Irvin Russell Hargraves was born on January 1, 1921, in Pennsylvania. He was the son of Walter Ervin Hargraves and Anna E Hargraves. He served in the 534th Bombardment Squadron, 381st Bombardment Group, as a Staff Sergeant during World War II and was a passenger on the B-17 “Dottie Jean” #43-38856 at the time of his death.
On 23 April 1945, their aircraft was performing a passenger flight, taking 29 personnel on a week's leave to Northern Ireland. The passengers were all armorers, fitters, ground crew, and mechanics of various squadrons and support units of the 381st BG. Many of them had been at RAF Ridgewell since the 381st BG had arrived in June 1943. Two pilots brought the total onboard to 31.
The aircraft took off from RAF Ridgewell for RAF Nutts Corner at 08:00, with an estimated time of arrival of 11:00. At 10:15, the B-17 was off the northeast coast of the Isle of Man, flying at an altitude of 500 feet (150 m). At 10:20, the aircraft flew into the east side of the 1,842 feet (561 m) high North Barrule and exploded in a fireball. The accident was heard by a tractor driver working at a nearby farm of Margher-e-Kew, Maughold. All 31 people on board were killed, making this the deadliest aviation accident in the Isle of Man.
Personnel from RAF Andreas recovered the bodies to that base for identification. On 24 April, a Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress from RAF Ridgewell arrived, bringing the base commander Colonel Conway S. Hall. He was told that arrangements for the repatriation of the bodies would take some days as diplomatic channels with the Manx Government had to be gone through. Hall decided that this would take too long and the deceased were flown back to RAF Ridgewell on 25 April. A minor diplomatic incident was caused, but nothing came of it. Of the 31 crew and passengers on the aircraft when it crashed 8 were subsequently buried at Cambridge American Cemetery.
SSgt Hargraves is now buried in the Pine Grove Cemetery Annex, Berwick, Columbia County, Pennsylvania, USA.
Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov, en.wikipedia.org