John H. Banks III was born on September 23, 1923 and was from Clayton, Delaware.
The memorial remembers 2LT John H. Banks III who was killed after being shot down while flying his P-47D on April 17, 1945. On April 17, 1945, 2LT Banks, flying a P-47 (44-20222) with the 397th Fighter Squadron, 368th Fighter Group flying out of Airfiled Y-73 (Frankfurt Main Airfield was flying an armed recon (without bombs) over Dresden, Germany. His mission came under heavy anit-aircraft fire and Banks plane was hit. Banks bailed out and came down in Lom, in present day Czech Republic. Banks was captured, beaten and then shot by local police. His body was buried without a coffin behind a cemetery wall. His grave was marked by a women grave digger by knocking off a brick on the spot, so that a tombstone could be erected later. After the war, an investigation team found his grave and he was finally identified and buried with honors at the Ardennes American Military Cemetery. Reference: Missing Aircraft Report (MACR) 14203 and Honor States.Org website.
FROM FIND A GRAVE: John, who resided at 18 Seminole Avenue, Claymont, Delaware, served as a Second Lieutenant & Pilot on P-47D (#44-20222), 397th Fighter Squadron, 368th Fighter Group, U.S. Army Air Corps, during World War II. He was "Killed In Action" when the P-47 he was piloting was shot down by enemy flak while strafing near Lom, Czechoslovakia. He survived the crash landing and was killed by local police. He had served in the Air Corps for two years and seven months at the time of his death. He was awarded the Purple Heart. Service # O2063779