Description
US WWII OFFICIALLY ENGRAVED PURPLE HEART – 460th BOMB GROUP- KIA JUNE 26, 1944
Officially wartime government engraved PURPLE HEART in original white case named to Sgt William H. KIRKPATRICK Jr who flew with 762nd BS, 460th BG, 15th AAF
42-78245 (762nd BS, 460th BG, 15th AAF) based at Spinazzola Airfield, Foggia, Italy)
Shot down June 26, 1944 by anti-aircraft fire 10 km northwest of Ober Grafendorf, Austria while on a mission
on the Floridsdorf Oil Refinery at Vienna, Austria. Aircraft caught fire and right wing broke off and crashed
and exploded on impact. Eight crew were killed. Two crew bailed out and were captured and became POWs.
Released in 1945. MACR 6430.
460th Bomb Group B-24 Liberator # 42-78245 that took off Jan 26, 1944, from Spinazzola, Foggia, Italy on a bombing mission over an oil refinery in Vienna, Austria. After dropping its bombs, the B-24 was hit by enemy Anti-aircraft fire losing its right wing and catching fire. Two crewmen 2LT Joseph Van Cloedt and SSGT Agerton Spurgeon were able to bail out and survived the crash and became POW’s until the end of the war. The other eight crewmen were killed in the crash of the B-24 in Zeilerviertel, Austria.
Seven crewmen were interred in a common grave in 1950 at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery Lemay Township, St. Louis County, Missouri, USA
2LT Corbin Louis Bashor- Pilot
SSGT Harland C Bassett- Gunner
2LT Ralph Theodore Davis-Bombardier
SSGT Harold W Erickson – Ball Turret Gunner
TSGT William H Kirkpatrick Jr. – Radio Operator
2LT Robert H Petersen – CoPilot
SSGT Earl A Johnson-Asst Radio Operator/Gunner
https://www.bmlv.gv.at/download_archiv/pdfs/missing_in_action.pdf
https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~webermd1/family/460th_bg_macr_&_accident_summaries.pdf
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