Monuments
B-24 Liberator 42-51124 Crash Site Marker
Villeneuve-sur-Auvers American Cemetery Memorial
Name:
John R. McNiel
Rank:
First Lieutenant
Serial Number:
O-026255
Unit:
850th Bomber Squadron, 490th Bomber Group, Heavy
Date of Death:
1944-06-19
State:
District of Columbia
Cemetery:
Brittany American Cemetery, St. James, France
Plot:
O
Row:
4
Grave:
26
Decoration:
Purple Heart
Comments:
1st Lt John R. McNiel, pilot of the B-24 Liberator 42-51124, took off from Harrington, UK at 2306 on a weapons drop for the Columneaux cell of the Resistance. Some say the plane clipped a tree and others maintain it collided with an RAF plane but the result is the same: the plane crashed at 0030, leaving no survivors. McNiel was initially buried in the Villeneuve sur Suvers before being transferred to the Brittany American Cemetery in St. James, France.