Missing information?

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

Submit

Personal info

Full name
NURSALL, Laurence Harry
Date of birth
1 April 1915
Age
29
Place of birth
Nottingham, Great Britain
Hometown
Los Angeles County, California

Military service

Service number
39549573
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Radio Operator
Unit
858th Bombardment Squadron,
492nd Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
19 May 1944
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
George A. Nursall (father)
Sarah A. (Taylor) Nursall (mother)
George A. Nursall (brother)
John F. Nursall (brother)
Genevieve W. (Murdock) Nursall (wife)
John L. Nursall (son)
Kathryn Nursall (daughter)

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

S/Sgt Laurence H. Nursall graduated from James A Garfield High School. He was employed as a fireman for the Los Angeles County Forestry Department.

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.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - Family Trees / 1950 US Census

Photo source: www.492ndbombgroup.com, Peter Schouteten, www.ancestry.com - OMGSEY, www.findagrave.com