Dale Eldon Schilling s/n 15098258

Sgt. US Army Air Corp

Early Life

Dale Eldon Schilling was born on January 18, 1923 in Kankakee,, Illinois to George William Schilling (23 Nov 1900 – 21 Nov 1999) (1) and Hazel Anna (nee Kramer) Schilling (15 Oct 1900 – 9 Dec 1946) (2). Dale is of German heritage.

Dale was the only son of George and Hazel; he had an older sister Juanita May (1922-2003) and a younger sister Doris Louise (1925 -1968). The family resided in Kankakee County, Illinois until around 1929 when the family moved to Lowell in Lake County, Indiana. While renting a home on Commercial Street, George is working as a machinist and 1940 Census (4) shows them living in a modest house at 293 Main Street, Lowell, Indiana. George worked as a machinist, Hazel is a housewife, and the three children are attending school. They seemed to have lived a quiet life in Lowell.

Training and deployment to the European Theater

Shortly after his 18th birthday Dale enlists 27 Jan 1942 for service in the US Army Air Corps at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana (5). In June of 1942 he graduated from Airplane mechanical school at Chanute Field, Illinois. Dale was sent to Lewiston, Idaho for training. There he met and married on 28 Sept 1942 in Boise, Idaho Mary Eileen McPherson (6). Upon completion of his training Dale was sent to Ridgewell Station in England to join the 381 Bomb Group of the US 8th Army Air Force. He was assigned as a tail gunner to 532nd Bomb Squadron in Donald Henderson’s aircraft a Boeing B-17G known as Martha II

For details on the 381st and life at Ridgewell see the excellent memorial 2Lt Earl H. Wonning (Wonning served as the navigator on Martha II) for article by Douglas Rupe (7) much of the information describing the last mission is from Wonning’s memorial.

His Last Mission

On February 25, 1944, Mission 72 included the crew of B-17G #42-37786 known as “Martha II”, which departed Ridgewell as part of a bombing group assigned to target Messerschmitt aircraft manufacturing factories located at Augsburg, Germany, northwest of Munich (8).

The effort was part of Operation Argument also known as Big Week, a sequence of raids by the United States Army Air Forces and RAF Bomber Command from February 20th to February 25th, 1944, as part of the European strategic bombing campaign against Nazi Germany. In six days, the Eighth Air Force bombers based in England flew more than 3,000 sorties and the Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy more than 500. Together they dropped roughly 10,000 tons of bombs.

The Messerschmitt production facilities at Augsburg were a very important center of arms for the Germans, especially of fighter aircraft such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Over 34,000 of this model were produced at the Messerschmitt facilities by the end of the war. Because of the strategic importance of the aircraft works, the Messerschmitt facilities and the surrounding areas were heavily bombed by American and British air raids causing significant damage.

The Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) #2933 (9) indicates that the weather conditions were excellent and visibility unlimited that day. Reportedly, the bomb group, including #42-37786 were experiencing flak but still released their bombs over the target, and proceeded to return to base. During the mission, the plane suffered damage to the structure and wings, and began to experience engine trouble, particularly with the superchargers. Unable to maintain speed or altitude, the plane was unable to maintain its position in the formation.

On February 27, 1944, 2nd Lt. Dale McCrory described in the MACR the following action which he observed from his plane in the formation. “Over the target Lieutenant Fastrup, Lieutenant Genther, and Lieutenant Henderson fell back and were left behind for about five minutes. Lieutenant Genther and Lieutenant Fastrup pulled back into formation, but Lieutenant Henderson was lagging behind. Gradually he got back into formation. Almost immediately he started falling back again then started down.

He was then observed to fly under the formation for about 10 minutes by the ball turret gunner. From then on it seemed that he couldn’t stay with the formation. The ball turret gunner and navigator saw him hit the deck and parallel our course across the French border.

At this point the plane was over a large forest and blended with the trees to such an extent that we were unable to distinguish Lieutenant Henderson’s plane any longer.”

It was later learned that the plane crashed near Willmandingen, Germany, located south of Stuttgart, Germany. A photo taken by local townspeople following the crash shows complete destruction of the plane, except for the unmistakable tail with the identifying number corresponding Martha II, 2-37786. It was the only plane that day to be lost from the 381st Bomb Group, and coincidentally it was the pilot’s 25th and final mission before he was to be sent home. (26,27)

Dale’s family was notified in March of 1944 that their son was missing in action (10). It was not until February of 1950 that Dale’s remains were found. Sadly his mother died in 1946 never learning the fate of only son.

Burial

Initially Sgt Dale Schilling and three other deceased crew members were buried by townspeople in a church cemetery at Willmandingen, Germany. Subsequently the bodies were relocated to Lorraine American Cemetery in Saint-Avold, Moselle, France. After the war the graves of the four crew were located, repatriated to the United States, and interred on June 29, 1950, in a group grave. Dale Schilling, Earl H. Wonning , Boyd E. Burgess, and Anthony J. Korkuc at Arlington National Cemetery, Section 34, Plot 1631. (12)

On board #42-37786 Martha II were the following airmen:

Pilot: 2Lt Donald G. Henderson, O-764341, bailed out and captured, became a POW.

Co-pilot: 2Lt Jack H. Fournier, O-678850, bailed out and captured, became a POW.

Navigator: 2Lt Earl H. Wonning, O-688490, KIA

Bombardier: 2Lt Nicholas J. DeRose, O-749759, bailed out and captured, became a POW

Engineer/Top Turret Gunner: T/Sgt Raoul B. Ramos, 17055643, bailed out and captured, became a POW.

Radio-operator/Gunner: T/Sgt Boyd E. Burgess, 14126273, KIA

Ball Turret Gunner: S/Sgt Anthony J. Korkuc, 31036784, KIA

Right Waist Gunner: S/Sgt Anthony J. Bartolo, 11103443, KIA

Left Waist Gunner: S/Sgt Thomas R. Hunnicutt, 18156423, KIA

Tail Gunner: Sgt Dale E. Schilling, 15098258, KIA (11) – Killed by enemy aircraft fire

###

This story was written by Keith Strassner of Rolla, Missouri to honor and remember this WWII fallen service member.

The story is part of a collection of Stories Behind the Stars project, an ambitious national effort of volunteers to write and post on www.fold3.com the stories of all 400,000+ U.S. WWII fallen. A smart phone app is under development that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan a name and read his/her story.

Can you help? For more information about volunteer opportunities, please visit www.storiesbehindthestars.org.

If you noticed anything missing in this profile, you may contact the author. Click on the author’s name located at the bottom of the story page, next to the words “Added by:”.

Bibliography

Find A Grave listing for George Schilling https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/130040880/george-w.-schilling
Obituary for Hazel A Schilling; The Times (Munster, Indiana) 11 Dec 1946 Page 2 and Find a Grave listing for Hazel Anna Kramer Schilling https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7492609/hazel-anna-schilling
1930 Census, US, Indiana, Lake County, Lowell SD 1 ED 45-69 Sheet 4B
1940 Census, US, Indiana, Lake County, Lowell SD 1 ED 45-1 Sheet 13A
WWII Army Enlistment Records 1938-1946 S/N 15098258 database available Ancestry.com
Idaho US Select Marriages 1878-1898, 1903-1942 P241 cn 1543 database available at Ancestry.com
https://www.fold3.com/memorial/657799521/wonning-earl-henry/stories
http://www.rafcamuseum.co.uk/pages/09.pdf
Missing Air Crew Report #2933 (See Gallery)
Individual Casualty Report #2933 (see Gallery)
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113532499/dale-schilling-mia-14-ap-1944/?xid=637
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15357746/dale-e-schilling

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/186245981

Dale E Schilling