Thomas D Ledgerwood
MilitaryThomas Ledgerwood was Pilot of B-17 #42-29985 'Barrel House Bessie' when it was shot down on return from the Bremen mission on 8 October 1943. Prisoner of War (POW). Thomas Ledgerwood stayed in the Air Force after the war. Serving in Korea, he ended his military career as a Lieutenant Colonel in the USAF on 28 February 1966.
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: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-679006
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 13059061 at enlistment, then O-733589
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 369th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-471623
- Highest Rank: Major
- Role/Job: Assistant Group Engineer Officer; Squadron Executive
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Kathleen | Barrel House Bessie
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron 384th Bomb Group 545th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 8 October 1943
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Bedford
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
1 September 1920 | in Wetumka, Hughes County, Oklahoma, the son of James L. and Minnie B. Ledgerwood | |
Enlisted |
17 December 1941 | as a Private in the Air Corps at Camp Berkeley, Texas | |
Other Bailed out |
8 October 1943 | of B-17 42-29985 over Germany | |
Other captured |
8 October 1943 | after landing in parachute, in the area of Handrup / Lingen, Germany | |
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
8 October 1943 | Interned at Stalag Luft 3, Sagan, Poland. Force-marched from there to Stalag 7A, Moosburg, Germany where liberated on 29 April 1945 by US troops. NARA WWII POW records : "Returned to Military Control 12 June 1945." | |
Died |
28 May 2003 | Norman, Cleveland County, Oklahoma | |
Wetumka, Hughes County, Oklahoma | |||
Buried |
Thomas Ledgerwood rests at the Wetumka Cemetery, Wetumka, Hughes County, Oklahoma |
Revisions
MACR 868
US CENSUS 1930
NARA WWII Enlistment records
NARA WWII POW records
VETERANS' BIRLS files
306th BG Association Directory, 1 September 1999 Edition; MACR 868 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia