Sponsored by:Paul Webber
2Lt Francis Eugene Moke Veteran
Cenotaph
1917 – 1944 Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial
Photo added by Paul Webber
- Birth
-
California, Moniteau County, Missouri, USA
- Death
- 6 Jun 1944 (aged 26)
At Sea
- Cenotaph
-
Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England Add to Map
- Plot
- Wall of the Missing
- Memorial ID
- 56292597 View Source
Second Lieutenant Francis Eugene Moke, Army serial number O-703773, was born at a town called California in Moniteau County, Missouri (about 20 miles west of Jefferson City) on August 1, 1917. (Date of birth is recorded on application for his headstone/cenotaph in Ohio; birth year is recorded as 1916 on his enlistment record, and 1918 on his draft card.) He signed his name Eugene Moke on his draft registration.
His parents were Samuel Adam 'Sam' Moke (9 Apr 1879 – 14 Jan 1968) and Nellie Maud Moke (1882 – 5 Sep 1968) (called Nellie or Nell), who were born in Ohio. His parents married about 1904, and by 1910 lived at Jefferson City, Missouri, where his father was a steam locomotive engineer for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. He had a sister, Genevieve 'Rusti' (Moke) Brown (29 Nov 1922 – 16 Sep 2019), born in Missouri, who his parents fostered or adopted.
He graduated from high school in Jefferson City, Missouri. He completed at least two years of college, and later worked as an office clerk in Jackson County, Missouri. In 1940 he lived at Fulton, Callaway County, Missouri, where he worked as an insect exterminator at a State Hospital. He registered for the draft at Fulton, Missouri on October 16, 1940. He was 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighed 160 pounds, and had gray eyes and brown hair.
He married Ethel Irene (Bellamy) Moke (later Buckle) (6 Dec 1917 – 16 Jan 1992) at Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri on June 29, 1941 He enlisted in the U.S. Army at Jefferson Barracks, Saint Louis, Missouri on April 30, 1942. His home of record was 2634 Paseo, Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri, his wife's address in 1944. By 1962 his parents lived at 211 2nd Street SW, New Philadelphia, Ohio.
He completed Army Air Forces navigator training in Class 43-18 at San Marcos Army Air Field, Texas, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on December 24, 1943. He was then assigned as navigator on the heavy bomber crew of Lt William J. Mowat in the 837th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group. The Mowat crew completed B-24 crew training with the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. Here is the crew roster when they deployed from Alamogordo:
B-24 #41-29523 – Crew #87-7-10
• Mowat, William J – 2/Lt – Pilot
• Mass, Rubie R – 2/Lt – Copilot
• Moke, Francis E – 2/Lt – Navigator
• Theriault, Franklyn R – 2/Lt – Bombardier
• Cunningham, James P – S/Sgt – Engineer
• Gassman, Henry D – Sgt – Radio Operator
• Frederick, Robert L – Sgt – Armorer/Gunner
• Reed, Carl W – Sgt – Engineer/Gunner
• Misiaszek, Ralph A – Sgt – Engineer/Gunner
• Young, Frederick R – M/Sgt – Passenger
According to a nephew of Lt Mowat, during the 487th Bomb Group's first stop at Herington, Kansas, Lt Mowat had a physical exam which revealed a condition that required surgery before he could go overseas. So the rest of the crew flew on to England without him. It is unknown who took Lt Mowat's place in B-24 41-29523 during the remainder of the deployment via the southern Atlantic ferry route.
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. After arrival in England, Lt Moke was reassigned as navigator on the crew of Lt Norman E. Gross in the 838th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group. Here is the roster of the Norman E. Gross crew on June 6, 1944:
B-24H 42-52629 – 838th Bomb Squadron
• Gross, Norman E – 1/Lt – Pilot – MIA
• Haskell, Willard D – 2/Lt – Copilot – MIA
• Moke, Francis E – 2/Lt – Navigator – MIA
• Levine, Milton – F/O – Bombardier – Buried at Sea
• Huebel Jr, Benjamin A – S/Sgt – Engineer – MIA
• Markowitz, Max I – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – MIA
• McWilliams, Charles A – Sgt – Nose Gunner – MIA
• Benson, Stanley J – Sgt – Top Gunner – MIA
• Allensworth, Harold O – Sgt – Ball Gunner – MIA
• Westhoff Jr, Henry B – S/Sgt – Tail Gunner – MIA
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. 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 Jersey and Guernsey. Lt Moke and his nine crewmates 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.
Remains of Flight Officer Levine, the bombardier, were found by the crew of the British ship HSL 192 (High Speed Launch 192) and were buried at sea, in the English Channel, on July 3, 1944. None of the other crew members was ever found.
Lt Moke and the other officers on the crew are memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery near Madingley, England. The enlisted men are memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery in France.
Lt Moke has another cenotaph at Evergreen Burial Park in New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, where his parents are buried.
He was awarded the Air Medal and Purple Heart.
Lt William J. Mowat, his original pilot, deployed overseas on June 28, 1944, and arrived in England on July 5, 1944. He was assigned to the 703rd Bomb Squadron, 445th Bomb Group, at Tibenham, England. He was killed in action during a mission to Kassel, Germany on September 27, 1944 (MACR 9572).
Sources:
1. 487th Bomb Group Association
2. 1910 US Census; Missouri; Cole County; Jefferson City; Ward 1. Moke, S A. 20 Apr 1910 (Samuel Adam Moke, his father)
3. 1920 US Census; Missouri; Cole County; Jefferson Township; Jefferson City. Moke, Samuel A. 9 Jan 1920 (his father)
4. 1930 US Census; Missouri; Cole County; Jefferson City. Moke, Sam A. Apr 1930 (his father)
5. 1940 US Census; Missouri; Cole County; Jefferson City; Ward 3; 2037 W Main. Moke, S A. 26 Apr 1940 (Samuel Adam Moke, his father)
6. 1940 US Census; Missouri; Callaway County; Fulton; Ward 4; State Hospital #1. Moke, Eugene F. 4 Apr 1940 (Francis Eugene Moke, employee)
7. American Battle Monuments Commission
8. Application for US Government Headstone or Marker: Moke, Francis Eugene, O-703773; born 1 Aug 1917; KIA 6 June 1944; REMAINS NONRECOVERABLE. Application signed by Samuel A. Moke at New Philadelphia, Ohio on 11 Jun 1962
9. Army Air Forces Collection of Mike Voisin. Departure Point: Class Book for Army Air Forces Navigator Class 43-18, San Marcos Army Air Field, Texas. 24 Dec 1943
10. (The) Daily Times. Local Flyer Is War Casualty; Lieut. Moke Missing In Action. New Philadelphia OH, 24 Jun 1944
11. de Jong, Ivo. The History of the 487th Bomb Group (H). Paducah KY: Turner Publishing, Oct 2004
12. Enlistment Record of Francis E. Moke
13. HQ, 359th Combat Crew Training School, Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. Special Orders Number 71. 11 March 1944 (487th Bomb Group flight echelon orders to proceed from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Herington, Kansas during the deployment to England)
14. HQ, U.S. Army Air Forces. Sunday Punch in Normandy: The Tactical Use of Heavy Bombardment in the Normandy Invasion (Center for Air Force History Wings at War Series, No. 2. Washington, D.C. 1992)
15. Marriage License and Certificate of Francis E. Moke, age 26, and Ethel I. Bellamy, age 23: Married at Jackson County, Missouri on 29 Jun 1941.
16. Mowat, Ronald W. Personal Communication. 2010–2013 (nephew of William J. Mowat)
17. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 5484
18. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 9572
19. U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). See Our Missing, World War II, World War II Summary
20. U.S. Department of the Army, Adjutant General Office, Technical Records Section. Individual Deceased Personnel File of Milton Levine, T-123014 (aka '293 File')
21. U.S. Rosters of World War II Dead, 1939–1945
22. U.S. War Department. World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel. Washington, D.C., June 1946
23. U.S. World War II Draft Cards, Young Men, 1940–1947 (ancestry.com): Francis Eugene Moke, age 23, registered for the draft at Fulton, Callaway County, MO on October 16, 1940. He was born at the town of California, Moniteau County, Missouri.
24. World War I Draft Registration of Samuel Adam Moke. 12 Sep 1918 (his father)
Research by:
Paul Webber
Find A Grave member ID 47577572
Last edited 4 Feb 2024
His parents were Samuel Adam 'Sam' Moke (9 Apr 1879 – 14 Jan 1968) and Nellie Maud Moke (1882 – 5 Sep 1968) (called Nellie or Nell), who were born in Ohio. His parents married about 1904, and by 1910 lived at Jefferson City, Missouri, where his father was a steam locomotive engineer for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. He had a sister, Genevieve 'Rusti' (Moke) Brown (29 Nov 1922 – 16 Sep 2019), born in Missouri, who his parents fostered or adopted.
He graduated from high school in Jefferson City, Missouri. He completed at least two years of college, and later worked as an office clerk in Jackson County, Missouri. In 1940 he lived at Fulton, Callaway County, Missouri, where he worked as an insect exterminator at a State Hospital. He registered for the draft at Fulton, Missouri on October 16, 1940. He was 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighed 160 pounds, and had gray eyes and brown hair.
He married Ethel Irene (Bellamy) Moke (later Buckle) (6 Dec 1917 – 16 Jan 1992) at Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri on June 29, 1941 He enlisted in the U.S. Army at Jefferson Barracks, Saint Louis, Missouri on April 30, 1942. His home of record was 2634 Paseo, Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri, his wife's address in 1944. By 1962 his parents lived at 211 2nd Street SW, New Philadelphia, Ohio.
He completed Army Air Forces navigator training in Class 43-18 at San Marcos Army Air Field, Texas, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on December 24, 1943. He was then assigned as navigator on the heavy bomber crew of Lt William J. Mowat in the 837th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group. The Mowat crew completed B-24 crew training with the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. Here is the crew roster when they deployed from Alamogordo:
B-24 #41-29523 – Crew #87-7-10
• Mowat, William J – 2/Lt – Pilot
• Mass, Rubie R – 2/Lt – Copilot
• Moke, Francis E – 2/Lt – Navigator
• Theriault, Franklyn R – 2/Lt – Bombardier
• Cunningham, James P – S/Sgt – Engineer
• Gassman, Henry D – Sgt – Radio Operator
• Frederick, Robert L – Sgt – Armorer/Gunner
• Reed, Carl W – Sgt – Engineer/Gunner
• Misiaszek, Ralph A – Sgt – Engineer/Gunner
• Young, Frederick R – M/Sgt – Passenger
According to a nephew of Lt Mowat, during the 487th Bomb Group's first stop at Herington, Kansas, Lt Mowat had a physical exam which revealed a condition that required surgery before he could go overseas. So the rest of the crew flew on to England without him. It is unknown who took Lt Mowat's place in B-24 41-29523 during the remainder of the deployment via the southern Atlantic ferry route.
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. After arrival in England, Lt Moke was reassigned as navigator on the crew of Lt Norman E. Gross in the 838th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group. Here is the roster of the Norman E. Gross crew on June 6, 1944:
B-24H 42-52629 – 838th Bomb Squadron
• Gross, Norman E – 1/Lt – Pilot – MIA
• Haskell, Willard D – 2/Lt – Copilot – MIA
• Moke, Francis E – 2/Lt – Navigator – MIA
• Levine, Milton – F/O – Bombardier – Buried at Sea
• Huebel Jr, Benjamin A – S/Sgt – Engineer – MIA
• Markowitz, Max I – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – MIA
• McWilliams, Charles A – Sgt – Nose Gunner – MIA
• Benson, Stanley J – Sgt – Top Gunner – MIA
• Allensworth, Harold O – Sgt – Ball Gunner – MIA
• Westhoff Jr, Henry B – S/Sgt – Tail Gunner – MIA
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. 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 Jersey and Guernsey. Lt Moke and his nine crewmates 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.
Remains of Flight Officer Levine, the bombardier, were found by the crew of the British ship HSL 192 (High Speed Launch 192) and were buried at sea, in the English Channel, on July 3, 1944. None of the other crew members was ever found.
Lt Moke and the other officers on the crew are memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery near Madingley, England. The enlisted men are memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery in France.
Lt Moke has another cenotaph at Evergreen Burial Park in New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, where his parents are buried.
He was awarded the Air Medal and Purple Heart.
Lt William J. Mowat, his original pilot, deployed overseas on June 28, 1944, and arrived in England on July 5, 1944. He was assigned to the 703rd Bomb Squadron, 445th Bomb Group, at Tibenham, England. He was killed in action during a mission to Kassel, Germany on September 27, 1944 (MACR 9572).
Sources:
1. 487th Bomb Group Association
2. 1910 US Census; Missouri; Cole County; Jefferson City; Ward 1. Moke, S A. 20 Apr 1910 (Samuel Adam Moke, his father)
3. 1920 US Census; Missouri; Cole County; Jefferson Township; Jefferson City. Moke, Samuel A. 9 Jan 1920 (his father)
4. 1930 US Census; Missouri; Cole County; Jefferson City. Moke, Sam A. Apr 1930 (his father)
5. 1940 US Census; Missouri; Cole County; Jefferson City; Ward 3; 2037 W Main. Moke, S A. 26 Apr 1940 (Samuel Adam Moke, his father)
6. 1940 US Census; Missouri; Callaway County; Fulton; Ward 4; State Hospital #1. Moke, Eugene F. 4 Apr 1940 (Francis Eugene Moke, employee)
7. American Battle Monuments Commission
8. Application for US Government Headstone or Marker: Moke, Francis Eugene, O-703773; born 1 Aug 1917; KIA 6 June 1944; REMAINS NONRECOVERABLE. Application signed by Samuel A. Moke at New Philadelphia, Ohio on 11 Jun 1962
9. Army Air Forces Collection of Mike Voisin. Departure Point: Class Book for Army Air Forces Navigator Class 43-18, San Marcos Army Air Field, Texas. 24 Dec 1943
10. (The) Daily Times. Local Flyer Is War Casualty; Lieut. Moke Missing In Action. New Philadelphia OH, 24 Jun 1944
11. de Jong, Ivo. The History of the 487th Bomb Group (H). Paducah KY: Turner Publishing, Oct 2004
12. Enlistment Record of Francis E. Moke
13. HQ, 359th Combat Crew Training School, Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. Special Orders Number 71. 11 March 1944 (487th Bomb Group flight echelon orders to proceed from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Herington, Kansas during the deployment to England)
14. HQ, U.S. Army Air Forces. Sunday Punch in Normandy: The Tactical Use of Heavy Bombardment in the Normandy Invasion (Center for Air Force History Wings at War Series, No. 2. Washington, D.C. 1992)
15. Marriage License and Certificate of Francis E. Moke, age 26, and Ethel I. Bellamy, age 23: Married at Jackson County, Missouri on 29 Jun 1941.
16. Mowat, Ronald W. Personal Communication. 2010–2013 (nephew of William J. Mowat)
17. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 5484
18. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 9572
19. U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). See Our Missing, World War II, World War II Summary
20. U.S. Department of the Army, Adjutant General Office, Technical Records Section. Individual Deceased Personnel File of Milton Levine, T-123014 (aka '293 File')
21. U.S. Rosters of World War II Dead, 1939–1945
22. U.S. War Department. World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel. Washington, D.C., June 1946
23. U.S. World War II Draft Cards, Young Men, 1940–1947 (ancestry.com): Francis Eugene Moke, age 23, registered for the draft at Fulton, Callaway County, MO on October 16, 1940. He was born at the town of California, Moniteau County, Missouri.
24. World War I Draft Registration of Samuel Adam Moke. 12 Sep 1918 (his father)
Research by:
Paul Webber
Find A Grave member ID 47577572
Last edited 4 Feb 2024
Second Lieutenant Francis Eugene Moke, Army serial number O-703773, was born at a town called California in Moniteau County, Missouri (about 20 miles west of Jefferson City) on August 1, 1917. (Date of birth is recorded on application for his headstone/cenotaph in Ohio; birth year is recorded as 1916 on his enlistment record, and 1918 on his draft card.) He signed his name Eugene Moke on his draft registration.
His parents were Samuel Adam 'Sam' Moke (9 Apr 1879 – 14 Jan 1968) and Nellie Maud Moke (1882 – 5 Sep 1968) (called Nellie or Nell), who were born in Ohio. His parents married about 1904, and by 1910 lived at Jefferson City, Missouri, where his father was a steam locomotive engineer for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. He had a sister, Genevieve 'Rusti' (Moke) Brown (29 Nov 1922 – 16 Sep 2019), born in Missouri, who his parents fostered or adopted.
He graduated from high school in Jefferson City, Missouri. He completed at least two years of college, and later worked as an office clerk in Jackson County, Missouri. In 1940 he lived at Fulton, Callaway County, Missouri, where he worked as an insect exterminator at a State Hospital. He registered for the draft at Fulton, Missouri on October 16, 1940. He was 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighed 160 pounds, and had gray eyes and brown hair.
He married Ethel Irene (Bellamy) Moke (later Buckle) (6 Dec 1917 – 16 Jan 1992) at Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri on June 29, 1941 He enlisted in the U.S. Army at Jefferson Barracks, Saint Louis, Missouri on April 30, 1942. His home of record was 2634 Paseo, Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri, his wife's address in 1944. By 1962 his parents lived at 211 2nd Street SW, New Philadelphia, Ohio.
He completed Army Air Forces navigator training in Class 43-18 at San Marcos Army Air Field, Texas, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on December 24, 1943. He was then assigned as navigator on the heavy bomber crew of Lt William J. Mowat in the 837th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group. The Mowat crew completed B-24 crew training with the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. Here is the crew roster when they deployed from Alamogordo:
B-24 #41-29523 – Crew #87-7-10
• Mowat, William J – 2/Lt – Pilot
• Mass, Rubie R – 2/Lt – Copilot
• Moke, Francis E – 2/Lt – Navigator
• Theriault, Franklyn R – 2/Lt – Bombardier
• Cunningham, James P – S/Sgt – Engineer
• Gassman, Henry D – Sgt – Radio Operator
• Frederick, Robert L – Sgt – Armorer/Gunner
• Reed, Carl W – Sgt – Engineer/Gunner
• Misiaszek, Ralph A – Sgt – Engineer/Gunner
• Young, Frederick R – M/Sgt – Passenger
According to a nephew of Lt Mowat, during the 487th Bomb Group's first stop at Herington, Kansas, Lt Mowat had a physical exam which revealed a condition that required surgery before he could go overseas. So the rest of the crew flew on to England without him. It is unknown who took Lt Mowat's place in B-24 41-29523 during the remainder of the deployment via the southern Atlantic ferry route.
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. After arrival in England, Lt Moke was reassigned as navigator on the crew of Lt Norman E. Gross in the 838th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group. Here is the roster of the Norman E. Gross crew on June 6, 1944:
B-24H 42-52629 – 838th Bomb Squadron
• Gross, Norman E – 1/Lt – Pilot – MIA
• Haskell, Willard D – 2/Lt – Copilot – MIA
• Moke, Francis E – 2/Lt – Navigator – MIA
• Levine, Milton – F/O – Bombardier – Buried at Sea
• Huebel Jr, Benjamin A – S/Sgt – Engineer – MIA
• Markowitz, Max I – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – MIA
• McWilliams, Charles A – Sgt – Nose Gunner – MIA
• Benson, Stanley J – Sgt – Top Gunner – MIA
• Allensworth, Harold O – Sgt – Ball Gunner – MIA
• Westhoff Jr, Henry B – S/Sgt – Tail Gunner – MIA
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. 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 Jersey and Guernsey. Lt Moke and his nine crewmates 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.
Remains of Flight Officer Levine, the bombardier, were found by the crew of the British ship HSL 192 (High Speed Launch 192) and were buried at sea, in the English Channel, on July 3, 1944. None of the other crew members was ever found.
Lt Moke and the other officers on the crew are memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery near Madingley, England. The enlisted men are memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery in France.
Lt Moke has another cenotaph at Evergreen Burial Park in New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, where his parents are buried.
He was awarded the Air Medal and Purple Heart.
Lt William J. Mowat, his original pilot, deployed overseas on June 28, 1944, and arrived in England on July 5, 1944. He was assigned to the 703rd Bomb Squadron, 445th Bomb Group, at Tibenham, England. He was killed in action during a mission to Kassel, Germany on September 27, 1944 (MACR 9572).
Sources:
1. 487th Bomb Group Association
2. 1910 US Census; Missouri; Cole County; Jefferson City; Ward 1. Moke, S A. 20 Apr 1910 (Samuel Adam Moke, his father)
3. 1920 US Census; Missouri; Cole County; Jefferson Township; Jefferson City. Moke, Samuel A. 9 Jan 1920 (his father)
4. 1930 US Census; Missouri; Cole County; Jefferson City. Moke, Sam A. Apr 1930 (his father)
5. 1940 US Census; Missouri; Cole County; Jefferson City; Ward 3; 2037 W Main. Moke, S A. 26 Apr 1940 (Samuel Adam Moke, his father)
6. 1940 US Census; Missouri; Callaway County; Fulton; Ward 4; State Hospital #1. Moke, Eugene F. 4 Apr 1940 (Francis Eugene Moke, employee)
7. American Battle Monuments Commission
8. Application for US Government Headstone or Marker: Moke, Francis Eugene, O-703773; born 1 Aug 1917; KIA 6 June 1944; REMAINS NONRECOVERABLE. Application signed by Samuel A. Moke at New Philadelphia, Ohio on 11 Jun 1962
9. Army Air Forces Collection of Mike Voisin. Departure Point: Class Book for Army Air Forces Navigator Class 43-18, San Marcos Army Air Field, Texas. 24 Dec 1943
10. (The) Daily Times. Local Flyer Is War Casualty; Lieut. Moke Missing In Action. New Philadelphia OH, 24 Jun 1944
11. de Jong, Ivo. The History of the 487th Bomb Group (H). Paducah KY: Turner Publishing, Oct 2004
12. Enlistment Record of Francis E. Moke
13. HQ, 359th Combat Crew Training School, Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. Special Orders Number 71. 11 March 1944 (487th Bomb Group flight echelon orders to proceed from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Herington, Kansas during the deployment to England)
14. HQ, U.S. Army Air Forces. Sunday Punch in Normandy: The Tactical Use of Heavy Bombardment in the Normandy Invasion (Center for Air Force History Wings at War Series, No. 2. Washington, D.C. 1992)
15. Marriage License and Certificate of Francis E. Moke, age 26, and Ethel I. Bellamy, age 23: Married at Jackson County, Missouri on 29 Jun 1941.
16. Mowat, Ronald W. Personal Communication. 2010–2013 (nephew of William J. Mowat)
17. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 5484
18. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 9572
19. U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). See Our Missing, World War II, World War II Summary
20. U.S. Department of the Army, Adjutant General Office, Technical Records Section. Individual Deceased Personnel File of Milton Levine, T-123014 (aka '293 File')
21. U.S. Rosters of World War II Dead, 1939–1945
22. U.S. War Department. World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel. Washington, D.C., June 1946
23. U.S. World War II Draft Cards, Young Men, 1940–1947 (ancestry.com): Francis Eugene Moke, age 23, registered for the draft at Fulton, Callaway County, MO on October 16, 1940. He was born at the town of California, Moniteau County, Missouri.
24. World War I Draft Registration of Samuel Adam Moke. 12 Sep 1918 (his father)
Research by:
Paul Webber
Find A Grave member ID 47577572
Last edited 4 Feb 2024
His parents were Samuel Adam 'Sam' Moke (9 Apr 1879 – 14 Jan 1968) and Nellie Maud Moke (1882 – 5 Sep 1968) (called Nellie or Nell), who were born in Ohio. His parents married about 1904, and by 1910 lived at Jefferson City, Missouri, where his father was a steam locomotive engineer for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. He had a sister, Genevieve 'Rusti' (Moke) Brown (29 Nov 1922 – 16 Sep 2019), born in Missouri, who his parents fostered or adopted.
He graduated from high school in Jefferson City, Missouri. He completed at least two years of college, and later worked as an office clerk in Jackson County, Missouri. In 1940 he lived at Fulton, Callaway County, Missouri, where he worked as an insect exterminator at a State Hospital. He registered for the draft at Fulton, Missouri on October 16, 1940. He was 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighed 160 pounds, and had gray eyes and brown hair.
He married Ethel Irene (Bellamy) Moke (later Buckle) (6 Dec 1917 – 16 Jan 1992) at Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri on June 29, 1941 He enlisted in the U.S. Army at Jefferson Barracks, Saint Louis, Missouri on April 30, 1942. His home of record was 2634 Paseo, Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri, his wife's address in 1944. By 1962 his parents lived at 211 2nd Street SW, New Philadelphia, Ohio.
He completed Army Air Forces navigator training in Class 43-18 at San Marcos Army Air Field, Texas, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on December 24, 1943. He was then assigned as navigator on the heavy bomber crew of Lt William J. Mowat in the 837th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group. The Mowat crew completed B-24 crew training with the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. Here is the crew roster when they deployed from Alamogordo:
B-24 #41-29523 – Crew #87-7-10
• Mowat, William J – 2/Lt – Pilot
• Mass, Rubie R – 2/Lt – Copilot
• Moke, Francis E – 2/Lt – Navigator
• Theriault, Franklyn R – 2/Lt – Bombardier
• Cunningham, James P – S/Sgt – Engineer
• Gassman, Henry D – Sgt – Radio Operator
• Frederick, Robert L – Sgt – Armorer/Gunner
• Reed, Carl W – Sgt – Engineer/Gunner
• Misiaszek, Ralph A – Sgt – Engineer/Gunner
• Young, Frederick R – M/Sgt – Passenger
According to a nephew of Lt Mowat, during the 487th Bomb Group's first stop at Herington, Kansas, Lt Mowat had a physical exam which revealed a condition that required surgery before he could go overseas. So the rest of the crew flew on to England without him. It is unknown who took Lt Mowat's place in B-24 41-29523 during the remainder of the deployment via the southern Atlantic ferry route.
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. After arrival in England, Lt Moke was reassigned as navigator on the crew of Lt Norman E. Gross in the 838th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group. Here is the roster of the Norman E. Gross crew on June 6, 1944:
B-24H 42-52629 – 838th Bomb Squadron
• Gross, Norman E – 1/Lt – Pilot – MIA
• Haskell, Willard D – 2/Lt – Copilot – MIA
• Moke, Francis E – 2/Lt – Navigator – MIA
• Levine, Milton – F/O – Bombardier – Buried at Sea
• Huebel Jr, Benjamin A – S/Sgt – Engineer – MIA
• Markowitz, Max I – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – MIA
• McWilliams, Charles A – Sgt – Nose Gunner – MIA
• Benson, Stanley J – Sgt – Top Gunner – MIA
• Allensworth, Harold O – Sgt – Ball Gunner – MIA
• Westhoff Jr, Henry B – S/Sgt – Tail Gunner – MIA
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. 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 Jersey and Guernsey. Lt Moke and his nine crewmates 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.
Remains of Flight Officer Levine, the bombardier, were found by the crew of the British ship HSL 192 (High Speed Launch 192) and were buried at sea, in the English Channel, on July 3, 1944. None of the other crew members was ever found.
Lt Moke and the other officers on the crew are memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery near Madingley, England. The enlisted men are memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery in France.
Lt Moke has another cenotaph at Evergreen Burial Park in New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, where his parents are buried.
He was awarded the Air Medal and Purple Heart.
Lt William J. Mowat, his original pilot, deployed overseas on June 28, 1944, and arrived in England on July 5, 1944. He was assigned to the 703rd Bomb Squadron, 445th Bomb Group, at Tibenham, England. He was killed in action during a mission to Kassel, Germany on September 27, 1944 (MACR 9572).
Sources:
1. 487th Bomb Group Association
2. 1910 US Census; Missouri; Cole County; Jefferson City; Ward 1. Moke, S A. 20 Apr 1910 (Samuel Adam Moke, his father)
3. 1920 US Census; Missouri; Cole County; Jefferson Township; Jefferson City. Moke, Samuel A. 9 Jan 1920 (his father)
4. 1930 US Census; Missouri; Cole County; Jefferson City. Moke, Sam A. Apr 1930 (his father)
5. 1940 US Census; Missouri; Cole County; Jefferson City; Ward 3; 2037 W Main. Moke, S A. 26 Apr 1940 (Samuel Adam Moke, his father)
6. 1940 US Census; Missouri; Callaway County; Fulton; Ward 4; State Hospital #1. Moke, Eugene F. 4 Apr 1940 (Francis Eugene Moke, employee)
7. American Battle Monuments Commission
8. Application for US Government Headstone or Marker: Moke, Francis Eugene, O-703773; born 1 Aug 1917; KIA 6 June 1944; REMAINS NONRECOVERABLE. Application signed by Samuel A. Moke at New Philadelphia, Ohio on 11 Jun 1962
9. Army Air Forces Collection of Mike Voisin. Departure Point: Class Book for Army Air Forces Navigator Class 43-18, San Marcos Army Air Field, Texas. 24 Dec 1943
10. (The) Daily Times. Local Flyer Is War Casualty; Lieut. Moke Missing In Action. New Philadelphia OH, 24 Jun 1944
11. de Jong, Ivo. The History of the 487th Bomb Group (H). Paducah KY: Turner Publishing, Oct 2004
12. Enlistment Record of Francis E. Moke
13. HQ, 359th Combat Crew Training School, Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. Special Orders Number 71. 11 March 1944 (487th Bomb Group flight echelon orders to proceed from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Herington, Kansas during the deployment to England)
14. HQ, U.S. Army Air Forces. Sunday Punch in Normandy: The Tactical Use of Heavy Bombardment in the Normandy Invasion (Center for Air Force History Wings at War Series, No. 2. Washington, D.C. 1992)
15. Marriage License and Certificate of Francis E. Moke, age 26, and Ethel I. Bellamy, age 23: Married at Jackson County, Missouri on 29 Jun 1941.
16. Mowat, Ronald W. Personal Communication. 2010–2013 (nephew of William J. Mowat)
17. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 5484
18. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 9572
19. U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). See Our Missing, World War II, World War II Summary
20. U.S. Department of the Army, Adjutant General Office, Technical Records Section. Individual Deceased Personnel File of Milton Levine, T-123014 (aka '293 File')
21. U.S. Rosters of World War II Dead, 1939–1945
22. U.S. War Department. World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel. Washington, D.C., June 1946
23. U.S. World War II Draft Cards, Young Men, 1940–1947 (ancestry.com): Francis Eugene Moke, age 23, registered for the draft at Fulton, Callaway County, MO on October 16, 1940. He was born at the town of California, Moniteau County, Missouri.
24. World War I Draft Registration of Samuel Adam Moke. 12 Sep 1918 (his father)
Research by:
Paul Webber
Find A Grave member ID 47577572
Last edited 4 Feb 2024
Inscription
MOKE FRANCIS E • 2 LT • 838 BOMB SQ • 487 BOMB GROUP(H) • MISSOURI
Gravesite Details
Entered the service from Missouri.
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Sponsored by Paul Webber
- Maintained by: Paul Webber
- Originally Created by: War Graves
- Added: Aug 6, 2010
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Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56292597/francis_eugene-moke: accessed ), memorial page for 2Lt Francis Eugene Moke (1 Aug 1917–6 Jun 1944), Find a Grave Memorial ID 56292597, citing Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England; Maintained by Paul Webber (contributor 47577572).
