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name
COVINGTON, William Little - Date of
birth
23 January 1922 -
Age
23 - Place of
birth
Richmond, North Carolina -
Hometown
Richmond County, North Carolina
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-816245 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
Co-Pilot -
Unit
858th Bombardment Squadron,
492nd Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Finding of Death - Date of
death
20 May 1945 - Place of
death
1 km south of Erichshagen, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten -
Walls of the Missing
* This soldier has been accounted for. A rosette has been placed next to his name.
Immediate family
-
Members
William L. Covington (father)
Effie (Baldwin) Covington (mother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
44-110153 -
Data
Type: B-24J
Destination: Brunswick, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the MIAG Wilhelmitor Aviation Industry
MACR: 5240
More information
2nd Lt William L. Covington graduated from Rockingham High School in 1940.The aircraft was attacked by approximately 50 enemy aircraft, ME-109's and FW-190's, in the vicinity of Hannover. The plane dropped out of formation and it was seen to go down through the undercast, still under control. In contrast with the testimony that eight parachutes were seen, the entire crew was lost in the crash.
The bodies of George F. Guy, Vincent Kalata, Marshall W. Johnson, Laurence H. Nursall (this is probably wrong, because his body was later recovered at the crash site, it is most likely that this is Louis W. Brooks) and one unidentified body were buried at the Jewish Cemetery of Hoya/Weser on 21 May 1944.
After the war the bodies of Kalata and Joe C. Powell Jr. (probably the unidentified body) were reburied at Ardennes American Military Cemetery.
The bodies of Lloyd H. Herbert, William L. Covington, Harold M. Bachman, Timothy N. Tarpey and Laurence H. Nursall were found 58 years later by the German businessman Enrico Schwartz and his partner Swetlana Reimer of the Missing Allied Air Crew Research Team. The discovered crewmen were returned to the United States and reburied at Arlington National Cemetery on 18 November 2002.
He was officially declared dead one day and one year after he was reported missing in action.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, Peter Schouteten, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - Family Tree
Photo source: www.492ndbombgroup.com, Peter Schouteten, www.ancestry.com - Bostick-Friedlob-Trahan-Choate Family Tree