Second Lieutenant Lester Lyle Swanke (O-767418) was born August 10, 1923 in Coeur d’Alene, Kootenai County, Idaho, to Johann Herman “John” and Otillia Mary “Tillie” Legros Swanke. His father was a lath grader in a lumber mill. Lester had one brother and two sisters.

He had one year of college and was single when he enlisted in the Army Air Forces on February 10, 1943. He trained as a fighter pilot and received his commission and wings as a Second Lieutenant. He was assigned to the 390th Fighter Squadron, 366th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force and was sent overseas to Europe. The 366th Fighter Group eventually flew missions out of the airfield at Laon/Couvron, France (ALG A-70).

The airfield at Laon/Couvron, France, was located northwest of the city of Laon, 28 miles northwest of Reims. The Germans took over the airfield when they invaded France, and flew their own Bf-109 fighters from there. Late in August 1944 the Laon area was liberated by the Third Army, and Laon-Couvron was captured around 7 September. The airfield was declared operationally ready for combat on 10 September. Under American control it was designated as Advanced Landing Ground "A-70 Laon-Couvron." Ninth Air Force based P-47 Thunderbolt fighters at the airfield on 15 September. The fighters flew support missions during the Allied invasion of France, and into Germany, patrolling roads, strafing German military vehicles, and dropping bombs on gun emplacements, anti-aircraft artillery and concentrations of German troops if spotted.

On November 8, 1944, 2 Lt. Swanke departed ALG A-70 in P-47D-28RE B2- #42-28906 with a flight of the 390th FS on a dive-bombing and recce mission to a German unit headquarters in the Kemplich, France, area. 2 Lt. Swanke and a fellow pilot made their low-level dive-bombing run and both pulled up into the overcast. This was the last seen of 2 Lt. Swanke. His flight leader called him on the radio, and another flight leader answered that he had joined his flight and that 2 Lt. Swanke’s radio was out. Nothing more was heard from or about 2 Lt. Swanke, and he did not return from the mission. MACR 10269

Later reports indicated that, on November 8, 1944, 2 Lt. Swanke was shot down by flak and was killed near Chémery-les-Deux, France, three miles southeast of Kemplich, 17 miles northeast of Metz, and 128 miles east-southeast of A-70. He was 21 years old.

2 Lt. Swanke is buried in the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial located in Hamm, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, in Plot E, Row 11, Grave 66. The cemetery contains the graves of 5,074 American war dead. The design is a softly curving fan shape consisting of nine sections interspersed with four fountains, majestic trees, and expansive rose and rhododendron beds. Two flagpoles overlook the graves area.

A Memorial Plaque honors the 366th Fighter Group "Hun Hunters" at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, as well as a Memorial Marker to the 366th located in the cemetery of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

2 Lt. Swanke was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.

Thank you for your sacrifice and service, 2 Lt. Swanke … Rest in Peace.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write 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.

SBTSProject/Idaho

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact me at roktscientist@hotmail.com … I would be honored to make changes/additions where requested.

Sources:

1. 1930 Federal Census

2. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56063689/lester-lyle-swanke

3. https://www.armyaircorpsmuseum.org/missing-aircrew-reports/macr-10269-42-28906.cfm

4. https://www.abmc.gov/decedent-search/swanke%3Dlester

5. https://www.abmc.gov/print/certificate/516352

6. https://www.ancestry.com

7. https://newspapers.com

8. Familysearch.org

9. https://www.honorstates.org/profiles/34519/

10. https://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=8677

11. https://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1942_1a.html

12. http://cgibin.rcn.com/jeremy.k/cgi-bin/gzUsafSearch.pl?target=42-28906&content=

13. http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/USAAF/366th_Fighter_Group.html

14. https://www.366thgunfighters.org/the-366th-in-ww-ii.html

15. https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/unit/366th-fighter-group

16. https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/unit/390th-fighter-squadron

17. https://www.366thgunfighters.org/390th-boars-head.html

18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_P-47_Thunderbolt

19. Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-406-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.

Photo Credits:

ancestry.com, americanairmuseum.org, findagrave.com, laststand.com, newspapers.com, popularpatch.com, wikipedia.com

Lester L Swanke