Son of Harry Morris Hinkson, Sr. and Mary Ingram Hinkson. Harry, who resided at 1022 Monroe Street, Wilmington, Delaware, served as a a Sergeant, gunner and radio operator, on a B-17 with the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He was killed In action during a mission over Magdeburg, Germany. He had served in the Air Corps for one year and five months at the time of his death and was decorated the Air Medal, a Citation of Honor, and the Purple Heart.

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Sergeant Harry Morris Hinkson Jr, Army serial number 32752255, was born at Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware on July 29, 1923. He was the youngest of three children of Harry Morris Hinkson (3 Oct 1884 – 7 Jan 1973), who was born at Elam, Concord Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania; and Mary (Ingram) Hinkson (24 Oct 1886 – 10 Nov 1986), who was born at Concord Township, Pennsylvania. His parents married at Elam, Pennsylvania on March 24, 1908 and lived at Wilmington, Delaware, where his father was a milk dealer at Hinkson Dairy, the family business. The family home and dairy were located at 1022 North Monroe Street in Wilmington. His father sold the family business to Hy-Point Dairy by 1942, and then worked for Hy-Point Dairy on Naaman Road in Wilmington. Obituaries of his father and his sister Ruth indicate that the family attended Saint Paul United Methodist Church in Wilmington.

He had two sisters, both born at Wilmington: Marguerite (Hinkson) Beach (1909 – 1995) and Ruth I. (Hinkson) Hammond (1912 – 2011). A niece (daughter of his sister Ruth) said, "The family called him Junior. We were only 12 years apart. He was my 'big brother' and took me everywhere. Music was his life. He was a talented trumpet player and was courted by the Marine Band, but he wanted to join the Air Corps. He was engaged to a woman named Ann Clayton when he went overseas."

He graduated from Wilmington High School about 1941 and registered for the draft on June 30, 1942. He was 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighed 131 pounds, and had blue eyes and brown hair. At that time he lived with his parents and was a purchasing clerk for the duPont Company in Wilmington. He enlisted in the U.S. Army at Camden, New Jersey on February 23, 1943 and was called to active duty in March 1943.

He completed basic training at Miami Beach, Florida in April 1943, and Army Air Forces radio operator training at Sioux Falls, South Dakota in November 1943. In January 1944 he completed aerial gunnery training in Class 44-3 at Laredo, Texas. His next stop was Camp Kearns near Salt Lake City, Utah, where he was assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Charlton A. Deuschle. The Deuschle crew completed B-17 operational training at Sioux City, Iowa in June 1944. They deployed from Kearney, Nebraska in a B-17 via the north Atlantic ferry route on June 15, 1944, and arrived in England on June 30, 1944. They inprocessed at the Combat Crew Replacement Center at Bovingdon, England in early July 1944.

Lt Deuschle's crew was assigned to the 838th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group, at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England by late July 1944. The 487th Bomb Group was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe. Here is the crew roster on August 5, 1944:

B-17G 43-38007 – 838th Bomb Squadron

• Deuschle, Charlton A – 2/Lt – Pilot – POW

• Steffens, Eugene F – 2/Lt – Copilot – KIA

• Underwood, Allan B – 2/Lt – Navigator – KIA

• Gregory, Jesse E – 2/Lt – Bombardier – KIA

• Late, Carl L – T/Sgt – Engineer – KIA

• Cochran, William J – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA

• Hinkson Jr, Harry M – Sgt – Waist Gunner – KIA

• Deelaney, Grady E – Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – KIA

• Haglund, John L – Sgt – Tail Gunner – KIA

• Crooker, Robert J – Sgt – Waist Gunner – POW

Note: The crew roster in Missing Air Crew Report 7893 shows Sgt Hinkson as tail gunner and Sgt Haglund as waist gunner; but the casualty questionnaires completed by Lt Deuschle and Sgt Crooker make it clear that on this mission Sgt Hinkson flew as left waist gunner, and Sgt Haglund flew as tail gunner.

Sgt Hinkson and seven of his crewmates were killed in action on August 5, 1944 when their aircraft, B-17G 43-38007, was shot down by flak on a mission to bomb an aircraft engine factory at Magdeburg, Germany. The aircraft received direct hits just before bombs away, and exploded within seconds. The fuselage broke apart aft of the ball turret, and part of the right wing came off. Most of the men were either killed instantly, or were ejected from the aircraft without their parachutes. The aircraft crashed near Lostau, Germany, about 13 kilometers southwest of Burg, near Magdeburg. (The Germans reported that it crashed between Gerwisch and Biederitz, just south of Lostau—vicinity of 52.173°N, 11.731°E.) Pilot 2/Lt Deuschle and gunner Sgt Robert J. Crooker survived and became prisoners of war. The dead were buried initially at the village cemetery in Lostau.

Sgt Hinkson's remains were returned to the United States and interred at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia on Friday, June 24, 1949. He is buried in Section 34, Site 1908.

Sources:

1. 487th Bomb Group Association

2. 1920 US Census; Delaware; New Castle County; Wilmington. Hinkson, Harry M. 2 Jan 1920 (his father)

3. 1930 US Census; Delaware; New Castle County; Wilmington. Hinkson, Harvey M [sic]. 12 Apr 1930 (Harry Morris Hinkson, his father)

4. 1940 US Census; Delaware; New Castle County; Wilmington. Hinkson, Morris. 9 Apr 1940 (Harry Morris Hinkson, his father)

5. de Jong, Ivo. 'The History of the 487th Bomb Group (H)'. Paducah KY: Turner Publishing, Oct 2004

6. Delaware State Birth Records, 1861–1922: Harry Morris Hinkson was born at The Delaware Hospital, 14th and Washington, Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware on July 29, 1923.

7. Delaware Vital Records, 1650–1974: Marguerite Hinkson was born at Wilmington, Delaware on 2 Jan 1909; Ruth Hinkson was born at Wilmington, Delaware on 27 Nov 1912. (his sisters)

8. (The) News Journal, Wilmington, Delaware

     • Burial Service for Sgt Harry M. Hinkson Jr. 23 Jun 1949, p 41

     • Obituary of Ruth (Hinkson) Hammond. 26–27 Jan 2011 (his sister)

     • Obituary of Harry Morris Hinkson. 8 Jan 1973, p 32 (his father)

9. Pennsylvania Marriages, 1852–1968 (ancestry.com): Harry M. Hinkson and Mary Ingram married at Elam, Concord Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania on 24 Mar 1908. (his parents)

10. Pierce, Mary Jane. Personal Conversation. 30 Jul 2019 (his niece, daughter of his sister Ruth)

11. Social Security Death Index

12. State of Delaware: Individual Military Service Record of Harry Morris Hinkson Jr, 32752255. (form completed by Harry M. Hinkson Sr, his father, in 1946; provided by Lowell Silverman)

13. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 7893

14. U.S. Army. Arlington National Cemetery

15. U.S. Department of the Army, Adjutant General Office, Technical Records Section. Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) of William J. Cochran, 12131579 (his crewmate)

16. U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Form (interred at Arlington National Cemetery on 24 Jun 1949)

17. U.S. Rosters of World War II Dead, 1939–1945

18. U.S. War Department. 'World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel'. Washington, D.C., June 1946

19. U.S. World War II Draft Cards, Young Men, 1940–1947 (ancestry.com)

20. World War I Draft Registration of Harry Morris Hinkson. 12 Sep 1918 (his father)

21. World War II Draft Registration of Harry Morris Hinkson. 27 Apr 1942 (his father)

Research by:

Paul Webber

Find A Grave member ID 47577572