McLaughlin John C.

Name:

John C. McLaughlin

Rank:

Staff Sergeant

Serial Number:

13176692

Unit:

728th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy

Date of Death:

1944-03-29

State:

New Jersey

Cemetery:

Plot:

Row:

Grave:

Decoration:

Air Medal with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster

Comments:

John C. McLaughlin was born in 1924 in Pennsylvania. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry J. McLaughlin. John attended Haddon Heights High School for two years, graduating in 1940. He worked in the Philadelphia Navy Yard for almost two years before he enlisted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 12, 1942.

He qualified for flight duty and was sent to Kingman Army Air Field in Kingman, Arizona, for aerial gunnery training. Upon completion of the course, he was promoted to Sergeant and sent to Salt Lake City, Utah for further training. After that, he was sent to England and assigned to the 8th Air Force operating from Deopham Green, England, and began flying combat missions in late 1943.

He was named by the Eighth Air Force as the first bomber gunner to shoot down an enemy aircraft over Berlin, a feat he accomplished in March 1944. He also shot down a second aircraft on the same mission.

Returning from a mission in March 1944, the aircraft in which he was flying as a tail gunner made an emergency landing at Dunsfold, England, due to battle damage. An RAF Lancaster bomber, also with battle damage, landed there and in doing so, collided with McLaughlin's aircraft, putting it out of commission.

On March 28, 1944, his crew took off from Sation 142 airfield in Deopham Free, England, on a mission to bomb the Chateaudun airfield in France. At 14:08H, their plane was shot down by flak, taking a direct hit in the #4 tank, which ignited a huge fire. Their airplane exploded in flight and crashed 2 km south of Chateaudun airfield. The plane was totally destroyed in a ground collision with an Avro Lancaster. Six crew members were Killed in Action. The others were able to bail out of the plane before it exploded but were taken as prisoners except for SSgt McLaughlin. With a broken leg, a broken arm, and spitting blood from possible internal wounds, he was carried to the Orleans hospital. He died of his wounds on March 29, 1944.

SSgt McLaughlin's current burial place is unknown.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, francecrashes39-45.net