On March 21, 1945, an A-26B Invader (serial number 43-22353) with three crew members departed its base in England for a bombing mission over enemy targets in Dulmen, Germany. While over the target area, the Invader was hit by enemy flak, which tore off its right wing and sent it into a downward spin. No parachutes were observed to exit the aircraft before it crashed near Velen, Germany. The three crew members were lost during the incident, and post-war searches of the Velen area were unsuccessful in locating their remains.

Second Lieutenant Lynn W. Hadfield entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Utah and served in the 642nd Bombardment Squadron, 409th Bombardment Group. He was a crew member aboard this Invader when it was shot down and his remains could not be recovered or identified following the war. Today, Second Lieutenant Hadfield is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.​

Pilot Accounted For From World War II (Hadfield, L.)

By DPAA Public Affairs

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 2018 — Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Lynn W. Hadfield, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Dec. 13, 2018.

On March 21, 1945, Hadfield was a member of the 642nd Bombardment Squadron, 409th Bombardment Group, 9th Bombardment Division, 9th Air Force, piloting an A-26B, when his aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and went missing during a combat mission from Couvron, France to Dülmen, Germany. Hadfield, and his two crewmen, Sgt. Vernon Hamilton and Sgt. John Kalausich, had been participating in the interdiction campaign to obstruct German troop movements in preparation for the Allied crossing of the Rhine River on March 23, 1945.

DPAA is grateful to Mr. Adolph Hagedorn, the government of Germany, and History Flight, Inc., for their partnership in this mission.

Hadfield’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Margraten, Netherlands, along with the others missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For more information about DPAA, visit www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa, or call 703-699-1420/1169.

Hadfield’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000PgMEoEAN
Contributor: usafdo (48612389)

2LT, 642 AAF BOMB SQ WORLD WAR II∼His name has been added to the "Tablets of the Missing" at the American War Cemetery, Margraten, the Netherlands.

Awarded the Purple Heart as well as the Air Medal.