Last Known Activity:
Richard King Angert was born on December 2, 1919, in Marietta,Ohio and entered the military service on Jan 15, 1943. (One account states Oct 14, 1944, which can't be correct.) with 2 years of college.
He was trained as a Navigator and assigned to the 564th Bomb Squadron of the 389th Bomb Group operating out of Hethel Air Station 114 in England.
On March 7, 1945, Lt. Angert was scheduled as Navigator on a mission to bomb oil and communication facilities as well as railway marshalling yards at Soest, Germany. The weather at take-off was very bad. Clouds and icing conditions prohibited anyone from accurately observing the take-off. However, three witnesses state they saw the aircraft as it descended through the clouds. It appeared to level off, a wing separated from the aircraft, and fire broke out. The fuselage impacted the ground near Old Cotessey, England, in Norfolk, and exploded. There were no survivors.
Lt. Angert's body was recovered and is buried at Cambridge American Cemetery in Cambridge, England.
Note that Lt. Angert's military career lasted only slightly more than 5 months.
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Comments/Citation:
The aircraft involved was B-24 J #42-51343, named "Shazam," assigned to 564th Bomb Squadron.
According to loading lists and USAAF Accident Reports, the crew consisted of:
1 Lt Dale E. Williams p
1 Lt George E. Benko c-p
2 Lt Richard K. Angert nav
TSgt Hubert D. Pfeiffer eng
TSgt Marion J. Kaczmarek r/o
SSgt George W. Eckleberger gunner
SSgt John A. Luther gunner
SSgt James V. Hill gunner
SSgt Alan E. Whitehurst gunner
SSgt Dwayne H. Huebner V ? (See below)
In various loading lists, Huebner is referred to as Cpl, Sgt, and SSgt.
In the Accident Report which is the only document with crew positions indicated, Huebner is noted as V. Because there were only 3 officers on board versus the standard 4, is it possible Huebner was an enlisted toggleier or bomb aimer, since no bombardier is listed?
UPDATE: Mar 6, 2017. "V" was the symbol for "Voice Intercept", a German-speaking airman who listened to Nazi intercept controllers and informed the squadron what attacks were coming.
Photo Source:
http://www.tohonorourfallen.com/wwiieurope.htm
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