487th BG 836th Sqdn

My name is Danny Dohmen and I'm from the Netherlands. I've adopted 2 graves at Margraten Cemetary of soldiers who died during World War 2. Besides this I'm a volunteer of www.adoptiegraven.nl a website that keeps the memory alive of the soldiers who fought and died during World War 2 and are buried at the Cementaries Margraten, Ardennes and Henri-Chapelle.

A few days ago I recieved an email of a man who was a mechanic during WW2 (Raymond Duncan). He was attached to the 487th BG 836th Sqdn during the year 1944 from April to July 1945 at station 137 in Lavenham, England.

He is looking for information about an aircrew member. The only information he can give me is that is First name was Mike, he was a Flight Engineer and that he was a top turret gunner.

Raymond Duncan thought he crashed over Holland, but I've looked into this but couldn't find anything about an airplane of 487th BG 836th Sqdn chrashing in Holland.

It's not a whole lot of information I can give you but I hope you can help me find this "Mike".

Thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you.

Kind Regards

Danny Dohmen and Raymond Duncan

Hello Danny,
In the 487th Bomb Group 'Roll of Honor', containing the names of all 233 KIA's, there is no "Mike" or "Michael" listed. Mr. Duncan has to be a bit more specific to allow us to be able to help him.
Cheers
Ivo de Jong

Danny,

I agree with Ivo, The Roll of Honor in Bits & Pieces lists 50 Top Turret men from the 487th who appear in MACRs.  Of those 50 there were 17 who were KIA.  None of the 50 were named Mike.  However, in my life I've known several people who were called Mike even though their actual name was something else.  This list of 487th TT men who were KIA includes a Melo Volavka.  His crewmates might have called him 'Mike'.   He is listed with MACR 9423 for 43-38154 lost on 30 Sept 1944.  The MACR is posted on Footnote and it states that this a/c was lost in a mid-air collision at coordinates 52.03 North, 08.32 East.

Hal

Ivo & Hal,

Thanks for your information. I will ask mr. Duncan if he can remember a little bit more. I'll mention the name Melo Volavka and indeed I've also missed the name "Mike" in the "Roll of Honor"of 487th.

Danny

Hello Danny and Raymond,
Raymond is looking for Melo Volavka.  I am married to Melo's nephew Mike who was named after Melo.  Mike is the Americanized version of the Czech name Melo.  Melo's plane was involved in a mid-air crash with another plane 30 Sept 1944 and crashed in Germany.  Melo was buried in the U. S. Military Cemetery at Margreten, Holland and later moved home to the Czech Cemetery, Sumner County, Caldwell, KS.  If I can be of any help, let me know.
Debbie Volavka