John Melvin NEAL

Source : Tx Oma

 18 October 1920 Trimble County, KENTUCKY

 Parents : Jacob Edward "Jake" & Mabel Claire Litson NEAL 

Source : F Lavernhe

Between Thomer-la-Sôgne and Avrilly

8 km from St-André-de-l'Eure

"Barker's Burdens"

Macr : 685

Mission: Caudron-Renault factories in Boulogne-Billancourt (92) & Beaumont-le-Roger (27)

Takeoff station 139 Thorpe Abbotts, Norfolk

Collision with B-17 42-30089 - Explodes in flight - 2 men ejected by explosion (Rosenberg and Coon)

Map of St James American Cemetery

 John Melvin Neal was born October 18, 1920 in Trimble County, Kentucky. His parents Jacob Edward Neal and Mable Claire (Litson) Neal were born in Kentucky and Indiana, respectively. John had one younger brother. In 1930, the family was living on a farm in Madison, Jefferson County, Indiana, where his father worked as manager of a poultry house and John attended local schools. John graduated from Madison High School and was then employed by the Allison Engineering Company in Indianapolis.

John enlisted in the US Army Air Corps on 23 January 1942 at Ft Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. His enlistment record indicates that he was single and was working as a clerk. After basic training he completed aerial gunnery training and was then assigned to one of the crews of the 351st Bomb Squadron of the 100th Bombardment Group (Heavy), Eighth Air Force, which flew B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers. 

Source : bobf13017 (Fold3)

Source : bobf13017 (Fold3)

The 100th BG was activated 27 October 1942 at Gowen Field, Idaho then moved to Walla Walla Army Air Base, Washington. After receiving crews and aircraft, the group relocated again on 30 November 1942 to Wendover Field, Utah, where it added additional personnel, aircraft, and crews, and began operational training. On 1 January 1943, the aircraft and aircrews moved to Sioux City AAB, Iowa where they assisted in training of other groups bound for overseas. In mid-April 1943, the aircrews moved to Kearney Army Air Field, Nebraska and received brand new B-17s. After additional operational training, the group's aircrews departed Kearney on 25 May 1943, flying the North Atlantic route to England, where the group was based at Thorpe Abbotts, Norfolk. Staff Sergeant Neal was the flight engineer and top turret gunner of B-17F 42-30059, known as “Barker’s Burdens”, one of the original crews of the 100th BG. The crew flew its first combat mission on 26 June 1943, bombing the U-boat yards in St Nazaire, France and over the next several months flew around ten more missions.

On 3 September 1943 the B-17s of the 100th BG took off on a mission to bomb the Renault Works in Paris, France. After diverting to the secondary target due to thick cloud cover over the primary, “Barker’s Burdens” was attacked by enemy fighters and either hit by flak or was struck by a bomb released from a B-17 in the high squadron, causing it to collide with another B-17 in the formation and catch fire. The pilots managed to briefly maintain control, but the aircraft soon exploded and crashed near Evreux, France. Two of the crew were able to bail out and became prisoners of war, but SSgt Neal and the other seven were either killed in the explosion or in the ensuing crash. 

John Melvin Neal is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing in the Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial in Saint-James, Departement de la Manche, Basse-Normandie, France.

Crew of B-17 Fortress - type F-85-BO - s/n 42-30059 EP*G
"Barker's Burdens"