I am attempting to trace the relatives of Pvt. Donald Roy Hammerstrom, service number 37555160, served from March 1943, to his death in an air crash in south west Scotland, 27 July 1944.A memorial Service was held at crash site on 27 July 1999.
Sandy

Sandy,

I ran across your post. I'm not certain, but my fathers brothers name was Donald and I'm told he died in the war while flying. The family was from Billings Montana. I'll dig a bit more in my files and find out more about Donald if you'd like.

Tucker Hammerstrom
TuckerH586@aol.com
Tucker.Hammerstrom@pc.com

Sandy,

The Donald R. Hammerstrom that died in the mid-air collision over Scotland was my grandfather's youngest brother. If this is the same Donald, he was married to a Cleora (not sure of maiden name) and she was pregnant with their son Donald Kenneth Hammerstrom when he died. D.K. Hammerstrom died in 1958. Both are buried in Fort Snelling Cemetery, in Minneapolis, MN. I was told she remarried some time later, but no further information.

I would love to hear any more information you have.

Buck Gaines

Buck,

Thanks for the reply, I have been researching the crash for nearly six years and have been having difficulty tracing the relatives of the soldiers who died. Could you send me your e-mail address and I will send out details of the crash. I can be found at sandy_rankin@lineone.net my grandfather and an uncle were involved in the removal of the dead from the beach.

Thanks again

Sandy

Hello,

I am writing in response to your post regarding the Hammerstrom family. I noticed that you mentioned your relative being from the Minneapolis area and I am throwing out a long shot here, but my great maternal grandmothers maiden name was Hammerstrom and she worked at the Nicolett (sp?) Hotel where she met my great grandfather. There is much confusion over my grandmothers true given name; my mother says that grandmas name was Brikken, and that she changed it to Bertha when she came to America. I have searched and have found nothing about her, nor her husband; Gustaf Erik Jonnson, on any searches I have done yet. The only thing that my mother could tell me was that grandma came from a village named Bollnes (the "o" is supposed to have the little dots over it).

Does any of this sound familiar to you?
I look forward to hearing from you,

Lynda Enderle
LynEnder@aol.com