Jerrold Madison Hopkins
Military ROLL OF HONOUR
From JM Hopkins diary My Life in the Service
Object Number - UPL 52512 - Jerrold Madison Hopkins
KIA in B17F 41-24469 while serving as Waist Gunner. Participated in mission of 3 January 1943 to submarine yards at St. Nazaire, France that was successful but this was one of 3 planes of the 306th forced to land at RAF Station St. Eval, Cornwall. Planes were weatherbound for 3 days there. Took off on the January 7, but weather closed in and Pilot Brandon was forced to return to St. Eval. One landing attempt was unsuccessful and plane pulled up to make a second attempt but was never seen or heard from again.
Air Medal, Purple Heart
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
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 306th Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron 367th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-427126
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Colonel
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
- Role/Job: Flight Engineer / Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-727053
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Civilian
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group
Places
![A bomber crew of the 306th Bomb Group wave to Picture Post Girls in front of a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-24471) nicknamed "Four of a Kind" at Thurleigh in December 1942. Image stamped on reverse: '"Picture Post" [stamp], 'Passed for Publication 11 Dec 1942.' [stamp], '238038.' [Censor no.] Handwritten in censor's blue pencil on reverse: 'American Flying Fortress crew are introduced to the girls they will meet at Picture Post Xmas Party.'](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-379028.jpg.webp?itok=6Gc6iR0j)
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Bedford
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Hemet California | 23 October 1923 | Born to Jesse and Ola Rensler Hopkins |
|
Other Killed on Mission (KOM) |
Saint Eval, Wadebridge, Cornwall PL27, UK | 7 January 1943 | Killed when aircraft crashed into the Celtic Sea near RAF St. Eval while attempting to return to Thurleigh. |
|
Other Commemorated |
Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Madingley Road, Coton, Cambridgeshire CB23 7PH, UK | Commemorated on the Wall of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery |
Revisions
From the "My Life in the Service" diary of Jerrold Madison Hopkins which I inherited from my grandmother Ola Hopkins
Kee Cunningham 18-Jan-2015. Corrected crew position in Service and Description per "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE.
Lee Cunningham 18-Jan-2015. Added SN per MACR 16102; added KOM event per "Losses of the 8th & 9th AIr Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE; added decoration and Commemorated event per American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) record; added crew position and minor edits to Description.
Combat Chronology Supplement, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs by Bishop and Hey Vol. 1 p. 62 WWII Memorial web site. 306th BG Squadron Diaries 1942-45 p. 8 MIA in B17 41-24469. Mission on January 3 to submarine yards at St. Nazaire, France was successful b / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia
