Thomas B. Hilton   Photo: AS 25 MAY 2015   Updated: 16 AUG 2015

Airman: e556037.htm Surname: Hilton Init: T B Rank: 2ndLt Service: USAAF Sqdn: 338

P_link: p298.htm Plane: B17 4229939 Operation: Bomb G Crash_site: The Baltic Sea

Crash_d: d110444 Buried_d: e556a C_link: e556a.htm At_Next: Ardennes, BELGIUM

Den 11.april 1944 kl. 13.30 styrtede B17 42-29939 i Østersøen et sted under et bombetogt til Poznan (her). Flyvehistorisk Tidsskrift skriver:

"Boeing B-17F 42-29939 (BX- ) 338 BS, 96 BG, 45 CBW, 3 BD, Snetterton Heath, Norfolk.(Poznan)
585 B-17 fløj til mål i Nordtyskland, og 52 gik tabt. Syd for Bornholm forlod 42-29939 formationen.
Det vides ikke nøjagtigt, hvor flyet styrtede ned, men navigatøren, 2nd Lt John Alfred Ashmead Jr., blev begravet på Korsør Kirkegaard den 8. august 1944, og den samme dag blev co-piloten,
2nd Lt Thomas Bradford Hilton, begravet i Warnemünde (her). Et besætningsmedlem, left waist gunner, Sgt Wilfred Albert Dennis, nåede at springe ud med faldskærm og blev samlet op af en tysk hurtigbåd. Det 11. besætningsmedlem var en fotograf, S/Sgt Eugene Henry Ryan." (FT 88-40-24)

Senere blev han begravet i Belgien på Ardennes American Cemetery, Plot B Row 25 Grave 14.
Han kom i tjeneste fra New York. Hæderstegn: Purple Heart. (Kilde: ABMC)

1 flyver fra B17 42-29939 blev begravet i Korsør og 2 i Belgien. 7 har ingen kendt grav.
1 blev ført til Tyske krigsfangelejre.
Se B-17 Flyvende Fæstning,  Tegning af besætningen på en B-17 og
Foto af en B-17 + B-17 i airmen.dk. 11 flyvere.

On 11 April 1944 at 13.30 hours B17 42-29939 crashed somewhere into the Baltic Sea on a bombing raid on Poznan (here).
(Danish) Aviation Historical Review writes:

"Boeing B-17F 42-29939 (BX- ) 338 BS, 96 BG, 45 CBW, 3 BD, Snetterton Heath, Norfolk. (Poznan)
585 B-17s flew to targets in North Germany and 52 were lost. South of Bornholm (which is here)
42-29939 left the formation. It is not known exactly where the plane crashed, but Navigator,
2nd Lt John Alfred Ashmead Jr. was buried in Korsør Cemetery on 8 August 1944. On the same day
Co-pilot, 2nd Lt Thomas Bradford Hilton was buried in Warnemünde (here). Left Waist Gunner, Sgt Wilfred Albert Dennis managed to bail out. He was picked up by a German patrol boat. The 11th crew member was a photographer, S/Sgt Eugene Henry Ryan." (FT 88-40-24)

Later he was buried in Belgium at Ardennes American Cemetery, Plot B Row 25 Grave 14. He entered the Service from New York.
Awards: Purple Heart. (Source: ABMC)

1 airman from B17 42-29939 was buried in Korsør and 2 in Belgium. 7 have no known grave. 1 was taken to German POW-Camps.
This B-17 belonged to 338 BS, 96 BG, 45 CBW, 3 BD of 8 AF, USAAF. It took off from RAF Snetterton Heath - USAAF Station 138.
See 96th Bombardment Group Association * Drawing of the crew of a B-17 * Photo of a B-17+ B-17s in airmen.dk. 11 airmen.