67 – Raymond W. Hicklin age 29 (QR1051 EN)

67 – Raymond W. Hicklin age 29 (May 13, 1914 –  November 11, 1943)

S/sgt. Raymond Wilbur Hicklin
May 13, 1914 – November 11, 1943

Raymond W. Hicklin was born on May 13, 1914 at Cordell, Washita County, Oklahoma. His father was Henry F. Hicklin and his mother Anna F. Hicklin. He also had two brothers, Howard D. and Harold C. Hicklin. In 1926 he left primary school and entered the high school which he completed in 1931. He went to work as a technician at an agricultural company. In 1936 he married Emily Green and lived in Dill Washita County, Oklahoma. In mid-1942 he enlisted in the United States Air Force (USAAF) and took various training courses. Early September 1943 he went to England where he was assigned to the 8th Air Force, 94th Bomber Group (Heavy), 331st Bomber Squadron. He was assigned as a right side gunner to a B-17 Flying Fortress. On November 11, 1943, the crew of the B 17 with registration number 42-39868, including sgt. Hicklin, was ordered to launch an attack on the city of Munster in Germany with 560 more bombers. After the briefing, the plane took off from the R.A.F. base Bury Saint Edmund towards Germany. They arrived at the goal via the North Sea and the middle of Germany. They dropped their bombs and returned to home base. However, above the Hoeksche Waard the aircraft was attacked by three German fighter planes. The plane was hit and the left engine failed. Moments later, the entire plane was riddled. The pilot gave the order to abandon the plane, but it broke into two pieces and the front part was on fire. The pieces of the aircraft landed in the Molenpolder close to the old harbor in Numansdorp. Four crew members had left the aircraft of which three were taken prisoner, the fourth came down in the Hollandsch Diep and his body is still missing. The other six were unable to leave the plane in time and died. Likewise Sgt. Raymond W. Hicklin He was buried on November 15, 1943 at Crooswijk cemetery in Rotterdam and on August 17, 1945 transferred to the American cemetery in Margraten Limburg where he was buried on plot O row 9 grave 13. There you can visit his grave.

Cemetary Margraten

17 – Crashlocation Numansdorp: click here

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