Whitfield Elliott King

Monuments

B-29 'Sweet Sixteen' (44-61666) Crash Site Memorial

Name:

Elliott King Whitfield

Rank:

First Lieutenant

Serial Number:

O-679340

Unit:

873rd Bomber Squadron, 498th Bomber Group

Date of Death:

1945-09-04

State:

Cemetery:

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri

Plot:

Section 78

Row:

Grave:

Site 984-986

Decoration:

Comments:

Elliott King Whitfield was born in 1915. He was the son of Charlie Franklin Whitfield and Clio E King Whitfield.

Elliott served in the 873rd Bomber Squadron, 498th Bomber Group, as a First Lieutenant and Bombardier on the B-29 #44-61666 'Sweet Sixteen' during World War II.

On September 4, 1945, the crew was dropping relief supplies to the POW camp in Kawaminami Kogyo Koyagijima Shipyard in Koyagi Village, Nishisonogi District, Nagasaki Prefecture (now Koyagi Town, Nagasaki City ). However, due to an unknown circumstance, they crashed into Mount Sashiki on the opposite shore of Koyagi Island, killing thirteen members of the crew (including 1Lt Whitfield). Only one survived. The bodies of those who were killed were cremated in the pow camp by the prisoners of war and enshrined in the Oura Catholic Church. 1Lt Whitfield has a cenotaph in the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, in Missouri.