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450th Bomb Group - POW Medal Grouping


MasonK
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I shared this previously in the Medals and Decorations section, looking for opinions on the Purple Heart engraving. Thanks to all replied, and special thanks to forum member usaaf93 for providing the MACR.


Now that I have the group in hand, I thought I would share, with better photos.


Lt Breckenfeld was a co-pilot (B-24's) with the 723 Bomb Squadron, 450th Bomb Group (15th AAF).


On March 12th, 1945, the 450th's target was the Florisdorf oil refinery in Vienna, Austria. The aircraft Breckenfeld was on sustained damage to two engines from flak. The aircraft was going down, and headed for Russian territory. The crew had to bail out, and Breckenfeld was the last to bail, at 7500ft. His parachute malfunctioned, and once it did deploy, he was below the rest of the crew who bailed.


Once on the ground, Breckenfeld and others in the crew were captured by Hungarian soldiers. The Hungarians brutally beat Breckenfeld and another crew member that evening. The following day, Breckenfeld would be turned over to the German's, and placed into a prison (unknown). Details beyound that are unknown, however obviously a little less than two months later was VE Day, so I imagine he was released around that time.


Below are the basic details from the archives (Enlistment/POW), snippets from MACR, including Breckenfeld's account of what occurred, and lastly, the official narrative of the mission courtesy of www.450thbg.com


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Ribbon Bar - Air Medal w/OLC, Purpl Heart, EAME w/4 Campaign Stars

 

post-29885-0-97146300-1459368250.jpg

 

3" Pilot Wings. Unsure of the manufacturer?

 

post-29885-0-24764900-1459368263.jpg

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There are also photos of Breckfeld in uniform, etc., however the seller was unable to locate them (in the process of moving). Got my fingers crossed that he can track them down...

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I like the ring! The tags he probably wore as an Air Cadet during flight training,

 

The wings look like LGB ( Balfour ) wings.

 

Kurt

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Thanks, Kurt. I appreciate the ID on the wings.

 

The ring is pretty cool! I wish I knew more of the story behind it.

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Nice group. I think the ring made from a spoon or fork handle is very cool as well. Not the typical Luftwaffe mess hall utensil that were brought back by many POW's.

 

JD

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Thanks, JD.

 

The archive do not specify the camp he was sent to. My guess is he was short term in any camp, due to being captured late in the war. He was likely moved around quite regularly due to the advancing allies.

 

Possible that they used whatever utensils were available, and didn't have the typical Luft utensils available in the camps.

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