Name:
Lionel Dean Mount
Rank:
Staff Sergeant
Serial Number:
12166134
Unit:
508th Bomber Squadron, 351st Bomb Group
Date of Death:
1943-08-27
State:
New York
Cemetery:
Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-Sur-Mer, France
Plot:
D
Row:
9
Grave:
45
Decoration:
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart
Comments:
SSgt Lionel D. Mount, tail gunner of the B-17 42-29716 “The Venus”, took off from station 110 in Polebrook, Northamptonshire, UK on a bombing mission over the V-2 bunker in Watten-Eperlecques. Around 1730 their Spitfire escorts were under attack from German Me-109 fighters. The plane suffered a direct hit from either flak or fighters and had to drop out of formation, leaking smoke. The pilots were unable to bail out and the tail gunner’s parachute, although opening successfully, was burned by the plane’s explosion and dropped its passenger to the ground.