Eugene Earl Parker Jr

Military

Eugene Parker Jr was a Ball Turret gunner in the 463rd Bomb Group / 775th Bomb Squadron (15th Air Force), in Italy. He was on board B-17 # 42-31685 on the 10 May 1944 mission to the Wiener Neustadt aircraft factory, Austria. Made a Prisoner of War (POW) - Missing Air Crew Report - MACR 4660. Wounded in may places, Gene Parker landed in parachute in a tree and dropped on his right foot because the other one was wounded. When he rallied his thoughts, he saw an Austrian man pointing a gun at him. Gene put his hands up and asked him not to shoot. The man put him in a two-wheeled cart and brought him to a village hospital where his foot was sewed up. The MACR mentions that on 25 May 1944 he and Right Waist Gunner Stephen Milewski left Luftwaffe Hospital 5/XVII in Felbring (Muthmannsdorf), ±25km NE of Vöstenhof, Austria. Put on a train, they arrived in Vienna and after a long and painful voyage, landed in the POW camp Stalag Luft 4 in Gross Tychow (Tychowo, Poland). He stayed there until Russian troops approached the region and was then transferred to Stalag Luft 1 in Barth, Germany. That camp was liberated on 1 May 1945 by the Russians and Gene and the other prisoners were flown out in the following days. Gene arrived at Camp Lucky Strike in Le Havre, France before returning to the USA.

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

A B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 44-5287) of the 463rd Bomb Group, 15th Air Force in flight with open bomb bay doors. Handwritten caption on reverse: '463 BG Gills.'
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Fifteenth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Service Numbers: 32719960
  • Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant (2nd Grade)
  • Role/Job: Flight Engineer / Top Turret Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Service Numbers: 38396309
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade)
  • Role/Job: waist gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Service Numbers: O-750952
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Co-Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Service Numbers: 19005031 and O-751540
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Service Numbers: 12120237 and O-814293
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Navigator

Aircraft

Places

A B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 44-5287) of the 463rd Bomb Group, 15th Air Force in flight with open bomb bay doors. Handwritten caption on reverse: '463 BG Gills.'
  • Site type: Airfield
  • Known as: Foggia Satellite #1, San Nicola-d'Arpi

Events

Event Location Date Description

Enlisted

Fort Thomas, Newport, Kentucky, United States 15 March 1943

Other

Made Prisoner of War (POW)

Stixenstein, Austria 10 May 1944 Captured around noon near Stixenstein, ±3km North of Vöstenhof

Other

Prisoner of War (POW

10 May 1944 - 1 May 1945 Wounded. Hospitalized in Felbring (Muthmannsdorf, Austria) until 25 May 1944. Sent to Stalag Luft 4 via Vienna. Moved to Stalag Luft 1 in Barth Germany. Liberated there by Russians on 1 May 1945.

Died

Marietta, Ohio, United States 22 January 2012

Born

Ohio, United States the son of Eugene Earl Parker and Mabel Emily (Göehle) Parker
Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States

Buried

Arlington Memorial Gardens, Mount Healthy, Ohio, United States Eugene Parker rests in Section 1, Grave 553.

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added connections to the 775th BS, 463rd BG &15th AF listed in the Summary biography.

Date
ContributorED-BB
Changes
Sources

Connected Place

Date
ContributorED-BB
Changes
Sources

MACR 4660
NARA WWII Enlistment records
NARA WWII POW records
"Searching for Stanley - Unforgotten Hero of World War II", by Kay Hughes, niece and Harold E. Dwyer, brother, of Pilot Stanley N. Dwyer (iUniverse books - 2011)
Contacts with the Stanley Dwyer family.