| Birth: | 1923
Pueblo County
Colorado, USA | | Death: | Jul. 12, 1944
Baden-Württemberg, Germany | 
Research reflects that he was the second son of Eula McClellan and Ernest Collins who had married about 1917 and started their family while living in Haskell County, OK. After 1920, they moved to Pueblo County, CO, where Walter was born. By 1930, he and his brother are living with their mother in Los Angeles, CA.
Military data provides that Walter entered the service on 5 Jan 1943 at Fresno, CA. He was a high school graduate, married at time of enlistment and his home of record was Bakersfield, CA.. The rank of Aviation Cadet on his stone implies that he initially entered flight training to be a pilot. Like many other Cadets of that time, he did not complete that program. He was apparently assigned to and graduated from an aerial gunnery school. His USAAF service number was 39691496.
Sergeant Collins arrived in England in March 1944 and was assigned to the 524th Bomb Squadron, 379th Bomb Group (H), at Kimbolton Field. He was placed with a B-17G aircrew that had also just arrived but without their tail gunner (who had a death in the family just prior to departing the States).
Mission records reflect that Sergeant Collins flew the tail gunner position on twenty-eight missions over enemy territory with that same aircrew, of which my brother Eugene V. Oxford was the Bombardier. Sergeant Collins missed two missions due to illness and subsequently flew with other aircrews to achieve his total missions requirement.
On 12 July 1944, Sgt Collins was the tail gunner on B-17G, #42-38192, during a bombing mission at Munich, Germany. According to the Missing Air Crew Report, the aircraft sustained heavy flak damage over the target area and was last seen going down in a controlled flight at 1430 hours near Bourg-Bruche, France. The post-war report provides that three of the four engines were lost and the pilot attempted to fly the plane to Switzerland. However, the plane crashed at 1500 hours near the town of Feldburg, approximately 18 kilometers SE of Freiburg-Breisgau, Germany. Eight of the nine aircrew members were killed on impact. In addition to Sgt. Collins, those KIA were 2Lt Bruce A. Hutchins (Pilot), 2Lt Robert H. Webber (Co-Pilot), 2Lt James R. Haile (Navigator), Sgt Grover J. Bowen (Nose Gunner/Togglier), SSgt Robert L. Shaffer (Radio Op), SSgt George N. White (Engineer/Top Turret Gunner) and Sgt Harry I. Degenhart (Waist Gunner). The lone survivor of the crash, Sgt James L. Stutts (Ball Turret Gunner), was held as a POW until April 1945.
After the war, Sergeant Collins' remains were exhumed from the German burial location and re-interred in the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.
For more information and links regarding the gallant men who flew such missions, visit the 379th Bomb Group Association online.
| | | Burial:
Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery
Saint Louis
St. Louis County
Missouri, USA
Plot: SECTION 79 SITE 404C-D |
Maintained by: David Oxford
Originally Created by: Eric Kreft
Record added: Jan 15, 2009
Find A Grave Memorial# 32946560 |
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You are taking a random walk through our online cemetery.
