the aircraft peeled to the right, turned over on its back and went down out of control. It was in a sort of spin. It appeared to break apart at the wings, the fuselage separating from the wings. When it was last seen, the wings were still in a sort of spin. The aircraft was not seen to catch on fire.

According to Sgt Klimoski, who was one of the surviving crew members, the radio room was hit.

One parachute was reported coming from the aircraft, but what part of the aircraft it came from was not reported.

Three crew members survived and were taken prisoner, six were killed.

The bodies of the deceased crew members were disinterred from a common grave at or near Ladbergen, Germany. All identification and personal effects were removed by personnel of the German army and sent to Frankfurt-am-Main.

The remains of Sgt Bussard were initially buried at Margraten as Unknown X908 on 2 June 1945. He was later disinterred and identified. He was given his final resting place on 2 May 1949.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, Wilfred Kerckhoffs, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.ancestry.com - David Lee Channell Family Tree / U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, IDPF

Photo source: www.findagrave.com, 457thbombgroupassoc.org