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Edgett Albert Harold

Name:
Albert Harold Edgett
Rank:
Staff Sergeant
Serial Number:
37228561
Unit:
734th Bomber Squadron, 453rd Bomber Group, Heavy
Date of Death:
1944-03-06
State:
Kansas
Cemetery:
Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial, Neuville-en-Condroz, Arrondissement de Liège, Liège, Belgium
Plot:
C
Row:
3
Grave:
15
Decoration:
Purple Heart
Comments:

Albert Harold Edgett was born on July 31, 1915, in Phillips County, Kansas. He was the son of Frederick Baum Edgett and Edna Mae Ellis Edgett. He was married to Dorothy Marie Hileman Rundle. He served in the 734th Bomb Squadron, 453rd Bomb Group, Heavy, as a Staff Sergeant and Left Waist Gunner of B-24H #42-52226 during World War II.

On March 6, 1944, B-24H-10-FO Liberator #42-52226 departed from its base at RAF Old Buckenham, England, as part of a large bombing mission targeting industrial facilities at Genshagen, near Berlin, Germany. During the return flight, the formation came under heavy attack from German fighter aircraft and intense anti-aircraft fire. In the course of these engagements, the Liberator was hit and became separated from the protective bomber formation, leaving it more vulnerable to continued enemy attack. After sustaining severe damage, the crew lost control of the aircraft. Unable to maintain altitude or return safely to England, the Liberator crashed into the IJsselmeer, a large inland body of water in the Netherlands, approximately 4 kilometers northeast of Edam. The crash resulted in the deaths of several crew members, while others were able to escape the aircraft and were either rescued or later captured by German forces and taken prisoner.

SSgt Edgett was killed in action after drowning and is now buried in the Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial, Neuville-en-Condroz, Arrondissement de Liège, Liège, Belgium. He also has a cenotaph in the Grace Cemetery, McDonald, Rawlins County, Kansas, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, americanarchive.iwm.org.uk, weremember.abmc.gov/