Donald R. Adams, son of Frank and Beatrice (née Braut) Adams of Manhattan, New York was born in 1921. He was a resident of Clinton County New York when he enlisted and was a member of the 717th Bomber Squadron, 449th Bomber Group. Staff Sergeant Adams, serial number 33376690, the nose/turret gunner, was killed in a mid-flight collision – one of three aircraft involved – on April 2, 1944. He was awarded the Air Medal and Purple Heart and interred at Plot C Row 29 Grave 3 at the Ardennes American Cemetery at Neupré (Neuville-en-Condroz), near Liège, Belgium.
A member of the crew of the "Peerless Clipper" was named for the sponsoring company, Peerless Woolen Mills, Chattanooga, Tennessee. Demise: Lost in a 3-aircraft, mid-air collision over Steyr, Austria, April 2, 1944 with Kury's crew aboard. 11 KIA. Tail #39; serial #42-29216. Other aircraft involved in the mid-air collision were "Superstitious Al-O-Wishus" (Ship #45) and "Miss Behavin" (Ship #43). Of the 31 men in the three aircraft, 30 were KIA and 1 POW.
Circumstances of Loss: Over Steyr, Austria, on April 2, April 1944, the 449th was attacked by some 60 to 70 enemy fighters. The enemy fighters aggressively pressed home their attacks with rockets, cannons, and aerial bombs. In the 'B' section of the 449th formation, disaster struck with stunning swiftness. "At 1235, over the target of Steyr, three B-24s collided, one sliding into another sideways. Both hit the front of a third plane and tore off the nose right in back of [the] pilot seat." Two of the ships "broke in pieces and fell down, no chutes being seen." The crew of the third ship began bailing out. Seven chutes (one on fire) were reportedly seen and the ship crashed five miles south of the target. By at least one account, the aircraft which initially lost control "sliding into another sideways" was struck by an aerial bomb dropped from an enemy aircraft above the 449th formation. This was never confirmed. Regardless of what started this chain reaction of aircraft crashing into each other, ship #45, ship #39, and ship #43 were gone in less time than it takes to read about it.
Sources: U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946; World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas; WWI, WWII, and Korean War Casualty Listings; B-24 Best Web; and http://www.norfield-publishing.com/449th/aircraft/717ac.htm; Missing Air Crew Report #4024.
~~~
Additional biographical information, with some differences to that which is posted above: "Staff Sergeant Donald Ray Adams, born in 1921, was the son of Daniel Francis "Frank" Adams and Beatrice Mary (Brown) Adams of Plattsburgh, Clinton County, New York. Plattsburgh is on Lake Champlain in extreme northeastern upstate New York 66 miles south of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In the 1930 census 9-year-old Donald is living with his parents and brother Francis at 458 West 40th in Manhattan. His father is a chauffeur.
Donald enlisted 23 Sep 1942 in Baltimore. He'd had 1 year of high school and was single without dependents. He was 5'4" and weighed 147 lbs. The 449th flew B-24s from Grottaglie Field near Taranto, Italy, from January 1944 until the end of the war in Europe in May 1945. Sgt Adams was a nose turret gunner and radio operator. " - Information provided by Andy, April 2, 2021.
~~~
Service Number #33376690 Crash place: WINDISCHGARSTEN, OBERÖSTERREICH, AUSTRIA DEATH PLACE: WINDISCHGARSTEN, AUSTRIA SOURCE: MISSING IN ACTION FAILED TO RETURN MEMORIAL BOOK NICOLE-MELANIE GOLL GEORG HOFFMANN WWW.BUNDESHEER. AT ISBN : 978-3-9504258-0-2. [last item] - Contributed by Nico..!, via email December 1, 2023.
A member of the crew of the "Peerless Clipper" was named for the sponsoring company, Peerless Woolen Mills, Chattanooga, Tennessee. Demise: Lost in a 3-aircraft, mid-air collision over Steyr, Austria, April 2, 1944 with Kury's crew aboard. 11 KIA. Tail #39; serial #42-29216. Other aircraft involved in the mid-air collision were "Superstitious Al-O-Wishus" (Ship #45) and "Miss Behavin" (Ship #43). Of the 31 men in the three aircraft, 30 were KIA and 1 POW.
Circumstances of Loss: Over Steyr, Austria, on April 2, April 1944, the 449th was attacked by some 60 to 70 enemy fighters. The enemy fighters aggressively pressed home their attacks with rockets, cannons, and aerial bombs. In the 'B' section of the 449th formation, disaster struck with stunning swiftness. "At 1235, over the target of Steyr, three B-24s collided, one sliding into another sideways. Both hit the front of a third plane and tore off the nose right in back of [the] pilot seat." Two of the ships "broke in pieces and fell down, no chutes being seen." The crew of the third ship began bailing out. Seven chutes (one on fire) were reportedly seen and the ship crashed five miles south of the target. By at least one account, the aircraft which initially lost control "sliding into another sideways" was struck by an aerial bomb dropped from an enemy aircraft above the 449th formation. This was never confirmed. Regardless of what started this chain reaction of aircraft crashing into each other, ship #45, ship #39, and ship #43 were gone in less time than it takes to read about it.
Sources: U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946; World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas; WWI, WWII, and Korean War Casualty Listings; B-24 Best Web; and http://www.norfield-publishing.com/449th/aircraft/717ac.htm; Missing Air Crew Report #4024.
~~~
Additional biographical information, with some differences to that which is posted above: "Staff Sergeant Donald Ray Adams, born in 1921, was the son of Daniel Francis "Frank" Adams and Beatrice Mary (Brown) Adams of Plattsburgh, Clinton County, New York. Plattsburgh is on Lake Champlain in extreme northeastern upstate New York 66 miles south of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In the 1930 census 9-year-old Donald is living with his parents and brother Francis at 458 West 40th in Manhattan. His father is a chauffeur.
Donald enlisted 23 Sep 1942 in Baltimore. He'd had 1 year of high school and was single without dependents. He was 5'4" and weighed 147 lbs. The 449th flew B-24s from Grottaglie Field near Taranto, Italy, from January 1944 until the end of the war in Europe in May 1945. Sgt Adams was a nose turret gunner and radio operator. " - Information provided by Andy, April 2, 2021.
~~~
Service Number #33376690 Crash place: WINDISCHGARSTEN, OBERÖSTERREICH, AUSTRIA DEATH PLACE: WINDISCHGARSTEN, AUSTRIA SOURCE: MISSING IN ACTION FAILED TO RETURN MEMORIAL BOOK NICOLE-MELANIE GOLL GEORG HOFFMANN WWW.BUNDESHEER. AT ISBN : 978-3-9504258-0-2. [last item] - Contributed by Nico..!, via email December 1, 2023.
Donald R. Adams, son of Frank and Beatrice (née Braut) Adams of Manhattan, New York was born in 1921. He was a resident of Clinton County New York when he enlisted and was a member of the 717th Bomber Squadron, 449th Bomber Group. Staff Sergeant Adams, serial number 33376690, the nose/turret gunner, was killed in a mid-flight collision – one of three aircraft involved – on April 2, 1944. He was awarded the Air Medal and Purple Heart and interred at Plot C Row 29 Grave 3 at the Ardennes American Cemetery at Neupré (Neuville-en-Condroz), near Liège, Belgium.
A member of the crew of the "Peerless Clipper" was named for the sponsoring company, Peerless Woolen Mills, Chattanooga, Tennessee. Demise: Lost in a 3-aircraft, mid-air collision over Steyr, Austria, April 2, 1944 with Kury's crew aboard. 11 KIA. Tail #39; serial #42-29216. Other aircraft involved in the mid-air collision were "Superstitious Al-O-Wishus" (Ship #45) and "Miss Behavin" (Ship #43). Of the 31 men in the three aircraft, 30 were KIA and 1 POW.
Circumstances of Loss: Over Steyr, Austria, on April 2, April 1944, the 449th was attacked by some 60 to 70 enemy fighters. The enemy fighters aggressively pressed home their attacks with rockets, cannons, and aerial bombs. In the 'B' section of the 449th formation, disaster struck with stunning swiftness. "At 1235, over the target of Steyr, three B-24s collided, one sliding into another sideways. Both hit the front of a third plane and tore off the nose right in back of [the] pilot seat." Two of the ships "broke in pieces and fell down, no chutes being seen." The crew of the third ship began bailing out. Seven chutes (one on fire) were reportedly seen and the ship crashed five miles south of the target. By at least one account, the aircraft which initially lost control "sliding into another sideways" was struck by an aerial bomb dropped from an enemy aircraft above the 449th formation. This was never confirmed. Regardless of what started this chain reaction of aircraft crashing into each other, ship #45, ship #39, and ship #43 were gone in less time than it takes to read about it.
Sources: U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946; World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas; WWI, WWII, and Korean War Casualty Listings; B-24 Best Web; and http://www.norfield-publishing.com/449th/aircraft/717ac.htm; Missing Air Crew Report #4024.
~~~
Additional biographical information, with some differences to that which is posted above: "Staff Sergeant Donald Ray Adams, born in 1921, was the son of Daniel Francis "Frank" Adams and Beatrice Mary (Brown) Adams of Plattsburgh, Clinton County, New York. Plattsburgh is on Lake Champlain in extreme northeastern upstate New York 66 miles south of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In the 1930 census 9-year-old Donald is living with his parents and brother Francis at 458 West 40th in Manhattan. His father is a chauffeur.
Donald enlisted 23 Sep 1942 in Baltimore. He'd had 1 year of high school and was single without dependents. He was 5'4" and weighed 147 lbs. The 449th flew B-24s from Grottaglie Field near Taranto, Italy, from January 1944 until the end of the war in Europe in May 1945. Sgt Adams was a nose turret gunner and radio operator. " - Information provided by Andy, April 2, 2021.
~~~
Service Number #33376690 Crash place: WINDISCHGARSTEN, OBERÖSTERREICH, AUSTRIA DEATH PLACE: WINDISCHGARSTEN, AUSTRIA SOURCE: MISSING IN ACTION FAILED TO RETURN MEMORIAL BOOK NICOLE-MELANIE GOLL GEORG HOFFMANN WWW.BUNDESHEER. AT ISBN : 978-3-9504258-0-2. [last item] - Contributed by Nico..!, via email December 1, 2023.
A member of the crew of the "Peerless Clipper" was named for the sponsoring company, Peerless Woolen Mills, Chattanooga, Tennessee. Demise: Lost in a 3-aircraft, mid-air collision over Steyr, Austria, April 2, 1944 with Kury's crew aboard. 11 KIA. Tail #39; serial #42-29216. Other aircraft involved in the mid-air collision were "Superstitious Al-O-Wishus" (Ship #45) and "Miss Behavin" (Ship #43). Of the 31 men in the three aircraft, 30 were KIA and 1 POW.
Circumstances of Loss: Over Steyr, Austria, on April 2, April 1944, the 449th was attacked by some 60 to 70 enemy fighters. The enemy fighters aggressively pressed home their attacks with rockets, cannons, and aerial bombs. In the 'B' section of the 449th formation, disaster struck with stunning swiftness. "At 1235, over the target of Steyr, three B-24s collided, one sliding into another sideways. Both hit the front of a third plane and tore off the nose right in back of [the] pilot seat." Two of the ships "broke in pieces and fell down, no chutes being seen." The crew of the third ship began bailing out. Seven chutes (one on fire) were reportedly seen and the ship crashed five miles south of the target. By at least one account, the aircraft which initially lost control "sliding into another sideways" was struck by an aerial bomb dropped from an enemy aircraft above the 449th formation. This was never confirmed. Regardless of what started this chain reaction of aircraft crashing into each other, ship #45, ship #39, and ship #43 were gone in less time than it takes to read about it.
Sources: U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946; World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas; WWI, WWII, and Korean War Casualty Listings; B-24 Best Web; and http://www.norfield-publishing.com/449th/aircraft/717ac.htm; Missing Air Crew Report #4024.
~~~
Additional biographical information, with some differences to that which is posted above: "Staff Sergeant Donald Ray Adams, born in 1921, was the son of Daniel Francis "Frank" Adams and Beatrice Mary (Brown) Adams of Plattsburgh, Clinton County, New York. Plattsburgh is on Lake Champlain in extreme northeastern upstate New York 66 miles south of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In the 1930 census 9-year-old Donald is living with his parents and brother Francis at 458 West 40th in Manhattan. His father is a chauffeur.
Donald enlisted 23 Sep 1942 in Baltimore. He'd had 1 year of high school and was single without dependents. He was 5'4" and weighed 147 lbs. The 449th flew B-24s from Grottaglie Field near Taranto, Italy, from January 1944 until the end of the war in Europe in May 1945. Sgt Adams was a nose turret gunner and radio operator. " - Information provided by Andy, April 2, 2021.
~~~
Service Number #33376690 Crash place: WINDISCHGARSTEN, OBERÖSTERREICH, AUSTRIA DEATH PLACE: WINDISCHGARSTEN, AUSTRIA SOURCE: MISSING IN ACTION FAILED TO RETURN MEMORIAL BOOK NICOLE-MELANIE GOLL GEORG HOFFMANN WWW.BUNDESHEER. AT ISBN : 978-3-9504258-0-2. [last item] - Contributed by Nico..!, via email December 1, 2023.
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DONALD R. ADAMS
S. SGT 717 BOMB SQ 449 BOMB GP (H)
NEW YORK APR 2 1944
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