The Man Behind the Name
2nd Lt. Charles W. Mankin Jr. (O-798147) was the pilot of the B-24 lost on 2 March 1944 during the Frankfurt mission. He did not survive the loss of his aircraft. He had completed 5 missions, including flights to Gotha (February 20, 22, and 24, 1944) and Frankfurt (2 March 1944).
Crew accounts differ on the exact circumstances of his death. One account states he ordered the crew to bail out and was seen getting out of the cockpit but did not pull his ripcord. Another states he was found dead at Amiens, France, with German soldiers reporting he attempted to jump too near the ground and his parachute did not open.
A third account from German intelligence at Dulag Luft claimed he was still in the aircraft when it crashed, though surviving crew members doubted this. His body was reportedly badly burned and was brought to navigator F/O Robert L. Burke at Amiens, France. German sources indicated he was buried near a fighter base and military post outside Amiens.
Service record.
Missions flown.
The missions below are those we have been able to document for this airman, drawn from flight logs, mission records, and archival sources. It is not necessarily a complete account of every mission flown; gaps may reflect missing documentation, transferred assignments, or records lost to time.