Evald Wallace Eugene Benson
MilitaryPhotos received February 2019 from son Chuck Benson
Evald Benson reported to the ETO on 4 April 1943. He flew as Co-Pilot on the Thomas Ledgerwood crew, but was flying with Berryman Brown when shot down. He completed 5 missions before being shot down on the 29 July 1943 Kiel mission in B-17 #42-5766. Prisoner of War (POW). Awards : Air Medal, Purple Heart.
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-734790
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: T-79
- Highest Rank: Flight Officer
- Role/Job: Pilot
- 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 367th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-736836
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 20842063 at enlistment, then O-791459
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 29 July 1943
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Bedford
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Kane, Pennsylvania, USA | 11 April 1915 | the son of Swedish-born Charles and Albertine Benson |
Enlisted |
13 March 1942 | as a Private in the Air Corps, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | |
Other Bailed out |
29 July 1943 | over Germany of B-17 42-5766 | |
Other landed |
29 July 1943 | in a canal or lake East of Kiesby, Germany. Was rescued by a German leisure boat and brought to shore at Arnis, where he was arrested | |
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
29 July 1943 - 29 April 1945 | Interned at Stalag Luft 3, Sagan, Poland. Force-marched from there to Stalag 7A, Moosburg, Germany and liberated there on 29 April 1945 by US troops. NARA WWII POW records : "Returned to Military Control 25 January 1946 (sic)." | |
Other Honorably discharged |
13 December 1945 | ||
Died |
12 January 1991 | Kane, McKean County, Pennsylvania, USA | |
Kane, McKean County, Pennsylvania, USA | |||
Buried |
Evald Benson rests at the Mount Tabor Cemetery in Kane, McKean County, Pennsylvania, USA |
Revisions
MACR 120
US CENSUS 1930
WWII Draft Cards
NARA WWII Enlistment records
NARA WWII POW records
VETERANS' BIRLS file
MACR 120, NARA, Russell Strong Index Cards, 306th BGA Collection, First Over Germany pg. 148,
Data update, National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, 15 September 2014
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 120 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database