1st Lt.

Thomas George Pfiffner

Engineering Officer

544th Bomb Squadron

384th Bombardment Group (Heavy)

Serial Nr O-856524

Killed 17/07/1943 Aged 24

Resting Place - Cambridge American Cemetery, Madingley, Cambridge, UK - Plot A, Row 6, Grave 2

Thomas was born in St. Louis, Missouri on 13th November 1918, Thomas was the son of Victor Emmanuel Pfiffner and Agnes B. Brinkman Pfiffner. 

He grew up alongside his older sister, Marguerite Ann, and their younger brother, Robert Arnold, who also served in the Air Force as a Private, though his exact role and unit remains unknown.

Thomas pursued higher education close to home and graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, in the class of 1940.   

Feeling called to serve as the nation went to war, Thomas enlisted in January of 1942, and completed his technical and engineering training at Chanute Field in Rantoul, Illinois. After completing his training, he was commissioned as Second Lieutenant on 28th November 1942.

A month later, on 28th December 1942, at Gowen Field in Boise, Idaho, 2nd Lt. Pfiffner was assigned to the 544th Bomb Squadron of the 384th Bomb Group. 

The spring of 1943 brought major milestones, both personally and professionally for 2nd Lt. Pfiffner. On 9th April 1943, he married Jeanne Frances Ritchay. Just days later on 12th April 1943, he was promoted to First Lieutenant. 

Later, in June, 1st Lt. Pfiffner was among the first personnel who arrived at Grafton Underwood; there he would serve as an Engineering Officer. The critical daily task of keeping the B-17s flight-ready rested heavily on his shoulders.

Tragically, his dedicated service was cut short just weeks after his arrival at Grafton Underwood. On 17 July 1943, 1st Lt. Pfiffner was assisting with ground operations on the airfield. While pulling the wheel chocks away from a B-17, he was struck by a moving propeller and killed at the age of 24. 

The exact cause of this accident remains unknown. While the noise from the engines would have been extremely loud, the extreme exhaustion from preparing aircraft for back-to-back missions often took a toll on ground crews and could easily result in accidents such as these.  

1st Lt. Pfiffner is one of 32 men from the 384th Bomb Group who lost their lives in non-combat incidents. 

Today, he lies in rest at Cambridge American Cemetery in England.

Research courtesy of Mikayla Leech on behalf of 384th Bombardment Group Museum.

With kind thanks to the 384th Bomb Group website www.384thbombgroup.com for permission in using material from their records in the making of this story. It holds a wealth of information, documents and photographs of their activities during World War 2.

Further information courtesy of www.newspapers.com, www.ancestory.com and www.findagrave.com