Second Lieutenant Ely N. Friedman, Army serial number O-723047, was born in The Bronx, New York City, New York on August 14, 1916. His parents were Adolph Friedman (abt 1874 – unk), who was born in Austria and immigrated to America about 1886; and Sarah H. Friedman (abt 1888 – unk), who was born in Russian Poland and immigrated to America about 1904. His father owned a clothing business. In 1920 the family lived in The Bronx, New York. His father died by 1930. In 1930 he lived with his widowed mother and his mother's mother in Brooklyn, New York. By 1935 his mother was an inmate at the Creedmoor State Hospital in Queens Village, Long Island, New York.

He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn, New York in June 1933. His photo in the school's 1933 EMBERS yearbook is accompanied by this entry:

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ELY FRIEDMAN

432 New Lots Avenue

Philatelic Club, Chess Club, Physics Club.

He knows he knows.

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He completed at least one year of college and married in 1939. His wife was Beatrice Florence (Kliger) Friedman (later Hansel) (2 Jul 1917 – 26 Oct 2007). In 1940 he and his wife lived in Washington, D.C. and he worked as a clerk for the Railroad Retirement Board. He registered for the draft at Washington, D.C. on October 16, 1940. He was 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighed 152 pounds, and had brown hair and brown eyes. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Chicago, Illinois on November 28, 1942. In 1944 his wife lived at 72 East 92nd Street, Brooklyn, New York.

He completed Army Air Forces navigator training in Class 44-06 at Selman Field, Monroe, Louisiana, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on April 22, 1944. He was then assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt James S. Warner. The Warner crew completed B-17 crew training at Ardmore, Oklahoma and was assigned to the 839th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group, at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. The Warner crew arrived in England by July 24, 1944, and become part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.

Lt Friedman was later assigned as navigator on the lead crew of Lt Joseph A. Duncan in the 839th Bomb Squadron. Here is Lt Duncan's crew roster on August 25, 1944:

B-17G 43-37980 – 839th Bomb Squadron

• Duncan, Joseph A – 1/Lt – Pilot – POW

• Rogers, Winston S – Capt – Air Leader – KIA

• Jones, Richard L – Capt – Pilotage Navigator – KIA

• Friedman, Ely N – 2/Lt – Navigator – KIA

• Dolan, James J – 2/Lt – Bombardier – KIA

• Henahan, Joseph W – T/Sgt – Engineer – KIA

• Brown, Gerard F – T/Sgt – Radio operator – KIA

• Everett, Lloyd E – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – KIA

• Brown, Rhodes L – S/Sgt – Waist Gunner – KIA

• Wolyn, Monroe S – S/Sgt – Waist Gunner – POW

• Hood Jr, James – 2/Lt – Tail Gunner – MIA

On August 25, 1944, the Duncan crew took off from Lavenham Airfield in B-17G 43-37980, the deputy lead aircraft of the Lead Squadron, on a mission to bomb the German airfield at Rechlin, Germany. Captain Winston S. Rogers flew in the copilot position as Air Leader. Copilot Lt James Hood Jr moved to the tail gunner position as Officer Tail Gunner and formation observer. Lt Friedman and eight of his crewmates were killed in action when the aircraft was hit by flak just after bombs away over Rechlin, Germany. The right outer wing was lost, and the burning aircraft went into a spin, exploded, and crashed in Muritz Lake (Müritzsee) near Boek, Germany, north of the target. Two crew members, 1/Lt Joseph Anderson Duncan and S/Sgt Monroe Stanley Wolyn, were blown clear and survived. Lt Hood apparently never left his position in the tail, and went down with the aircraft wreckage in Muritz Lake.

The body of Lt Friedman was recovered on the shore of Muritz Lake on August 29, 1944. His remains and those of seven of his crewmates were buried initially at the Retzow Cemetery in Retzow, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, a short distance north of Rechlin Airfield. Lt Hood's body was never found, and his remains were deemed nonrecoverable in August 1949.

The deaths of Lt Friedman and 75 other servicemen from Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island, New York were reported in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle on Friday, December 15, 1944.

Lt Friedman's remains were disinterred from Retzow Cemetery on July 17, 1947, moved to the U.S. Military Cemetery at Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium, and reinterred there in Plot BB, Row 3, Grave 69. After final confirmation of identity, his remains were permanently interred at then renamed Ardennes American Cemetery, Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium on April 5, 1949. He is buried in Plot B, Row 37, Grave 5.

Sources:

1. 49 Squadron Association. Retzow Cemetery in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

2. 487th Bomb Group Association

3. 487th Bomb Group Formation Diagram for 25 Aug 1944.

4. 1920 US Census; New York; Bronx County. Friedman, Adolph. Jan 1920 (his father)

5. 1930 US Census; New York; Kings County; New York City; Borough of Brooklyn. Friedman, Sarah. 15 Apr 1930 (his mother)

6. 1940 US Census; New York; Queens County; New York City; Borough of Queens; Creedmoor State Hospital. Friedman, Sarah. 14 Apr 1940 (his mother)

7. 1940 US Census; District of Columbia; Washington. Friedman, Eli N [sic]. 8 Apr 1940

8. American Battle Monuments Commission

9. Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn NY).

     • 680 Graduates Get Jefferson High Diplomas. Thu, 29 Jun 1933, p 14

     • 76 Local Soldiers Killed on 5 Fronts. Fri, 15 Dec 1944, p 20

10. de Jong, Ivo. The History of the 487th Bomb Group (H). Paducah KY: Turner Publishing, Oct 2004

11. Enlistment Record of Ely N. Friedman

12. Gates, Roy B. and Mansfield, Richard H. Selman Field 1942 – 1946. Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing, 1998, p 55

13. New York City, New York Birth Index, 1910–1965 (ancestry.com)

14. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 8470

15. U.S. Department of the Army, Adjutant General Office, Technical Records Section. Individual Deceased Personnel File of Ely N. Friedman, O-723047 (aka '293 File')

16. U.S. Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942–1949 (ancestry.com)

17. U.S. National World War II Memorial Registry. World War II Honoree Ely N. Friedman (honored by Beatrice Hansel, his widow)

18. U.S. National World War II Memorial Registry. World War II Honoree Ely N. Friedman (honored by Ms. Helen Altschuler, his sister)

19. U.S. School Yearbooks, 1900–1999 (ancestry.com): EMBERS [yearbook]. Brooklyn NY: Thomas Jefferson High School, 1933

20. U.S. War Department. World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel. Washington, D.C., June 1946

21. U.S. World War II Draft Cards, Young Men, 1940–1947 (ancestry.com)

Research by:

Paul Webber

Find A Grave member ID 47577572

Last edited 3 Mar 2024