DeWitt Talmadge Bell Jr
Military ROLL OF HONOURGerman record KUJ-714 > https://catalog.archives.gov/id/131494788
On the support mission to Frankfurt, Germany of 20 March 1944 in P-47D #42-75553, the 361st Squadron encountered extremely adverse weather and the mission was abandoned. Upon letting down in the Brussels, Belgium area, Lt. Bell and his leader, Capt. Porter, started a strafing pass on an airfield. The last seen of Lt. Bell was at the start of the pass. Capt. Porter was shot down and made a prisoner by the Germans, who informed him that Lt. Bell went down. Missing In Action (MIA) 20 March 1944; changed to "Determined Dead" on 28 December 1944. MACR 3398. Killed In Action (KIA).
Awards: PH.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
- Unit: 356th Fighter Group 361st Fighter Squadron
Missions
- Date: 20 March 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
14 November 1920 | Son of DeWitt T. Sr and Julia J. Bell. | |
Enlisted Killed in Action (KIA) |
13 November 1942 | Cochran Field, Macon Georgia | |
Other Crashed |
6 July 1943 | Landing Accident Ground Loop Spence AAF, GA Cat 3 damage 2Lt Dewitt T Bell, 6-Jul-43. AT-6B 41-17395 - 442 SEFTS. | |
Based |
26 January 1944 - 20 March 1944 | Assigned to 361FS, 356FG, 8AF USAAF. | |
Died |
20 March 1944 | Shot down in P-47 42-75553 on support mission to Frankfurt. Strafing airfield hit by return fire. | |
Buried |
24 March 1944 | Brussels Evere Cemetery, Honor Plot | |
Buried |
after the war, his remains were brought back to the US. DeWitt Bell rests at the Macon Memorial Park in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia, USA | ||
Born |
Revisions
MACR 3398
1941-1949 Headstone Applications
German record KUJ-714 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/131494788 (NARA)
356 FG Assoc data, MACR 3398, Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 3398 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list