Second Lieutenant Ernest Eugene McCoy (called Eugene), Army serial number O-814844, was born in Tennessee about April 1918, and grew up in Harriman, Roane County, Tennessee (lived there by Jan 1920). He was one of at least five children of James Elias McCoy (2 Aug 1870 – 2 Mar 1951) and Chimera (Howard) McCoy (21 Dec 1887 – 22 Jan 1981), who were born in Tennessee. His parents married about 1906. His father was married previously to Celia Jane (Kennedy) McCoy (25 Sep 1873 – 27 Dec 1897), by whom he had two children. His father was a steam railroad machinist and mechanic.

He completed four years of high school. In 1940 he was single and lived in the household of his brother-in-law George Rawlston in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he worked as a clerk in a retail grocery. He enlisted in the U.S. Army about 1942. His wife was Maxine Evalyne McCoy; they had two daughters. In 1944 his wife lived in Seiling, Oklahoma.

He completed Army Air Forces pilot training in Class 43-J, and received his wings and commission on November 3, 1943. He was assigned as copilot on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Doyle E. Simons. In December 1943 the Simons crew began B-24 crew training at Davis-Monthan Field in Tucson, Arizona. In January 1944 the crew was assigned to the 838th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. There they completed B-24 crew training and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. They flew B-24H 41-29479 'The Big Bad Wolf' from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Lavenham, England via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived in England by mid-April 1944.

The 487th Bomb Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe. After the Group arrived in England, Lt Simons was grounded with appendicitis, and was replaced as First Pilot by 2/Lt Lorin D. McCleary Jr. Here is Lt McCleary's crew roster on May 11, 1944:

B-24H 42-52444 – 838th Bomb Squadron

• McCleary, Lorin D – 2/Lt – Pilot – KIA

• McCoy, Ernest E – 2/Lt – Copilot – KIA

• Kramer, Victor S – 2/Lt – Navigator – KIA

• Perry, Joseph D – 2/Lt – Bombardier – KIA

• Owens, Harold E – S/Sgt – Engineer – POW

• McKee, Eugene – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA

• Frey, Arthur C – Sgt – Nose Turret – KIA

• Churm, Paul K – Sgt – Top Turret – KIA

• Barboza, Clemente M – Sgt – Ball Turret – KIA

• Knapp, Dale L – Sgt – Tail Turret – KIA

On May 11, 1944, the McCleary crew took off from Lavenham in B-24H 42-52444 on a mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Chaumont, France. The secondary target was Troyes. The 487th Bomb Group formation never reached the target. Navigational error resulted in the formation flying over accurate German flak guns guarding the airfield at Chateaudun, France. Lt McCoy and eight of his crewmates were killed in action when their aircraft was shot down by flak over Chateaudun. The aircraft took a direct flak hit in the nose and flight deck and started burning at the engines. It went into a dive, exploded in the air, and crashed 3 kilometers east of Varize, France, near Bazoches-en-Dunois. One man, Staff Sergeant Harold E. Owens, survived. He wrote:

     "At approximately 1145 we were hit by flak in the nose, which resulted in the death of Lt Victor Kramer, navigator, Sgt Paul Churm, top turret gunner, and S/Sgt Eugene McKee, radio operator. The plane immediately burst into flames, we were flying at an altitude of approximately 11,000 feet, a few seconds later the plane started into a dive, and exploded in mid air, with the result that I was blown clear of the plane. I managed to pull my ripcord and landed eight miles north of Chateaudun, France. I made a safe landing and at a distance of one quarter of a mile I saw the plane completely wrecked and on fire. I was the only member of the crew who parachuted to safety. I did not go near the plane because I knew the bombs had not exploded. I hid in the woods and about five minutes later the bombs exploded."

The dead were recovered by German troops, who buried them at the Grand Cimetière in Orleans, France. After the war, Lt McCoy's remains were exhumed and reinterred at the U.S. Military Cemetery-Solers in Melun, France. Later his remains were permanently interred at Epinal American Cemetery, France. He is buried in Plot B, Row 35, Grave 8.

A memorial plaque was dedicated to the McCleary crew at Varize, Eure-et-Loire, Centre, France on May 9, 2015. The plaque was made possible through the efforts of Jean Pierre and Forced Landing Association, in collaboration with the municipalities of Varize and Bazoches-en-Dunois, France. The plaque is mounted in an entry alcove of the thirteenth-century Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (Eglise Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul) in Varize, France (map coordinates 48.096472°N, 1.513639°E).

Sources:

1. 487th Bomb Group Association

2. 1900 US Census; Tennessee; Morgan County; Civil District 11; Lancing. Howard, Mashac. 5 Jun 1900 (Michael Meshac Howard, father of Chimera Howard)

3. 1910 US Census; Tennessee; Morgan County; Civil District 10; Oakdale Road. McCoy, James M. 10 May 1910 (his father)

4. 1920 US Census; Tennessee; Roane County; Civil District 1. McCoy, James. Jan 1920 (his father)

5. 1930 US Census; Tennessee; Roane County; Harriman; Civil District 1; Harriman Junction Road. McCoy, James. 16 Apr 1930 (his father)

6. 1940 US Census; Tennessee; Knox County; 2424 Woodbine Avenue. Rawlston, George M. 15 Apr 1940 (his brother-in-law)

7. American Battle Monuments Commission

8. B24BestWeb. B-24H 41-29479 'The Big Bad Wolf'

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

10. Find A Grave: Meshack Howard and Rebecca Matilda (Langley) Howard (his mother's parents)

11. Forced Landing Association, Eure-et-Loire, France. Point of contact: Jean Pierre

12. HQ, 359th Combat Crew Training School, Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. Special Orders Number 71. 11 March 1944 (487th Bomb Group flight echelon orders to proceed from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Herington, Kansas during the deployment to England)

13. HQ, Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona. Special Orders Number 1. 1 January 1944 (transfer of fifty heavy bomber combat crews, less navigators, from Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona, to the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico)

14. Social Security Death Index

15. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 4782

16. U.S. Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942–1949 (ancestry.com)

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

Research by:

Paul Webber

Find A Grave member ID 47577572

Last update 11 May 2024