Bowman Ward Oliver

Name:

Ward Oliver Bowman

Rank:

Technical Sergeant

Serial Number:

35034928

Unit:

736th Bomber Squadron, 454th Bomber Group, Heavy

Date of Death:

1944-05-27

State:

Ohio

Cemetery:

Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial, France

Plot:

Tablets of the Missing

Row:

Grave:

Decoration:

Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart

Comments:

Ward Oliver Bowman was born on February 2, 1923, in Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio. He was the son of William Oliver Bowman and Gladys Grace Ward Bowman.

Ward served in the 736th Bomber Squadron, 454th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Technical Sergeant and Top Turret Gunner on the B-24 Liberator #42-78213 "Miss I Hope" during World War II.

On May 27, 1944, his crew took off from its base in Italy to bomb the Montpellier airfield. Their aircraft was hit by flak at Cap Roux. The B24 plunged into the sea, four airmen parachuted out (taken prisoner), another parachuted out and flared (Robert Roiyer KIA), and the other five crashed with the plane into the sea in the Agay harbor channel, 4 of whom are on the MIA list at the Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial, France. The wreck was discovered by chance at the end of August 1984 at a depth of 42 meters.

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