MEMORIAL DAY

[Bob Womack]

Sergeant Pilot Henry Archer "Harry" Womack, RCAF
Spitfire Pilot
1919-1941
Killed practicing air combat maneuvers near Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire, England
Buried at St. Deiniol's Church, Flintshire, Wales, near his station, RAF Hawarden
Probably the first war casualty from Tennessee, USA


Bob

Information

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[painter777]

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...47193807-1.jpg

http://www.milsurps.com/images/impor...rystone3-1.jpg
Sergeant Pilot Henry Archer "Harry" Womack, RCAF
Spitfire Pilot
1919-1941
Killed practicing air combat maneuvers near Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire, England
Buried at St. Deiniol's Church, Flintshire, Wales, near his station, RAF Hawarden
Probably the first war casualty from Tennessee, USA


Bob

Bob,
Below I found this about HA Harry Womack,
I see he called Johnson City home.
I have many family ties in the area.

His Gravestone Inscription reading :

Because I live, ye shall live also.
St John XIV. 19


Sgt Henry Archer “Harry” Womack, Jr
BIRTH 3 Feb 1919
Huntington, Cabell County, West Virginia, USA
DEATH 1 Jul 1941 (aged 22)
Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire West and Chester Unitary Authority, Cheshire, England
BURIAL
Hawarden Churchyard
Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales
PLOT North Section
MEMORIAL ID 68025373 · View Source

Pilot Sergeant Henry Archer "Harry" Womack Jr was Washington County, Tennessee first overseas casualty of World War II. Harry served with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Number 57 Operational Training Unit, Service Number R/67722. He called Johnson City, Tennessee, United States of America (USA) his home.

Harry died in a training accident while practicing aerial dog fighting out of RAF Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales, along with Pilot Officer John Melvin Milmine, RCAF . They now rest side by side in the Hawarden (St. Deiniol) Churchyard, Flintshire, Wales, United Kingdom.

The aircraft crashed at Mill Lane in the village of Upton, a part of Upton-by-Chester, which is a civil parish and a large suburb on the outskirts of Chester, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom.

Harry was 22 years old and the son of Henry Archer Womack and Nellie Parsons of Johnson City, Tennessee, USA.



Civil Registration:
Deaths Sep 1941 Womack Harry A 21 West Cheshire 8a 646.

He is commemorated at Monte Vista Memorial Garden, Johnson City, Washington County, Tennessee, U.S.A. Section F, Lot 348, Space 9. (Find A Grave Memorial# 16726786)



God Bless

Info Link: Sgt Henry Archer “Harry” Womack, Jr (1919-1941) - Find A Grave Memorial

[Bob Womack]

Bob,
Below I found this about HA Harry Womack,
I see he called Johnson City home.
I have many family ties in the area.

His Gravestone Inscription reading :

Because I live, ye shall live also.
St John XIV. 19


God Bless

Info Link: Sgt Henry Archer “Harry” Womack, Jr (1919-1941) - Find A Grave Memorial

Thank you kindly, Charlie! The men of my family visited the grave at Hawarden on a cold morning in November, 1996.



That's me on the right with my father, Harry's little brother, beside me. What you can't see in the expressions is that my father was left the lone male in his family by Harry's death and the accidental death of his father soon after. He suddenly became the man of the household. He ended up giving away his sisters at their weddings. Nevertheless he joined the Navy and served in WWII. The visit to the grave shown above was his and his family's first. He grew very silent. That evening in our hotel room he told me that he'd been forced to sort of put Harry's death to the side and be strong for his mother and sisters. Standing at the grave, the finality of it all hit him for the first time.

If you look closely at the foot of the stone you can see a poppy from the recent Remembrance celebration. His was the only stone in the area that was decorated. A girlfriend, perhaps?


This picture shows the inscription that is engraved to commemorate Harry on the reverse side of my grandparents' joint grave stone in their home of Johnson City.

Bob

[Cosine26]

For Cinders
OFF Topic but may interest you. I saw him go down and do not know how he survived.

The Squadron broke its own sortie record on 15 June 1953 when it flew a total of 88 sorties in the one day, accounting for 90 hours and five minutes of flying time. The only 77 Squadron casualty sustained during these raids was Sergeant D. Pinkstone (A77-982) who was hit by anti-aircraft fire when attacking an enemy vehicle and was forced to bail out of his stricken jet. He parachuted to safety landing successfully in a nearby rice paddy. Other members of his flight saw Pinkstone fold up his parachute and run for the cover of some high ground near a small village. A rescue helicopter was called in but was forced away from the downed pilot by intense enemy ground fire, leaving Pinkstone to be captured and interned as a prisoner of war
FWIW