via American Battle Monuments Commission
Remember...
Earl Norman McClure
1922-1944
"Hard things are put in our way, not to stop us, but to call out our courage and strength."
Unknown
via American Battle Monuments Commission |
Remember...Earl Norman McClure
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Army Air Corps Corporal Earl Norman McClure was born on March 4, 1922, to Edgar Enslow McClure and Sallie E. Rickman McClure. Both Edgar (1878-1944; son of Harry B. and Sarah Dobbins McClure) and Sallie hailed from the state of Kentucky, where they were still living (in Lawrence County) at the time of their son's birth. Edgar was by occupation a coal mine operator (as indicated in his World War I draft registration and the 1940 Federal Census), although his World War II draft registration states that he was employed by Fred Bailey (perhaps in retirement) in Huntington, West Virginia, where the family had relocated. Also according to the 1940 census, Earl was the fourth child of six, his siblings being Louella, Paul, Juanita, Edgar, and Marcheta ("Kitty").
U.S. Army World War II Enlistment Records, 1938-1946, show that Earl registered for the Army at Fort Thomas, Newport, Kentucky, on October 18, 1942, and was branched to the Army Air Corps. At that time, he stated he had completed four years of high school and was single without dependents. He was assigned to the 1578th Quartermaster Truck Battalion, Aviation, and 1944 found him in Cambridge, England.
While some sources indicate that his death was DNB (died, non-battle), others state that he was KIA (killed in action). The confusion is understandable, given that he lost his life, not in battle, but due to an explosion at a bomb dump in Sussex--the Metfield England Bomb Dump Explosion. This event is not well documented, but an account can be found on the Find A Grave entry for Pfc. Don Hurley, maintained by Kelton Slane. Slane cites an account of the event by Air Force Maj. Gen. Frederick H. Miller, written as part of the 491st Bomb Group History, summarized below:
About 4:15 on July 15, 1944, five trucks carrying bombs and one carrying fuses and bomb fins made a delivery to the Metfield Airfield in Sussex. There was no one to unload the bombs, so the sergeant in charge told the drivers to wait for the men to return from supper for proper unloading. However, the drivers of the bomb-loaded trucks decided to roll the bombs over their tailgates and be gone.Drivers put their trucks into reverse, then gunned the engine, then hit the brakes. Bombs rolled out the back. One bomb fell on another already rolled out, and the detonation that resulted spread to other bombs nearby and finally involved the whole dump.
A scrubbed mission of the previous night meant that the dump was full of incendiaries. The driver of the sixth truck (fuses and fins) had moved to a separate area, where he heard all the commotion. He dived into a deep drainage ditch for shelter and was the only survivor of the delivery party.
An investigation into the incident found that the bombs being delivered contained an explosive mixed with beeswax, giving each about 50 percent more explosive power and decreasing the bombs' stability. Further, these more explosive bombs were to be identified with a yellow strip as a warning, but this strip was lacking in the delivered bombs.
The 2218th Quartermaster Truck Company (Aviation) unit diary refers to six drivers killed in the explosion at Metfield and who have no known grave: Pvt. Donald P. Adkins, U.S. Army Air Forces; Pvt. Steve W. Suchey, U.S. Army Air Forces; Pfc. Donald L Hurley, U.S Army Air Forces; Pfc. Lebi Nash, U.S. Army Air Forces; Pfc. [Cpl.] Earl N. McClure, U.S. Army Air Forces; and Pvt. Marvin E. Huff, 2218th Quartermaster Truck Company. However, other reports note that the five bomb-truck drivers were all killed, but the sixth driver (fuses and fins) did survive and provided an account of the event. The unit was stationed at the Earsham Ordnance Depot (Station 545) in Norfolk, England, at the time. The American Battle Monuments Commission roll for that unit gives only three names for that unit -- i.e., the first three listed above.
| Cpl. McClure was one of the five drivers killed in the Metfield Bomb Dump Explosion. He is memorialized on the Tablets [Wall] of the Missing at the Cambridge American Cemetery. 1944 was a sad year for the McClure family as Earl's father had died just the previous January. At the time of Earl's death, his brother Ed was also serving in England with an Army Air Forces unit. His brother Paul was an honorably discharged soldier. |  |
Article prepared by Patricia Richards McClure
December 2021
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.