Harold Loch: 1919-2004
Posted April 12, 2021
Harold Loch
Harold Loch
Harold Loch
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Harold Loch was born on November 29, 1919 in Denmark, WI. Up until the implementation of Prohibition his father was a tavern owner. Harold attended St. Patrick’s Catholic Grade School and Green Bay West High, graduating in 1937. With the onset of WWII , Harold enlisted in the Army in November of 1941, training as an aerial gunner, radio operator, and aircraft engineer. He was assigned on the B-17 called the “Memphis Belle” as the second engineer, later becoming the turret gunner. The “Memphis Belle” flew all 25 of her assigned missions and did not lose one member of the crew during any of those missions. After the war, Harold met Exie Ann Miller in Texas while on the war bond tour, though she was from Fond du Lac. They married in 1944 and returned to Green Bay in 1945. Harold would go on to own his own construction business as well as hold 14 consecutive terms at the Brown County Register of Deeds, starting in 1947 and retiring that post in 1974. Throughout their lifetime together, he and Exie would have 8 children and 15 grandchildren. Harold died on November 12, 2004 surrounded by loved ones, having lived a rich life.
Morgan, Robert, and Ron Powers. The Man Who Flew the Memphis Belle: Memoir of a WWII Bomber Pilot. New York: NAL Caliber, 2011.
Perkins, Brent W. Memphis Belle: Biography of a B-17 Flying Fortress. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub., 2002.
Havelaar, Marion H., and William N. Hess. The Ragged Irregulars of Bassingbourn: the 91st Bombardment Group in World War II. Atglen: Schiffer Pub., 1995.
Bishop, Cliff T. Fortresses of the Big Triangle First: a History of the Aircraft Assigned to the First Bombardment Wing and First Bombardment Division of the Eighth Air Force from August 1942 to 31st March 1944. Bishops Stortford, Eng.: East Anglia Books, 1986.
The Memphis Belle: a Story of a Flying Fortress, n.d.