Arnold Leslie Burton was born, Feb 25, 1921, to Harry Burton and Reva Cassady (Garrett) in Lake Prairie Twp (Pella), Marion Co., Iowa.
Arnold L. Burton of the 91st bomb group during the German and French campaigns during WWII has passed away peacefully on April 14th, 2015, about 1:00 p.m.
He completed 25 missions between 1942 - 1943 and completed 21 missions between 1944 - 1945. He flew combat atallgun positions. He was awarded the DFC, Air Medal w/6 OLCs and three Battle Stars. He was a life-member of the 91st BGMA and 388th BGMA. A member of Experimental Aircraft Association local chapter 579, International of Aerobatics Club, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and NRA. He was a private pilot until his passing.
He was blessed with two wives, three children, seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
We celebrate his life with a Memorial to be held Saturday, May 23rd at 10:30 a.m. The Memorial will take place at River Hills Memorial Park, 1650 South River St Batavia, IL 60510.
Published in Kane County Chronicle on May 16, 2015
Burton is Home With More.....
Has Finished 25 Missions
by Bert McCrane
Events move swiftly in the life of a Flying Fortress gunner
Staff Sargent Arnold L. Burton of Des Monies, 22, came in from a bombing run over France early in June and dropped into the American Red Cross Liberty Club in London. First thing he knew he was shaking hands with Phil Slinker, one of his former teachers at East Des Moines High in Des Moines.
Out of that meeting, through the Red Cross news service, came an account of the daring raids of the "Heavyweight Annihilator" the Fortress on which Arnold Burton manned a machine gun.
That was in June. Sargent Burton had engaged in 16 bombing missions at that time, won the Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters, survived attacks by as many as 150 German fighter planes and limped home with motors shot away and holes in the wings " through which you could kick a football."
This little yarn, then, might be entitled Chapter 2 in the combat flying experiences of Sargent Burton. Chapter 1 was published in the Des Moines Trubune, June 10.
The Sargent landed in Des Moines the other day for a visit with his mother, Mrs. Reva Cassidy, of 2607 Logan ave.
Medals
Alongside his Air Medals ribbon he wore the emblem of the Distinguished Cross.
His string of successful bombing runs over targets in France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany had expanded to 25.
He wore a third oak leaf cluster on his Air Medal badge and five silver battle stars on his campaign ribbon. Each star represents five major engagements.
Battles
He had kept his tail gun red hot in blazing battles shot down a pair of Nazi planes and scored three additional "probables." And once, over Belgium Germany, he helped clear the air-lanes when as many as 300 German fighter planes rose up to block the American bombing squadron.
Now after his full quota of combat flying in the European theater, Sargent Burton awaits the will of Uncle Sam as to his next move. The air corps limits its fighting men to 25 complete bombing missions in one theater and the young, unmarked Des Moines gunner has completed his assignment.
Once he froze his fingers and his feet flying at 27,000-foot level over France. Once he forgot he removed the safety pins from the deadly load. He stepped on the bomb bay and it burst open. He was dangling half in and half out of the Fortress without a parachute, until the engineer aboard him back on the plane.
Four times the "Heavyweight Annihilator" came in so badly shot up and crash landings were unavoidable. But the pilots always reached the safe haven of a British field.
First
On the very first raid, Sargent Burton engaged in, his Fortress Two motors were shot away, the brakes were gone and the undercarriage out of commission. They
came home with everything wrong. They ground to a stop in the flying sod and dirt of a British airport in a belly landing. He
"Crash landing No. 2 followed a raid on St. Nazaire, Ripped up by anti-aircraft fire and with two motors gone, a pilot who had been shot through both legs kept the crippled Fortress aloft and took it so far out over the North sea that 15 attacking German fighters turned back. Burton and his men zipped up the turf of the British field they saw in a dangerous but safe crash landing." Burton recalls.
Another time, riddled by flak and gunfire and with one wheel shot away, the Fortress was landed on its one good wheel ground-looped in the mud, and spun to a stop.
Test
But coming home from a Bremen raid on which Sargent Burton won the Distinguished Flying Cross, the crew of the Fortress experienced a test that made their other forays seem like light amusement. He recalls.
"The sky over Bremen was literally full of German Focke-Wulfs and Messerschmidt fighters. There were 300 of them.
They darted through the bursting anti-aircraft shells in a desperate fight to knock out the "rather small" Yank formation."
"The flak was like a cloud, " Burton explained. "It seemed so heavy you could walk on it."
Hit
was spurting flame and our tail was almost shot away."
But Burton's squadron wasn't thinking about landings at the moment. Burton himself, with his tail gun trained on an oncoming Focke-Wulf, met that fighter with a hail of lead. It went down in a crazy, flaming spin. All told, 15 German fighters were knocked out of the sky by the formation.
Heading homeward, Burton's Fortress couldn't keep up with the formation. It was a running fight. The men strapped on their parachutes. With a wary eye on the shattered tail assembly they thought they might have to bail out any minute.
70 Holes
But the Fortress swung along on three motors. cleared the channel, and once belly-landed on the English side. The tires were full of holes, the brakes gone, and the landing gear riddled. There were more than 70 flak holes in the plane. But the crew climbed out, ready for more fighting.
Sargent Burton ranged the European skies through 170 hours of combat flying and came home ready to fly again.
He wears the equivalent of five operations, including the Air Medal, the oak leaf clusters which show he qualified for the Air Medal on three additional occasions, and the Distingushed Flying Cross.
New Mid August, when his leave expires, he reports back to Uncle Sam' air force for re-assignment.
Published in the Des Moines Tribune June 10 and August 9, 1943
Arnold L. Burton of the 91st bomb group during the German and French campaigns during WWII has passed away peacefully on April 14th, 2015, about 1:00 p.m.
He completed 25 missions between 1942 - 1943 and completed 21 missions between 1944 - 1945. He flew combat atallgun positions. He was awarded the DFC, Air Medal w/6 OLCs and three Battle Stars. He was a life-member of the 91st BGMA and 388th BGMA. A member of Experimental Aircraft Association local chapter 579, International of Aerobatics Club, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and NRA. He was a private pilot until his passing.
He was blessed with two wives, three children, seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
We celebrate his life with a Memorial to be held Saturday, May 23rd at 10:30 a.m. The Memorial will take place at River Hills Memorial Park, 1650 South River St Batavia, IL 60510.
Published in Kane County Chronicle on May 16, 2015
Burton is Home With More.....
Has Finished 25 Missions
by Bert McCrane
Events move swiftly in the life of a Flying Fortress gunner
Staff Sargent Arnold L. Burton of Des Monies, 22, came in from a bombing run over France early in June and dropped into the American Red Cross Liberty Club in London. First thing he knew he was shaking hands with Phil Slinker, one of his former teachers at East Des Moines High in Des Moines.
Out of that meeting, through the Red Cross news service, came an account of the daring raids of the "Heavyweight Annihilator" the Fortress on which Arnold Burton manned a machine gun.
That was in June. Sargent Burton had engaged in 16 bombing missions at that time, won the Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters, survived attacks by as many as 150 German fighter planes and limped home with motors shot away and holes in the wings " through which you could kick a football."
This little yarn, then, might be entitled Chapter 2 in the combat flying experiences of Sargent Burton. Chapter 1 was published in the Des Moines Trubune, June 10.
The Sargent landed in Des Moines the other day for a visit with his mother, Mrs. Reva Cassidy, of 2607 Logan ave.
Medals
Alongside his Air Medals ribbon he wore the emblem of the Distinguished Cross.
His string of successful bombing runs over targets in France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany had expanded to 25.
He wore a third oak leaf cluster on his Air Medal badge and five silver battle stars on his campaign ribbon. Each star represents five major engagements.
Battles
He had kept his tail gun red hot in blazing battles shot down a pair of Nazi planes and scored three additional "probables." And once, over Belgium Germany, he helped clear the air-lanes when as many as 300 German fighter planes rose up to block the American bombing squadron.
Now after his full quota of combat flying in the European theater, Sargent Burton awaits the will of Uncle Sam as to his next move. The air corps limits its fighting men to 25 complete bombing missions in one theater and the young, unmarked Des Moines gunner has completed his assignment.
Once he froze his fingers and his feet flying at 27,000-foot level over France. Once he forgot he removed the safety pins from the deadly load. He stepped on the bomb bay and it burst open. He was dangling half in and half out of the Fortress without a parachute, until the engineer aboard him back on the plane.
Four times the "Heavyweight Annihilator" came in so badly shot up and crash landings were unavoidable. But the pilots always reached the safe haven of a British field.
First
On the very first raid, Sargent Burton engaged in, his Fortress Two motors were shot away, the brakes were gone and the undercarriage out of commission. They
came home with everything wrong. They ground to a stop in the flying sod and dirt of a British airport in a belly landing. He
"Crash landing No. 2 followed a raid on St. Nazaire, Ripped up by anti-aircraft fire and with two motors gone, a pilot who had been shot through both legs kept the crippled Fortress aloft and took it so far out over the North sea that 15 attacking German fighters turned back. Burton and his men zipped up the turf of the British field they saw in a dangerous but safe crash landing." Burton recalls.
Another time, riddled by flak and gunfire and with one wheel shot away, the Fortress was landed on its one good wheel ground-looped in the mud, and spun to a stop.
Test
But coming home from a Bremen raid on which Sargent Burton won the Distinguished Flying Cross, the crew of the Fortress experienced a test that made their other forays seem like light amusement. He recalls.
"The sky over Bremen was literally full of German Focke-Wulfs and Messerschmidt fighters. There were 300 of them.
They darted through the bursting anti-aircraft shells in a desperate fight to knock out the "rather small" Yank formation."
"The flak was like a cloud, " Burton explained. "It seemed so heavy you could walk on it."
Hit
was spurting flame and our tail was almost shot away."
But Burton's squadron wasn't thinking about landings at the moment. Burton himself, with his tail gun trained on an oncoming Focke-Wulf, met that fighter with a hail of lead. It went down in a crazy, flaming spin. All told, 15 German fighters were knocked out of the sky by the formation.
Heading homeward, Burton's Fortress couldn't keep up with the formation. It was a running fight. The men strapped on their parachutes. With a wary eye on the shattered tail assembly they thought they might have to bail out any minute.
70 Holes
But the Fortress swung along on three motors. cleared the channel, and once belly-landed on the English side. The tires were full of holes, the brakes gone, and the landing gear riddled. There were more than 70 flak holes in the plane. But the crew climbed out, ready for more fighting.
Sargent Burton ranged the European skies through 170 hours of combat flying and came home ready to fly again.
He wears the equivalent of five operations, including the Air Medal, the oak leaf clusters which show he qualified for the Air Medal on three additional occasions, and the Distingushed Flying Cross.
New Mid August, when his leave expires, he reports back to Uncle Sam' air force for re-assignment.
Published in the Des Moines Tribune June 10 and August 9, 1943
Arnold Leslie Burton was born, Feb 25, 1921, to Harry Burton and Reva Cassady (Garrett) in Lake Prairie Twp (Pella), Marion Co., Iowa.
Arnold L. Burton of the 91st bomb group during the German and French campaigns during WWII has passed away peacefully on April 14th, 2015, about 1:00 p.m.
He completed 25 missions between 1942 - 1943 and completed 21 missions between 1944 - 1945. He flew combat atallgun positions. He was awarded the DFC, Air Medal w/6 OLCs and three Battle Stars. He was a life-member of the 91st BGMA and 388th BGMA. A member of Experimental Aircraft Association local chapter 579, International of Aerobatics Club, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and NRA. He was a private pilot until his passing.
He was blessed with two wives, three children, seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
We celebrate his life with a Memorial to be held Saturday, May 23rd at 10:30 a.m. The Memorial will take place at River Hills Memorial Park, 1650 South River St Batavia, IL 60510.
Published in Kane County Chronicle on May 16, 2015
Burton is Home With More.....
Has Finished 25 Missions
by Bert McCrane
Events move swiftly in the life of a Flying Fortress gunner
Staff Sargent Arnold L. Burton of Des Monies, 22, came in from a bombing run over France early in June and dropped into the American Red Cross Liberty Club in London. First thing he knew he was shaking hands with Phil Slinker, one of his former teachers at East Des Moines High in Des Moines.
Out of that meeting, through the Red Cross news service, came an account of the daring raids of the "Heavyweight Annihilator" the Fortress on which Arnold Burton manned a machine gun.
That was in June. Sargent Burton had engaged in 16 bombing missions at that time, won the Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters, survived attacks by as many as 150 German fighter planes and limped home with motors shot away and holes in the wings " through which you could kick a football."
This little yarn, then, might be entitled Chapter 2 in the combat flying experiences of Sargent Burton. Chapter 1 was published in the Des Moines Trubune, June 10.
The Sargent landed in Des Moines the other day for a visit with his mother, Mrs. Reva Cassidy, of 2607 Logan ave.
Medals
Alongside his Air Medals ribbon he wore the emblem of the Distinguished Cross.
His string of successful bombing runs over targets in France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany had expanded to 25.
He wore a third oak leaf cluster on his Air Medal badge and five silver battle stars on his campaign ribbon. Each star represents five major engagements.
Battles
He had kept his tail gun red hot in blazing battles shot down a pair of Nazi planes and scored three additional "probables." And once, over Belgium Germany, he helped clear the air-lanes when as many as 300 German fighter planes rose up to block the American bombing squadron.
Now after his full quota of combat flying in the European theater, Sargent Burton awaits the will of Uncle Sam as to his next move. The air corps limits its fighting men to 25 complete bombing missions in one theater and the young, unmarked Des Moines gunner has completed his assignment.
Once he froze his fingers and his feet flying at 27,000-foot level over France. Once he forgot he removed the safety pins from the deadly load. He stepped on the bomb bay and it burst open. He was dangling half in and half out of the Fortress without a parachute, until the engineer aboard him back on the plane.
Four times the "Heavyweight Annihilator" came in so badly shot up and crash landings were unavoidable. But the pilots always reached the safe haven of a British field.
First
On the very first raid, Sargent Burton engaged in, his Fortress Two motors were shot away, the brakes were gone and the undercarriage out of commission. They
came home with everything wrong. They ground to a stop in the flying sod and dirt of a British airport in a belly landing. He
"Crash landing No. 2 followed a raid on St. Nazaire, Ripped up by anti-aircraft fire and with two motors gone, a pilot who had been shot through both legs kept the crippled Fortress aloft and took it so far out over the North sea that 15 attacking German fighters turned back. Burton and his men zipped up the turf of the British field they saw in a dangerous but safe crash landing." Burton recalls.
Another time, riddled by flak and gunfire and with one wheel shot away, the Fortress was landed on its one good wheel ground-looped in the mud, and spun to a stop.
Test
But coming home from a Bremen raid on which Sargent Burton won the Distinguished Flying Cross, the crew of the Fortress experienced a test that made their other forays seem like light amusement. He recalls.
"The sky over Bremen was literally full of German Focke-Wulfs and Messerschmidt fighters. There were 300 of them.
They darted through the bursting anti-aircraft shells in a desperate fight to knock out the "rather small" Yank formation."
"The flak was like a cloud, " Burton explained. "It seemed so heavy you could walk on it."
Hit
was spurting flame and our tail was almost shot away."
But Burton's squadron wasn't thinking about landings at the moment. Burton himself, with his tail gun trained on an oncoming Focke-Wulf, met that fighter with a hail of lead. It went down in a crazy, flaming spin. All told, 15 German fighters were knocked out of the sky by the formation.
Heading homeward, Burton's Fortress couldn't keep up with the formation. It was a running fight. The men strapped on their parachutes. With a wary eye on the shattered tail assembly they thought they might have to bail out any minute.
70 Holes
But the Fortress swung along on three motors. cleared the channel, and once belly-landed on the English side. The tires were full of holes, the brakes gone, and the landing gear riddled. There were more than 70 flak holes in the plane. But the crew climbed out, ready for more fighting.
Sargent Burton ranged the European skies through 170 hours of combat flying and came home ready to fly again.
He wears the equivalent of five operations, including the Air Medal, the oak leaf clusters which show he qualified for the Air Medal on three additional occasions, and the Distingushed Flying Cross.
New Mid August, when his leave expires, he reports back to Uncle Sam' air force for re-assignment.
Published in the Des Moines Tribune June 10 and August 9, 1943
Arnold L. Burton of the 91st bomb group during the German and French campaigns during WWII has passed away peacefully on April 14th, 2015, about 1:00 p.m.
He completed 25 missions between 1942 - 1943 and completed 21 missions between 1944 - 1945. He flew combat atallgun positions. He was awarded the DFC, Air Medal w/6 OLCs and three Battle Stars. He was a life-member of the 91st BGMA and 388th BGMA. A member of Experimental Aircraft Association local chapter 579, International of Aerobatics Club, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and NRA. He was a private pilot until his passing.
He was blessed with two wives, three children, seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
We celebrate his life with a Memorial to be held Saturday, May 23rd at 10:30 a.m. The Memorial will take place at River Hills Memorial Park, 1650 South River St Batavia, IL 60510.
Published in Kane County Chronicle on May 16, 2015
Burton is Home With More.....
Has Finished 25 Missions
by Bert McCrane
Events move swiftly in the life of a Flying Fortress gunner
Staff Sargent Arnold L. Burton of Des Monies, 22, came in from a bombing run over France early in June and dropped into the American Red Cross Liberty Club in London. First thing he knew he was shaking hands with Phil Slinker, one of his former teachers at East Des Moines High in Des Moines.
Out of that meeting, through the Red Cross news service, came an account of the daring raids of the "Heavyweight Annihilator" the Fortress on which Arnold Burton manned a machine gun.
That was in June. Sargent Burton had engaged in 16 bombing missions at that time, won the Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters, survived attacks by as many as 150 German fighter planes and limped home with motors shot away and holes in the wings " through which you could kick a football."
This little yarn, then, might be entitled Chapter 2 in the combat flying experiences of Sargent Burton. Chapter 1 was published in the Des Moines Trubune, June 10.
The Sargent landed in Des Moines the other day for a visit with his mother, Mrs. Reva Cassidy, of 2607 Logan ave.
Medals
Alongside his Air Medals ribbon he wore the emblem of the Distinguished Cross.
His string of successful bombing runs over targets in France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany had expanded to 25.
He wore a third oak leaf cluster on his Air Medal badge and five silver battle stars on his campaign ribbon. Each star represents five major engagements.
Battles
He had kept his tail gun red hot in blazing battles shot down a pair of Nazi planes and scored three additional "probables." And once, over Belgium Germany, he helped clear the air-lanes when as many as 300 German fighter planes rose up to block the American bombing squadron.
Now after his full quota of combat flying in the European theater, Sargent Burton awaits the will of Uncle Sam as to his next move. The air corps limits its fighting men to 25 complete bombing missions in one theater and the young, unmarked Des Moines gunner has completed his assignment.
Once he froze his fingers and his feet flying at 27,000-foot level over France. Once he forgot he removed the safety pins from the deadly load. He stepped on the bomb bay and it burst open. He was dangling half in and half out of the Fortress without a parachute, until the engineer aboard him back on the plane.
Four times the "Heavyweight Annihilator" came in so badly shot up and crash landings were unavoidable. But the pilots always reached the safe haven of a British field.
First
On the very first raid, Sargent Burton engaged in, his Fortress Two motors were shot away, the brakes were gone and the undercarriage out of commission. They
came home with everything wrong. They ground to a stop in the flying sod and dirt of a British airport in a belly landing. He
"Crash landing No. 2 followed a raid on St. Nazaire, Ripped up by anti-aircraft fire and with two motors gone, a pilot who had been shot through both legs kept the crippled Fortress aloft and took it so far out over the North sea that 15 attacking German fighters turned back. Burton and his men zipped up the turf of the British field they saw in a dangerous but safe crash landing." Burton recalls.
Another time, riddled by flak and gunfire and with one wheel shot away, the Fortress was landed on its one good wheel ground-looped in the mud, and spun to a stop.
Test
But coming home from a Bremen raid on which Sargent Burton won the Distinguished Flying Cross, the crew of the Fortress experienced a test that made their other forays seem like light amusement. He recalls.
"The sky over Bremen was literally full of German Focke-Wulfs and Messerschmidt fighters. There were 300 of them.
They darted through the bursting anti-aircraft shells in a desperate fight to knock out the "rather small" Yank formation."
"The flak was like a cloud, " Burton explained. "It seemed so heavy you could walk on it."
Hit
was spurting flame and our tail was almost shot away."
But Burton's squadron wasn't thinking about landings at the moment. Burton himself, with his tail gun trained on an oncoming Focke-Wulf, met that fighter with a hail of lead. It went down in a crazy, flaming spin. All told, 15 German fighters were knocked out of the sky by the formation.
Heading homeward, Burton's Fortress couldn't keep up with the formation. It was a running fight. The men strapped on their parachutes. With a wary eye on the shattered tail assembly they thought they might have to bail out any minute.
70 Holes
But the Fortress swung along on three motors. cleared the channel, and once belly-landed on the English side. The tires were full of holes, the brakes gone, and the landing gear riddled. There were more than 70 flak holes in the plane. But the crew climbed out, ready for more fighting.
Sargent Burton ranged the European skies through 170 hours of combat flying and came home ready to fly again.
He wears the equivalent of five operations, including the Air Medal, the oak leaf clusters which show he qualified for the Air Medal on three additional occasions, and the Distingushed Flying Cross.
New Mid August, when his leave expires, he reports back to Uncle Sam' air force for re-assignment.
Published in the Des Moines Tribune June 10 and August 9, 1943
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