Biography written for the 80th anniversary memorial research booklet for the dedication ceremony on November 10, 2023 in Brome, Suffolk, at 10:00 a.m. for 1st Lt Reynolds, his crew and the four Suffolk civilians.
Lest We Forget.
1st Lt Arthur Joseph Reynolds (0-662226) Pilot, Age 24, r. Camas, Clark County, Washington, USA
Arthur Joseph Reynolds was born July 11, 1919, in Hughenden, Alberta, Canada, to Joseph Howe Reynolds and Mary Alice Hargreaves. Arthur was the oldest of two sons. The youngest John was a pilot in WWII in the Pacific up through Vietnam. On April 2, 1926, the family arrived in Seattle, Washington, crossing over at the Canadian border. Initially, the family lived in Oregon until their move to Camas, Washington, in 1929. His father Joseph was a farmer then a grain buyer in Alberta. Joseph, Mary, sons Arthur and John lived in Camas, Washington, in the 1930 and 1940 censuses. Arthur's father worked at the local paper mill and later managed a grocery store. Arthur was five years older than his brother John, but the two were very close. Both boys graduated from Camas High School, Arthur in 1938 and John in 1943. After graduating Arthur worked at Martin Meiser's grocery store as a clerk.
Before going overseas, Arthur married Alene Margaret Johnson (1920-1974) on his birthday on July 11, 1942 (see attached photo). Alene was born in Blackfoot, Idaho, and worked as a stenographer. Later she remarried and moved to Florida.
Arthur applied to join the RCAF before Pearl Harbor in the summer of 1941 in Vancouver, Canada. He was assigned ground school for pilots, gunners and observers in Edmonton, Alberta according to his hometown newspaper. A few months later he graduated from A flight of the No. 2 Initial Training School at Regina, Saskatchewan on October 14, 1941, according to his class photograph.
Arthur later transferred to the US Army Air Force and by June 1942 was at the Advanced Flying School at Lubbock Field, Texas. Upon graduation, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the US Army Air Corps with Class 42-F on July 3, 1942. That same day he received his RCAF pilot wings as did other American pilots. Arthur was assigned to the 322nd Bomb Squadron of the 91st Bomb Group and arrived in England with the group as it was transferred to RAF Kimbolton from its training base at Walla Walla, Washington, during September 1942. His first mission was also the first that the 91st BG flew on November 7, 1942, from Bassingbourn where the group had moved to on October 14, 1942. Arthur was co-pilot that day on 41-24483 "Spirit of Alcohol", they aborted this mission due to mechanical issues.
Then on December 20th, 1942 he flew with the Barton crew on "Chief Sly". This mission, a highly publicized one, as they left formation to escort home a fellow B-17 the damaged "Rose O' Day". Capt. Bruce Barton, pilot of "Chief Sly" told their story in "Wray's Ragged Irregulars" newsletter of the 91 BG: "... I couldn't watch the fighters while flying, so I let my co-pilot, Lt. Arthur J. Reynolds (of Portland, OR), watch out for them. Several times he grabbed the stick and pushed us down quickly as the bullets of the enemy passed over our heads". They took the brunt of the fighter attacks and "Well, there we were. A cracked-up airplane and two wounded men. The day's work was done, and we had shot down six Focke-Wulfs and killed two sheep and a rabbit". (Barton crew picture page 26 in 10th November 2023 memorial booklet)
Arthur then flew as a co-pilot up until June 29, 1943, then moved up to the pilot's position and command of his own aircraft. His last (with the 91st) and 16th credited mission was on July 29, 1943. He had flown another 11 missions which were aborted during his time at Bassingbourn that he did not receive credit for.
Arthur transferred out of the 91st BG on July 5, 1943, joining the 92nd BG. This unit based at RAF Alconbury moved onto RAF Podington in September 1943 leaving a nucleus of men that formed the fledging Pathfinder 482nd BG. Arthur was one of those men. It is not known how many missions he was credited with while assigned to the 482nd BG, but his third and last Oak Leaf Cluster to his Air Medal was awarded on November 16, 1943, six days after his death, indicating that he had completed at least 20 combat missions in total. The only mission found so far in the group's official records is for November 7, 1943, when Arthur is quoted as leading the 1st Combat Wing of the First Air Division on a mission to the German city of Wessel. Three days later Arthur was lost in the crash of 42-5793 "Stinky" one year and three days after that first mission with the 91st BG.
Ten days before Arthur died, he wrote to his brother John, who was in flight training with the US Army Air Forces at Sequoia Field in California. John mentions Arthur's letter in a note he wrote to his parents: "I received a letter from Arthur which he had written on October 31st... Something keeps telling me he was doing something beyond the call of duty. There is definitely something we don't know, because he was so limited in what he wrote for a while. He even said he couldn't write at one place..." John received the letter 8 days after Arthur perished.
(Picture attached: Brothers Arthur and John with parents Mary and Joseph Reynolds)
When John learned that his brother had died, he was devastated. In a poignant letter to his mother, John said: "Dear Mother, I would have written you when I first heard, but I wasn't sure they had told you. I know it has been hard, but I'm sure it is for the best you were told immediately. I would like nothing better than to be home now, but it is an impossibility. No one will feel the loss worse than you. Yet, I know I have suffered as much as I think humanly possible. Arthur and I were closer than most brothers. He was more than a brother – I've always more or less idolized him. Something has gone from my life that can never be replaced...I've always known I had very brave parents. We must all be the braver at a time like this. Nothing I can say can comfort you, for, likewise, nothing anyone can say will comfort me. One thing is certain, we can all be proud that we are mother, father, wife and brother of Arthur..."
Written by the following collaborative contributors:
Christina Reynolds Price (niece), Wendy Rust, Steve Andrews and Jim Szpajcher.
MEMORIAL
Arthur is remembered on the Clark County Veterans Memorial in Vancouver, Washington and the Washington State World War II Memorial in Olympia at the Capitol.
AWARDS
Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters
BURIAL
Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England (Plot E Row 1 Grave 11) This is an ABMC location, also referred to in the UK as Madingley.
Addendum to biography:
The story of the December 20th, 1942 mission – from "Wray's Ragged Irregulars"
Story told by Pilot Bruce Barton, pilot of the Chief Sly crew which Arthur Reynolds was part of:
I couldn't watch the fighters while flying, so I let my co-pilot, Lt. Arthur J. Reynolds (of Portland, OR), watch out for them. Several times he grabbed the stick and pushed us down quickly as the bullets of the enemy passed over our heads. His (Luftwaffe fighter) bullet raked across through the cockpit and top turret. They missed me by inches and Reynolds said "They got Hare!" (T/Sgt. Richard L. Hare, top turret, from Monshans, Texas). As we looked back we felt sure he was shot because we saw his knees bending. Actually he was not hit, but only trailing the plane overhead with his guns, thus bending his knees. He had a close call. The controls were so severely damaged that it took both Reynolds and myself to hold the ship up. We found that with full left aileron and rudder we could hold the wings straight and maintain the altitude we had. I felt sure we could never make it across the Channel so I told the boys to get ready for a water landing… (Fortunately they didn't need to ditch and made it back to the south coast of England.) That was sure a helluva feeling, going down toward the ground which was hilly and wooded with no open field in sight. There just had to be an open space somewhere and at the last minute it showed up. A small pasture and cabbage patch which I figured the "Chief" would fit into nicely. Reynolds disagreed, but it was too late to try another field. He reluctantly put the flaps down and called off the air speed as we came in for the landing. Everyone on board "was sweating me out" as everything depended on hitting that short field just right. Just as we neared the ground I saw some high tension wires running across the field. I said to myself, "Oh! Oh! We've had it!" -- but we hadn't. I managed to slide under the wires without hitting them. I couldn't help hitting some sheep and a rabbit that were in the pasture, however, as we slid across it on our belly, through a small hedge and stopped nicely in the middle of the cabbage patch. I was surprised that there wasn't much jar to the landing. In fact, some of the boys laughed and said it was the smoothest landing I had ever made. Well, there we were. A cracked-up airplane and two wounded men (who were getting along all right). The day's work was done, and we had shot down six Focke-Wulfs and killed two sheep and a rabbit. We got medical aid right away and everyone was happy about the whole thing. I was surprised that we stayed so calm during the trip, but I credited it to having been so relaxed after the party the night before. End of quote.
Crash history:
On November 10, 1943, Arthur was flying 42-5793 "Stinky" with the 813 Bomb Squadron, 482 Bomb Group, which was the group, known as Pathfinders or PFF, which led bomber forces on missions, and were equipped with air to ground radar. His copilot was 2LT John Edmund Russell of Baldwin, New York. This is how the event is described in "Losses of the U.S. 8th and 9th Air Forces: Volume 1 - ETO Area June 1942 - December 1943" by Stan D. Bishop and John A. Hey (Bishop Book Productions: Barton, Cambridge, 2004), p. 364. "Caught fire shortly after take off from Thorpe Abbotts on its return flight to its home station Alconbury. Crashed at 1035 hrs at Brome killing all thirteen crew on board. A/C had been positioned to Thorpe Abbotts earlier in the day to lead mission, but due to weather conditions over the continent this had been scrubbed."
Further research shows, four civilian road workers clearing ditches were killed along with their horse as a result of this crash. Two of the four were injured. One died that same day and the other civilian died two days later at Hartismere Emergency Hospital in Eye.
Note:
On Memorial Day 2023, a Pathfinder designed poppy wreath, was presented by Steve Andrews on behalf of the November 10th 2023 memorial team and families during the ceremony at Cambridge American Cemetery for pilot Arthur Joseph Reynolds, copilot John Edmund Russell, three of their crew, Andrew Jack Allison, Amos H. Behl and Robert Blyden Holmes.
A very special front page article about Arthur Joseph Reynolds, the crash and the 80th anniversary memorial project was published May 25, 2023 in the Camas Washougal Post-Record. One of his nieces was interviewed with other members of the team in the US and England. This article can be found online.
Updated on 10/17/2023 by Find A Grave user "arborvitae" (Wendy Rust).
Lest We Forget.
1st Lt Arthur Joseph Reynolds (0-662226) Pilot, Age 24, r. Camas, Clark County, Washington, USA
Arthur Joseph Reynolds was born July 11, 1919, in Hughenden, Alberta, Canada, to Joseph Howe Reynolds and Mary Alice Hargreaves. Arthur was the oldest of two sons. The youngest John was a pilot in WWII in the Pacific up through Vietnam. On April 2, 1926, the family arrived in Seattle, Washington, crossing over at the Canadian border. Initially, the family lived in Oregon until their move to Camas, Washington, in 1929. His father Joseph was a farmer then a grain buyer in Alberta. Joseph, Mary, sons Arthur and John lived in Camas, Washington, in the 1930 and 1940 censuses. Arthur's father worked at the local paper mill and later managed a grocery store. Arthur was five years older than his brother John, but the two were very close. Both boys graduated from Camas High School, Arthur in 1938 and John in 1943. After graduating Arthur worked at Martin Meiser's grocery store as a clerk.
Before going overseas, Arthur married Alene Margaret Johnson (1920-1974) on his birthday on July 11, 1942 (see attached photo). Alene was born in Blackfoot, Idaho, and worked as a stenographer. Later she remarried and moved to Florida.
Arthur applied to join the RCAF before Pearl Harbor in the summer of 1941 in Vancouver, Canada. He was assigned ground school for pilots, gunners and observers in Edmonton, Alberta according to his hometown newspaper. A few months later he graduated from A flight of the No. 2 Initial Training School at Regina, Saskatchewan on October 14, 1941, according to his class photograph.
Arthur later transferred to the US Army Air Force and by June 1942 was at the Advanced Flying School at Lubbock Field, Texas. Upon graduation, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the US Army Air Corps with Class 42-F on July 3, 1942. That same day he received his RCAF pilot wings as did other American pilots. Arthur was assigned to the 322nd Bomb Squadron of the 91st Bomb Group and arrived in England with the group as it was transferred to RAF Kimbolton from its training base at Walla Walla, Washington, during September 1942. His first mission was also the first that the 91st BG flew on November 7, 1942, from Bassingbourn where the group had moved to on October 14, 1942. Arthur was co-pilot that day on 41-24483 "Spirit of Alcohol", they aborted this mission due to mechanical issues.
Then on December 20th, 1942 he flew with the Barton crew on "Chief Sly". This mission, a highly publicized one, as they left formation to escort home a fellow B-17 the damaged "Rose O' Day". Capt. Bruce Barton, pilot of "Chief Sly" told their story in "Wray's Ragged Irregulars" newsletter of the 91 BG: "... I couldn't watch the fighters while flying, so I let my co-pilot, Lt. Arthur J. Reynolds (of Portland, OR), watch out for them. Several times he grabbed the stick and pushed us down quickly as the bullets of the enemy passed over our heads". They took the brunt of the fighter attacks and "Well, there we were. A cracked-up airplane and two wounded men. The day's work was done, and we had shot down six Focke-Wulfs and killed two sheep and a rabbit". (Barton crew picture page 26 in 10th November 2023 memorial booklet)
Arthur then flew as a co-pilot up until June 29, 1943, then moved up to the pilot's position and command of his own aircraft. His last (with the 91st) and 16th credited mission was on July 29, 1943. He had flown another 11 missions which were aborted during his time at Bassingbourn that he did not receive credit for.
Arthur transferred out of the 91st BG on July 5, 1943, joining the 92nd BG. This unit based at RAF Alconbury moved onto RAF Podington in September 1943 leaving a nucleus of men that formed the fledging Pathfinder 482nd BG. Arthur was one of those men. It is not known how many missions he was credited with while assigned to the 482nd BG, but his third and last Oak Leaf Cluster to his Air Medal was awarded on November 16, 1943, six days after his death, indicating that he had completed at least 20 combat missions in total. The only mission found so far in the group's official records is for November 7, 1943, when Arthur is quoted as leading the 1st Combat Wing of the First Air Division on a mission to the German city of Wessel. Three days later Arthur was lost in the crash of 42-5793 "Stinky" one year and three days after that first mission with the 91st BG.
Ten days before Arthur died, he wrote to his brother John, who was in flight training with the US Army Air Forces at Sequoia Field in California. John mentions Arthur's letter in a note he wrote to his parents: "I received a letter from Arthur which he had written on October 31st... Something keeps telling me he was doing something beyond the call of duty. There is definitely something we don't know, because he was so limited in what he wrote for a while. He even said he couldn't write at one place..." John received the letter 8 days after Arthur perished.
(Picture attached: Brothers Arthur and John with parents Mary and Joseph Reynolds)
When John learned that his brother had died, he was devastated. In a poignant letter to his mother, John said: "Dear Mother, I would have written you when I first heard, but I wasn't sure they had told you. I know it has been hard, but I'm sure it is for the best you were told immediately. I would like nothing better than to be home now, but it is an impossibility. No one will feel the loss worse than you. Yet, I know I have suffered as much as I think humanly possible. Arthur and I were closer than most brothers. He was more than a brother – I've always more or less idolized him. Something has gone from my life that can never be replaced...I've always known I had very brave parents. We must all be the braver at a time like this. Nothing I can say can comfort you, for, likewise, nothing anyone can say will comfort me. One thing is certain, we can all be proud that we are mother, father, wife and brother of Arthur..."
Written by the following collaborative contributors:
Christina Reynolds Price (niece), Wendy Rust, Steve Andrews and Jim Szpajcher.
MEMORIAL
Arthur is remembered on the Clark County Veterans Memorial in Vancouver, Washington and the Washington State World War II Memorial in Olympia at the Capitol.
AWARDS
Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters
BURIAL
Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England (Plot E Row 1 Grave 11) This is an ABMC location, also referred to in the UK as Madingley.
Addendum to biography:
The story of the December 20th, 1942 mission – from "Wray's Ragged Irregulars"
Story told by Pilot Bruce Barton, pilot of the Chief Sly crew which Arthur Reynolds was part of:
I couldn't watch the fighters while flying, so I let my co-pilot, Lt. Arthur J. Reynolds (of Portland, OR), watch out for them. Several times he grabbed the stick and pushed us down quickly as the bullets of the enemy passed over our heads. His (Luftwaffe fighter) bullet raked across through the cockpit and top turret. They missed me by inches and Reynolds said "They got Hare!" (T/Sgt. Richard L. Hare, top turret, from Monshans, Texas). As we looked back we felt sure he was shot because we saw his knees bending. Actually he was not hit, but only trailing the plane overhead with his guns, thus bending his knees. He had a close call. The controls were so severely damaged that it took both Reynolds and myself to hold the ship up. We found that with full left aileron and rudder we could hold the wings straight and maintain the altitude we had. I felt sure we could never make it across the Channel so I told the boys to get ready for a water landing… (Fortunately they didn't need to ditch and made it back to the south coast of England.) That was sure a helluva feeling, going down toward the ground which was hilly and wooded with no open field in sight. There just had to be an open space somewhere and at the last minute it showed up. A small pasture and cabbage patch which I figured the "Chief" would fit into nicely. Reynolds disagreed, but it was too late to try another field. He reluctantly put the flaps down and called off the air speed as we came in for the landing. Everyone on board "was sweating me out" as everything depended on hitting that short field just right. Just as we neared the ground I saw some high tension wires running across the field. I said to myself, "Oh! Oh! We've had it!" -- but we hadn't. I managed to slide under the wires without hitting them. I couldn't help hitting some sheep and a rabbit that were in the pasture, however, as we slid across it on our belly, through a small hedge and stopped nicely in the middle of the cabbage patch. I was surprised that there wasn't much jar to the landing. In fact, some of the boys laughed and said it was the smoothest landing I had ever made. Well, there we were. A cracked-up airplane and two wounded men (who were getting along all right). The day's work was done, and we had shot down six Focke-Wulfs and killed two sheep and a rabbit. We got medical aid right away and everyone was happy about the whole thing. I was surprised that we stayed so calm during the trip, but I credited it to having been so relaxed after the party the night before. End of quote.
Crash history:
On November 10, 1943, Arthur was flying 42-5793 "Stinky" with the 813 Bomb Squadron, 482 Bomb Group, which was the group, known as Pathfinders or PFF, which led bomber forces on missions, and were equipped with air to ground radar. His copilot was 2LT John Edmund Russell of Baldwin, New York. This is how the event is described in "Losses of the U.S. 8th and 9th Air Forces: Volume 1 - ETO Area June 1942 - December 1943" by Stan D. Bishop and John A. Hey (Bishop Book Productions: Barton, Cambridge, 2004), p. 364. "Caught fire shortly after take off from Thorpe Abbotts on its return flight to its home station Alconbury. Crashed at 1035 hrs at Brome killing all thirteen crew on board. A/C had been positioned to Thorpe Abbotts earlier in the day to lead mission, but due to weather conditions over the continent this had been scrubbed."
Further research shows, four civilian road workers clearing ditches were killed along with their horse as a result of this crash. Two of the four were injured. One died that same day and the other civilian died two days later at Hartismere Emergency Hospital in Eye.
Note:
On Memorial Day 2023, a Pathfinder designed poppy wreath, was presented by Steve Andrews on behalf of the November 10th 2023 memorial team and families during the ceremony at Cambridge American Cemetery for pilot Arthur Joseph Reynolds, copilot John Edmund Russell, three of their crew, Andrew Jack Allison, Amos H. Behl and Robert Blyden Holmes.
A very special front page article about Arthur Joseph Reynolds, the crash and the 80th anniversary memorial project was published May 25, 2023 in the Camas Washougal Post-Record. One of his nieces was interviewed with other members of the team in the US and England. This article can be found online.
Updated on 10/17/2023 by Find A Grave user "arborvitae" (Wendy Rust).
Biography written for the 80th anniversary memorial research booklet for the dedication ceremony on November 10, 2023 in Brome, Suffolk, at 10:00 a.m. for 1st Lt Reynolds, his crew and the four Suffolk civilians.
Lest We Forget.
1st Lt Arthur Joseph Reynolds (0-662226) Pilot, Age 24, r. Camas, Clark County, Washington, USA
Arthur Joseph Reynolds was born July 11, 1919, in Hughenden, Alberta, Canada, to Joseph Howe Reynolds and Mary Alice Hargreaves. Arthur was the oldest of two sons. The youngest John was a pilot in WWII in the Pacific up through Vietnam. On April 2, 1926, the family arrived in Seattle, Washington, crossing over at the Canadian border. Initially, the family lived in Oregon until their move to Camas, Washington, in 1929. His father Joseph was a farmer then a grain buyer in Alberta. Joseph, Mary, sons Arthur and John lived in Camas, Washington, in the 1930 and 1940 censuses. Arthur's father worked at the local paper mill and later managed a grocery store. Arthur was five years older than his brother John, but the two were very close. Both boys graduated from Camas High School, Arthur in 1938 and John in 1943. After graduating Arthur worked at Martin Meiser's grocery store as a clerk.
Before going overseas, Arthur married Alene Margaret Johnson (1920-1974) on his birthday on July 11, 1942 (see attached photo). Alene was born in Blackfoot, Idaho, and worked as a stenographer. Later she remarried and moved to Florida.
Arthur applied to join the RCAF before Pearl Harbor in the summer of 1941 in Vancouver, Canada. He was assigned ground school for pilots, gunners and observers in Edmonton, Alberta according to his hometown newspaper. A few months later he graduated from A flight of the No. 2 Initial Training School at Regina, Saskatchewan on October 14, 1941, according to his class photograph.
Arthur later transferred to the US Army Air Force and by June 1942 was at the Advanced Flying School at Lubbock Field, Texas. Upon graduation, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the US Army Air Corps with Class 42-F on July 3, 1942. That same day he received his RCAF pilot wings as did other American pilots. Arthur was assigned to the 322nd Bomb Squadron of the 91st Bomb Group and arrived in England with the group as it was transferred to RAF Kimbolton from its training base at Walla Walla, Washington, during September 1942. His first mission was also the first that the 91st BG flew on November 7, 1942, from Bassingbourn where the group had moved to on October 14, 1942. Arthur was co-pilot that day on 41-24483 "Spirit of Alcohol", they aborted this mission due to mechanical issues.
Then on December 20th, 1942 he flew with the Barton crew on "Chief Sly". This mission, a highly publicized one, as they left formation to escort home a fellow B-17 the damaged "Rose O' Day". Capt. Bruce Barton, pilot of "Chief Sly" told their story in "Wray's Ragged Irregulars" newsletter of the 91 BG: "... I couldn't watch the fighters while flying, so I let my co-pilot, Lt. Arthur J. Reynolds (of Portland, OR), watch out for them. Several times he grabbed the stick and pushed us down quickly as the bullets of the enemy passed over our heads". They took the brunt of the fighter attacks and "Well, there we were. A cracked-up airplane and two wounded men. The day's work was done, and we had shot down six Focke-Wulfs and killed two sheep and a rabbit". (Barton crew picture page 26 in 10th November 2023 memorial booklet)
Arthur then flew as a co-pilot up until June 29, 1943, then moved up to the pilot's position and command of his own aircraft. His last (with the 91st) and 16th credited mission was on July 29, 1943. He had flown another 11 missions which were aborted during his time at Bassingbourn that he did not receive credit for.
Arthur transferred out of the 91st BG on July 5, 1943, joining the 92nd BG. This unit based at RAF Alconbury moved onto RAF Podington in September 1943 leaving a nucleus of men that formed the fledging Pathfinder 482nd BG. Arthur was one of those men. It is not known how many missions he was credited with while assigned to the 482nd BG, but his third and last Oak Leaf Cluster to his Air Medal was awarded on November 16, 1943, six days after his death, indicating that he had completed at least 20 combat missions in total. The only mission found so far in the group's official records is for November 7, 1943, when Arthur is quoted as leading the 1st Combat Wing of the First Air Division on a mission to the German city of Wessel. Three days later Arthur was lost in the crash of 42-5793 "Stinky" one year and three days after that first mission with the 91st BG.
Ten days before Arthur died, he wrote to his brother John, who was in flight training with the US Army Air Forces at Sequoia Field in California. John mentions Arthur's letter in a note he wrote to his parents: "I received a letter from Arthur which he had written on October 31st... Something keeps telling me he was doing something beyond the call of duty. There is definitely something we don't know, because he was so limited in what he wrote for a while. He even said he couldn't write at one place..." John received the letter 8 days after Arthur perished.
(Picture attached: Brothers Arthur and John with parents Mary and Joseph Reynolds)
When John learned that his brother had died, he was devastated. In a poignant letter to his mother, John said: "Dear Mother, I would have written you when I first heard, but I wasn't sure they had told you. I know it has been hard, but I'm sure it is for the best you were told immediately. I would like nothing better than to be home now, but it is an impossibility. No one will feel the loss worse than you. Yet, I know I have suffered as much as I think humanly possible. Arthur and I were closer than most brothers. He was more than a brother – I've always more or less idolized him. Something has gone from my life that can never be replaced...I've always known I had very brave parents. We must all be the braver at a time like this. Nothing I can say can comfort you, for, likewise, nothing anyone can say will comfort me. One thing is certain, we can all be proud that we are mother, father, wife and brother of Arthur..."
Written by the following collaborative contributors:
Christina Reynolds Price (niece), Wendy Rust, Steve Andrews and Jim Szpajcher.
MEMORIAL
Arthur is remembered on the Clark County Veterans Memorial in Vancouver, Washington and the Washington State World War II Memorial in Olympia at the Capitol.
AWARDS
Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters
BURIAL
Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England (Plot E Row 1 Grave 11) This is an ABMC location, also referred to in the UK as Madingley.
Addendum to biography:
The story of the December 20th, 1942 mission – from "Wray's Ragged Irregulars"
Story told by Pilot Bruce Barton, pilot of the Chief Sly crew which Arthur Reynolds was part of:
I couldn't watch the fighters while flying, so I let my co-pilot, Lt. Arthur J. Reynolds (of Portland, OR), watch out for them. Several times he grabbed the stick and pushed us down quickly as the bullets of the enemy passed over our heads. His (Luftwaffe fighter) bullet raked across through the cockpit and top turret. They missed me by inches and Reynolds said "They got Hare!" (T/Sgt. Richard L. Hare, top turret, from Monshans, Texas). As we looked back we felt sure he was shot because we saw his knees bending. Actually he was not hit, but only trailing the plane overhead with his guns, thus bending his knees. He had a close call. The controls were so severely damaged that it took both Reynolds and myself to hold the ship up. We found that with full left aileron and rudder we could hold the wings straight and maintain the altitude we had. I felt sure we could never make it across the Channel so I told the boys to get ready for a water landing… (Fortunately they didn't need to ditch and made it back to the south coast of England.) That was sure a helluva feeling, going down toward the ground which was hilly and wooded with no open field in sight. There just had to be an open space somewhere and at the last minute it showed up. A small pasture and cabbage patch which I figured the "Chief" would fit into nicely. Reynolds disagreed, but it was too late to try another field. He reluctantly put the flaps down and called off the air speed as we came in for the landing. Everyone on board "was sweating me out" as everything depended on hitting that short field just right. Just as we neared the ground I saw some high tension wires running across the field. I said to myself, "Oh! Oh! We've had it!" -- but we hadn't. I managed to slide under the wires without hitting them. I couldn't help hitting some sheep and a rabbit that were in the pasture, however, as we slid across it on our belly, through a small hedge and stopped nicely in the middle of the cabbage patch. I was surprised that there wasn't much jar to the landing. In fact, some of the boys laughed and said it was the smoothest landing I had ever made. Well, there we were. A cracked-up airplane and two wounded men (who were getting along all right). The day's work was done, and we had shot down six Focke-Wulfs and killed two sheep and a rabbit. We got medical aid right away and everyone was happy about the whole thing. I was surprised that we stayed so calm during the trip, but I credited it to having been so relaxed after the party the night before. End of quote.
Crash history:
On November 10, 1943, Arthur was flying 42-5793 "Stinky" with the 813 Bomb Squadron, 482 Bomb Group, which was the group, known as Pathfinders or PFF, which led bomber forces on missions, and were equipped with air to ground radar. His copilot was 2LT John Edmund Russell of Baldwin, New York. This is how the event is described in "Losses of the U.S. 8th and 9th Air Forces: Volume 1 - ETO Area June 1942 - December 1943" by Stan D. Bishop and John A. Hey (Bishop Book Productions: Barton, Cambridge, 2004), p. 364. "Caught fire shortly after take off from Thorpe Abbotts on its return flight to its home station Alconbury. Crashed at 1035 hrs at Brome killing all thirteen crew on board. A/C had been positioned to Thorpe Abbotts earlier in the day to lead mission, but due to weather conditions over the continent this had been scrubbed."
Further research shows, four civilian road workers clearing ditches were killed along with their horse as a result of this crash. Two of the four were injured. One died that same day and the other civilian died two days later at Hartismere Emergency Hospital in Eye.
Note:
On Memorial Day 2023, a Pathfinder designed poppy wreath, was presented by Steve Andrews on behalf of the November 10th 2023 memorial team and families during the ceremony at Cambridge American Cemetery for pilot Arthur Joseph Reynolds, copilot John Edmund Russell, three of their crew, Andrew Jack Allison, Amos H. Behl and Robert Blyden Holmes.
A very special front page article about Arthur Joseph Reynolds, the crash and the 80th anniversary memorial project was published May 25, 2023 in the Camas Washougal Post-Record. One of his nieces was interviewed with other members of the team in the US and England. This article can be found online.
Updated on 10/17/2023 by Find A Grave user "arborvitae" (Wendy Rust).
Lest We Forget.
1st Lt Arthur Joseph Reynolds (0-662226) Pilot, Age 24, r. Camas, Clark County, Washington, USA
Arthur Joseph Reynolds was born July 11, 1919, in Hughenden, Alberta, Canada, to Joseph Howe Reynolds and Mary Alice Hargreaves. Arthur was the oldest of two sons. The youngest John was a pilot in WWII in the Pacific up through Vietnam. On April 2, 1926, the family arrived in Seattle, Washington, crossing over at the Canadian border. Initially, the family lived in Oregon until their move to Camas, Washington, in 1929. His father Joseph was a farmer then a grain buyer in Alberta. Joseph, Mary, sons Arthur and John lived in Camas, Washington, in the 1930 and 1940 censuses. Arthur's father worked at the local paper mill and later managed a grocery store. Arthur was five years older than his brother John, but the two were very close. Both boys graduated from Camas High School, Arthur in 1938 and John in 1943. After graduating Arthur worked at Martin Meiser's grocery store as a clerk.
Before going overseas, Arthur married Alene Margaret Johnson (1920-1974) on his birthday on July 11, 1942 (see attached photo). Alene was born in Blackfoot, Idaho, and worked as a stenographer. Later she remarried and moved to Florida.
Arthur applied to join the RCAF before Pearl Harbor in the summer of 1941 in Vancouver, Canada. He was assigned ground school for pilots, gunners and observers in Edmonton, Alberta according to his hometown newspaper. A few months later he graduated from A flight of the No. 2 Initial Training School at Regina, Saskatchewan on October 14, 1941, according to his class photograph.
Arthur later transferred to the US Army Air Force and by June 1942 was at the Advanced Flying School at Lubbock Field, Texas. Upon graduation, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the US Army Air Corps with Class 42-F on July 3, 1942. That same day he received his RCAF pilot wings as did other American pilots. Arthur was assigned to the 322nd Bomb Squadron of the 91st Bomb Group and arrived in England with the group as it was transferred to RAF Kimbolton from its training base at Walla Walla, Washington, during September 1942. His first mission was also the first that the 91st BG flew on November 7, 1942, from Bassingbourn where the group had moved to on October 14, 1942. Arthur was co-pilot that day on 41-24483 "Spirit of Alcohol", they aborted this mission due to mechanical issues.
Then on December 20th, 1942 he flew with the Barton crew on "Chief Sly". This mission, a highly publicized one, as they left formation to escort home a fellow B-17 the damaged "Rose O' Day". Capt. Bruce Barton, pilot of "Chief Sly" told their story in "Wray's Ragged Irregulars" newsletter of the 91 BG: "... I couldn't watch the fighters while flying, so I let my co-pilot, Lt. Arthur J. Reynolds (of Portland, OR), watch out for them. Several times he grabbed the stick and pushed us down quickly as the bullets of the enemy passed over our heads". They took the brunt of the fighter attacks and "Well, there we were. A cracked-up airplane and two wounded men. The day's work was done, and we had shot down six Focke-Wulfs and killed two sheep and a rabbit". (Barton crew picture page 26 in 10th November 2023 memorial booklet)
Arthur then flew as a co-pilot up until June 29, 1943, then moved up to the pilot's position and command of his own aircraft. His last (with the 91st) and 16th credited mission was on July 29, 1943. He had flown another 11 missions which were aborted during his time at Bassingbourn that he did not receive credit for.
Arthur transferred out of the 91st BG on July 5, 1943, joining the 92nd BG. This unit based at RAF Alconbury moved onto RAF Podington in September 1943 leaving a nucleus of men that formed the fledging Pathfinder 482nd BG. Arthur was one of those men. It is not known how many missions he was credited with while assigned to the 482nd BG, but his third and last Oak Leaf Cluster to his Air Medal was awarded on November 16, 1943, six days after his death, indicating that he had completed at least 20 combat missions in total. The only mission found so far in the group's official records is for November 7, 1943, when Arthur is quoted as leading the 1st Combat Wing of the First Air Division on a mission to the German city of Wessel. Three days later Arthur was lost in the crash of 42-5793 "Stinky" one year and three days after that first mission with the 91st BG.
Ten days before Arthur died, he wrote to his brother John, who was in flight training with the US Army Air Forces at Sequoia Field in California. John mentions Arthur's letter in a note he wrote to his parents: "I received a letter from Arthur which he had written on October 31st... Something keeps telling me he was doing something beyond the call of duty. There is definitely something we don't know, because he was so limited in what he wrote for a while. He even said he couldn't write at one place..." John received the letter 8 days after Arthur perished.
(Picture attached: Brothers Arthur and John with parents Mary and Joseph Reynolds)
When John learned that his brother had died, he was devastated. In a poignant letter to his mother, John said: "Dear Mother, I would have written you when I first heard, but I wasn't sure they had told you. I know it has been hard, but I'm sure it is for the best you were told immediately. I would like nothing better than to be home now, but it is an impossibility. No one will feel the loss worse than you. Yet, I know I have suffered as much as I think humanly possible. Arthur and I were closer than most brothers. He was more than a brother – I've always more or less idolized him. Something has gone from my life that can never be replaced...I've always known I had very brave parents. We must all be the braver at a time like this. Nothing I can say can comfort you, for, likewise, nothing anyone can say will comfort me. One thing is certain, we can all be proud that we are mother, father, wife and brother of Arthur..."
Written by the following collaborative contributors:
Christina Reynolds Price (niece), Wendy Rust, Steve Andrews and Jim Szpajcher.
MEMORIAL
Arthur is remembered on the Clark County Veterans Memorial in Vancouver, Washington and the Washington State World War II Memorial in Olympia at the Capitol.
AWARDS
Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters
BURIAL
Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England (Plot E Row 1 Grave 11) This is an ABMC location, also referred to in the UK as Madingley.
Addendum to biography:
The story of the December 20th, 1942 mission – from "Wray's Ragged Irregulars"
Story told by Pilot Bruce Barton, pilot of the Chief Sly crew which Arthur Reynolds was part of:
I couldn't watch the fighters while flying, so I let my co-pilot, Lt. Arthur J. Reynolds (of Portland, OR), watch out for them. Several times he grabbed the stick and pushed us down quickly as the bullets of the enemy passed over our heads. His (Luftwaffe fighter) bullet raked across through the cockpit and top turret. They missed me by inches and Reynolds said "They got Hare!" (T/Sgt. Richard L. Hare, top turret, from Monshans, Texas). As we looked back we felt sure he was shot because we saw his knees bending. Actually he was not hit, but only trailing the plane overhead with his guns, thus bending his knees. He had a close call. The controls were so severely damaged that it took both Reynolds and myself to hold the ship up. We found that with full left aileron and rudder we could hold the wings straight and maintain the altitude we had. I felt sure we could never make it across the Channel so I told the boys to get ready for a water landing… (Fortunately they didn't need to ditch and made it back to the south coast of England.) That was sure a helluva feeling, going down toward the ground which was hilly and wooded with no open field in sight. There just had to be an open space somewhere and at the last minute it showed up. A small pasture and cabbage patch which I figured the "Chief" would fit into nicely. Reynolds disagreed, but it was too late to try another field. He reluctantly put the flaps down and called off the air speed as we came in for the landing. Everyone on board "was sweating me out" as everything depended on hitting that short field just right. Just as we neared the ground I saw some high tension wires running across the field. I said to myself, "Oh! Oh! We've had it!" -- but we hadn't. I managed to slide under the wires without hitting them. I couldn't help hitting some sheep and a rabbit that were in the pasture, however, as we slid across it on our belly, through a small hedge and stopped nicely in the middle of the cabbage patch. I was surprised that there wasn't much jar to the landing. In fact, some of the boys laughed and said it was the smoothest landing I had ever made. Well, there we were. A cracked-up airplane and two wounded men (who were getting along all right). The day's work was done, and we had shot down six Focke-Wulfs and killed two sheep and a rabbit. We got medical aid right away and everyone was happy about the whole thing. I was surprised that we stayed so calm during the trip, but I credited it to having been so relaxed after the party the night before. End of quote.
Crash history:
On November 10, 1943, Arthur was flying 42-5793 "Stinky" with the 813 Bomb Squadron, 482 Bomb Group, which was the group, known as Pathfinders or PFF, which led bomber forces on missions, and were equipped with air to ground radar. His copilot was 2LT John Edmund Russell of Baldwin, New York. This is how the event is described in "Losses of the U.S. 8th and 9th Air Forces: Volume 1 - ETO Area June 1942 - December 1943" by Stan D. Bishop and John A. Hey (Bishop Book Productions: Barton, Cambridge, 2004), p. 364. "Caught fire shortly after take off from Thorpe Abbotts on its return flight to its home station Alconbury. Crashed at 1035 hrs at Brome killing all thirteen crew on board. A/C had been positioned to Thorpe Abbotts earlier in the day to lead mission, but due to weather conditions over the continent this had been scrubbed."
Further research shows, four civilian road workers clearing ditches were killed along with their horse as a result of this crash. Two of the four were injured. One died that same day and the other civilian died two days later at Hartismere Emergency Hospital in Eye.
Note:
On Memorial Day 2023, a Pathfinder designed poppy wreath, was presented by Steve Andrews on behalf of the November 10th 2023 memorial team and families during the ceremony at Cambridge American Cemetery for pilot Arthur Joseph Reynolds, copilot John Edmund Russell, three of their crew, Andrew Jack Allison, Amos H. Behl and Robert Blyden Holmes.
A very special front page article about Arthur Joseph Reynolds, the crash and the 80th anniversary memorial project was published May 25, 2023 in the Camas Washougal Post-Record. One of his nieces was interviewed with other members of the team in the US and England. This article can be found online.
Updated on 10/17/2023 by Find A Grave user "arborvitae" (Wendy Rust).
Inscription
ARTHUR J. REYNOLDS
1 LT. 813 BOMB SQ 482 BOMB GP (P)
WASHINGTON NOV 10 1943
Gravesite Details
Entered the service from Washington.
Family Members
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