PARKER FRANCIS CRABTREE

Staff Sergeant, US Army Air Corps

Service #3116392

Parker Crabtree was born on 5 Oct 1919 in Hancock, Hancock County, Maine. He was the second of four sons of Lillian Frances Scammon (1895-1976) and Alfred Evans Crabtree (1888-1960). The couple were from the area and married in the town on 17 Mar 1916. The next year, when Alfred registered for WWI (in which he served), he was employed at the family business, Crabtree & Harvey general store, and chairman of the board of selectman. The eldest son had been born in 1918, then Parker, followed by Robert in 1924 and Alan in 1925. Alfred continued to run the store in Hancock throughout the war, and acted as the town’s postmaster for thirty-five years. He was active in many patriotic organizations — the first man to hold three of the highest offices simultaneously in Masonry of Hancock County: eminent commander, high priest and master of three separate chapters.

Parker attended local schools and was graduated from Ellsworth High School and the Higgins Classical Institute in Charleston. Following graduation Parker was employed by the Milliken Tomlinson Company in Portland. On 27 Dec 1941 he married Elaine Hanscom in Milo, ME. Six months later, on 23 May 1942, Parker enlisted in the US Army at Portland, ME. He was described as 5'-9" tall, weighing 170 pounds and was classed with semi-skilled occupations in warehousing. He reported for duty on 2 Jun and received his preliminary air corps training at Miami Beach. On 11 Aug he was graduated from aerial gunner’s school at Tyndall Field, Panama City, FL where he received his sergeant’s stripes. In Oct 1942 Parker received an appointment to aviation cadet school, although it appears he did not go. He was assigned to 584th Bomber Squadron, 385th Bomber Group. On 19 Jun 1943 they headed overseas, stationed at Great Ashfield, England. From that base they flew missions over Amsterdam, Hamburg, Kiel and other parts of Germany and Norway.

On 17 Aug 1943, Parker was the right waist gunner aboard B-17F Flying Fortress, #42-5886, nicknamed the Jolly Roger, when it took off for Rogensburg, Germany, targeting Folke-Wulf Plant. At approximately 1200 hours, they were flying at 19,000 feet when the plane was hit by enemy fire and crashed a mile from Woensdrecht, near Schweinfurt, on the Holland-Belgium Border. Five of the ten-man crew were killed in or before the crash, including S/Sgt Parker Francis Crabtree, age 23. They were declared missing in action, deduced dead. One man bailed out and died on the ground. Three were taken prisoner of war, while the final crewman managed to evade capture.

When Elaine Crabtree, who worked for the IRS, learned that her husband was MIA, presumed dead, she purchased a $100 War Bond in support of the war effort and in tribute to his memory. By 30 Aug 1943 Parker was officially presumed dead. In Sep 1943 his wife received the Air Medal awarded posthumously by direction of the President to S/Sgt Parker Crabtree for meritorious achievement. His sacrifice also earned him a Purple Heart.

S/Sgt Parker Francis Crabtree’s remains were never located. He was memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing in Action or Buried at Sea, Henri-Chappelle American Cemetery, Henri-Chappelle, Belgium. A cenotaph to his memory rests in the Riverside Cemetery, in his home town of Hancock. Parker was survived by his wife, Elaine; by his parents; and his brother, 2nd Lt Robert Crabtree, USAAF, who later was killed in Europe on 15 Nov 1944; and by Alan Crabtree who served in the US Navy. Parker’s older brother, T/Sgt Alfred E. Crabtree USAAF had died on 16 Jun 1942 as a POW in the Philippines.

A local senator appealed to the Secretary of War to name the proposed “giant air field” in Limestone, ME, “Crabtree Field” in honor of the family that had lost so much. (It appears the field was first called Limestone Army Air Field, then became Loring Air Force Base.) Alfred Crabtree senior sold the family business in the 1945 and appointed the wife of the new owner as the assistant postmaster. Alfred and Lillian planned a trip to CA, awaiting the fate of their third son in service.

MIA/KIA Aboard #42-5886 on 17 Aug 1843:

Pilot, 2nd Lt Paul A. Somers, O-793450 (NJ); Co-pilot, 2nd Lt Herbert W Brown, O-794624 (NH); Navigator, 2nd Lt Hugh T. McClatchey, O-801028 (NY); Radio Operator, T/Sgt Olin L. Wieneke, 16055804 (IL); Right Waist Gunner, S/Sgt Parker F. Crabtree, 31116392 (ME); Tail Gunner, S/Sgt Joe Schreppel, 37202639 (KS).

“This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project – see www.storiesbehindthestars.org – a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Together we Served and Fold3/Find A Grave have smartphone apps that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery and read these stories of the WWII fallen.”

SOURCES

1920 United States Federal Census – Ancestry.com

1930 United States Federal Census – Ancestry.com

1940 United States Federal Census – Ancestry.com

The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME) - Mon, Jan 8, 1940 - Page 11 – Newspapers.com

The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME) - Thu, Oct 29, 1942 - Page 7 – Newspapers.com

The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME) - Tue, Sep 7, 1943 - Page 4 – Newspapers.com

The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME) - Wed, Sep 29, 1943 - Page 11 – Newspapers.com

The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME) - Tue, Jan 23, 1945 - Page 14 – Newspapers.com

Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, ME) - Fri, Sep 24, 1943 - Page 12 – Newspapers.com

Ellsworth American (Ellsworth, ME) - Wed, Aug 30, 1943 - Page 1 – Newspapers.com

Ellsworth American (Ellsworth, ME) - Wed, Jun 29, 1960 - Page 4 – Newspapers.com

https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/aircraft/42-5886

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56280347/parker-f.-crabtree

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/121894297/parker-f-crabtree

Maine, U.S., Birth Records, 1715-1922 – Ancestry.com

Maine, U.S., Marriage Records, 1713-1922 – Ancestry.com

Missing Air Crew Report #387 – Fold3.com

U.S., American Battle Monuments Commission, 1914-1950 – Fold3.com

U.S., Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Unaccounted-for Remains, Group A (Recoverable), 1941-1975 – Ancestry.com

U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S., Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949 – Ancestry.com

U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 – Ancestry.com

U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 – Ancestry.com

Waterville Morning Sentinel (Waterville, ME) - Tue, Jun 24, 1947 - Page 1 – Newspapers.com

SBTS/Maine/Cumberland

Parker F Crabtree