John E. Furrow Jr. was born in 1922 and lived in Salem, Virginia. He worked as an Osteopath before he joined the US Army Air Force on 22 October 1942. He had three brothers; Ira, Ralph and Edward.

He was married to Julia Furrow. They had a son named John.

John Furrow became a waist gunner, flying on B17 bombers. He was stationed with the 603rd Bomb Squadron, 398th Bomb Group, operating out of Nuthampstead.

603rd Bomb Squadron

398th Bomb Group

John E. Furrow, Jr. was lost on a mission to the ME-109 Factory and Marshaling Yard at Kassel, Germany. S/Sgt John Farrow and his crew, flying B17 43-38895, piloted by Lt Howard Pinner, were lost due to mechanical failure over English Channel. Three of the crew were killed: John E. Furrow, Jr., tail Gunner Glen H. Cline and navigator Warren L. King.

S/Sgt. Kenneth A. Green flew as a gunner in the same squadron. This was his 17th mission. He wrote in his diary:

"January 1, 1945
Mission: Kassel, Germany

We bombed a ME-109 airplane factory at 24,000 feet. The temperature was –41 degrees. We were airborne 10 hours and 50 minutes, and on oxygen 5 hours. We encountered no flak, but lost 3 planes before reaching the target. One plane from another Squadron exploded over the North Sea. No one got out. Pinner who was flying off our left wing had his #1 engine explode, and caught on fire. I was watching from our left waist window. Pinner put the plane in a dive, trying to extinguish the fire on the wing. He was at 5,000 feet, and could not extinguish the fire at that low altitude. He ditched the plane in the North Sea about 200 miles from the English coast, and the plane split in half when it hit the water. Cline, the tail gunner and Furrow, the waist gunner both drowned. Schofield, Huey, and Ike came back to the barracks, being rescued by Air Sea Rescue boats. Lt. King, the navigator, bailed out at 3,000 feet, and has never been heard of since. He is reported as “Killed In Action”, probably drowned in the sea within 30 minutes in those icy waters. Pinner and Tebbs, the pilot and co-pilot were each awarded the DFC. The mission to the target was a “milk run”, although enemy fighters were reported in the area. It was a pretty poor New Years Day for all."
(Above quote (C) and used with permission. http://www.398th.org/Missions/Diaries/Green/Green_450101.html)

Cline and King are commemorated at the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge Cemetery, England.

S/Sgt Furrow is commemorated at the Margraten Wall of the Missing.

Margraten, The Netherlands

See Also:
Lt Warren King
S/Sgt Glen Cline
 

Sources and Acknowledgments::
The Roanoke Valley War Memorial
398th Bomb Group Website, quote from S/Sgt Green's diary is from the 398th website and used here with permission.
Roger A. Freeman, The Mighty Eight War Diary, Arms and Armour, London, 1990

Directions to Margraten American Military Cemetery

Posted 25 November 2005
Updated 13 December 2005

If you have any suggestions, comments or additional information, please contact me.

This website is dedicated to the men and women who died and/or are buried in The Netherlands during World War II.

 

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