Francis E. Waterman was born September 23, 1921 to Guy Waterman (1896-1968) and Lucy E.Danforth (1892-1966) in Worcester, NY. The 1930 U.S. Census recorded him living on 159 East St. in Oneonta, NY with his mother and father and his mother in law Romelia Danforth. His dad was working for the D&H railroad in Oneonta. Both his parents were from New York and he was an only child. The 1940 U.S. Census reported he completed three years of high school. While at Oneonta High he was active in the Music Club. His hobbies were hunting and other outdoor sports.

He enlisted in the Army Air Corp on December 30, 1941 at Albany, NY. Soon after he was assigned to the 339th Bombardment Squadron which was activated as part of the 96th Bombardment Group on August 14, 1942 at Gowen Field, Idaho. S/Sgt. Waterman likely received his training at the various places his squadron was stationed between the time he joined them and their deployment to England. Places like Walla Walla Washington, the Army Air Base in Rapid City, Iowa, Pocatello, Idaho, Pyote,Texas and finally Selina, Kansas before his group took the Ferry Command Route to England in March 1943. By June 1943 they were stationed out of Snetterton Heath, England.

Army Air Corp records indicate he flew on more than 20 bombing missions over Europe. In fact, he and his parents were looking foward to the completion of his 25th mission, when he would have been eligible for a furlough. On June 13, 1943 S/Sgt. Waterman was the tail gunner aboard the B-17 Flying Fortress #42-29756 known as Big Chief II. Big Chief II was part of large bombing run on the Kiel, Germany submarine facility. Fliers on the Kiel raid encountered some of the hardest German opposition of the war, and enemy fighter planes and anti-aircraft guns took a heavy toll. Sixty bombers made it to the target but were met with the heaviest fighter attacks to that point of the war. Twenty-two B-17s were shot down. Of those that returned to England, 24 were damaged, 1 so badly that it was beyond repair.

The Big Chief, Flying Fortress on which Sgt. Waterman was a gunner, was hit by a shell which according to a flier in another plane, appeard to explode in the radio room. The aircraft crashed in the Baltic Sea between Pellworm and Hallikoog, Germany. Five of the crew, the pilot, co-pilot, bombardier, navigator, and gunner-engineeer, parachuted down unhurt and were captured by the Germans. Three, including Sgt. Waterman were killed. Initially listed as missing, during the moths of uncertainty after hearing that her son was missing, Mrs. Waterman corresponded with mothers and wives of others of the Big Chief's crew in the hope of getting more information. She also wrote the the Red Cross and to the adjutant of her son's combardment group in England. 

His body washed ashore about a month later near island Nordstrand and was found by a German patrol (see documents below).  He remains were taken to Odenbuell and  buried by civilans in the Nordstrand-Olenbuell Cemetery, Grave D 10. After the war German records helped identify his remains and he was reburied in the  United States Military Cemetery in Neuville-en-Condros, Belgium, Plot Q, Row 2, Grave 37 (see German Burial Card left below).  Later, in the summer of 1949 during the United States body recovery program, his remains are escorted home by Staff Sgt. Howard Watson and buried in his hometown of Worcester, NY. 

The Brotherhood of Railway Carmen of America, Valley Lodge awarded his family a small monetary gift in 1946 in memory of Francis. He was given a military funeral in June of 1949 at the Maple Grove Cemetery, Worcester, NY. His parents regularly donated to the Oneonta War Memorial fund for the rest of their lives. Francis is one of 60 Oneonta, NY fallen whose name is inscribed in bronze on this memorial which resides in Newha Park in Oneonta.

If you notice anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact Jim Greenberg at nez13820@gmail.com. 

Sources

American Air Museum in Britian, 42-29756, Big Chief II, accessed at https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/aircraft/42-29756 on January 11, 2023.

Find a Grave for "Francis E. Waterman", accessed at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/96599887/francis-e-waterman on January 11, 2023.

Fold3,(https://www.fold3.com/publication/1088/us-wwii-hospital-admission-card-files-1942-1954:

accessed January 11, 2023), database and

images,https://www.fold3.com/publication/1088/us-wwii-hospital-admission-card-files-1942-1954

Fold3,(https://www.fold3.com/publication/831/wwii-army-enlistment-records:

accessed January 11, 2023), database and

images,https://www.fold3.com/publication/831/wwii-army-enlistment-records

Fold3,(https://www.fold3.com/publication/1070/combat-squadrons-of-the-air-force-wwii :

accessed January 12, 2023), database and

images,https://www.fold3.com/publication/1070/combat-squadrons-of-the-air-force-wwii

Fold3, https://www.fold3.com/image/704842112?terms=12035365, Operations Reports, pg 146.

Missing Air Crew Report 16142, April 10, 1946, plane serial number 42-29756, accessed at https://www.fold3.com/image/30088020, January 12, 2023.

National Archives at Washington DC; Washington DC, USA;Applications for Headstones for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941; NAID:A1, 2110-C; Record Group Number:92; Record Group Title:Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General

New York State Department of Health; Albany, NY, USA; New York State Birth Index

This Day in Aviation website for 13 June 1943 at, https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/13-june-1943/, accessed January 12, 2023.

"U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012"; School Name:Oneonta Senior High School; Year:1939

Year:1930; Census Place:Oneonta, Otsego, New York; Page:5A; Enumeration District:0030; FHL microfilm:2341370

Supporting Files