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Military
Assigned to 778BS, 464BG, 15AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Lugo, Italy in B-24 44-49710; A/C suffered direct flak hit on a 'milk run'. Starboard wing collapsing between engines; crashed Lugo, Italy 10-Apr-45, Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 13711.
Awards: AM (3OLC), PH.
Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Pilot | 464th Bomb Group
Assigned to 778BS, 464BG, 15AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Lugo, Italy in B-24 44-49710; A/C suffered direct flak hit on a 'milk run'. Starboard wing collapsing between engines; crashed Lugo, Italy 10-Apr-45, Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 13711.
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The Fifteenth Air Force was one of two Strategic Air forces in Europe, along with the Eighth Air Force.
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Group
A Consolidated History of the 464th Bomb Group
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Squadron
Established as a B-24 Liberator heavy bomber squadron in mid-1943, trained under Second Air Force. Deployed to Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO), October 1943, becoming a Fifteenth Air Force heavy bomb squadron, attacking enemy targets both in...
B-24 Liberator
Assigned to 778BS, 464BG, 15AF USAAF. Suffered direct flak hit on a 'milk run'. Starboard wing collapsing between engines, pilot Col James Gilson, C/O of the 779th BS and nine other crew members were KIA [killed in action], one waist gunner was thrown...
Military site : airfield
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Nashville, TN | 24 June 1924 |
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Son of James Oral and Mary Ada [Alder] Cope. Entered service from Maryland |
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| Enlisted | Baltimore, MD | 23 August 1943 |
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Baltimore, Maryland |
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| Based | Pantanella | 1944 – 10 April 1945 |
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Assigned to 778BS, 464BG, 15AF USAAF. |
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| Died | Lugo, Italy | 10 April 1945 |
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Failed to Return (FTR) Lugo, Italy in B-24 44-49710; A/C suffered direct flak hit on a 'milk run'. Starboard wing collapsing between engines; crashed Lugo, Italy 10-Apr-45, KIA MACR 13711. |
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| Buried | Florence American Cemetery and Memorial | 1946 |
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Re-Interred |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 30 May 2020 08:44:10 | Al_Skiff | Changes to biography and events |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/image/29424643 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 30 May 2020 06:07:55 | Al_Skiff | Created entry with surname, middlename, firstname, nationality, service number, highest rank, role, biography, events, person associations, unit associations, place associations and aircraft associations |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/image/29424643 |
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