Technical Sergeant Jonathan Bunyon “JB” Akers, born 22 Dec 1911, was the son of Claude and Lillie (Tate) Akers of Eliasville, Young County, Texas. Eliasville is in north central Texas 75 miles SSW of Wichita Falls and 79 miles NE of Abilene.

In the 1920 census 8-year-old JB is iving with his parents and siblings Flossy 16, Sallie 12, and William 10, on a farm in Precinct 2 of Young County.

In the 1930 census 18-year-old JB is living with his parents in Eliasville. His father is the county commissioner.

In the 1940 census 28-year-old JB is a lodger in the household of Oscar Abbott in rural Ector County (Odessa in west Texas). JB is a filling station attendant.

JB enlisted 5 Oct 1940 at Fort Bliss in EL Paso. He’d had three years of college and was single without dependents. His civil occupation was listed under Attendants, filling stations and parking lots. He was 5’7” and weighed 140 lbs. He was assigned to the 49th Fighter Squadron of the 14th Fighter Group.

Newspapers of the day and the NARA WWII Casualty listings by state and county for Texas show Akers, Jonathan B, T Sgt from Young County as DNB (Died Non-Battle) 23 Aug 1942. JB was a passenger aboard C-47 41-7803, crashed at Moel y Gaer mountain, southwest of Liverpool, on 23-Aug-42. J.B.’s US WWII Hospital Admission Card File say he died accidentally from bomb fragments and burns. Diagnosis: Accidental death; Location: General; Causative Agent: Bomb fragment; Diagnosis: Crushing; Diagnosis: Burns. Injured in Line of Duty: In line of duty.

C-47 41-7803 Departed Bradley AAF, CT for the ETO. Routing through Presque Isle, Goose Bay Labrador, Bluie West 1 (Narsarsuaq Greenland) [3-week delay], thence to Prestwick via Iceland. Failed to Return (FTR) flight from Prestwick to RAF Atcham. During the descent through bad weather, A/C crashed into the northern side of Moel-y-Gaer mountain. A/C broke up and caught fire. Four crew members and seven passengers Died. A single passenger survived to be rescued.

Source: Brian Kueker, Facebook contributor for American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).

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Crew / Passengers lost on C-47 #41-7803

23 August 1942

The crew was performing a personnel transport from Prestwick to RAF Atcham on behalf of the 64th Transport Group. While flying northeast of Denbigh, the pilot encountered cloudy conditions and the visibility was poor.

While flying too low, the aircraft hit the north slope of Mt Moel y Gaer located near Bodfari and was destroyed upon impact. A passenger was seriously injured while all 12 other occupants were killed.

Crew (64th TG):

Pilot: 1st Lt Charles Edward Williams, MN

Co Pilot: 1st Lt Richard Pazder, IL

2nd Lt Theodore F. Furness Jr., PA

2nd Lt Morris B. Penner, MO

Passengers:

Pvt Harry R. Adams, MO

T/Sgt Jonathan B. Akers, TX

T/Sgt Robert E. Anderson, IA

T/Sgt Isreal Gross, NY

T/Sgt Herman A. Hermes, CA

T/Sgt Raymond S. Nash, OR

T/Sgt Jesse L. Patterson, IA

T/Sgt George A. Lesikar, TX 1913-2006

Sources:

www.findagrave.com

www.americanairmuseum.com

Crash of a Douglas C-47-DL on Moel y Gaer: 12 killed | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (baaa-acro.com)

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3.

Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

Jonathan B Akers