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Personal info

Full name
KNOX, James Larkin
Date of birth
9 April 1918
Age
26
Place of birth
New Albany, Union County, Mississippi
Hometown
New Albany, Union County, Mississippi

Military service

Service number
O-747024
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Function
Bombardier
Unit
368th Bombardment Squadron,
306th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
29 April 1944
Place of death
Hecklingen near Stassfurt, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
J 4 7

Immediate family

Members
Baxter N. Knox (father)
Corinne (Evans) Knox (mother)
Virginia E. Knox (sister)
Baxter N. Knox Jr. (brother)
William M. Knox (brother)
Janis C. Knox (sister)
Alice (Taylor) Knox (wife)

Plane data

Serial number
42-31556
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Berlin, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the railway facilities of Friedrich railway station
MACR: 4240

More information

James Knox attended college fand was a farm manager.

He joined the Air Corps of the Regular Army in Montgomery, Alabama on 31 December 1940.

Near Magdeburg on the return flight, flak hit the B-17. The right wing was badly damaged and the airplane peeled up over the lead B-17, rolled over and went straight down enveloped in flames. It may have exploded before it hit the ground.

Two crew members survived and were taken prisoner, eight men were killed. They were initially buried at the cemetery of Hecklingen Cemetery, near Stassfurt, Germany on 2 May 1944.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.ancestry.com - 1930 Census / Headstone and Interment Record, WWII Draft Cards
Photo source: Michel Beckers, Janis Knox Sanders (sister)