John White, Jr. was a son of Scottish immigrants. He was born at Madison, Somerset County, Maine on July 5, 1921. The date of birth on his grave marker is incorrect. It was recorded incorrectly on his headstone application. The correct date, July 5, 1921, is recorded on his draft registration and in his Individual Deceased Personnel File.
His parents were John White (24 Jun 1889 unk) and Helen Renwick (Smith) White (8 Sep 1891 Dec 1939) (sometimes called Nellie), who were born at Galashiels, Scotland, a center of the textile industry. His father served as a Bugler in Scotland's Border Rifles for two years. His father immigrated to America via Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1908; his mother immigrated to America in 1913. His parents married at Brooklyn, Kings County, New York on June 23, 1913, and became naturalized citizens in 1919.
He had two older siblings, Jean Renwick Smith (White) Shipman (14 Jul 1915 9 May 1999) and Robert Gordon White (6 Nov 1916 19 Aug 2000), who were born at Madison, Maine. His brother Robert served in the U.S. Army Infantry, and was wounded in action in June 1944.
The family lived initially at Madison, Maine, where his father was a mill superintendent for American Woolen Company. By April 1930 the family lived at 31 Creswell Street, Worcester, Worcester County, Massachusetts, where his father was superintendent at a woolen textile mill. His mother died in December 1939, and by April 1940 his father moved the family to 422 North 25th Street, Pennside (Reading), Berks County, Pennsylvania, where he worked in textile manufacturing at a woolen mill (probably at nearby Stony Creek Mills). By October 1940 the family moved back to Worcester, Massachusetts and lived at 188 Highland Street. In 1945 his father lived at 46 Roxbury Street in Worcester.
John White Jr registered for the draft at Worcester, Massachusetts on February 15, 1942. He was 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighed 131 pounds, and had brown eyes and blonde hair. At that time he lived at 68 Dover Street in Worcester, and was employed by Crescent Manufacturing Company at 69 Canterbury Street in Worcester. His point of contact was his sister Jean (White) Shipman, who lived at 84 Burncoat Street in Worcester. He completed four years of high school and worked in a managerial position. He was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Fort Devens, Massachusetts on September 28, 1942.
He was called to active duty in March 1943, and completed Army Air Forces flight engineer and aerial gunnery training. He was then assigned as engineer-gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Daniel C. Smoke Jr. The Smoke crew completed B-17 operational training at Biloxi, Mississippi, and was sent to Hunter Field, Savannah, Georgia, where they were assigned a new B-17 for the deployment to England. They were assigned to the 838th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. They arrived at Station 137 by February 26, 1945, and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.
On March 19, 1945, the 487th Bomb Group dispatched thirty aircraft to bomb a communications center at Zwickau, Germany. The Smoke crew flew B-17G 43-38038 on this mission. Because of poor weather over England, the Group assembled into formation over A-71, an Allied advanced landing ground near Clastres in northeastern France. Sgt White and his eight crewmates were killed in action when their aircraft collided with Lt John R. Virgin's B-17G 43-37969 'Beverly Jean' during formation assembly. All of Lt Virgin's crew bailed out and survived, but none of Lt Smoke's crew was able to bail out. Sgt White and his crewmates perished in the subsequent crash of their aircraft near Couvron, France.
The dead were buried initially in the temporary U.S. Military Cemetery Champigneul #1 near Chalons-sur-Marne, France. (Chalons-sur-Marne was renamed Chβlons-en-Champagne in 1998.) Sgt White's remains were returned to the United States and reinterred at Hope Cemetery in Worcester, Massachusetts, on July 16, 1949.
B-17G 43-38038 crew:
Smoke Jr, Daniel C 2/Lt Pilot KIA
Pendarvis, George H F/O Copilot KIA
Olsen, Gunnar K F/O Navigator KIA
Strong, John H 2/Lt Bombardier KIA
White Jr, John Sgt Engineer KIA
Stone, Harold J Sgt Radio Operator KIA
Sala, David W Sgt Ball Turret Gunner KIA
Koepsell, Elmer E Sgt Waist Gunner KIA
Burres, Richard E Sgt Tail Gunner KIA
Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com