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| Lt. John Dale served in the 480th Antisubmarine Group flying B-24 Liberators. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_Air_Forces_Antisubmarine_Command https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/1599940/mount-hebron-cemetery |
John was born July 23, 1919 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents John Sr. and Rosalie were also born in Pennsylvania. His father was president of a coal company. He had one younger brother. John graduated from Amherst College in 1940 with the goal of working in the banking industry, but enlisted in the US Army Air Corps the day after Pearl Harbor.
He graduated from aviation training in July 1942 and was assigned to fly B-24 Liberator bombers. In December 1942, 2nd Lieutenant Dale was assigned to the 480th Antisubmarine Group. The 480th was formed on 19 June 1943 with the mission to shore up scanty Allied antisubmarine defenses in the Atlantic approaches to the Straits of Gibraltar. U-boats had very recently sunk four ships in an Allied convoy about a hundred miles off the coast of Portugal. Over the long term, the Allies wanted to increase air antisubmarine patrols and convoy coverage to protect their preparations for the impending Tunisian offensive and the subsequent invasion of Sicily.
Using modified B-24 bombers equipped with radar, external fuel tanks, and other antisubmarine equipment, the 480th patrolled the Atlantic Ocean north and west from Morocco providing convoy coverage for ships sailing from or approaching the Straits of Gibraltar. On 11 May 1943, 2nd Lt. Dale and five others in his ten-man crew were killed when their B-24 crashed on take off from their home base. I was unable to find any information on the circumstances of the crash.
John Edmund Dale Jr. is buried in Mount Hebron Cemetery in Upper Montclair, New Jersey.
Thank you Lt. Dale for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for John.
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This profile was written by Bob Fuerst. "I’m a NASA engineer, B-17 Flying Fortress enthusiast, and amateur genealogist so this kind of research is an ideal outlet for me. But more than anything, it’s a way to express my sincere appreciation for The Greatest Generation and the sacrifices that they made, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. They should never be forgotten and I’m grateful to Don for allowing me to play a small part in honoring them."
Last year on this date I profiled Navy Cross hero Robert Turnbull of the 3rd Marine Division. You can read about Robert here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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