Crawford Jr. Earl J. "Heavy"

Monuments

B-24 Liberator (42-52411) Crash Information Sign

Name:

Earl J. "Heavy" Crawford Jr.

Rank:

Staff Sergeant

Serial Number:

33274305

Unit:

576th Bomb Squadron, 392nd Bomb Group

Date of Death:

0000-00-00

State:

Pennsylvania

Cemetery:

Plot:

Row:

Grave:

Decoration:

Comments:

SSgt Earl J. “Heavy” Crawford Jr., left waist gunner of the B-24 Liberator 42-52411, took off from station 118 in Wendling, Norfolk, UK on a bombing mission over Friedrichshafen. After a rather poor bombing run, the promised fighter escort was late, coming in only after the start of the German fighter attack. The 42-52411 was last seen out of formation drifting south some 15 minutes after bombs away. Crawford was later captured and sent to Stalag 17B in Braunau Gneikendorf after being treated at Strasbourg.