Melvin V Wile
Military
"Iowans of the Mighty Eighth", Chapter 22 "Biographies", by Charles D Taylor.
Object Number - UPL 33522 - Staff Sergeant Melvin V. Wile, Left Waist Gunner, 389th Bomb Group
Shot down 22 December 1943 in B-24 #4240706. Prisoner of War (POW).
Melvin had joined the Group at Hethel in June 1943. On his 10th mission German fighters knocked out all four engines and their B-24 crash landed, Melvin took a bullet in an arm and a leg and received treatment in three German hospitals. He was held at Stalag Luft V1 in East Prussia before being evacuated as the Russians closed in. After discharge he returned to farming in Iowa.
Air Medal
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: - Tondelao
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 566th Bomb Squadron
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Morthen, Iowa, USA | ||
|
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Germany | 22 December 1943 |
Revisions
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 2047 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
