Franklin E. Swanson was born in 1923 in New York. He was the son of rs. Margaret Swanson who resided in Buffalo, New York. He resided in Erie County, New York prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on August 28, 1942 in Buffalo, New York. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed in the building of aircraft and also as Single, without dependents.
Franklin served as a Sergeant and Gunner on B-26 #42-96184, 554th Bomber Squadron, 386th Bomber Group, Medium, U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. On August 6, 1944, his crew took off from Station 164 in Great Dunmow (Little Easton), England on a mission to bomb the fuel reserves near the Forêt d'Andainne, East of Domfront, Calvados, France. It was their second mission of the day when their plane was hit by 88mm Flak shell 10,500 feet above Le Havre, causing fire in the right engine. Three parachutes were observed. The pilot held the ship in formation for a time but was slowly losing altitude and the engine was burning brightly. As the plane began to lose altitude more rapidly, two chutes were seen coming out of the front. When about 1 mile off shore (near Trouville-sur-Mer), the wing and right engine came away from the ship, which was seen spiraling into the Channel. Pilot Captain Walter E. Payne, Co-Pilot 1st Lt Hubert M. Altvater and Bombardier/Navigator 1st Lt Edward W. Roggenkamp were all on their 63rd mission. All three were made prisoner. The three other men on board were experienced gunners, who had flown on earlier missions and were replacing the Payne crew’s regular ones who had flown more than the 65 required missions (some with other crews) and had completed their tour. Thus flying their first mission with Payne were : Radio Operator/Mechanical Gunner T/Sgt Joseph D. Weaver (POW); Ap. Armorer Gunner Cpl William L. Salyer (POW) and Ap. Armorer Gunner Sgt Franklin E. Swanson (hit by Flak, his chute failed to open - Killed In Action - KIA).
Sgt Swanson is now buried in the Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer, France.
Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.americanairmuseum.com, francecrashes39-45.net