Herbert Millard Bateman Jr. was born on May 27, 1917, in Beaverdale, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Herbert Millard Bateman and Mabel M. Yoder Bateman. He served in the 703rd Bomber Squadron, 445th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Second Lieutenant and Navigator of B-24 #42-51342 nicknamed 'Frigid Bridget' during World War II.

On September 27, 1944, “Frigid Brigit” departed RAF Tibenham, England, as part of a mission to bomb targets in the Kassel, Germany area. During the operation, the 445th Bomb Group became separated from the main bomber stream and was heavily attacked by German fighter aircraft. Exposed to intense interception and combat, Frigid Brigit was shot down over central Germany during the fierce aerial battle that caused devastating losses to the group that day. The destruction of the aircraft was recorded in its Missing Air Crew Report and forms part of the 445th Bomb Group’s catastrophic Kassel mission, one of the most costly single-day losses suffered by a U.S. heavy bomb group in the European air war.

2Lt Bateman was Killed in Action and is now buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA. He also has a cenotaph in the Dunlo United Methodist Cemetery, Dunlo, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.445bg.org