| United States Officer 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion, 101st Airborne Division 306th Troop Carrier Squadron, 442nd Troop Carrier Group F/O Noel Clarence McCann T-122016 CG-4A "Queen City" Glider Pilot Killed In Action - September 18th 1944 "Operation Market Garden" |
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| M-1943 Field Jacket and B-4 Life Preserver, above photos. The uniform pictured above is a depiction of what may have been worn by Flight Officer Noel Clarence McCann during Operation Market Garden. |
| CG-4A Glider "Queen City" September 18th 1944 "Operation Market Garden" |
| On September 18, 1944 at 15:06 HRS, D+1 of Operation Market Garden, Lt Buckley Maynard piloted a C-47A "Skytrain" over Holland. This was his second mission for Operation Market Garden. His first was the previous day piloting C-47A 43- 15137 "Chalk 76" carrying paratroopers of the I Company, 3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. On September 18th, members of the 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion (AEB), 101st Airborne Division were to be glider landed with a Willys MB 1/4 Ton Truck. 9 Minutes from Landing Zone (LZ) W near Son, Flight Officer Noel McCann piloted a CG-4A 42-79151 Glider named "Queen City" being towed by Lt Maynard. The CG-4A was is given the nickname ‘Queen- City’, after F/O McCann's hometown and the name ‘Clara’ after his wife. German anti-aircraft artillery targeted the CG-4A and shot it down while in tow behind the C-47A. The CG-4A crashed in Oisterwijk, Holland. She was one of eighty gliders that had previously taken off from Chilbolten Airfield in the south of England. The crash killed Pilot F/O Noel McCann T-122016 306th Troop Carrier Squadron (TCS) 442nd Troop Carrier Group, 1st Lt Ray Hiltunen O-1103214 B Company 326th AEB (seated in the Co-Pilot seat), PVT Raymond L. Carson 36176352 326th AEB and T-5 Ray J Le May 36239073 326th AEB. Due to the shortage of glider pilots during war, Lt Hiltunen was assigned as the Co-Pilot to assist during flight to check instruments and fly the glider in the event something happened to the pilot. The cargo, a Willys MB "Jeep" serial number 313624 survived the crash and was captured and used by the Wehrmacht. The Pilot and three members of the 326th AEB, 101st Airborne Division were buried in a local cemetery until they were relocated in 1946 to the American cemetery in Margraten, Holland. |
| Ray J. Hiltunen First Lieutenant, U.S. Army Service # O-1103214 326th Engineer Battalion, 101st Airborne Division Entered the Service from: Minnesota Died: 18-Sep-44 Buried at: Plot K Row 6 Grave 16 Netherlands American Cemetery Margraten, Netherlands |
| Raymond L. Carson Private, U.S. Army Service # 36176352 326th Engineer Battalion, 101st Airborne Division Entered the Service from: Michigan Died: 18-Sep-44 Buried at: Plot M Row 19 Grave 1 Netherlands American Cemetery Margraten, Netherlands |
| Robert J. Le May Technician Fifth Class, U.S. Army Service # 36239073 326th Engineer Battalion, 101st Airborne Division Entered the Service from: Wisconsin Died: 18-Sep-44 Buried at: Plot L Row 9 Grave 11 Netherlands American Cemetery Margraten, Netherlands |
| Willys Nomenclature Plate, above photo. The nomenclature plate pictured above was removed from the Willys MB 1/4 Ton Truck Serial Number 313624 that was carried by the CG-4A 42-79151 Glider named "Queen City". This Jeep was delivered March 14th 1944. The current location of the Willys MB "Jeep" is unknown. |