Weymouth Crowell Jr

Capt Crowell was the Pilot of the B-25 #42-64655, 12th AF   57th Bomb Wing, 321st BG, 448th BS in the Mediterranean Theatre.

Crowell, Weymouth (NMI), Jr., Captain, Pilot, Enlistment Service # : 19077133
Officer's Service # : O-740756
KILLED IN ACTION on 17 April 1944~Capt Crowell was the Flight Leader on a Bombing Mission on the RR bridge 2 miles S of Attigliano.  Captain Crowell's plane was hit in the Navigator’s compartment by flak and was soon going down under control over the target.  The tail of Captain Crowell’s ship was shot off (#655).  Two to five chutes were reported to have opened by the rest of the formation, the plane crashed just N of town.  In spite of very turbulent air and the flight leader being shot down just before the target bombs were observed hitting both NE and SE approaches with several direct hits reported on the bridge itself.  Some bombs fell short and over.  Flak:  Heavy, intense and accurate, starting at IP and going to target.  Weather:  Hazy.  F/L:  Capt. Crowell.
A/C No.  42-64655 (MACR-4193 - shot down)
P: Crowell, Weymouth (NMI), Jr., Capt - KIA
CP: Elliott, Floyd A., 2Lt - POW, liberated and RTD
N: Hough, William S., 2Lt - MIA, evaded enemy and RTD 10 Jun 44
B: Kreutz, Alfred W., 2Lt - KIA
E: Johnson, Joseph M., S/Sgt - KIA
R: Doss, Charles W., Jr., S/Sgt - KIA
G: Graham, Herbert J., S/Sgt - KIA
F: None
Excerpt from Casualty Questionnaire:  Hough, William S., 2Lt, navigator, 448th BS
Capt. Crowell had leveled the airplane off on the bomb run and Lt. Kreutz was adjusting his sight on the target.  The plane was hit by two direct A.A. on the tail assembly, and lost the complete unit.  Then the plane climbed out of control and fell off on its back.  Capt. Crowell succeeded in getting the ship off its back and out of a spin with the use of ailerons and engines alone.  At his command I bailed out through the front hatch, and as I left hew was still attempting to hold the aircraft under control in order to give the rest of the crew a chance to jump.  The bombardier, Lt. Kreutz had the presence of mind to close the bombay doors before trying to climb up the narrow, slippery crawlway that leads from the nose to the pilot’s cockpit.  As I passed underneath the ship I had a clear view of the damage; the entire rear from the bombay aft was riddled and the entire tail assembly was gone.  It is my belief that the gunners were either killed or too badly injured to try to jump.  After my chute opened, I watched one other chute open up and then the ship crashed by the outskirts of a small Italian town.  I landed in an orchard about two miles from the crash, and it was around five minutes after I had landed that the ship blew up.  I succeeded in getting rid of my chute and making my way to a hiding place in a drainage ditch some distance from where I had hit the ground.  Somehow, although I heard several patrols and actually saw four Fascist soldiers, I was not discovered.  I was unable to contact the other member of my crew and I thought it best to start out of the vicinity by the escape route upon which we had been briefed.  The rest was my personal troubles and did not include the rest of the crew.

W. S. Hough
1st Lt. A.C. (Res. Inactive)
0-701371
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U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946
NAME CROWELL#WEYMOUTH#JR#####  CROWELL#WEYMOUTH#JR#####  
ARMY SERIAL NUMBER 19077133  19077133  
RESIDENCE: STATE 95  OREGON  
RESIDENCE: COUNTY 071  YAMHILL  
PLACE OF ENLISTMENT 9580  PORTLAND OREGON  
DATE OF ENLISTMENT DAY 12  12  
DATE OF ENLISTMENT MONTH 03  03  
DATE OF ENLISTMENT YEAR 42  42  
GRADE: ALPHA DESIGNATION PVT#  Private  
GRADE: CODE 8  Private  
BRANCH: ALPHA DESIGNATION AC#  Air Corps  
BRANCH: CODE 20  Air Corps  
FIELD USE AS DESIRED #  #  
TERM OF ENLISTMENT 5  Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency,
plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law  
LONGEVITY ###  ###  
SOURCE OF ARMY PERSONNEL 0  Civil Life  
NATIVITY 91  CALIFORNIA  
YEAR OF BIRTH 18  18  
RACE AND CITIZENSHIP 1  White, citizen  
EDUCATION 6  2 years of college  
CIVILIAN OCCUPATION 307  Animal and livestock farmers  
MARITAL STATUS 2  Married  
Height:  70
Weight: 195
COMPONENT OF THE ARMY 6  Army of the United States - includes the following: Voluntary enlistments effective December 8, 1941 and thereafter; One year enlistments of National Guardsman whose State enlistment expires while in the Federal Service; Officers appointed in the Army of the United States under Army Regulations 605-10  
CARD NUMBER #  #  
BOX NUMBER 0306  0306  
FILM REEL NUMBER 3.28#  3.28#  
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U.S. Rosters of World War II Dead, 1939-1945
Name: Weymouth Crowell Jr
Gender: Male
Race: White
religion: Protestant
Cemetery Name: Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, California
Disposition: Administrative Decision
Service Branch: Army
Rank: Captain
Service Number: 740756
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U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca.1775-2006
Name: Weymouth Jr Crowell
Service Info.: CAPTAIN US ARMY AIR CORPS WORLD WAR II
Death Date: 17 Apr 1944
Cemetery: Golden Gate National Cemetery
Cemetery Address: 1300 Sneath Lane San Bruno, CA 94066
Buried At: Section F Site 51
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National WWII Memorial, Washington, D.C.
Registry~NARA~War Department Files
Honoree Hometown Service Source     
Weymouth Crowell, Jr. Kent County, MI U.S. Army  National Archives  
CAPT Weymouth Crowell, Jr.  ID: 0-740756
Branch of Service: U.S. Army
Hometown: Kent County, MI
Status: KIA
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California Birth Index, 1905-1995
Name: Weymouth Crowell
Birth Date: 6 Nov 1918
Gender: Male
Mother's Maiden Name: Ryder
Birth County: Los Angeles
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1920 Census/Los Angeles Assembly District 75/Los Angeles Co./California/Roll  115/Enumeration District: 460/Page: 8A
Household Members:  
Name Age
Weyman R Crowell/Head of Household/55
Ethel M Crowell /Wife/45
Harold R Crowell Son/27
Willard W Crowell /Son/23
Andrew E Crowell/Son/19
Rachel E Crowell/Daughter/14
Katherine M Crowell/Daughter/10
Weymouth Crowell/Son/1yr-2mo
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1930 Census/Los Angeles/Los Angeles Co./California/Roll  149/Enumeration District: 438/Page: 2A
Household Members:  
Name Age
Weymouth Crowell/Head of Household/55
Ethel May Crowell /Wife/55
Katherine M Crowell/Daughter/20
Weymouth Crowell/Son/11

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NOTE: This Bell Tower (below) was named for CAPTAIN CROWELL'S FATHER

http://www.thesilverlakenews.com/history/



First Baptist Church- Allison & Allison, Architects 1927
Founded in 1884, the First Baptist Church of Los Angeles moved to its present location (the original church was located at 6th and Broadway) in 1927. The church is ornate by Baptist standards: the church's rose windows are adapted from the Chartres Cathedral; the coffered, gold-leaf ceiling is modeled after the chapel in the Ducal Palace in Montava, Italy. The 130-room edifice is dominated by the 155-foot Crowell Bell Tower, named after Weymouth Crowell, an imporant patron of the church.

Many important Angelinos have played a part in the history of the church. Landowner Isaac Lankershim was a trustee of the original congregation as well as his son-in-law. hotel owner and developer Isaac Newton Van Nuys.

The First Baptist Church of Los Angeles is located at 760 Westmoreland Avenue. It was declared a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (No. 237) in 1981. Website:www.fbcofla.org

Barbi Ennis Connolly, 321stBG Historian, 2009, PRINCESSBARBI_B25@msn.com Corrections or additions ?