Lieut. D. Ahlwardt Reported Missing in German Action
Lieut. D.L. Ahlwardt, 22, formerly of Danbury, Iowa has been reported missing in action over Germany since March 3, his mother, Mrs. Maggie Ahlwardt, 803 Jones Street, has been informed by the war department. Lieut. Ahlwardt was graduated from a gulf coast training center at Randolph field, Texas, and received additional instruction and a post-graduate flying school at Dallas, Texas. He has been overseas since September, 1943. A story published in The Journal-Tribune February 4, 1944, told that Lieut. Ahlwardt piloted a Flying Fortress, "The Horrible Hanks" to safety after it was crippled in a crash with another Flying Fortress. His plane, with part of the tail sheared off and the tail gunner missing drove on through 50 below zero temperatures and finally limped to home base.
Source: Sioux City Journal, March 22, 1944 (photo included)
Memorial Services for Danbury Flier to Be Held Today
Memorial services for First Lt. Donald Ahlwardt, formerly of Danbury and son of Mrs. Maggie Ahlwardt, 803 Jones Street, will be held at 2 p. m. today at the Danbury Methodist church in Danbury. Rev. Leonard W. Rowse of Varina and the Carlson-Frum post of the Danbury American Legion will have charge of the rites.
Lt. Ahlwardt was reported missing in action over Germany on March 3, 1944. He had served overseas since February 4, 1944, as pilot of a Flying Fortress in the army air corps. On one occasion he safely piloted his crippled ship back to the home base after a midair collision.
Source: Sioux City Journal, August 19, 1945
Donald Lewis Ahlwardt was born May 4, 1922 to Lewis August and Maggie Bertha Clausen Ahlwardt. He died Mar. 3, 1944/FOD July 16, 1945 and is memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing, Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands and has a cenotaph in Liston Township Cemetery, Danbury, IA.
1st Lt. Ahlwardt served in World War II with the U.S. Army Air Corps 331st Bomb Squadron, 94th Bomb Group, Heavy and was MIA/KIA aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress which failed to return from a mission to northwestern Germany. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters.
Sources: ancestry.com; abmc.gov
