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<span class=prefix>1LT</span> Brian Floyd Hodges

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1LT Brian Floyd Hodges Veteran

Birth
Spartanburg, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, USA
Death
24 Mar 1944 (aged 27)
Manipur, India
Burial
Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA GPS-Latitude: 38.876921, Longitude: -77.068727
Plot
Section 12 Site 288
Memorial ID
View Source
On 24 March 1944, USAAF's Boeing B-25 Mitchell bomber aircraft (of the American 1st Air Commando Group) was on the return flight--from Imphal to Lalaghat--following an assessment of the situations in three Chindit-held bases in Burma which were under the command of British Major General Orde Charles Wingate. The Mitchell B-25 aircraft was being crewed by five American Air Corps personnel ---including 1st Lieutenant B.F. Hodges---and there were four British passengers on board, including Major General Wingate, his Aide-de-camp, and two British war correspondents. The aircraft crashed into the Burmese jungle-covered hills (which is in the present-day state of Manipur in northeast India). All nine people on board the B-25 Mitchell perished in the accident.

The casualties of this aircraft crash were-
UK Captain George Henry BORROW, MC,
UK War Correspondent Stuart Wallis EMENY,
USAAF Technical Sergeant James Walton HICKEY,
USAAF 1st Lieutenant Brian Floyd HODGES,
USAAF Staff Sergeant Vernon A. McININCH,
USAAF Technical Sergeant Frank SADOSKI,
USAAF 2nd Lieutenant Stephen Albert WANDERER,
UK War Correspondent Stanley WILLS and
UK Major General Orde Charles Wingate, DSO and 2 Bars, Twice MiD.

The first memorial service was held at the crash site in March 1944, with full military honours, with Maj-Gen W. D. A. Lentaigne, Lord Louis Mountbatten, another officer and several British troops in attendance. A wooden cross was put in place; the cross held a round inscribed metal plaque, at its centre, which read: 'Maj-Gen O. C. Wingate, DSO / Capt. G. H. Borrow, MC / Mr. Stewart Emeny (War Correspondent) / Mr. Stanley Wills (War Correspondent) / 1st Lieut. Brian E. F. Hodges, USAAF / 2nd Lieut. Stephan A. Wanderer, USAAF/ Tech Sgt Frank Sadoski, USAAF / S Sgt James W. Hickey, USAAF / S Sgt Vernon A. McInnich, USAAF' The plaque was decorated with a simple line image of a chinthe ('chindit') and a pagoda spire.

However, in 1947 the remains of these crash victims were disinterred from their original burial place, and re-interred in the British War Cemetery at Imphal in India. As the severe impact of the crash prevented establishing which remains were which person, the policy of the time were for the remains to be buried in the nation from which the majority of the victims originated. In this case, the country was the USA.

In November 1950 the intermingled remains were disinterred from the British War Cemetery at Imphal and buried, with full military honours, at Arlington Cemetery in the USA. The grave reference is Sec. 12. Collective Grave 288.
Information courtesy of Find A Grave contributor SJ Hearn
~~~
1LT Hodges memorial on the Together We Served (TWS) website. Created as part of the Stories Behind the Stars project.
Jeff Joyce (50121312)
On 24 March 1944, USAAF's Boeing B-25 Mitchell bomber aircraft (of the American 1st Air Commando Group) was on the return flight--from Imphal to Lalaghat--following an assessment of the situations in three Chindit-held bases in Burma which were under the command of British Major General Orde Charles Wingate. The Mitchell B-25 aircraft was being crewed by five American Air Corps personnel ---including 1st Lieutenant B.F. Hodges---and there were four British passengers on board, including Major General Wingate, his Aide-de-camp, and two British war correspondents. The aircraft crashed into the Burmese jungle-covered hills (which is in the present-day state of Manipur in northeast India). All nine people on board the B-25 Mitchell perished in the accident.

The casualties of this aircraft crash were-
UK Captain George Henry BORROW, MC,
UK War Correspondent Stuart Wallis EMENY,
USAAF Technical Sergeant James Walton HICKEY,
USAAF 1st Lieutenant Brian Floyd HODGES,
USAAF Staff Sergeant Vernon A. McININCH,
USAAF Technical Sergeant Frank SADOSKI,
USAAF 2nd Lieutenant Stephen Albert WANDERER,
UK War Correspondent Stanley WILLS and
UK Major General Orde Charles Wingate, DSO and 2 Bars, Twice MiD.

The first memorial service was held at the crash site in March 1944, with full military honours, with Maj-Gen W. D. A. Lentaigne, Lord Louis Mountbatten, another officer and several British troops in attendance. A wooden cross was put in place; the cross held a round inscribed metal plaque, at its centre, which read: 'Maj-Gen O. C. Wingate, DSO / Capt. G. H. Borrow, MC / Mr. Stewart Emeny (War Correspondent) / Mr. Stanley Wills (War Correspondent) / 1st Lieut. Brian E. F. Hodges, USAAF / 2nd Lieut. Stephan A. Wanderer, USAAF/ Tech Sgt Frank Sadoski, USAAF / S Sgt James W. Hickey, USAAF / S Sgt Vernon A. McInnich, USAAF' The plaque was decorated with a simple line image of a chinthe ('chindit') and a pagoda spire.

However, in 1947 the remains of these crash victims were disinterred from their original burial place, and re-interred in the British War Cemetery at Imphal in India. As the severe impact of the crash prevented establishing which remains were which person, the policy of the time were for the remains to be buried in the nation from which the majority of the victims originated. In this case, the country was the USA.

In November 1950 the intermingled remains were disinterred from the British War Cemetery at Imphal and buried, with full military honours, at Arlington Cemetery in the USA. The grave reference is Sec. 12. Collective Grave 288.
Information courtesy of Find A Grave contributor SJ Hearn
~~~
1LT Hodges memorial on the Together We Served (TWS) website. Created as part of the Stories Behind the Stars project.
Jeff Joyce (50121312)



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