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On April 8, 1944, a B-24 Liberator Bomber (41-28983) took off from Topeka Army Air Field in Kansas. The B-24, and its crew of ten men of the United States Army Air Corps, were bound for Morrison Field in West Palm Beach, Florida. Morrison Field was a staging base for the theaters of war. After a stopover, the B-24 Liberator Bomber and its crew of ten men would have been en route to Europe via the South Atlantic Ferry Route to join the Allied effort to defeat the Nazi war machine. Shortly after takeoff, the B-24 crashed in the Millington, Tennessee area in the vicinity of the Chickasaw Ordnance Works. Nine men were killed, and one man, Sgt. Richard H. Martin Jr. from Lynchburg, Virginia, parachuted to safety and survived the crash. He was admitted to Kennedy General Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. The nine men who perished in the crash are listed as official casualties of World War II, having died in the service of their country. |
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From the Newspaper: The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Sunday, April 9, 1944 "Exploding in midair with a force that tore it into three pieces, a B-24 Army Liberator carried nine of its crew members to death yesterday morning as it disintegrated over a two mile area just west of the Chickasaw Ordnance Works near Millington." |
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Sgt. James H. Simmons was from Derossett, Tennessee. |
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A clipping from an unnamed newspaper sent to me by Kenneth H. Simmons: Funeral was held at Smith's Chapel Wednesday, April 12, 1944 with full military honors: "SGT. JAMES HOLLIS SIMMONS, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. Odus Simmons of Ravenscroft, was killed Saturday, April 8, 1944, when a B-24 Liberator Bomber from the Topeka (Kansas) Air Base to Florida, crashed twenty miles northeast of Memphis. Eight other servicemen were killed and one seriously injured in the accident." "The body arrived in Sparta Tuesday afternoon accompanied by Sgt. Ramsey of the Memphis Army Air Corps, and was taken to the Goff Funeral Home. A military funeral was held at Smith's Chapel Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock, conducted by Rev. O. T. Nelson. A firing squad of twelve soldiers from the military reservation at Crossville fired the salute and a bugler sounded taps. The flag which covered the casket was presented to the family." "Besides his parents, Sgt. Simmons is survived by six brothers, Robert, Herbert Lee, Donald, William, Kenneth, and Ray; and one sister, Lucille Simmons." "Sgt. Simmons was graduated from White County High School in 1943 and was inducted into the service April 5, 1943. He received his basic training at Miami Beach, Florida." |
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James Hollis Simmons was 20 years old. |
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| This Web page downloads with a musical theme tribute, (MIDI file), and it should play on most browsers. Please turn on you speakers. |
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Site designed, coded in HTML, and maintained by
Kurt A. Dold
, of Norwood, Massachusetts, nephew of
S/Sgt. Albert S. Dold,
who was an enlisted member of the crew with
Sgt. James H. Simmons.
This Web page tribute was originally published on October 1, 2000. The last update to this page was on May 8, 2009. |
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If anyone is upset or offended by this Web page tribute, please accept my apologies, and please contact me at my E-mail address by clicking on to my underlined name at the bottom of this paragraph, and I will address your concerns.
I am merely looking for information and a good photo of each member of the crew of
B-24 Liberator Bomber (41-28983).
I would like to use their individual photos and information on these Web pages as my personal tribute to the men of this crew. Thank you.
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Sgt. James Hollis Simmons, the Top Turret Gunner, was one of the men killed in the crash of B-24 Liberator Bomber (41-28983).
Sgt. James H. Simmons's name and memory is enshrined at the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.