Cecil Charles McNeish was born at Osceola Mills, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, on September 7, 1924. His parents were Lewis McNeish (8 Aug 1882 – 14 Jul 1953), who was born in Scotland and immigrated to America in 1886; and Emma A. (Yahner) McNeish (5 May 1882 – 16 Aug 1965), who was born in Pennsylvania. His parents married at Saint Lawrence, Cambria County, Pennsylvania on September 20, 1910. His father was a coal miner, worked in construction, and was later a butcher.
He had two brothers: Francis Eugene McNeish (6 Feb 1916 – 11 Sep 1944) and James Martin McNeish (9 Apr 1919 – 19 Jul 2004). By 1930 the family lived on Pruner Street in Osceola Mills, Pennsylvania.
He registered for the draft at Houtzdale, Pennsylvania on December 21, 1942. He was 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighed 195 pounds, and had hazel eyes and black hair. He completed Army Air Forces navigator training in Class 44-11 at Selman Field, Monroe, Louisiana, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on September 4, 1944.
He was assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Joseph D. Conwill Jr. The crew completed B-17 operational training at Biggs Field in El Paso, Texas, and deployed to England in early January 1945. They were 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. The crew was soon chosen to become a lead crew.
On March 15, 1945, the Conwill flew on the 487th Bomb Group mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Oranienburg, Germany. Lt Conwill's crew lead the Diamond Squadron (aka the Low, Low Squadron) of the formation. Air leader Captain Robert G. Reeder flew in the copilot seat. Copilot Lt Birtrum Lindquist moved to the tail gunner position as officer tail gunner and formation observer, as was the custom.
Lt McNeish and three of his crewmates were killed in action when their aircraft, B-17G 44-8746, was shot down by flak over Wittenberge, Germany, in the Elbe River Valley, after bombing the marshalling yards at Oranienburg. Direct flak hits blew off the nose of the aircraft and the forward underside of the fuselage. Apparently Lt McNeish's remains were found in a German churchyard in February 1947. This was probably at Perleberg, Germany, a short distance northeast of Wittenberge. His remains were permanently reinterred at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery.
B-17G 44-8746 crew:
• Conwill Jr, Joseph D – 1/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Reeder, Robert G – Capt – Air Leader – POW
• McNeish, Cecil C – 2/Lt – Navigator – KIA
• Moderski, Jerome D – 1/Lt – Bombardier – KIA
• Dippo, Ramor W – 2/Lt – Radar Operator – POW
• Randall, Clarence W – S/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Polifka, George J – Sgt – Radio Operator – POW
• Copelin, Robert L – Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – POW
• Valentine, James A – Sgt – Waist Gunner – POW
• Lindquist, Birtrum – 2/Lt – Officer Tail Gunner – POW
Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com