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Personal info

Full name
MAC CRAE, William Perry
Date of birth
8 February 1924
Age
21
Place of birth
Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts
Hometown
Essex County, Massachusetts

Military service

Service number
31368054
Rank
Private First Class
Function
unknown
Unit
104th Infantry Regiment,
26th Infantry Division
Awards
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
31 March 1945
Place of death
Reserve Lazaret II
Halle, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
Tablets of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Frederick W. Mac Crae (father)
Eva M. Mac Crae (mother)

More information

Pfc William Mac Crae enlisted on 20 July 1943 in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended high school for 4 years and was a machinist apprentice before he enlisted.

He was taken prisoner of war on 13 November 1944 when his unit was located in the vicinity of Obreck, France.

He was killed during an Allied air raid on the city of Halle, Germany. The raid was very big and most of the city was demolished, resulting in more than 20,000 casualties. For weeks the dead were taken out of the buildings and buried in wooden boxes without any regard to nationality. Investigation after the war couldn't locate his grave.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Astrid van Erp, Carla Mans, www.wwiimemorial.com, http://aad.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - World War II Prisoners of War / Army Enlistment Record / 1930 Census / U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men

Photo source: Astrid van Erp, Amandine Jaunet - Henri-Chapelle Cemetery Associate