In a Missing Aircrew report I have come across 3 abbreviations for the status of the aircrew in question. KIA- Obviously Killed in Action. EUS- Evacuated to US from POW camp after war. I can't find any information on the abbreviation DED or it might by DFD (very hard to read). Can anyone help? Thanks!

Have seen DED defined as DEclared Dead.

Scott Burris, 381st BGMA LTM
ArmyAirForces.com

DFD is death by finding of death--some one reported the death but no remains found.

Tracey L. Jackson
Daughter of Harold E. Jackson
305 BG 365 BS, POW Stalag XVII B

a veteran have tolt me it means" Died of unknown causes"

hmmm. In a friend's uncles' report all bailed and a survivor notifed the authorities they saw her uncle hit without opening his shute and that is how they listed him; but I guess they really wouldn't know how he actually died! It never ceases to amaze me how much I am learning whhile trying to find information about my dad's stay in Stalag XVII.

tjackson is correct,DFD means Death By Finding of Death.We had experience with that one.
Stalag XVII was one of the worst.Badly over crowded to the point they repatriated some of the worse wounded
to make room.

Yunch

My father, Sgt. Donald Merle Alton, 323rd of the 91st BG, was in XVII-B. He was in barracks 37-B. One of his crew (9 POW, 1 KIA), waist gunner Don Irons, was shot through both legs by fighters. He was repatriated by the Red Cross sometime in 1944.

Dad was one of the first POWs in Krems (that's what he always called XVII-B), in Oct. of '43. He was shot down on Oct. 4, and took trains, trucks, and marched to Austria.
Everything had just been fumigated, after the former Russian and Serb prisoners had been moved out to a ramshackle camp next door. So, when they got there, they were relatively free of lice and fleas. They were also given winter coats, a mix of old stuff from German and American and British issue. He grabbed the longest great coat he could find, which hung right to the ground, and provided the most warmth.

Within a few weeks, everything was infested with vermin again, and it was a cold and itchy winter. The next winter was even worse, and he told me he spent most of his time in bed, dressed in all his clothes, including the great coat. Everyone almost froze to death, because by that time they were living on rotten veggies and the odd Red Cross package. Not much nourishment to generate body heat, and there was barely enough wood to cook with, much less throw in the stove to heat the barracks.

Gordy.

"tailgunnerson"

"Please remember those who gave so much
for the freedom we enjoy this day."

Reading my former post, I should state that the POWs didn't literally freeze to death.
It just seemed like it. I never heard of anyone actually freezing to death in the camp, but some men did freeze to death on the forced march from Krems to Braunau in April of '45. It was cold, wet, and rained a lot of the time. The POWs slept in the open many nights on this 3 week journey.

Gordy.

"tailgunnerson"

"Please remember those who gave so much
for the freedom we enjoy this day."

Having reviewed hundreds of MACRs, I can say with affirmation, DED is Declared Dead, You missed RMC which means Returned to Military Control usually applied to personnel who were never in enemy hands and returned, sometimed noted RTD. or occasionally EVD evaded capture. Also KNB killed, no body. Maked me wonder how standardized it all is.

Hi,
so what is PDD?

Francis

Francis

"PDD" is "Presumed Date of Death"

Daniel L. Stockton "B-24 Best Web"
http://www.b24bestweb.com/

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While going through MACR files at the National Archives a few years ago, I was given the following list:

CASUALITY ABBREVIATIONS

KIA - Killed In Action
MIA - Missing In Action
WIA - Wounded In Action
DED - Declared Dead (Public Law 490)
DOWRIA - Died Of Wounds Received In Action
DOW - Died Of Wounds
EUS - Evacuated To The United States
RTD - Returned To Duty
ALW - Alive And Well
DNB - Died Non-Battle
SWA - Seriously Wounded In Action
LWA - Lightly Wounded In Action
NOK - Next Of Kin
ASN - Army Serial Number
POW - Prisoner Of War
RMC - Returned To Military Control
DL - Dead List

I hope the list proves helpful.

Randy Burton
Associate Member
351st Bomb Group Assoc.

Thanks, this is great.

Tracey L. Jackson
Daughter of Harold E. Jackson
305 BG 365 BS, POW Stalag XVII B

Hey thanks for the data. I have been trying to figure out what is scribbled all over my dads MACR. The POW is crossed out and RTD scribbled over it. Now I know Returned to Duty
Jim

Yes, my logo is for the 511th Squadron of the 351st - known as the Ball Boys after the first squadron commander Clinton F. Ball. This is from the Unit History (archived at Maxwell AFB):
 
One day while lounging around the Operations Office the boys were trying to hit on names with which to christen the newly arrived ships which would be theirs in combat. After throwing names around the place for awhile, Lt. Bill Smith hit on the idea of "The Ball Boys," with every ship having the word "Ball" incorporated in the name.  Capt. Ball had already named hisplane Linda Ball after his almost a year old daughter.  So were born the names:  "Screw Ball," "Fowl Ball," "Fire Ball," "No Ball," "Cannon Ball," "High Ball," "Snow Ball," and "Spare Ball."
 
( I am amused by the typo? of Foul Ball in the Unit History. )
 

 

Randy Burton
Associate Member
351st Bomb Group Assoc.

Randy,If  "Fowl"  is spelt as you say it is,I would guess it was intentional to denote "Bird".
That sounds better then the implication of "Foul" (stinking).Just a WAG.

Have reviewed all the previous posts about the MACR abbreviations which is a nice aid to reading the MACRs.  Can anyone help with the term "DIE" for a pilot's death (also hand written nearby on MACR  "late condolence(dead)"   Seven other crew members are all listed KIA.  Thanks for any help.

Kevin Wilson

Kevin:

To add to Randy's list and other comments...the following were found on MACR 11400 for 31 July 1944 with the 27th FG.

DOI- died of wounds recieved in action
SLA- seriouly injured in action
LIA- lightly injured in action
SIU- seriouly gassed (hospitalized)
CAP- captured by enemy
INT- interned as result of enemy action
RTD- returned to duty from previously reported casualty status

Hope that this helps with reading the MACRs just a bit more.
Ted51

Thanks for adding the additional MACR abbreviations Ted.  I hope someone will know precisely what the "DIE" notation written into the MACR may mean.  The pilot's  family is trying to figure it out.

Kevin

Died In Escape (DIE) ie., not Killed, but Died as a POW attempting Escape - could have been DNB but more descriptive is "DIE" and implies evidence exists elsewhere - possibly a witness report or a German report documenting the incident.  I'd give a reference if I could remember where I read it but I was struck by the obvious nature of the verb ...