Stanley Jay BENSON
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Source : Paul Webber
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NUMBER OF SERVICE | 36456162 | ||||||
AGE | 20 yo | ||||||
DATE OF BIRTH | 17 Novembre 1923 Lansing, Ingham County, MICHIGAN | ||||||
ENLISTMENT STATE | MICHIGAN | ||||||
FAMILY |
Parents: Howard W. & Cecil V. Dennis BENSON | ||||||
RANK | Sergeant | ||||||
FONCTION | Top Gunner | ||||||
JOB BEFORE ENLISTEMENT | Stenographers and typists | ||||||
DATE of ENLISTEMENT | 12 March 1943 Kalamazoo MICHIGAN | ||||||
SQUADRON | 838th Bomber Squadron | ||||||
GROUP | 487th Bomber Group, Heavy | ||||||
ARMY | 8th US Air Force | ||||||
DATE OF DEATH | 6 June 1944 |
Source : F Lavernhe | |||||
STATUS | KIA | ||||||
PLACE OF DEATH | In sea | ||||||
DATA PLAN |
Bombardier B-24H 42-52629 "Sweatin' It Out" Macr: 6484 Take off: Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk | ||||||
CEMETERY | NORMANDY AMERICAN CEMETERY of Colleville | ||||||
GRAVE |
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DECORATION |
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STORY | |||||||
Sergeant Stanley Jay Benson, Army serial number 36456162, was born at Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan on November 17, 1923. He was probably an only child. His parents were Howard William Benson (28 Aug 1885 – 5 Apr 1942), who was born at Laingsburg, Shiawassee County, Michigan; and Cecil Vera (Dennis) Benson (3 Aug 1895 – 13 Nov 1986), who was born at Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, and moved to Pontiac, Michigan as a child with her parents. He worked as a stenographer and typist and was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Kalamazoo, Michigan on March 12, 1943. His home of record was 91 East Howard Street, Pontiac, Oakland County, Michigan, his mother's address in 1944. By December 1943 the Gross crew began B-24 crew training at Davis-Monthan Field near Tucson, Arizona. In January 1944 the Gross crew was assigned to the 838th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. There they completed B-24 combat crew training, and deployed with the Group to England in March–April 1944. They flew B-24H 42-52629 'Sweatin' It Out' from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Lavenham, England via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived at Lavenham by mid-April 1944. There is a photo of the crew taken at Herington, Kansas during the deployment to England, that is posted on the 487th Bomb Group website. The 487th Bomb Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe. | |||||||
Crew of B-24H 42-52629 "Sweatin'It Out" Equipage du B-24H 42-52629 "Sweatin'It Out"
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In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, the 487th Bomb Group dispatched two Squadrons on the first of three missions that the Group flew on D-Day. The Gross crew flew B-24H 42-52629 'Sweatin' It Out' on this mission, and Sgt Benson flew as top turret gunner. The 487th Bomb Group was assigned to bomb a choke point—a road junction—in Caen, France, to disrupt German transportation. The Group's assembly in the dark over England took five hours, much longer than planned. Then a complete undercast prevented the crews from bombing the target. On the return, the entire heavy bomber force was routed away from the Allied shipping area, to the west of the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey. Sgt Benson and his nine crew mates went missing in action when their aircraft ran out of fuel and went down in the English Channel. A station at Saffron Walden, England, received a distress call from the crew at 0842, which indicated that the aircraft was about 35 miles northwest of the Cherbourg Peninsula, and all four engines were dead. The aircraft's last reported position was 49°52'N, 02°38'W, some 20 to 25 miles northwest of the Channel Island of Alderney. Other crews almost ran out of fuel before landing at bases near the English coast. |
SOURCE INFORMATION & SOURCE PHOTO | Aad.archives.gov - Findagrave.com - Abmc.gov - Storiesbehindthestars.org |
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PROGRAMMER | Henri, Garrett, Clive, Frédéric & Renaud |