Albert G. Brenan

Albert and Glenna

Edward J. Brenan

Albert G. Brenan was born on Friday January 2nd, 1920, in Queens County New York, to Albert Y Brenan and Winifred F Smith Brenan. Although there is very little information on Albert’s Parents and his early life, he did have an older brother, Edward J Brenan, who was three years older.

Within a decade of Albert being born, the Great Depression devastated families across America. The Brenan’s were not spared and the Federal Census for 1930 shows that Albert was in the St. John’s Home for Boys. His brother Edward and his father are not listed in the 1930 Census. The same census shows that Albert’s Mother, Winifred, was renting a space in a women’s boarding house in Brooklyn.

There is no Further information available on Albert or his family other than his mother passed away in December of 1939, when he was 19 years old. Albert shows up in the 1940 Census living with someone identified as his “Step-Dad” named Fred Lohmann. What is clear through all of this, is that Albert and Edward developed a deep love for each other that most brothers do when their early life is fraught with struggles and turmoil. Both brothers joined the military early in 1942 or even late 1941. Albert joining the US Army Air Corps and Edward joining the US Army infantry.

During his time training, Albert met the love of his life, Glenna. Glenna had been previously married and had a small daughter, Joyce Ann. Glenna and Albert were married in Shreveport, Louisiana on August 13th, 1942. Glenna made their home in Ohio, where Albert was able to take some leave during the winter of 1942, where they took many photos. In one photo it shows Albert and Glenna standing in the snow near their home. In another, Albert is bent down hugging little Joyce Ann.

Albert had trained as a radio operator and gunner on a B-26 medium bomber and had been assigned to the 455th Bomber Squadron of the 323rd Bomber Group. In May of 1943, Albert went overseas to England, where his squadron joined the 9th Air Force.

Over the next year, Albert flew many missions over occupied Europe. He excelled and obtained the rank of Tech-Sergeant while being awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal, with several Oak Leaf Clusters.

Albert sent many photos home to his love Glenna. Some showed him around the base, but one showed him standing next to Bob Hope and Frances Langford. Hope and Langford were at the base for a show and Albert, the kid from skid row in New York, was standing next to two of the most popular entertainers of the time. The smile on Albert’s face in that photo says it all. I believe that this was the best time in Albert’s life. He married a woman that he obviously loved, he accepted her child as his own, and he was doing his part win this damn war.

Albert’s brother, Edward, arrived in England with his unit, the 329th Infantry Regiment of the 83rd Infantry. That unit was slated to land in France a few weeks after the main invasion on D-day.

I can’t find anything to say that it happened, but I hope that Albert and Edward were able to spend some time together. It would have been difficult with Albert flying missions into France and Edward training for the battles to come. I still hope that they did find the time to see each other.

Towards the end of May 1944, the tension in England was building with the pending invasion of France. I imagine that it got to the point where most of the soldiers and airmen just wanted to get it going. They got their wish on June 6th, 1944.

**Albert readied for the mission on the bomber that he was flying on, the B-26 Marauder, had the tail number of 41-31961. Bill Beigel wrote an article of that perfectly describes the mission, Albert flew on June 6th, 1944, for his blog on **WW2research.com. The article was called “In a Matter of Seconds”, here is what it states:

The tail gunner of the crew of B-26 tail # 41-31961, Staff Sergeant George W. Fobes, described what happened next:

“…as we came over the French coast we were shot at by 40mm guns. The gun fire lasted about 1 minute and as we came out of it, I called each crew member and asked if they were all right. In each case they were, although the plane had been hit in the left wing. A matter of seconds we ran into more flak. We were hit in the nose, wings, and bomb bay. The plane caught on fire in the bomb bay. The pilot said ‘Bail out.’ Sgt. R. Findley, the cameraman was the first one to leave, I (sic) the tail gunner was next and J. Wesran was third and last. While I was still in the air in my chute the plane hit the ground. No one else but the three of us got out.”

After the War, the aerial gunner of the crew, Staff Sergeant John L. Westran, was interviewed about the crash. In a report from September of 1945, he was reported to have stated that “…substantiated by the physical facts that (SSGT Westran) was the last man out of the plane and shortly thereafter saw the terrific explosion when the plane hit the ground. There was only a short interval between the time Sgt Westran bailed out and the bomber hit the ground and exploded.”

The crew of B-26 tail # 41-31961 were:

Pilot: Major Paul J. Stach (Rosenburg TX) – buried at Fort Sam Houston, Texas
Navigator: 2nd Lieutenant Guido F. Gileno (Brooklyn, NY) – buried at the Brittany American Cemetery, France
Bombardier: Captain Robert K. Seagraves (Lubbock, TX) – buried at Maplewood Cemetery, Anderson, Indiana
Radio Operator: Technical Sergeant Albert G. Brenan (Grove City, OH) – buried at the Brittany American Cemetery
Aerial Gunner: Staff Sergeant John D. Westran (Portland, OR) – POW at Stalag Luft 4, Gross-Tychow, Prussia
Tail Gunner: Staff Sergeant George W. Fobes (Wausau, WI) – POW, Stalag Luft 3, Sagan
Photographer: Sergeant Richard E. Findley (Kansas City, MO) – POW, Stalag Luft 4"

On Tuesday, June 6th, 1944, Albert G. Brenan was killed when his plane smashed into the French countryside outside of the city of Caen. Because the crash occurred at the start of the invasion, there was no information as to what happened to Albert. Initially Glenna received a telegram informing her that Albert was missing in action and unfortunately that would not change for quite some time.

Tragedy continued in the Brenan family on August 11th, 1944 when Albert's brother, Edward, was killed in action in a combined attack against the Citadel Fortress of St. Servan France.

It was not until April of 1949 that Glenna received official notice that Albert had died in France and that his body was recovered. It was request, and noted on both of the Headstone Inscription Record, that Albert and Edward be buried side by side at the Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial in France. Albert is in : Plot P Row 1 Grave 20 and Edward is right next door in Plot P Row 1 Grave 21. The two will never be without eachother again.

Tragedy Struck again in August 15th, 1949, Glenna passed away at the age of 28.

This was a difficult story to research as it seems that it was packed full of tragedy and pain. I do believe that Albert and his love Glenna, along with his brother Edward, are together in place where all that they sacrificed earned them a pair of wings. There is no words that have that could pay the appropriate tribute to them. I will just say, rest in peace. Your will always be honored and never forgotten.

Story by Troy Burnett 2-7-2021

This brief biography was written for the Stories Behind the Stars Project which is a national group of volunteers with the goal to preserve a written memorial on Fold3.com for all 400,000+ soldiers that were fallen during WWII. The hope is that eventually a smartphone app will be developed that will allow people to scan a soldier's gravestone and be able to access his/her story. Resources:

https://www.ww2research.com/matter-seconds/

https://www.ancestry.com/search/categories/42/?name=Edward+J._Brenan&birth=1918_new+york-usa_35&death=1944_france_5087&father=_Brenan&gender=m&mother=Ella_Brenan&searchType=t&sibling=Private&sibling2=Edward_Brenan&sibling3=ALBERT+G._Brenan&treePerson=51288287_110007869378

http://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/3066

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56351941/albert-g-brenan

https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=92658

Albert with Bob Hope and Frances Langford.jpg

Albert G Brenan