Maurice Arthur Vikse was born, 10 December 1923 in Los Molinos, California to the parents of Arthur O Vikse and Bessie Barber. He graduated from high school in Los Molinos, class of 1941 and attended Chico College and graduated in 1942. In February 1943, he entered military service.

Second Lieutenant Maurice Arthur Vikse was a fighter pilot, assigned to the 485th Fighter Squadron in the 370th Fighter Group. He took off from the Florennes air-field in Belgium for a bomber escort mission over Germany. Over France, his P-38J fighter, with Tail Number 44-23483, developed engine problems. He aborted the mission but the plane crashed near Domevre, France on 22 January 1945. Another fighter pilot, Second Lieutenant Kenneth J Busse, later reported that Lieutenant Vikse, ‘Zenith White 4’, had called in to report his cockpit was filling with smoke. Lieutenant Busse, ‘Zenith White 3’, saw Vikse’s plane in a dive with smoke pouring from his right engine. Busse attempted to follow Vikse, but the visibility was only one mile. Vikse did not respond to radio calls and Busse returned to base after a fruitless search.

Second Lieutenant Maurice Arthur Vikse was interred at the Epinal American Cemetery in France. He is also memorialized at the Los Molinos Cemetery, California. His initial Service Number was 19040999. After officer training, his Service Number was O-773897.

References

From - ancestry.com:

Family Trees

From - Fold3:

Service Record

MACR-11941 (Missing Air Crew Report)

From - newspapers.com:

Red Bluff Tehama County Daily News, 15 February 1945

Sacramento Bee, 14 April 1945

Online Resources:

AmericanAirMuseum

honorstates.org

Findagrave:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56376125/maurice-arthur-vikse

Findagrave Memorial ID: 56376125

Los Molinos Cemetery

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32262733/maurice-arthur-vikse

Findagrave Memorial ID: 32262733

SBTS:

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? These stories will be accessible via smartphone app at any war memorial or cemetery. If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please email: feedback@storiesbehindthestars.org.

SBTSProject/California/Tehama

Maurice A Vikse