First Lieutenant Ernest Gilbert Swart, bombing mission pilot, died 18 January 1945, in action from a parachuting accident as last out and only casualty prior to his ship crashing while returning to the airbase at Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.

Early Life

Ernest Swart was born on 11 June 1919 on the family farm in Adams Township of Nemaha County, Kansas, the third son of George Martin and Zula May Gilkerson Swart. His education started at the Head District rural school near his home in Nemaha County. The family moved to a farm in Grinnell Township of Gove County, Kansas in August 1929. He continued his primary education in Gove County. The spring of 1935 he was noted for the subjects of geometry and general science at Grinnell High School in Grinnell, Kansas. Next year, 1936, he was selected to take state scholarship tests in arithmetic and physics. The results reported in May 1936 stated Ernest accomplished honorable mention in commercial arithmetic but achieved 3rd place in physics. The spring of 1937 he attended the state scholarship meet in bookkeeping, English IV, and American History earning honorable mention in bookkeeping and American History. Ernest earned his diploma in May 1937. In September 1939 he was working in Palisade, Colorado, likely in fruit agriculture. By May 1940 he had returned to Gove County, was living with his brother Alfred, was a practicing farmer, and was in the implements industry as a manager.

Military Service

Ernest Swart was drafted; one of the first from Gove County, Kansas, swearing allegiance 24 February 1941. He was assigned to the 35th Infantry division with serial number 37002823. Ernest took basic training at Camp Robinson in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was home on furlough in October 1941. By late December 1941, he was reported to be in motor maintenance school at Fort Benning, Georgia.

During a March 1942 furlough, he returned home and his parents honored him with a Sunday family dinner. On March 15th his brother’s buffet supper and show listed him as Private Ernest Swart. At some point in time he was moved to California. He had been promoted to Corporal Ernest Swart by early Nov 1942, and won a telephone call home. In December he was with the 137th Infantry located at Los Angeles, California. He was transferred to the air corps in 1942 with change to serial number 0-758494.

His address changed to A/O Ernest Swart stationed at Ontario, California, in late May 1943. In less than one calendar year from his promotion to an Army corporal, on 3 November 1943 he had graduated from the Army Air Corps at Stockton Field, San Luis Obispo, California, and had been commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant Swart. He then traveled to his parents home near Grinnell before reporting to his next assignment, Kirtland Field in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was to be trained as an airplane commander at the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) Provisional B-24 Liberator Pilot Transition School. In 1943, this was considered the final step for pilots after their primary, basic, and advanced flying training.

By March 1944 his address changed again as he was back in California with the 538 squadron. In May he was expecting overseas duty. His parents went to California (probably by train) as the purpose was to drive his car back to Kansas. His orders changed as he received a furlough of 20 days for visiting home. This trip home was not a direct trip as stops were made at Donna, Texas, to visit his grandmother Louise Swart; then on to Little Rock, Arkansas, picking up his maternal grandmother Grace Gilkerson. The final leg of the trip was to the farm near Grinnell, Kansas. [Google Maps show this as over a 3000 mile trip and is interesting when one considers gasoline rationing was in effect at this time in the USA. Plus averaging 50 mph, the trip would have taken over 60 hours]. Supposedly he traveled back to California by train leaving Grinnell 8 May 1944.

He likely left the States 3 Jun 1944 heading to his overseas assignment in China. This duty made his crew and him members of Major General Claire L. Chennault’s Flying Tigers of the 14th AAF. He was stationed with the 375th Bomber Squadron of the 308th Bomber Group at Chengkung Airfield, an USAAF airfield, in Chenggong County. During this assignment he was promoted to first lieutenant. The 375th operations in 1944 was intercepting and destroying Japanese shipping in the East China Sea, Formosa Straits, South China Sea and Gulf of Tonkin before shipped materials could be used for military purposes.

Lt. Swart had written his parents in December 1944 about a mission where the crew of his B24 bomber decided to fly a burning aircraft rather than bailout because their comrade, the gunner, was wounded and wouldn’t be able to make the jump. “Our squadron led us to a friendly base. Swart wrote his parents, “and our fighters covered us with a dozen planes to keep the Japs off. A gunner on a ship beside us got the ship that hit us. We made a normal landing on the main wheels, then let the nose down and skidded to a stop. After we cleared the ship, the ground crew put out the fire, but the B24 was condemned.” The question in the mind of his crew and himself was why the plane had not blown apart.

This story’s happenings of 29 August 1944 was about a mission to Yochow appears in Glines book: “Lt. Swart, the pilot of the plane that was seriously crippled, was able to maintain control, although there was a fire in the right wing tank which was discovered after the plane left the target. When it was found that Sgt. McCoy had a serious bullet wound in the head, Swart elected not to have the crew throw the wounded man out with a static line attached to his ripcord before their own bailouts; he decided to attempt a landing at the home field. Sgt. Rutz gave McCoy first aid and succeeded in stopping the bleeding. When the wing fire increased in size, Swart elected to try a landing at Chihkiang. Although the nose wheel would not extend, Swart made a successful controlled crash and the rescue personnel at Chihkiang put out the fire. For his superior airmanship in bringing the plane in, Swart was recommended for the Silver Star.” His father received a letter dated 10 August 1945 from the War Department stating the Silver Star had posthumously awarded.

By some reports, 1st Lt. Ernest G. Swart, age 25, was listed as missing in action before 14 January 1945. A letter to his parents printed in the newspaper from some of his crewmates stated the mission of 18 January 1945 was when he was killed in action. He had been serving overseas as a pilot for nearly six months. He had been shot down on three previous missions. It was reported he had completed about three-fourths of the set number of missions. He was flying with a new crew on the mission he gave the supreme sacrifice. The bomber was homebound after a bombing mission into China. About an hour’s flight from the base the plane became disabled, and the crew and pilot were forced to parachute out. He was the only casualty. The aforementioned letter from crew stated “Ernie being the last one to leave the plane, was too close to the ground for his parachute to open completely when he did jump.” On 19 January 1945 Chinese helped locate his body, wrap him in his parachute, and bury his body.

On the Homefront

His parents, George and Zula Swart, received notification of his B24 airplane crash in action over China and his death on 13 February 1945.

1st Lieutenant Swart’s funeral was held on 1 May 1949 at the Oneida Methodist Church in Oneida, located in Nemaha County, Kansas. His service was administered by a former army chaplain, Reverend Steve Parker from Seneca, Kansas, and a high school classmate, Reverend Onan Yale. His government produced marker is attached within lot 133 of the Oneida Cemetery.

He is listed as Swart Ernest G 1-LT Pilot 1945-1-18 on the Aviation Martyrs monument at Nanjing, China.

This story was written by Michael Philbrick of Seneca, Kansas, and in collaboration with niece Deborah Rowley Mercer of Centennial, Colorado, to honor and remember this WWII fallen service member, her uncle. If you noticed anything missing in this profile, you may contact the author. The author’s email is located at the bottom of the story page, next to the words “Composed by:”.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (www.storiesbehindthestars.org .) This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen person's name and read his/her story.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57254481/ernest-gilbert-swart

References:

AAF photo, courtesy of niece Deborah Rowley Mercer

Chennault’s Forgotten Warriors, author Carrol V Glines, p.147

Census Records:

1920---https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/50665234:6061

1930--- https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/32871896:6224

1940--- https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/62219100:2442

Online Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirtland_Air_Force_Base

https://www.armyaircorpsmuseum.org/wwii_14th_Air_Force.cfm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/375th_Bombardment_Squadron

https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/375th_Bombardment_Squadron

Online Newspapers

The Courier Tribune, 26 Aug 1929, p.5, “Ford Community”

The Grinnell Record Leader, 17 Jan 1935, p.1, “High School Notes”

The Grinnell Record-Leader, 25 Apr 1935, p.1, “High School Notes”

The Grinnell Record Leader, 16 Apr 1936, p.1, “Grinnell High School Notes”

The Grinnell Record Leader, 14 May 1936, p.1, “Results of Scholarship Test”

The Grinnell Record Leader, 29 Apr 1937, p.1, “High School Notes”

The Grinnell Record Leader, 13 May 1937, p.1, “Grinnell High School Notes”

The Grinnell Record Leader, 9 Sep 1937, p.4.

The Courier Tribune, 10 Aug 1939, p.3.

The Grinnell Record Leader, 27 Feb 1941, p.1, “Large Crowd At Draftee Farewell”

The Courier Tribune, 20 Mar 1941, p.5, “Oneida”

The Grinnell-Record-Leader, 16 Oct 1941, p.2.

The Courier Tribune, 25 Dec 1941, p.1, “Christmas in the Heart”

The Grinnell Record Leader, 5 Mar 1942, p.1, 4.

The Grinnell Record Leader, 19 Mar 1942, p.3, “Buffet Supper and Show”

South Gate Press, 12 Nov 1942, p.9, “Hospitality House Notes”

The Grinnell Record Leader, 31 Dec 1942, p.1, “With Those In “Service””

The Grinnell Record Leader, 27 May 1943, p.1, “With Those in “Service””

The Grinnell Record Leader, 11 Nov 1943, p. 1.

The Grinnell Record Leader, 18 Nov 1943, p.1.

The Grinnell Record Leader, 9 Mar 1944, p.3, “News of Our Men and Women in Uniform”

The Grinnell Record Leader, 11 May 1944, p.1.

The Courier Tribune, 18 May 1944, p.3.

The Monitor, 13 Dec 1944, p.5, “Donna Pilot Lands Blazing Liberator”

Valley Morning Star, 13 Dec 1944, p.4, “Donna Pilot Flies Burning Plane to Friendly Country”

The Courier Tribune, 12 Feb 1945, p.6, “Ford Community”

Valley Morning Star, 14 Feb 1945, p.1, “Ernest Swart, Donna, Is Missing Over China”

The Courier Tribune, 15 Feb 1945, p.1, “News of Men and Women In Uniform”

The Grinnell Record Leader, 8 Mar 1945, p. 3, “News of Our Men and Women In Uniform”

The Monitor, 10 Apr 1945, p.8, “Valley WAC Is Eighth Air Force Operations Officer”

The Courier Tribune, 2 May 1949, p.6, “Service at Oneida for Lieutenant Ernest Swart”

The

Served with the Flying Tigers in China and flew the “hump.’ Killed instantly Jan. 18, 1945 when engine trouble forced abandonment of plane.

From Courier Tribune (see sources)

Ernest G Swart