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name
WILHELM, Melvin Francis - Date of
birth
14 October 1924 -
Age
19 -
Place of birth
Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio -
Hometown
Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
35559189 -
Rank
Staff Sergeant -
Function
Tail Gunner -
Unit
334th Bombardment Squadron,
95th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Missing in Action - Date of
death
25 August 1944 - Place of
death
Stettin, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
Nicholas J. Wilhelm (father)
Thelma Wilhelm (mother)
Daniel Wilhelm (brother)
Nicholas J. Wilhelm (brother)
Marjorie Wilhelm (sister)
Mary L. Wilhelm (wife)
Plane data
- Serial
number
44-6085 -
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Politz, Poland
Mission: Bombing of the oil refinery
MACR: 8279
More information
Melvin F. Wilhelm attended Macomber Vocational High School.He enlisted in Toledo, Ohio on 24 July 1943.
The airplane was hit by flak directly in the n° 3 main fuel tank over the target. The wing came off almost immediately and after dropping several thousand feet, it broke into at least three parts. Crew members of other bombers saw the airplane explode and the pieces fell into Stettin Lake.
Probably not all pieces fell into the lake because German records mention that wreckage was found some 2 km south of Stettin.
Seven crew members survived and were taken prisoner, three men were killed.
After the war, American investigators found several graves of American airmen at different civilian and military cemeteries in the area, most of them buried as unknown. These remains were evacuated to the identification center at Ardennes Cemetery but not one of them could be identified as being of Sgt Wilhelm.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, MissingInAction.nl, Topic Adoption, www.ancestry.com - Day Family Tree, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, WWII Draft Card
Photo source: MissingInAction.nl, Topic Adoption, 95 BG Memorial Foundation via Arie-Jan van Hees, Macomber Vocational High School 1940