Edward T Tijan

Military ROLL OF HONOUR

Edward Tijan served as a ball turret gunner with the 490th Bomb Group out of Eye, England. He was a member of John Hedgecock's crew. On 6 February 1945, he was flying in B-17 43-37894 'Big Poison' when it suffered a mid air collision with B-17 43-37806 'Miss Fortune'. The aircraft crash-landed at Prickwillow, Suffolk. Tijan was killed in the crash. He is buried back home in Cook County, Illinois. He was Emil and Vera Tijan's only child.



Awards: PH.

Connections

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Units served with

The insignia of the 490th Bomb Group.

490th Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

John W Hedgecock

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 490th Bomb Group 849th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

The nose art of a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 43-37894) nicknamed "Big Poison" of the 490th Bomb Group. Image by Captain Arnold Delmonico, photographic officer 490th Bomb Group. Written on slide casing: '337894, Big Poison.'

43-37894

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Big Poison
  • Unit: 490th Bomb Group 849th Bomb Squadron

Places

Eye, home of the 490th Bomb Group, photographed from the air. Image via Mark Brown, AFA. Written on slide casing: 'Eye from air.'

Eye

  • Site type: Airfield
  • Known as: Brome

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Illinois, USA 3 October 1925 Son of Emil and Vera Tijan.

Enlisted

Fort Sheridan, IL 13 December 1943 Fort Sheridan, Illinois

Died

Prickwillow, Suffolk, UK 6 February 1945

Buried

Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery, Hillside, Cook County, IL Re-Interred Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery Hillside, Cook County, Illinois
Chicago, IL, USA Lived with his father and mother, Emil and Vera Tijan, both of who had moved to America from Yugoslavia before he was born.

Revisions

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Sources

https://www.fold3.com/image/318300879
https://www.fold3.com/image/310763102
https://www.fold3.com/image/176318853
https://www.fold3.com/record/84504791-edward-t-tijan
https://www.fold3.com/record/700723375-tijan-edward-t
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/130663908/edward-t.-tijan

Date
ContributorLucy May
Changes
Sources

1930 census via Ancestry.com

Date
ContributorLucy May
Changes
Sources

Brought in information from duplicate record. Source:
Combat Chronology Supplements / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia

See also: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=tijan&GSfn=edward…;

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

490th Bomb Group Unit Personnel / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia