Henry Oren Cox Jr
MilitaryFront row, left to right: T/Sgt Herman J Ball (FE), Milwaukee, Wisc; S/Sgt George R Martin (BTG), New Albany, Ind; S/Sgt Joshua M Lewis (TG), Cumberland, Md; S/Sgt Otto V Kloza (WG), Milwaukee, Wisc; T/Sgt Paul D Gomis (R/O), Reading, Penn; S/Sgt Francis H Curry (WG), Roswell, New Mexico;
Back row, left to right: 2nd Lt Frank N Broach (B), Irving, Texas; 2nd Lt Albert (NMI) Rubin (CP), Chicago, Ill; 2nd Lt Henry O Cox (P), Crossville, Tenn; 2nd Lt Willis E Eddy (N), Battle Creek Mich. US Air Force Photo.'
Made corrections to the caption, adding crew positions and changing the plane name from "Sandra Kay" to "Sondra Kay" Roger Freeman Collection
Henry Jr. was a graduate of the 1940 class of Cumberland County High School. Two classmates, and football team members, graduating from CCHS in 1938, Ben H. West Jr. and Cecil G. Buttram were killed in action. AMM 3rd Class Ben H. West Jr. enlisted Dec. 1, 1940, and was killed in action at Guadalcanal, Jan. 1, 1943, as a result of a plane crash. He was Crossville's first death in World War II. Tech. Sgt. Cecil G. Buttram, who enlisted Jan. 7, 1941, was KIA ten days later on Jan. 11, 1943, in North Africa.
H. O. Cox Jr. was enrolled in his second year at Tennessee Polytechnic Institute; however, he left college to enlist in the US Army Air Corps on Jan. 22, 1943, and was among the first to receive his pilot's silver wings at George Field, Illinois. He served in the 388th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force, 3rd Air Division, 45th Combat Wing, Station 136, Knettishall, England. This group flew 333 total missions from 1943-1945, 306 being combat missions. Henry O. Cox Jr. was a pilot in the 567th Bomb Squadron on a B17-F (Flying Fortress), the "Sondra Kay," named for the baby of one of the crew members.
The 8th Air Force Historical Society lists an engagement on Sept. 16, 1943, as follows, 93 of the 148 B-17s, after bombing the German U-Boat pens at LaPallice, and Luftwaffe installations, destroying 22 German aircraft, headed back to England. On the return flight the formations had to break up and return independently due to inclement weather. Four B-17 aircraft were lost, with 44 crew members killed in action. One plane crashed into the Black Mountains, one on Exmoor, one made a forced landing on three engines at Shobden.
1st Lt. Henry Oren Cox Jr.'s aircraft, short of fuel and in poor visibility, crashed near Rhayader, England. All 10 crew were KIA.
1st Lt. Cox was buried at the American Military Cemetery in Cambridge, England. He was posthumously awarded an Army Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster.
Connections
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Units served with
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 388th Bomb Group 562nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 36261461
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant (2nd Grade)
- Role/Job: waist gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 388th Bomb Group 562nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-674216
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 388th Bomb Group 562nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 13103063
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade)
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 388th Bomb Group 562nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 16126029
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade)
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 388th Bomb Group 562nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-738035
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
Aircraft
Missions
- Date: 2 September 1943
- Date: 31 August 1943
- Date: 27 August 1943
- Date: 24 August 1943
- Date: 16 August 1943
Places
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Maryville, Tennessee | 28 January 1921 | BornMaryville, Tennessee |
Enlisted |
Montgomery, Alabama | 22 January 1942 | EnlistedMontgomery, Alabama |
Died |
Llanyre, Llandrindod Wells LD1 6NG, UK | 16 September 1943 | While returning from a mission to Bordeaux on this date, the Cox Crew, running low on fuel and in bad weather crash landed at Upper Cilgee Farm in Powys, Wales. All 10 crew were KIA |
Buried |
Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial Coton, Cambridgeshire | 25 September 1943 | Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial • Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England Plot E-6-70 |
Revisions
ABMC, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol. I by Bishop & Hey p. 285 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia