668th BS Patch

416th Bombardment Group (L)

Pfc. Charles W. Coleman

Parachute Rigger and Repairman,  32372194

Died in the Line of Duty - May 9, 1944

668th Bombardment Squadron (L)

 WWII-Medal

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Missing Man



  Born: 1914, Albany, Albany County, New York

Entered Military Service: Date: 17-Jun-1942 At: Albany, NY From: Albany County, New York
NARA Enlistment Record: Enlisted Serial # 32372194

Buried: Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom, Plot E Row 5 Grave 114

On-line Memorials:
National World War II Registry     Overseas American Cemeteries
American Battle Monuments Commission Memorial, Certificate
Find-A-Grave


Private First Class Charles W. Coleman, a parachute rigger, joined Captain William Battersby when Battersby took a newly arrived A-20 up for a test flight. The plane, without warning, crashed and exploded on landing at Wethersfield killing both.



Notes:
Crashed on test flight. Cause of accident: Undetermined.

Description:
Unfortunately, not all men are lost on the fields of battle. Many are lost doing routine things far behind the lines. On the ninth, Captain William Battersby, a veteran of submarine warfare in the Anti-Submarine Command, and holder of the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal, crashed to his death while test-hopping a plane in the vicinity of this Base. He had been one of the main-stays of our offensive, often being chosen to lead a box of planes. With him was Private First Class Charles W. Coleman, a parachute rigger. The accident happened so suddenly that neither man had a chance to bail out. Their bodies rest in the Cambridge American Military Cemetery, Cambridge, England.
(416th BG History 1944)

See also AAR 44-5-9-519



Photos and Documents
1915 NY State Census
1920 US Census
1930 US Census
1940 US Census
Headstone Inscription and Interment Record
Headstone
Rosters Of WW II Dead
WW II Army and Army Air Force Casualty List
National World War II Memorial Registry
National World War II Memorial Registry
American Battle Monuments Commission Certificate
 
 


Source information can be viewed at WWII Military Service Fatalities Sources