Gonser Billy Gene

Name:

Billy Gene Gonser

Rank:

First Lieutenant

Serial Number:

O-756972

Unit:

602nd Bomber Squadron, 398th Bomb Group

Date of Death:

1944-09-12

State:

Michigan

Cemetery:

Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England

Plot:

Tablets of the Missing

Row:

Grave:

Decoration:

Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart

Comments:

Billy Gene Gonser was born on March 3, 1920, in Montpelier, Williams County, Ohio. He was the son of William Edwin Gonser and Edna Virginia Reed Gonser. He was married to Dorothy Kathleen Breece Ross. He served in the 602nd Bomber Squadron, 398th Bomb Group, as a First Lieutenant and Bombardier of B-17 #42-102597 nicknamed ''Stinker'' during World War II.

On September 12, 1944, the ''Stinker'' embarked on its 41st mission targeting the synthetic oil refinery at Brüx (now Most), in the present-day Czech Republic. During the mission, the aircraft sustained significant damage from anti-aircraft flak and was subsequently attacked by a German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter. The combined assaults critically impaired the bomber, compelling the crew to divert towards neutral Sweden in an attempt to avoid capture. Unfortunately, Stinker crashed into the Baltic Sea near Trelleborg, Sweden. Of the ten crew members aboard, only the co-pilot survived, and the remaining nine crew members perished in the crash.

1Lt Gonser was reported Missing in Action and officially declared dead on September 12, 1944. His name is memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing in the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England. Billy G. Gonser's name is inscribed on the Anstey Window Memorial in Panel 2 (center), on Butterfly 7, in the top left wing (section A).

Source of information: b17flyingfortress.de, www.findagrave.com, www.398th.org