Arnold Robert Shegal was born at Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan on October 5, 1920. His family name is Szczygiel, but his name changed to Shegal by the time he graduated from high school in January 1940. It is spelled Shegal in his high school yearbook, on his draft registration, and in military records.
He was the youngest of seven children of Andrzej Walter 'Andrew' Szczygiel (9 Nov 1875 1 Jan 1961), who was born at Przeworsk, Poland; and Victoria (Godzinska) Szczygiel (20 Dec 1884 18 Sep 1963), who was born at Pilzno, Poland. His parents immigrated to America about 1905, and married at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in Feb 1906. In 1907 the family lived at 3248 Emory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By Aug 1910 the family lived at Upper Tyrone Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and his father was a mill worker. By September 1918 the family lived at 717 Holbrook Street, Hamtramck (Detroit), Wayne County, Michigan, and his father was a laborer for Detroit Steel Products Company. By June 1919 the family lived at 32 Platt Place in Detroit, and his father was a laborer in a steel spring factory. In 1928 the family lived at 3394 Platt Place in Detroit, and his father was an autoworker. By June 1940 the family lived at 8256 Leander Avenue in Detroit, and his father was a laborer in a glass products factory. His father became a naturalized U.S. citizen on September 26, 1940.
He attended Greusel Intermediate School in Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Cass Technical High School in Detroit in January 1940. His area of study was automotive technology. He registered for the draft at Detroit, Michigan on February 16, 1942. He was 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighed 145 pounds, and had blue eyes and brown hair. At that time he worked for a company in Detroit called Vickers, Inc.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army by 1943, and completed Army Air Forces flight engineer and aerial gunnery training. He was then assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Lloyd W. Kersten. The Kersten crew completed B-17 operational training at Dyersburg Army Air Base, Tennessee, and was assigned to the 836th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group, at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. The crew arrived at Station 137 by July 24, 1944, and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.
T/Sgt Shegal and six of his crewmates were killed in action on November 30, 1944, when their aircraft, B-17G 43-37877, was shot down by flak. The target was the large I. G. Farben synthetic oil refinery at Leuna near Merseburg, Germany. As the 487th Bomb Group formation approached the initial point of the bomb run near Triptis, the radar set in the lead ship malfunctioned, and the deputy lead ship took over the lead for a visual run. The bombardier in that ship couldn't pick out the Leuna refinery through the smokescreen and the flak, so he chose to drop on what was thought to be a refinery in the vicinity of Zeitz. At 1:15 PM, just after bombs away, Lt Kersten's B-17 received direct flak hits and went down in the vicinity of Theiίen, just north of Zeitz, Germany. Lt Hyland and Lt Ritchhart bailed out before the aircraft exploded, and survived as prisoners of war. The bombs struck the eastern outskirts of Zeitz, about 19 miles southeast of the assigned target.
T/Sgt Shegal was buried initially at the cemetery in Groeben, near Leipzig, Germany. After the war his remains were reinterred at Lorraine American Cemetery in Saint-Avold, France.
B-17G 43-37877 crew:
Kersten, Lloyd W 1/Lt Pilot KIA
Gerland, Henry E 1/Lt Copilot KIA
Hyland Jr, James W 1/Lt Navigator POW
Ritchhart, Warren H 1/Lt Bombardier POW
Eberhart, John D T/Sgt Radio Operator KIA
Shegal, Arnold R T/Sgt Engineer KIA
Morrison, Everett S S/Sgt Ball Turret Gunner KIA
Sullivan, Maurice J S/Sgt Tail Gunner KIA
Miller, Joseph M S/Sgt Waist Gunner KIA
Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com