Frank B. McGowan.
Nose Gunner · 328th Squadron · Of Clairton, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, PA.
The Man Behind the Name
McGowan enlisted in the Army Air Forces and first trained as an aerial gunner, graduating from the Army Air Forces Flexible Gunnery School at Kingman, Arizona. He went on to complete eighteen weeks of flight and combat training in high-level precision bombing and navigation at the Army Air Forces Bombardier School at Kirtland Field, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and was commissioned a second lieutenant and awarded the silver wings of the aerial bombardier, supplementing his previously earned aerial gunner's insignia.
2nd Lt. Frank B. McGowan served as nose gunner/photographer (P/N) aboard B-24J 42-50606 on the 12 October 1944 mission to Osnabruck.
McGowan was killed when the aircraft was shot down. German records from Airbase Headquarters Achmer confirm he was interred at the Prisoner of War Cemetery, Achmer, Row 2, Grave 113.
After the war his remains were moved from the Prisoner of War Cemetery at Achmer, where he had been buried in Row 2, Grave 113, to the Netherlands American Cemetery at Margraten (Plot L, Row 1, Grave 21).
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.
Before and after.
Graduated from Clairton High School in 1934, then earned a B.S. degree from California State Teachers College in 1942. Before entering the service he worked as a schoolteacher.