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Personal info

Full name
HARLAND, Kenneth Watkins Jr
Date of birth
14 March 1920
Age
23
Place of birth
Fluvanna County, Virginia
Hometown
Henrico County, Virginia

Military service

Service number
13033323
Rank
Technical Sergeant
Function
Engineer/Top Turret Gunner
Unit
544th Bombardment Squadron,
384th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Died of Wounds
Date of death
25 July 1943
Place of death
Uetersen, 15 miles northwest of Hamburg, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
A 17 14

Immediate family

Members
Kenneth W. Harland (father)
Susan A. (Shepherd) Harland (mother)
Grace Harland (sister)
Charles Harland (brother)
Lillian Harland (sister)
Leila Harland (sister)
Herbert B. Harland (brother)
Ernestine (Farmer) Harland (wife)
Erlene Harland (daughter)

Plane data

Serial number
42-29670
Data
Nickname: Thundemug
Type: B-17F
Destination: Hamburg, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the Blohm & Voss shipyards

More information

T/Sgt Kenneth W. Harland, Jr. attended Fluvanna High School.

He enlisted on 10 December 1941.

The airplane was shot down by flak. Eight crew members were taken prisoner and survived the war. One crew member was killed instantly.

S/Sgt Dean was dead on the scene and buried locally. His body was later disinterred, identified, and reburied. T/Sgt Harland was medically treated but died in a hospital the same day.

Statement of a German civilian, named Hermann Runge:
"On the 25th of July 1943, at 1530, an American four-motored bomber crashed near my house in the woods. The plane had been attacked by fighters and burned in the air. It circled in the air, and I saw several crew members parachute from the burning plane before the crash. The plane burned completely when it crashed. One body was found in the wreckage, totally charred, and was taken to the civilian cemetery in Kellinghusen. There were no personal effects found on the body. There, the deceased American was buried by German soldiers with military honors. There were no explosions, so bombs were released prior to the crash. I heard later that two of the crew who parachuted were given medical treatment at the civilian hospital in Kellinghusen. I do not know what happened to the rest of the crew."

There is a contradiction about the place of the crash. Some records state that the plane crashed in Uetersen, others mention a town called Kellinghusen.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.ancestry.com - 1930 census, www.384thBombGroup.com

Photo source: Mireille Goedhart, The Richmond News Leader - 05 August 1943