Technical Sergeant John Edward Snead II, Army serial number 34163143, was born at Guntersville, Marshall County, Alabama, on January 2, 1920. His parents were John Edward Snead I (1890 – 30 Jan 1967) and Lena (Phillips) Snead (11 Dec 1892 – 15 Sep 1968), who were born in Alabama. His parents married at Guntersville, Alabama on November 21, 1917.
By 1940 he moved from Guntersville to Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, where he enrolled at Howard College. His freshman class photo in the school's 1941 Entre Nous yearbook is accompanied by this entry:
---------------
JOHN SNEAD — Football, 1
---------------
He registered for the draft at Birmingham, Alabama on July 1, 1941. He was 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighed 178 pounds, and had blue eyes and blonde hair. At that time he lived in the Powderly section of Birmingham and worked for Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company at its nearby Ishkooda Mine #13, an iron ore mine. He was single, had completed one year of college, and worked as a semiskilled miner when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Fort McPherson, Georgia on November 12, 1941. His home of record was 285 North 54th Street, Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, his father's address in 1944.
He married Mary Ethel (Morgan) Snead (4 Apr 1923 – 23 Feb 1999) at Birmingham, Alabama on July 4, 1942. At that time he was assigned to the 79th Bomb Squadron at Cunningham Field, Cherry Point, North Carolina. John and Mary Snead had a son, John Edward Snead III (12 Nov 1944 – 9 Mar 1971), who was born about five months after his father's death.
On November 29, 1942 the 79th Bomb Squadron (Medium) of the 45th Bomb Group was designated the 8th Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy) of the 26th Antisubmarine Wing. The 26th Antisubmarine Wing was headquartered at Miami, Florida. Its Squadrons flew B-24 antisubmarine patrols from bases at Miami, Florida; Havana, Cuba; Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico; Waller Field, Trinidad; Atkinson Field, British Guyana; Zandery Field, Suriname; Brazil (Belem, Fortaleza, and Natal); and Wideawake Field, Ascension Island.
On October 1, 1943 the 8th Antisubmarine Squadron was designated the 839th Bomb Squadron, and was assigned to the newly formed 487th Bomb Group. The Squadron moved temporarily to Pueblo, Colorado, and on November 17, 1943 moved to the 487th Bomb Group's base at Bruning Army Air Base, Nebraska. In December 1943 the 839th Bomb Squadron moved with the 487th Bomb Group to Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. At Alamogordo some of the veterans of antisubmarine patrol were assigned to the other three Squadrons in the Group. T/Sgt Snead, then a rated flight engineer and aerial gunner, was assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Joseph S. Van Dyke in the 836th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group.
The Van Dyke crew completed B-24 crew training with the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. They flew B-24H 41-28822 via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived in England by mid-April 1944. 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. Here is Lt Van Dyke's crew roster on June 23, 1944:
B-24H 41-28822 – 836th Bomb Squadron
• Van Dyke, Joseph S – 2/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Thies, Merle J – 2/Lt – Copilot – KIA
• Zebora, Rudolph J – 2/Lt – Navigator – KIA
• Kraus, Leslie E – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA
• Glenn, James R – Sgt – Ball Turret – KIA
• Crossley, Charles H – S/Sgt – Top Turret – KIA
• Spindler, William H – Sgt – Tail Turret – KIA
• Rupe, Bradford A – Sgt – Nose Turret – KIA
• Snead, John E – T/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
T/Sgt Snead and his eight crewmates were killed in action on June 23, 1944 when their aircraft, B-24H 41-28822, was shot down near Brussels, Belgium after bombing an airfield at Juvincourt, France. The aircraft was hit by flak in the open bomb bay and exploded in the air. It fell in pieces in the meadow of Scheutbospark (Parc du Scheutbos) near the intersection of Kasterlindenstraat (Rue Kasterlinden) and Palokestraat (Rue Paloke), at approximately 50.8539°N, 4.2871°E. This is within the town limits of Sint-Jans-Molenbeek (Molenbeek-Saint-Jean), a western suburb of Brussels, Belgium.
He was buried initially at Evere Cemetery in Brussels, Belgium. After the war, his remains were reinterred at Ardennes American Cemetery, Belgium, in Plot B, Row 40, Grave 1.
His widow remarried after the war. Mary Ethel (Morgan) Snead (4 Apr 1923 – 23 Feb 1999) married Bedford Forrest Kuykendall (13 Sep 1920 – 15 Mar 1979) at Woodlawn Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama on April 25, 1946.
A memorial to the Joseph S. Van Dyke crew was dedicated at Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Belgium on June 23, 2021. It is located near the crash site in the meadow of Scheutbos. The memorial was made possible through the efforts of Mario Baudewyns of Dilbeek, Belgium and officials of the municipality Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Belgium.
Sources:
1. 8th Antisubmarine Squadron Lineage (formerly 79th Bomb Squadron)
2. 487th Bomb Group Association
3. Alabama, County Marriages, 1809-1950:
• Marriage of John Snead and Lena Phillips at Guntersville, Alabama on 21 Nov 1917 (his parents)
• Marriage of John Edward Snead Jr [sic] and Mary Ethel Morgan at Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama on 4 Jul 1942
• Marriage of Mary (Morgan) Snead (b 4 Apr 1923) and Bedford Forest Kuykendall (b 13 Sep 1920) at Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama on 25 Apr 1946 (his widow's remarriage)
4. Alabama Deaths, 1908–1974: Death of John Edward Snead Sr [sic] on 30 Jan 1967; and death of John Edward Snead III on 9 Mar 1971 (son of John Edward Snead Jr [sic] and Mary Ethel (Morgan) Snead)
5. American Battle Monuments Commission
6. Baudewyns, Mario (in Dilbeek, Belgium). Personal communication about crash site of B-24 41-28822. May 2020 – Jun 2021
7. de Jong, Ivo. The History of the 487th Bomb Group (H). Paducah KY: Turner Publishing, Oct 2004
8. Enlistment Record of John E. Snead
9. 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)
10. Social Security Death Index
11. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 6263
12. U.S. Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942–1949 (ancestry.com)
13. U.S. School Yearbooks, 1900–1999 (ancestry.com). Entre Nous [yearbook]. Birmingham AL: Howard College, 1941 (his photo with the freshman class on page 63; Howard College was renamed Samford University in 1965.)
14. U.S. War Department. World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel. Washington, D.C., June 1946
15. U.S. World War II Draft Cards, Young Men, 1940–1947 (ancestry.com)
Research by:
Paul Webber
Secretary, 487th Bomb Group Association
Find A Grave member ID 47577572
By 1940 he moved from Guntersville to Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, where he enrolled at Howard College. His freshman class photo in the school's 1941 Entre Nous yearbook is accompanied by this entry:
---------------
JOHN SNEAD — Football, 1
---------------
He registered for the draft at Birmingham, Alabama on July 1, 1941. He was 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighed 178 pounds, and had blue eyes and blonde hair. At that time he lived in the Powderly section of Birmingham and worked for Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company at its nearby Ishkooda Mine #13, an iron ore mine. He was single, had completed one year of college, and worked as a semiskilled miner when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Fort McPherson, Georgia on November 12, 1941. His home of record was 285 North 54th Street, Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, his father's address in 1944.
He married Mary Ethel (Morgan) Snead (4 Apr 1923 – 23 Feb 1999) at Birmingham, Alabama on July 4, 1942. At that time he was assigned to the 79th Bomb Squadron at Cunningham Field, Cherry Point, North Carolina. John and Mary Snead had a son, John Edward Snead III (12 Nov 1944 – 9 Mar 1971), who was born about five months after his father's death.
On November 29, 1942 the 79th Bomb Squadron (Medium) of the 45th Bomb Group was designated the 8th Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy) of the 26th Antisubmarine Wing. The 26th Antisubmarine Wing was headquartered at Miami, Florida. Its Squadrons flew B-24 antisubmarine patrols from bases at Miami, Florida; Havana, Cuba; Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico; Waller Field, Trinidad; Atkinson Field, British Guyana; Zandery Field, Suriname; Brazil (Belem, Fortaleza, and Natal); and Wideawake Field, Ascension Island.
On October 1, 1943 the 8th Antisubmarine Squadron was designated the 839th Bomb Squadron, and was assigned to the newly formed 487th Bomb Group. The Squadron moved temporarily to Pueblo, Colorado, and on November 17, 1943 moved to the 487th Bomb Group's base at Bruning Army Air Base, Nebraska. In December 1943 the 839th Bomb Squadron moved with the 487th Bomb Group to Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. At Alamogordo some of the veterans of antisubmarine patrol were assigned to the other three Squadrons in the Group. T/Sgt Snead, then a rated flight engineer and aerial gunner, was assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Joseph S. Van Dyke in the 836th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group.
The Van Dyke crew completed B-24 crew training with the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. They flew B-24H 41-28822 via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived in England by mid-April 1944. 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. Here is Lt Van Dyke's crew roster on June 23, 1944:
B-24H 41-28822 – 836th Bomb Squadron
• Van Dyke, Joseph S – 2/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Thies, Merle J – 2/Lt – Copilot – KIA
• Zebora, Rudolph J – 2/Lt – Navigator – KIA
• Kraus, Leslie E – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA
• Glenn, James R – Sgt – Ball Turret – KIA
• Crossley, Charles H – S/Sgt – Top Turret – KIA
• Spindler, William H – Sgt – Tail Turret – KIA
• Rupe, Bradford A – Sgt – Nose Turret – KIA
• Snead, John E – T/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
T/Sgt Snead and his eight crewmates were killed in action on June 23, 1944 when their aircraft, B-24H 41-28822, was shot down near Brussels, Belgium after bombing an airfield at Juvincourt, France. The aircraft was hit by flak in the open bomb bay and exploded in the air. It fell in pieces in the meadow of Scheutbospark (Parc du Scheutbos) near the intersection of Kasterlindenstraat (Rue Kasterlinden) and Palokestraat (Rue Paloke), at approximately 50.8539°N, 4.2871°E. This is within the town limits of Sint-Jans-Molenbeek (Molenbeek-Saint-Jean), a western suburb of Brussels, Belgium.
He was buried initially at Evere Cemetery in Brussels, Belgium. After the war, his remains were reinterred at Ardennes American Cemetery, Belgium, in Plot B, Row 40, Grave 1.
His widow remarried after the war. Mary Ethel (Morgan) Snead (4 Apr 1923 – 23 Feb 1999) married Bedford Forrest Kuykendall (13 Sep 1920 – 15 Mar 1979) at Woodlawn Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama on April 25, 1946.
A memorial to the Joseph S. Van Dyke crew was dedicated at Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Belgium on June 23, 2021. It is located near the crash site in the meadow of Scheutbos. The memorial was made possible through the efforts of Mario Baudewyns of Dilbeek, Belgium and officials of the municipality Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Belgium.
Sources:
1. 8th Antisubmarine Squadron Lineage (formerly 79th Bomb Squadron)
2. 487th Bomb Group Association
3. Alabama, County Marriages, 1809-1950:
• Marriage of John Snead and Lena Phillips at Guntersville, Alabama on 21 Nov 1917 (his parents)
• Marriage of John Edward Snead Jr [sic] and Mary Ethel Morgan at Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama on 4 Jul 1942
• Marriage of Mary (Morgan) Snead (b 4 Apr 1923) and Bedford Forest Kuykendall (b 13 Sep 1920) at Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama on 25 Apr 1946 (his widow's remarriage)
4. Alabama Deaths, 1908–1974: Death of John Edward Snead Sr [sic] on 30 Jan 1967; and death of John Edward Snead III on 9 Mar 1971 (son of John Edward Snead Jr [sic] and Mary Ethel (Morgan) Snead)
5. American Battle Monuments Commission
6. Baudewyns, Mario (in Dilbeek, Belgium). Personal communication about crash site of B-24 41-28822. May 2020 – Jun 2021
7. de Jong, Ivo. The History of the 487th Bomb Group (H). Paducah KY: Turner Publishing, Oct 2004
8. Enlistment Record of John E. Snead
9. 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)
10. Social Security Death Index
11. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 6263
12. U.S. Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942–1949 (ancestry.com)
13. U.S. School Yearbooks, 1900–1999 (ancestry.com). Entre Nous [yearbook]. Birmingham AL: Howard College, 1941 (his photo with the freshman class on page 63; Howard College was renamed Samford University in 1965.)
14. U.S. War Department. World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel. Washington, D.C., June 1946
15. U.S. World War II Draft Cards, Young Men, 1940–1947 (ancestry.com)
Research by:
Paul Webber
Secretary, 487th Bomb Group Association
Find A Grave member ID 47577572
Technical Sergeant John Edward Snead II, Army serial number 34163143, was born at Guntersville, Marshall County, Alabama, on January 2, 1920. His parents were John Edward Snead I (1890 – 30 Jan 1967) and Lena (Phillips) Snead (11 Dec 1892 – 15 Sep 1968), who were born in Alabama. His parents married at Guntersville, Alabama on November 21, 1917.
By 1940 he moved from Guntersville to Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, where he enrolled at Howard College. His freshman class photo in the school's 1941 Entre Nous yearbook is accompanied by this entry:
---------------
JOHN SNEAD — Football, 1
---------------
He registered for the draft at Birmingham, Alabama on July 1, 1941. He was 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighed 178 pounds, and had blue eyes and blonde hair. At that time he lived in the Powderly section of Birmingham and worked for Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company at its nearby Ishkooda Mine #13, an iron ore mine. He was single, had completed one year of college, and worked as a semiskilled miner when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Fort McPherson, Georgia on November 12, 1941. His home of record was 285 North 54th Street, Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, his father's address in 1944.
He married Mary Ethel (Morgan) Snead (4 Apr 1923 – 23 Feb 1999) at Birmingham, Alabama on July 4, 1942. At that time he was assigned to the 79th Bomb Squadron at Cunningham Field, Cherry Point, North Carolina. John and Mary Snead had a son, John Edward Snead III (12 Nov 1944 – 9 Mar 1971), who was born about five months after his father's death.
On November 29, 1942 the 79th Bomb Squadron (Medium) of the 45th Bomb Group was designated the 8th Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy) of the 26th Antisubmarine Wing. The 26th Antisubmarine Wing was headquartered at Miami, Florida. Its Squadrons flew B-24 antisubmarine patrols from bases at Miami, Florida; Havana, Cuba; Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico; Waller Field, Trinidad; Atkinson Field, British Guyana; Zandery Field, Suriname; Brazil (Belem, Fortaleza, and Natal); and Wideawake Field, Ascension Island.
On October 1, 1943 the 8th Antisubmarine Squadron was designated the 839th Bomb Squadron, and was assigned to the newly formed 487th Bomb Group. The Squadron moved temporarily to Pueblo, Colorado, and on November 17, 1943 moved to the 487th Bomb Group's base at Bruning Army Air Base, Nebraska. In December 1943 the 839th Bomb Squadron moved with the 487th Bomb Group to Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. At Alamogordo some of the veterans of antisubmarine patrol were assigned to the other three Squadrons in the Group. T/Sgt Snead, then a rated flight engineer and aerial gunner, was assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Joseph S. Van Dyke in the 836th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group.
The Van Dyke crew completed B-24 crew training with the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. They flew B-24H 41-28822 via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived in England by mid-April 1944. 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. Here is Lt Van Dyke's crew roster on June 23, 1944:
B-24H 41-28822 – 836th Bomb Squadron
• Van Dyke, Joseph S – 2/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Thies, Merle J – 2/Lt – Copilot – KIA
• Zebora, Rudolph J – 2/Lt – Navigator – KIA
• Kraus, Leslie E – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA
• Glenn, James R – Sgt – Ball Turret – KIA
• Crossley, Charles H – S/Sgt – Top Turret – KIA
• Spindler, William H – Sgt – Tail Turret – KIA
• Rupe, Bradford A – Sgt – Nose Turret – KIA
• Snead, John E – T/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
T/Sgt Snead and his eight crewmates were killed in action on June 23, 1944 when their aircraft, B-24H 41-28822, was shot down near Brussels, Belgium after bombing an airfield at Juvincourt, France. The aircraft was hit by flak in the open bomb bay and exploded in the air. It fell in pieces in the meadow of Scheutbospark (Parc du Scheutbos) near the intersection of Kasterlindenstraat (Rue Kasterlinden) and Palokestraat (Rue Paloke), at approximately 50.8539°N, 4.2871°E. This is within the town limits of Sint-Jans-Molenbeek (Molenbeek-Saint-Jean), a western suburb of Brussels, Belgium.
He was buried initially at Evere Cemetery in Brussels, Belgium. After the war, his remains were reinterred at Ardennes American Cemetery, Belgium, in Plot B, Row 40, Grave 1.
His widow remarried after the war. Mary Ethel (Morgan) Snead (4 Apr 1923 – 23 Feb 1999) married Bedford Forrest Kuykendall (13 Sep 1920 – 15 Mar 1979) at Woodlawn Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama on April 25, 1946.
A memorial to the Joseph S. Van Dyke crew was dedicated at Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Belgium on June 23, 2021. It is located near the crash site in the meadow of Scheutbos. The memorial was made possible through the efforts of Mario Baudewyns of Dilbeek, Belgium and officials of the municipality Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Belgium.
Sources:
1. 8th Antisubmarine Squadron Lineage (formerly 79th Bomb Squadron)
2. 487th Bomb Group Association
3. Alabama, County Marriages, 1809-1950:
• Marriage of John Snead and Lena Phillips at Guntersville, Alabama on 21 Nov 1917 (his parents)
• Marriage of John Edward Snead Jr [sic] and Mary Ethel Morgan at Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama on 4 Jul 1942
• Marriage of Mary (Morgan) Snead (b 4 Apr 1923) and Bedford Forest Kuykendall (b 13 Sep 1920) at Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama on 25 Apr 1946 (his widow's remarriage)
4. Alabama Deaths, 1908–1974: Death of John Edward Snead Sr [sic] on 30 Jan 1967; and death of John Edward Snead III on 9 Mar 1971 (son of John Edward Snead Jr [sic] and Mary Ethel (Morgan) Snead)
5. American Battle Monuments Commission
6. Baudewyns, Mario (in Dilbeek, Belgium). Personal communication about crash site of B-24 41-28822. May 2020 – Jun 2021
7. de Jong, Ivo. The History of the 487th Bomb Group (H). Paducah KY: Turner Publishing, Oct 2004
8. Enlistment Record of John E. Snead
9. 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)
10. Social Security Death Index
11. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 6263
12. U.S. Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942–1949 (ancestry.com)
13. U.S. School Yearbooks, 1900–1999 (ancestry.com). Entre Nous [yearbook]. Birmingham AL: Howard College, 1941 (his photo with the freshman class on page 63; Howard College was renamed Samford University in 1965.)
14. U.S. War Department. World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel. Washington, D.C., June 1946
15. U.S. World War II Draft Cards, Young Men, 1940–1947 (ancestry.com)
Research by:
Paul Webber
Secretary, 487th Bomb Group Association
Find A Grave member ID 47577572
By 1940 he moved from Guntersville to Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, where he enrolled at Howard College. His freshman class photo in the school's 1941 Entre Nous yearbook is accompanied by this entry:
---------------
JOHN SNEAD — Football, 1
---------------
He registered for the draft at Birmingham, Alabama on July 1, 1941. He was 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighed 178 pounds, and had blue eyes and blonde hair. At that time he lived in the Powderly section of Birmingham and worked for Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company at its nearby Ishkooda Mine #13, an iron ore mine. He was single, had completed one year of college, and worked as a semiskilled miner when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Fort McPherson, Georgia on November 12, 1941. His home of record was 285 North 54th Street, Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, his father's address in 1944.
He married Mary Ethel (Morgan) Snead (4 Apr 1923 – 23 Feb 1999) at Birmingham, Alabama on July 4, 1942. At that time he was assigned to the 79th Bomb Squadron at Cunningham Field, Cherry Point, North Carolina. John and Mary Snead had a son, John Edward Snead III (12 Nov 1944 – 9 Mar 1971), who was born about five months after his father's death.
On November 29, 1942 the 79th Bomb Squadron (Medium) of the 45th Bomb Group was designated the 8th Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy) of the 26th Antisubmarine Wing. The 26th Antisubmarine Wing was headquartered at Miami, Florida. Its Squadrons flew B-24 antisubmarine patrols from bases at Miami, Florida; Havana, Cuba; Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico; Waller Field, Trinidad; Atkinson Field, British Guyana; Zandery Field, Suriname; Brazil (Belem, Fortaleza, and Natal); and Wideawake Field, Ascension Island.
On October 1, 1943 the 8th Antisubmarine Squadron was designated the 839th Bomb Squadron, and was assigned to the newly formed 487th Bomb Group. The Squadron moved temporarily to Pueblo, Colorado, and on November 17, 1943 moved to the 487th Bomb Group's base at Bruning Army Air Base, Nebraska. In December 1943 the 839th Bomb Squadron moved with the 487th Bomb Group to Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. At Alamogordo some of the veterans of antisubmarine patrol were assigned to the other three Squadrons in the Group. T/Sgt Snead, then a rated flight engineer and aerial gunner, was assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Joseph S. Van Dyke in the 836th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group.
The Van Dyke crew completed B-24 crew training with the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. They flew B-24H 41-28822 via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived in England by mid-April 1944. 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. Here is Lt Van Dyke's crew roster on June 23, 1944:
B-24H 41-28822 – 836th Bomb Squadron
• Van Dyke, Joseph S – 2/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Thies, Merle J – 2/Lt – Copilot – KIA
• Zebora, Rudolph J – 2/Lt – Navigator – KIA
• Kraus, Leslie E – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA
• Glenn, James R – Sgt – Ball Turret – KIA
• Crossley, Charles H – S/Sgt – Top Turret – KIA
• Spindler, William H – Sgt – Tail Turret – KIA
• Rupe, Bradford A – Sgt – Nose Turret – KIA
• Snead, John E – T/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
T/Sgt Snead and his eight crewmates were killed in action on June 23, 1944 when their aircraft, B-24H 41-28822, was shot down near Brussels, Belgium after bombing an airfield at Juvincourt, France. The aircraft was hit by flak in the open bomb bay and exploded in the air. It fell in pieces in the meadow of Scheutbospark (Parc du Scheutbos) near the intersection of Kasterlindenstraat (Rue Kasterlinden) and Palokestraat (Rue Paloke), at approximately 50.8539°N, 4.2871°E. This is within the town limits of Sint-Jans-Molenbeek (Molenbeek-Saint-Jean), a western suburb of Brussels, Belgium.
He was buried initially at Evere Cemetery in Brussels, Belgium. After the war, his remains were reinterred at Ardennes American Cemetery, Belgium, in Plot B, Row 40, Grave 1.
His widow remarried after the war. Mary Ethel (Morgan) Snead (4 Apr 1923 – 23 Feb 1999) married Bedford Forrest Kuykendall (13 Sep 1920 – 15 Mar 1979) at Woodlawn Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama on April 25, 1946.
A memorial to the Joseph S. Van Dyke crew was dedicated at Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Belgium on June 23, 2021. It is located near the crash site in the meadow of Scheutbos. The memorial was made possible through the efforts of Mario Baudewyns of Dilbeek, Belgium and officials of the municipality Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Belgium.
Sources:
1. 8th Antisubmarine Squadron Lineage (formerly 79th Bomb Squadron)
2. 487th Bomb Group Association
3. Alabama, County Marriages, 1809-1950:
• Marriage of John Snead and Lena Phillips at Guntersville, Alabama on 21 Nov 1917 (his parents)
• Marriage of John Edward Snead Jr [sic] and Mary Ethel Morgan at Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama on 4 Jul 1942
• Marriage of Mary (Morgan) Snead (b 4 Apr 1923) and Bedford Forest Kuykendall (b 13 Sep 1920) at Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama on 25 Apr 1946 (his widow's remarriage)
4. Alabama Deaths, 1908–1974: Death of John Edward Snead Sr [sic] on 30 Jan 1967; and death of John Edward Snead III on 9 Mar 1971 (son of John Edward Snead Jr [sic] and Mary Ethel (Morgan) Snead)
5. American Battle Monuments Commission
6. Baudewyns, Mario (in Dilbeek, Belgium). Personal communication about crash site of B-24 41-28822. May 2020 – Jun 2021
7. de Jong, Ivo. The History of the 487th Bomb Group (H). Paducah KY: Turner Publishing, Oct 2004
8. Enlistment Record of John E. Snead
9. 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)
10. Social Security Death Index
11. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 6263
12. U.S. Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942–1949 (ancestry.com)
13. U.S. School Yearbooks, 1900–1999 (ancestry.com). Entre Nous [yearbook]. Birmingham AL: Howard College, 1941 (his photo with the freshman class on page 63; Howard College was renamed Samford University in 1965.)
14. U.S. War Department. World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel. Washington, D.C., June 1946
15. U.S. World War II Draft Cards, Young Men, 1940–1947 (ancestry.com)
Research by:
Paul Webber
Secretary, 487th Bomb Group Association
Find A Grave member ID 47577572
Inscription
JOHN E. SNEAD
T SGT 836 BOMB SQ 487 BOMB GP (H)
ALABAMA JUNE 23 1944
Gravesite Details
Entered the service from Alabama.
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