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Collyer Walter

Monuments

B-17G 'I'll Get By'

 

Name:
Walter Collyer
Rank:
Staff Sergeant
Serial Number:
32804322
Unit:
412th Bomber Squadron, 95th Bomb Group, Heavy
Date of Death:
2001-01-16
State:
New York
Cemetery:
Rocky Branch Cemetery, Union Parish, Louisian
Plot:
Row:
Grave:
Decoration:
Purple Heart
Comments:

Son of Walter J. Collyer of Brooklyn, New York. Tail Gunner of the B-17G B-17G, 42-102700 "I'll Get By," which took off from Station 119 in Horham, Suffolk, UK on 2 August 1944.  Hit by flak and exploded in mid-air at 1754h near Lisieux, France. Three crewmen survived the event and were taken prisoner, and seven were killed. Collyer was on his 23rd combat mission when his plane was shot down. He bailed out, broke his ankle on landing, was captured, and made a POW. He was imprisoned in Stalag Luft IV, Gross Tychow, Germany. He survived the war and died in New York in 2016.