Ivan A. Ervin was born on January 16, 1918. He enlisted on the 4th February 1943 in Santa Anna, California, and served in the 435th Fighter Training Squadron and Pilot of the P51 #44-14295 during World War II.

At 13:22 hours on September 14th, 1944, a flight of North American P-51 Mustangs took off on a training flight from Wattisham airfield in Suffolk, England. This was the base of the US Army Air Force’s (USAAF) 479th Fighter Group (FG). The Group consisted of three Fighter Squadrons, the 434th, 435th, and 436th. At this time the 479th FG was converting from the P-38 Lightning to the P-51 Mustang fighter. The men and aircraft from the 435th Fighter Squadron were tasked to fly from Wattisham to Edinburgh, then Belfast, and back to Wattisham. As the flight neared Ireland, they flew into dense overcast clouds, and contact was lost with two of the pilots, 2/Lt. Ivan A. Ervin O-769180 and 1/Lt. Chester W. Granville O-760289.

The USAAF reports put the loss of 2LT Ervin down to bad weather, weather which had caused the remaining aircraft in the flight to fly on instruments for over an hour. 2LT Ervin was buried first in the Lisnabreeny Former American Military Cemetery in England. The cemetery closed in 1948 and his remains were exhumed and transferred. He is buried now in the Forest Cemetery, Coeur d'Alene, Kootenai County, Idaho, USA.

Source of information: www.ww2irishaviation.com/Article_4.htm, www.findagrave.com