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Creamer Walter C.

Name:
Walter C. Creamer
Rank:
Staff Sergeant
Serial Number:
31120142
Unit:
560th Bomber Squadron, 388th Bomber Group
Date of Death:
1943-09-06
State:
Rhode Island
Cemetery:
Normandy American Cemetery, France
Plot:
D
Row:
22
Grave:
42
Decoration:
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
Comments:

Walter C. Creamer was born in Providence, Rhode Island on July 16, 1919. He entered the military service on June 4, 1942. His enlistment record states he had completed three years of high school, was single with no dependents, and that he had worked as an unskilled metal fabrication job. The first record found of him after basic training places him as a member of the Earl S. Melville crew assigned to the 560th Bomb Squadron of the 338th Bomb Group.

Stationed at Knettishall (Air Station 136) in England, the crew flew a total of 11 missions, the first in July 1943 and the last in September 1943. Part of a massive raid on Stuttgart, Germany to bomb German war industries, the aircraft assembled with the remaining formation and set a course for Europe.

Flak was moderate along the coast and fighter attacks were limited. After the IP was reached and the target was in sight, the enemy attacked with approximately 50 fighters. Melville's aircraft was raked by machine gun and cannon fire. The left wing, #1 engine, and the nose compartment caught fire, and the big aircraft fell into a tight turn, descending rapidly.

Observers state several parachutes were observed, but only 6 crew members survived to land and become POWs. The remaining were killed in the crash, and supposedly buried by the Germans in a local cemetery. After the war, these bodies were recovered. Records show SSgt Creamer is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial.

However, later research postulates that the 4 bodies recovered were actually from another crew that was also downed that day. The 388th lost 11 planes, with 5 of them going down in the same approximate location near Vosges, France. Research continues to this day in an effort to determine accurate identifications.

Source of information: https://airforce.togetherweserved.com, www.abmc.gov