Lawrence F Burt # 19169319 was residing in Lake County, Illinois, enlisted at Portland Oregon on 20 Oct. 1942 and was a Pvt. in the Air Corp. Born in Iowa in 1922, he was working as a skilled mechanic/repair man, was married and had completed 2 years of high school. Lawrence is white and a citizen.

Sgt. Lawrence Burt was an Engineer/ Gunner in the B-26 Marauder #42-107555 of the 319th Bomb Group, 439th Bomb Squadron which was shot-down over the target on 23 Sept. 1944. Bombing Mission to Vigevano, Rail Road Bridge, Italy. All on board were KIA. (NOT, Peterson was KIA) the rest POW/

MIA telegram was sent to his wife, Mrs. Joyce H Burt, 1911 Hebron Street, Zion, Illinois.

December, 2012;

Dear Friends,
Here is the witness from Mr. Igino Paghini, who lives in a small village
S of Milan.
He and his brother Rino Paghini (deceased a few years ago), were the
civilians who rescued Lt Burt and Sgt Greeth after their bailing out
from the crashing B-26 on Set. 23, 1944.
The two American airmen where hid at Tainate and at Gaggiano (two very
small tonws S of Milan).
Mr. Igino Paghini and his friend Dorio (he is still alive too and lives
at Noviglio), then conducted Lt. Burt and Sgt. Greeth to Switzerland
waking across 40 Kms of
German and fascist held territory.
It seems a quite interesting witness…
Will visit Mr Paghini and his friedn Dorio as soon as possible, in order
to get more info, data and so on.
Sincerely, Ago (Prof. Ago Alberti, AirCrash PO Team-Leader)

http://aircrashpo.com/about_us.htm http://aircrashpo.com/

57th Bomb Wing; http://57thbombwing.com/gallery2/main.php?g2itemId=48940_

Ieri sera sono riuscito a parlare telefonicamente con il Sig. Iginio Paghini.
Lui e il fratello Rino (ormai deceduto) nascosero il sergenti Creeth e Burt.
Iginio, nonostante l'età e le condizioni di salute, si è dimostrato disponibile fornendomi parecchi riscontri e
ulteriori "piste" da seguire.
Riassumendo la chiacchierata :
I sue fratelli nascosero prima a Tainate e poi a Gaggiano (probabilmente in Via Roma 3) i due sergenti.
Questi furono condotti da Igino e un amico, tal Dorio (è ancora in vita ed abita a Noviglio, lo troverò) in Svizzera.
Ho chiesto ripetutamente al testimone quali formazioni partigiane avessero contribuito ad aiutarlo nel viaggio in Svizzera,
ma non mi ha parlato di nessuna formazione partigiana.
Iginio mi ha detto testualmente: "Non ero un partigiano".
Trovo difficile e soprattutto pericoloso pensare ad una scampagnata di 40 chilometri senza appoggi e nascondiglio.
Al momento , fino ad ulteriori sviluppi (trovare Dorio), rimango sulla traccia che porta i sergenti fuggiti in Svizzera
grazie all'aiuto di due persone di Gaggiano/Tainate.
Alla domanda leggermente sfacciata se gli furono consegnati dei soldi dagli avieri la risposta è stata affermativa,
anche se sottolineando "Non molti".
Inoltre, i resti dei tenenti Petersern e Braden furono seppelliti nel cimitero di Noviglio ( e non di Mairano di Noviglio).
Subito dopo la guerra una commissione americana, dopo una ricerca in cui fu contattato anche Igidio, inumò le salme.
Quella di Petersen è sita nel cimitero militare di Firenze mentre quello di Braden fu probabilmente riportato in patria.
Andiamo avanti. Saluti Fabio

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LAWRENCE F. "BLACKIE" BURT: Newspaper Obituary and Death Notice
News Sun, The (Waukegan, IL) - Thursday, April 3, 1997
Deceased Name: LAWRENCE F. "BLACKIE" BURT
Lawrence F.

"Blackie" Burt, age 75, of 31220 93rd St., Burlington, Wisconsin (Town of
Randall) passed away Tuesday morning, April 1, 1997 at his home following a
long illness.

He was born on September 28, 1921 in Bussey, Iowa, the son of the late
Francis and Grace Hauenstein Burt. On January 25, 1947 he was united in marriage
to Pauline Richards in Zion, Illinois.

He served as a Staff Sergeant in the Army Air Corps during World War II,
serving in Europe.

He was self employed as a builder and carpenter, owning L.F. Burt Builders
and later Burt's Building and Repair Service.

He lived in Briggsville, Wisconsin from 1977 until moving to the Town of
Randall in 1996. He was a member of the Disabled American Veterans, the
American Legion, Sons of the American Revolution, the Caterpillar Association and
the Escape and Evasion Society.

Mr. Burt is survived by his wife Pauline; 1 son, Lawrence Matthew (Cynthia)
Burt of Winona, Minnesota; 1 daughter, Rebecca (Chester) Albritton of
Milwaukee, Wisconsin; 3 grandchildren, Zoe Polovina, Dimitri Burt and Chester
Albritton; 4 sisters, Isabell (Robert) Dunsmore of Knoxville, Iowa, Vera Walker
of Hot Springs, Arkansas, Dorothy (Audley) Sabby of Sun City, Arizona and
Patricia (James) Dougherty of Madison Heights, Michigan; 3 brothers, Robert
E. Burt of Kansas City, Missouri, William A. (Rosemary) Burt of Racine,
Wisconsin and Paul (Earlene) Burt of Pontiac, Michigan.