FREDERICK OLSON BRIGGS

1st Lieutenant, US Army Air Force

Service # O-813311

Frederick Olson was born on 16 Feb 1918 in Caribou, Aroostook County, Maine. He was the fourth of six children of Velva Olson (1888-1970) and Murray Samuel Briggs (1878-1934). While Velva came from Caribou, Murray was born in Bloomfield, New Brunswick, Canada, who arrived in the US at age 12. By the time they met he was a farmer and lumberman in Maine. They married on 13 Nov 1909 in her home town and settled there, on Thomas Avenue, where Murray was a farmer and reportedly a lover of horses and horse racing. By 1930, they had five surviving children: Robert, Margaret, Frederick, Samuel and Patricia. That year they also had a maid living in the house.

Frederick attended local schools in Caribou. He was graduated from the high school in 1936, then went to Ricker Classical Institute and Aroostook Normal School before entering the University of Maine at Orono. He was graduated from the University with a Bachelor of Science in Education in 1941. The next year, on 1 Jan 1942, Frederick married Adeline P. Hedrich. Adeline was from Fort Fairfield, ME, where she had been graduated from high school before she attended Aroostook State Normal School in Presque Isle, ME. At the time they married, Frederick was a teacher and coach at Orono High School.

On 15 May 1942 Frederick O Briggs enlisted in the US Army Air Corps at Boston, MA, joining from the pool of aviation cadets. He reported to Nashville, TN for classification as a pilot, which he achieved in October. Frederick then was sent to Maxwell Field, Alabama for pre-flight training until Apr 1943, when he transferred to Union City, TN for primary training. In Jun 1943 he went to Malden, MO for basic training followed by advanced raining at Blytheville, Arkansas. It was there he received his commission of 2nd Lieutenant and his pilot’s wings in Oct 1943. Frederick’s last assignment was in Del Rio, Tx for B-26 Marauder medium bomber training until Apr 1944. Training completed, he was ordered overseas and stationed in Great Dunmow (also called Little Easton), England assigned to the 553rd Bomber Squadron, 386th Bomber Group.

On 28 Jul 1944 1st Lt Frederick Olson Briggs was the pilot on aircraft # 41-31805, a B-26 bomber Marauder, when they set off on a bombing run to take out a bridge near Ecouche, France. They were attacked by a German Focke-Wulf Fw190 – a single seat, single engine fighter plane – and collided with it, causing the B-26 to crash at Lessard-et-le-Chene. All six crewmen on board were killed in action in that incident, including Frederick Briggs, age 26. His sacrifice earned him a Purple Heart, in addition to the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters he had been awarded “in recognition of meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flights in the European Theater of Operations.”

1st Lt Frederick Olson Briggs was buried at the Normandy American Cemetery, Plot G, Row 12, Grave 30 in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. He was survived by his wife, Adeline; his mother, Velva; brothers, Robert and Samuel; and sisters, Margaret and Patricia.

Airmen who Perished on #41-31805 on 28 Jul 1944:

Pilot, 1st Lt Frederick O Briggs, O-813311 (ME); Co-Pilot, 1st Lt Leon C. Higginbotham, O-815478 (FL); Bombardier, 1st Lt Claude C. Cannaday, O-17118565 (MO); Radio Operator, T/Sgt Selwyn B. Danowitz, 12084158 (NY); Engineer, S/Sgt Charley M. Johns, 37204635 (MO); Tail Gunner, S/Sgt Robert J Birmingham, 31318690 (ME).

“This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project – see www.storiesbehindthestars.org – a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Together we Served and Fold3/Find A Grave have smartphone apps that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery and read these stories of the WWII fallen.”

SOURCES

1920 United States Federal Census – Ancestry.com

1930 United States Federal Census – Ancestry.com

1940 United States Federal Census – Ancestry.com

https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/person/frederick-olson-briggs

American Battle Monuments Commission – Fold3

The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME) - Thu, Dec 6, 1934 - Page 4 – Newspapers.com

The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME) - Tue, Nov 25, 1941 - Page 7 – Newspapers.com

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56642665/frederick-olson-briggs

Maine, U.S., Birth Records, 1715-1922 – Ancestry.com

Maine, U.S., Marriage Index, 1892-1996 – Ancestry.com

Maine, U.S., Marriage Records, 1713-1922 – Ancestry.com

University of Maine, “University of Maine, World War II, In Memoriam, Volume 1 (A to K)” (1946) – https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/univ_publications/248

U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 – Ancestry.com

SBTS/Maine/Aroostook