Remembering World War II

Name: Alexandre Eusèbe LeBlanc Rank: Staff Sergeant Service Number: 32218162 Service: 358th Bomber Squadron, 303rd Bomber Group, Heavy United States Army Air Force Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart Date of Birth: September 3, 1918 Place of Birth: Grand Étang, Inverness County, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Date of Enlistment: February 19, 1942 Place of Enlistment: Camp Upton Yaphank, New York Age at Enlistment: 23 Address at Enlistment: Elmhurst, Queens County, New York Height: 5 feet, 10 inches Complexion: Light Hair Color: Brown Eye Color: Blue Occupation: Painting, construction, and maintenance Marital Status: Single Religion: Roman Catholic Next of Kin: Anne LeBlanc (Mother) Date of Death: March 18, 1943 Age: 24 Cemetery: Ardennes American Cemetery, Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium Grave: Plot D, Row 12, Grave 48 Alexandre (Alex) Eusèbe LeBlanc was the son of William [Guillaume] LeBlanc (1876-1952) and Anne (Aucoin) LeBlanc (b. 1877-1973), the brother of Marie LeBlanc (b. 1903), Archange Leblanc (b. 1904), Hattie LeBlanc (1905-2000), Thomas LeBlanc (1909-1991), Bella LeBlanc (1910-1987), Joseph Gerard LeBlanc (b. 1913), Julie Ann Leblanc (1915-2007), and Pierre Joseph LeBlanc (b. 1916). He registered for the US Draft on October 16, 1940, in Elmhurst, Queens County, New York. His next of kin upon draft registration was his sister Mrs. Joe Delaney (relative). Alex was working for William Henderson in at 3811 23rd Street in Astoria, Queens Co., NY. After enlisting in February of 1942, and completing training stateside, Alex was posted to the European Theatre with the USAAF and stationed in the United Kingdom. Alex was originally assigned to the 92nd Bomb Group at Bovington as part First Lieutenant Charles N. Austin's crew at RAF Bovington, Hertfordshire, England. Alex met Vera Jessie Biswell (1926-2014) of Hemel, while stationed in Hertfordshire and they had one child, Robert. Robert was raised by Vera and her husband Vincent J Idoni (1919-2008), who had also served in the USAAF during WWII (Service No. 32864137). Vera and Vincent married in October 1944 in Hemel. Alex and Lt. Austin’s crew was transferred as a replacement crew to the 358th Bomb Squadron on February 10, 1943, at which time Sergeant LeBlanc was assigned to B-17F No. 41-24558 (VK-F), known as 'Hunga Dunga', as the Ball Turret Gunner. He participated in 9 operations (2 were aborts) with the 303rd Bomb Group. Alex was killed in action when B-17F 41-24558 was shot down by flak and fighters near Seefeld on March 18, 1943. The bomber was on a mission targeting the enemy submarine yards at Vegesack, the coastal northern district of Bremen, Germany. He was interred at the Neuville-en-Condroz American Cemetery (designated as temporary cemetery 1260 by the US Army Grave Registration Service) in Plot T, Row 1, Grave 12. Initially planned as a temporary site, Neuville-en-Condroz was redesignated a permanent cemetery and renamed the Ardennes American Cemetery. With the cemetery's reorganisation and expansion, Alex was reinterred within the grounds of the existing cemetery. The Ardennes American Cemetery is the final resting place for 5,162 Americans, with 65 percent of those being fallen airmen of the US Army Air Forces.

Alexandre Eusebe LeBlanc

Source: American Battle Monuments Commission American Air Museum

Patches & insignias of the 358th Bomb Squadron, the 303rd BG, and the 8th Air Force