WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) previously announced U.S. Army Air Force Technical Sgt. Lynn M. Farnham, 20, of Phoenix, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for July 31, 2024.
Farnham’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
In early 1944, Farnham was assigned to the 346th Bombardment Squadron, 99th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 15th Air Force in the European Theater. On Feb. 25, Farnham, the flight engineer onboard a B-17G “Flying Fortress,” was killed in action when his plane was shot down by enemy fighter aircraft fire while on a bombing mission to Regensburg, Germany. Eight of the ten crewmembers bailed out of the aircraft which crash outside of Langquaid, Germany. They reported seeing Farnham and another crewman dead near the co-pilots seat. Farnham’s body was not immediately recovered, and a report of death was finally issued on Aug. 10, 1945.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began investigating the numerous bomber losses in the area around Langquaid, Germany. An investigation team disinterred a set of unidentified remains, Unknown X-6271 St. Avold (X-6271), from a cemetery in the nearby village of Paring. At the time, investigators were unable to completely identify the recovered remains, which were transferred to St. Avold, France for identification, and the Lorraine American Cemetery for interment.
In 2013, a DPAA investigation team went to Langquaid, Germany, and found wreckage consistent with an aircraft at the site. Returning in March 2019, another DPAA team conducted a site survey and met with local residents, including the town priest. Historical church records obtained document the X-6271 remains were recovered from a bomber crash on Feb. 25, 1944, and buried in the Paring cemetery.
In June 2023, Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) personnel exhumed Unknown X-6271 from Lorraine American Cemetery, France. X-6271 was then transferred to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification.
To identify Farnham’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological and circumstantial analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Farnham’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Farnham will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on a date to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil or find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency.
To view the original ID Announcement for this case, please follow this link: Farnham.