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Archive Report: US Forces
1941 - 1945
Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
We seek additional information and photographs. Please contact us via Helpdesk
USAAF Crest
24.08.1944 No. 406th Fighter Squadron P47D 42-76555 4W-W 1st Lt. Sumner

Operation: Armed reconnaissance

Date: 24th August 1944 (Thursday)

Unit: No. 406th Fighter Squadron 371st Fighter Group

Type: P47D Thunderbolt

Serial: 42-76555

Code: 4W-W

Base: A-6 Beuzeville, France

Location: Vierzon, France

Pilot: 1st Lt. Sumner J. Calish O-816046 USAAF Age 23. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

While strafing the marshalling yards of Vierson-Ville, his plane failed to pull out of a run hitting the ground and exploding.


Lt. Sumner Calish of Boston, left and Lt. Col. Jim Daley of Amarillo, Texas.

Burial details:

1st Lt. Sumner J. Calish. Temple Mishkan Tefila Memorial Park Massachusetts, USA. Funeral service for Lt. Sumner J. Calish, formerly of 25 South street, Brighton, shot down over France in 1944 while on his 88th fighter pilot mission, will be held from the Solomon Funeral Home, 420 Harvard street, Brookline, today at 11 A.M. Interment will be in Mishkan Tefila cemetery, Centre street, West Roxbury. Lt. Calish was the son of Mrs. Ethel Calish and the late Charles Calish of Brighton. He volunteered for Air Force flight training after completing his second year at Northeastern University, where he was majoring in aeronautical engineering. While overseas, he was attached to the 400th Fighter Sqaudron of the 371st Fighter Group, based in England and France. In addition to his mother, he is survived by two brothers, Howard and Leroy Calish, and a sister, Miss Cynthia Calish, all of Brighton.

Researched Michel Beckers for Aircrew Remembered December 2016. With thanks to Robert Stevenson and Pete Rogers for photographs.

MB - 12.12.2016

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Acknowledgments: Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and MWO François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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