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Remember...Charles Stanley Prince
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Charles Stanley ("Buddy") Prince was born on August 1, 1916, to Leslie Wallace Prince and Cora A. Prince in Harrison County, West Virginia. Federal Census records indicate that the Mr. Prince worked as coal miner in 1920 and as a laborer in a wholesale store in 1930. The family, including Charles's sisters, Monnah and Merle, continued to live in Harrison County. In 1930, Mrs. Prince's father, Jared Beverage, lived with the family.
By the time of the 1940 census, the family was living in Lewis County, and Charles registered for the draft, presumably that year as his draft card indicates he was 21 years old. In further military documents, including next-of-kin contacts, the address of the Mr. and Mrs. Prince is given as the Weston State Hospital. According to Cecilia Matheny, who lived near the family in Weston, Buddy's parents were employed at Weston State Hospital, Mr. Prince as a carpenter. Mrs. Prince oversaw the laundry facilities. They lived on the grounds of the hospital until the early 1940s, when they moved to the Shadybrook neighborhood of Weston. Charles Prince's draft registration indicates that he was self-employed and living in Lewis County.
According to Lewis Countians in World War II, Charles Prince entered the Army on March 11, 1942, and became a flight engineer on a B-17. (Weston, WV: Independent Publishing Company, 1943.) He served with the Army Air Forces 419th Bomber Squadron, 301st Bomber Group, Heavy.
The 301st was activated in February 1942 at Geiger Field near Spokane, Washington. The air group of the unit moved to Muroc Army Airfield in California for flight training and then moved to Alamogordo in New Mexico in June 1942, where the ground units and flight units recombined. The units parted again when the ground unit moved to Richmond, Virginia, and the flight unit moved to Connecticut and then to Massachusetts. From there, on July 23, 1942, the air unit began moving to the United Kingdom. In November 1942, the 301st moved to North Africa as part of the Twelfth Air Force. ("301st Bomb Group," American Air in Britain, last updated 7 June 2021, accessed 14 July 2021, http://www.americanairmuseum.com/unit/251.) No records were found that validate Charles Prince was with the unit throughout the series of training locations and moves around the country; however, given the date of his enlistment, it seems likely he moved with the unit.
In 1943, the 301st Bomber Group was stationed at the Oudna Airfield in Tunisia. The airfield was used by the 12th Army Air Force during the North African campaign of World War II. It was the airfield of the heavy B-17 Flying Fortress bomber from August 1943 through December 7, 1943. ("Oudna," American Air in Britain, last updated 2 November 2016, accessed 14 July 2021, http://www.americanairmuseum.com/place/167634.) Their missions from Tunisia into the Mediterranean theater included bombing military transportation hubs and routes in Tunisia, Sicily, and Sardinia and in waters of the Mediterranean. In 1943, targets had expanded to gun positions, oil centers, communications infrastructure, and industrial areas in Europe, including Germany and France. ("301st Bomb Group," American Air in Britain.)
| On November 16, 1943, Sergeant Charles Prince was a gunner in an upper turret of his B-17. The flight mission was to France. There, the crew successfully hit their target and was returning to Oudna when the plane was attacked by enemy fighters. The #4 engine was hit and the wing caught fire, but the pilot was able to keep the plane in stable flight for a while. Twenty-five miles from land, over open water, the plane suddenly dove, and spiraled down to impact the ocean. Other crews flew their planes down to determine what had happened and reported seeing that there was an oil slick, fire, and no signs of life. (Missing Air Crew Report [MACR] 42-30419.) |  Fountain and chapel at Rhone American Cemetery in France. American Battle Monuments Commission |
 Military marker for Charles S. Prince in Lewis County Memorial Gardens. Courtesy Cynthia Mullens |
The Pittsburgh Press reported in its December 26, 1943, article "12 District Men Among Wounded" that Sgt. Prince was missing in action. No record was found of the date on which the family was notified that he'd died, but a cenotaph military memorial marker is located in the Lewis County Memorial Gardens. Sgt. Prince is memorialized in the Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial, France. |
Article prepared by Cynthia Mullens
July 2021
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.
