WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Capt. Marvin E. Lancaster, 24, of Vanceboro, North Carolina, killed during World War II, was accounted for Dec. 15, 2025.
Lancaster’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.
Lancaster was assigned to the 64th Fighter Squadron, 57th Fighter Group. He was reported killed in action on Nov. 2, 1942, when German fighters attacked his P-40F Warhawk aircraft during a formation flight over Egypt during the Second Battle of El Amein. He crashed into a remote portion of the Western Desert while on a strafing mission, and his remains were not identified following the war.
Following the war, multiple organizations searched for Lancaster’s aircraft and remains in Egypt but were unsuccessful. Nov. 7, 1942, British forces located a set of unknown remains, designated X-7, near a downed U.S. fighter aircraft and buried the pilot at the crash site before later reinterring the remains at the British El Amein War Cemetery. After determining the Airman was American, the remains were transferred to American authorities in 1944. Unable to identify the individual, the American Graves Registration Service declared the remains non-identifiable in 1949 and buried them at the U.S. Military Cemetery Carthage, now the North Africa American Cemetery.
In April 2024, the Department of War and American Battle Monuments Commission exhumed the remains and transferred them to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Laboratory for analysis.
To identify Lancaster’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis and mitochondrial genome sequencing data.
Lancaster will be buried Sept. 18, 2026, in his hometown.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
For additional information on the War Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency, www.instagram.com/dodpaa/, or https://x.com/dodpaa.
Lancaster’s personnel profile can be viewed at: Capt. MARVIN E LANCASTER | Service Member Profile.
Lancaster’s initial ID announcement can be viewed at: https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/ID-Announcements/Article/4434661/pilot-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-lancaster-m/.