Samuel Byrd Bennett
Military ROLL OF HONOURBombardier - Protz Crew
401st BG - 613th BS
KIA 28 May 1944
Assigned to 613BS, 401BG, 8AF USAAF. 8 x combat missions. Shot down 28-May-44 in B-17 42-102580. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 5307.
Awards: PH.
Samuel Byrd Bennett was born on December 20, 1918 in Bald Creek, North Carolina. His parents William and Nell were also born in North Carolina. His father was a physician. He had two older sisters, two older brothers, and two younger sisters. Samuel was a graduate of Mars Hill College and also attended North Carolina State College. At the time of his enlistment, he was employed in Baltimore as a shipfitter.
Samuel enlisted March 28, 1942 in the US Army Air Forces aviation cadet program and attended pre-flight school at Maxwell Field, Alabama. He was trained as a B-17 Flying Fortress bombardier at Roswell Army Air Field and received his commission as a 2nd Lt. in June 1943.
In March or April 1944 2nd Lt. Bennett was part of a replacement B-17 crew assigned to the 401st Bomb Group, 613th Bomb Squadron of the 8th Air Force, based at Deenethorpe, England. The crew’s first mission was on May 1, 1944 and they completed seven more missions over the next three weeks. On May 28 during the crew’s ninth mission, the aircraft was hit by flak or cannon fire from an enemy aircraft causing a fire in the radio room, and then exploded, tearing the aircraft in half. Five members of the crew were able to bail out and became POWs. 2nd Lt. Bennett and four others were not so lucky and did not survive the explosion. Pieces of the aircraft were strewn across the countryside in the vicinity of Dessau, Germany, the intended target.
Samuel Byrd Bennett was initially buried in Susigke Cemetery in Germany and was later reinterred in Holcombe Cemetery, Burnsville, North Carolina. Both of Samuel’s brothers served in the US Army and survived the war.
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: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-808459
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
Missions
- Date: 28 May 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Benefield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Burnsville, North Carolina, USA | 20 December 1918 | |
Enlisted |
Baltimore, MD, USA | 28 March 1942 | Baltimore, Maryland |
Other 401st BG Combat Tour |
Deenethorpe | 4 May 1944 - 28 May 1944 | Assigned to 613BS, 401BG, 8AF USAAF. 8 Combat Missions |
Died |
Dessau, Dessau-Roßlau, Germany | 28 May 1944 | Shot down 28-May-44 in B-17 42-102580. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 5307. |
Buried |
Holcombe Cemetery Burnsville Yancey County NC | Holcombe Cemetery Burnsville Yancey County North Carolina |
Revisions
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 5307 / MACR 5307, http://www.401bg.org/Main/History/Members/Details.aspx?ID=2160 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database