Van Deventer, Stuart D., Sergeant, Gunner, B-24 Bomber

714 Bomb Squadron, 448 Bomb Group, 8th Air Force

European Theater, US Army Air Force, WWII

Service Number 38588932

Stuart Dee Van Deventer was born on 21 October 1924 at Los Angeles, California. His father was Noble C. Van Deventer (1895-1929) and his mother was Celeste Boulanger Van Deventer (1903-1929). He was adopted by J.E. (1879-1930) and Eva Sanderson after his parents both died. He grew up in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. His adopted father and mother were respectively from Missouri and Kansas. Mr. Sanderson worked as an accountant at ITIO Company (Indian Territory Illuminating Oil Company), which later became the home office for Cities Service Oil Company. Mrs. Sanderson worked as the Bartlesville City Clerk (1923-1955).

Stuart attended the Bartlesville public schools. In 1942, He graduated from Bartlesville Central High School at 9th and Cherokee. He was active in the DeMolays, a Masonic youth organization. He took part in several school plays in 1940-41. The family was active in the First Baptist Church and in December 1942, he took part in a student night at a Christmas service. After graduating, he attended Kemper Military Academy in Boonville, Missouri for one year before enlisting in the Army Air Corps. While waiting to be called up, he worked for the Bartlesville Parks Department in the summer of 1943.

Van Deventer enlisted in the Army Air Corps for the air cadet program, which trained pilots, navigators, and bombardiers. He entered the service in September 1943. The entire air cadet program was eventually canceled after about six months and he was sent to aerial gunnery school at Harlingen Army Airfield, Texas. On June 9, 1944 he received his aerial gunnery silver wings from the six week course. Due to his high ranking, he stayed on at the school as an instructor for two months. He was promoted to Corporal. He took additional individual replacement bombardment crew training at Casper Army Air Base, Wyoming before being sent overseas.

He was assigned as a B-24 gunner to 714 Bomb Squadron (B-24), 448th bomb Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force at RAF Airfield Seething, England. He crossed the Atlantic on a troop ship, arriving in England in February 1944. Seething is 125 miles NE of London, near Norwich, Norfolk, England, and across the Channel from the Netherlands.

The 448th Bomb Group flew Consolidated B-24 Liberators as part of the 8th Air Forces strategic bombing campaign from Dec 1943 to 25 April 1945. It hit such German targets as aircraft factories, ball bearing plants, U-boat facilities, oil refineries, rail marshalling yards, and buzz bomb assembly plants.

SGT Stuart Dee Van Deventer (listed as tail gunner) was killed when his B-24M (SN# 44-50838, nicknamed “Red Bow”, piloted by 1LT Robert L. Mains) was shot down by German fighters over Hamburg on 4 April 1945. The mission was to attack German bases at Wesendorf, Germany. The bomber was attacked by a Messerschmitt ME-262 jet fighter and exploded in the air. Photography by another aircraft in the formation shows the entire tail being blown off the aircraft. This was the first ever shoot down of an aircraft by a jet fighter. Nine of the 10 crew members died. Tech SGT Charles E. Cupp, Jr managed to get out through the bomb bay and opened his parachute around 2,000 feet. Cupp told Mrs Sanderson in a letter that he had in fact been the tail gunner, which means positions were switched at the last minute. He survived and later identified 8 of the 9 bodies of the crew, including Van Deventer’s. The war in Europe ended on May 8, 1945. His German captors gave Van Deventer’s wallet to Cupp, which he returned to Mrs. Sanderson. Van Deventer had been with the unit for only a few weeks and had recently been promoted to Sergeant. He was killed on his first mission. He was 20 years old.

Burial. After the war, Sergeant Van Deventer’s remains were not recovered. Thus, he is commemorated on the Tablets of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery.

Researcher’s Note: There is a memorial headstone for Stuart D. Van Deventer in Mount Hope Cemetery, Independence, Kansas. The headstone was erected by the family and was not furnished by the military. It has Van Deventer’s photo, but It contains some incorrect information: It lists his rank as corporal and his unit as 82d Airborne Division. His birth date and date of death on headstone are correct. His correct rank was Sergeant, US Army Air Force and his unit was 714 Bomber Squadron.

Sergeant Stuart D. Van Deventer’s service and sacrifice are greatly appreciated and will not be forgotten. He gave up his future so that we could have ours.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars Project

(see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to

write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We

Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? These stories will be

accessible via smartphone app at any war memorial or cemetery. If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact Richard Grauel at richard.grauel@verizon.net Date: 6/23/2023

Sources

- “DeMolays Install”, Bartlesville Examiner Enterprise Newspaper 1941

- “Eva Sanderson” in the 1940 US Federal Census

- Draft Registration Card, Stuart Dee Van Deventer, 22 Dec 1942

- “Wins Gunnery Wings”, Bartlesville Examiner Enterprise Newspaper, June 1944

- “Van Deventer in England” Bartlesville Examiner Enterprise Newspaper, 8 March 1945

- “Stuart Van Deventer Missing In action”, Bartlesville Examiner Enterprise Newspaper, 22 April 1945

- “Van Deventer Reported Killed In Action”, Bartlesvile Morning Examiner Newspaper, 22 July 1945

- “Index Record for Stuart Van Deventer”, American

Battle Monuments Commission, https://www.abmc.gov/database-search-results?field_first_name=Stuart&field_last_name=Van%20Deventer&service_number=&field_abmc_burial_unit=&field_place_of_entry=93702&field_cemetery=All&field_cemetery2=All&field_branch_of_service=All&search_api_fulltext=&field_war%5B64549%5D=64549&field_dod_day=All&field_dod_month=All&field_dod_year=&field_missing_status=All&items_per_page=10&sort_bef_combine=field_last_name_ASC

- “RAF Airfield Seething, England” www.wikipedia.org,

- MACR (Missing Air Crew Report) #13730, B-24M, SN 44-50838, Pilot 1LT Robert L Mains

- www.americanairmuseum.com, 448th Bomb Group Unit History, “Other Crew statement and Photos of 44-50838 Hit and Breaking Apart”. Also memorial for 1LT Robert L. Mains (Pilot), 714th Bomb Sqdn

- TSGT Charles Edward Cupp Jr, www.americanairmuseum.com,

- Stuart Dee Van Deventer, ID# 67944132, Findagrave.com