2nd Lt. Lynn Wilson Hadfield, US Army Air Force, died March 21, 1945, when the A-26B attack plane he piloted was shot down near Dulmen, Germany on a mission to disrupt German troop movements in preparation for the Allied crossing of the Rhine river, which took place three days later.
His remains were not recovered until an excavation in Germany in 2016 revealed parts of his airplane and some of his belongings and remains, along with those of his crew members, Sgt. Vernon Hamilton of Monongahela, Pennsylvania and Sgt John Kalausich of Charleston, West Virginia. The History Flight Program aided the US Army with recovery and U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency conducted DNA identification confirming the identities of the three flyers.
Lynn was born in Salt Lake City, October 23, 1918 to William and Mary Latilla Wilding Hadfield. He graduated from Granite High School in 1936, Sacramento Jr. College in 1938, and the University of Utah in 1940 where he was a member of the Swimming and Diving Team. Enlisted in the Army in 1942, and attended flight school in Alabama and Florida, graduating from George Field, Illinois in December of 1943. He then was assigned to duty in Europe, and was based near Couvron, France.
Lynn was survived in 1945 by his widow Betty, children Mary Ann and Kent, his mother, 13 of his 15 siblings, and several nieces and nephews. Survivors in 2019 include his daughter Mary Ann Hadfield Turner (Ron); grandsons Chris Turner, Clint Turner, Collin (Julie) Turner, and Lynn (Kim) Hadfield; three great grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, March 21, 2019, the 74th anniversary of when his plane was shot down, at the Larkin Sunset Gardens Mortuary, 1950 East Dimple Dell Road (10600 S.) in Sandy beginning at 11AM. A visitation will be held at the same location Wednesday evening from 6-8PM. Interment will follow the funeral services at the Utah Veterans Memorial Park in Bluffdale, Utah.
The family would like to express thanks to the Denne family of Huilsten-Reken, Germany, owners of the property where the crash site was finally found, as they postponed their building project so the site could be searched for the recovered material. Also, Herr Adolph Hagedorn, a German researcher who was instrumental in alerting Army authorities when the crash site was finally found and aided in the actual recovery. The German Government, History Flight, Inc. whose members in the US and in Belgium were instrumental in the recovery; the US DPAA for their invaluable service in making the identifications; the Utah Army National Guard and Ssgt. Sean Sheller (a grandson-in-law) who formally accompanied Lt. Hadfield on the final leg of his long journey home.
