Lawrence Howell McGinnes was born at Gonzales County, Texas on April 15, 1924. He was the youngest of five children of Lawrence P. McGinnes (13 Mar 1883 13 Aug 1933), who was born in Texas; and Carrie Jane (Gilmore) McGinnes (29 Jan 1887 14 Jun 1943), who was born at Gonzales County, Texas. His parents maried about 1906. His father was a farmer. In 1918 the family lived at Waelder, Gonzales County, Texas. They moved to Markham, Matagorda County, Texas when he was about one year old. He graduated from Markham High School in 1942. He was a student of mechanical engineering at Texas A & M College in Brazos County, Texas when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Houston, Texas on February 19, 1943.
He completed Army Air Forces pilot training in Class 44-E at Pecos Army Air Field, Texas, where he earned his wings and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on May 23, 1944. He was assigned a crew and completed B-17 operational training at Dyersburg Army Air Base, Tennessee. The McGinnes crew was assigned to the 837th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. They arrived at Station 137 by January 20, 1945, and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.
On April 10, 1945 the 487th Bomb Group's target was the German airfield at Briest, Germany near Brandenburg. This was the base of operational German Me 262 jet fighters. The Group dispatched four Squadrons of B-17s. Lt McGinnes led the high Squadron in B-17G 44-8808, with air leader Major George M. Richmond flying in the copilot seat. There was heavy flak during the bomb run, which McGinnes' ship survived. After bombs away, the formation was flying west toward the rally point when it was attacked by German fighters. B-17G 44-8808 came under heavy fire from Me 262 jet fighters which set the plane on fire. Lt McGinnes and T/Sgt Henderson were unable to escape the burning aircraft and were killed.
The aircraft crashed at 1600 hours near Gardelegen, Germany, about 50 miles west of Briest. The burned bodies of Lt McGinnes and T/Sgt Henderson were found in the nose of the aircraft. All of the survivors were captured, but apparently Kremler, Lopez, and Irving were with a group of British POWs who convinced their captors to wait in the woods and surrender to advancing American troops. German troops took Lt Brill to the crash site, and he accompanied the bodies of his two crewmates by truck to a cemetery near Gardelegen, where he left them for burial.
Lt McGinnes' remains were returned to the States after the war, and reinterred at Cedarvale Cemetery in Bay City, Matagorda County, Texas on July 24, 1949.
B-17G 44-8808 crew:
McGinnes, Lawrence H 1/Lt Pilot KIA
Richmond, George M Major Air Leader POW
Kremler, Frank J 2/Lt Navigator POW
Lopez, George E 2/Lt Bombardier POW
Irving, Brice L 1/Lt Radar Operator POW
Henderson, James V T/Sgt Engineer KIA
Layton, William H T/Sgt Radio Operator POW
Child, Richard P S/Sgt Waist Gunner POW
Lowe, John E S/Sgt Waist Gunner POW
Brill, Murray A 2/Lt Copilot/Tail Gunner POW
Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com