Arthur Bernhart Cederberg was born, 30 October 1922 in Kingsburg, California to the parents of Arthur N Cederberg and Helen L Hendrickson. He grew up in Fowler, which is south of Fresno, California. He graduated from Fowler High School, class of 42 and attended California Polytechnic School at San Louis Obispo, California. While in high school, he had been employed at a local newspaper, the Fowler Ensign - learning the printing trade.

He enlisted 2 December 1942 in Los Angeles, California. He was stationed at the Lemoore Army Flying Field for 16 months and was then sent to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for radio school. He received gunnery training at Las Vegas, Nevada. He was sent overseas, March 1944, which was shortly before D-Day on 6 June 1944. He had been a flight engineer for a B-17 bomber crew during WWII. According to reports sent home in July 1945, he had been assigned the post-war duty with a Flying Fortress crew that was flying an Army Chaplain around Europe. He had visited Naples, Nice, and Marseilles. Around Rome, he visited the Pantheon, St. Peter’s, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Appian Way. He also visited German cities including the infamous Buchenwald concentration camp.

Sergeant Arthur Bernhart Cederberg met his death on 4 November 1945. According to the American Air Museum records, a crash of a C-47 Skytrain, a troop transport aircraft, occurred on 4 November with the loss of all 16 on board. The flight was bound for Munich and crashed near Schlatt, Germany. According to a Missing Air Crew Report, the weather had deteriorated in Germany while the plane was enroute. The pilot flew below the clouds and struck trees on a mountain. The crew and passengers aboard the C-47, Tail Number 43-15104 were:

2nd Lt., Apple, Albert Bernard, Pilot, 16159449/O-831078, buried Ferndale, Michigan

2nd Lt., Dibble, Roger James, Co-Piot, 17114490/O-2009502, buried Lorraine Amer. Cem., France

Cpl., Jendral, Heinz Fred, Flight Engineer, 36851369, buried Barrancas Nat. Cem., Pensacola, Florida

1st Lt., Henderson, Norman Paul, Passenger, O-783765, ***

Flight Officer, Daves, Jackie Eugene, Passenger, 19181826/T-006255, buried Inglewood, California

S-Sgt., Moore, Morris E, Passenger,, 15383040, ***

S-Sgt., Millsaps, Ray A, Passenger, 19138243, buried Chrome, California

S-Sgt., Block, Earl Leroy, Passenger, 39410912, buried Lorraine Amer. Cem., France

Sgt., Cederberg, Arthur Bernhart, Passenger, 19176619, ***

S-Sgt., Gattermeir, John P, Passenger, 16052697, ***

S-Sgt., Jack, David, 36676404, Passenger, buried Lorraine Amer. Cem., France

S-Sgt., Kenez, Martin Jr., 12034722, Passenger, buried Perth Amboy, New Jersey

1st Lt., Koskela, Ernest William, Passenger, 16115826/O-828193, buried Wakefield, Michigan

S-Sgt., Peters, Harry V, Passenger, 35761629, ***

Tech. Sgt., Redfield, Laverne Frederick, Passenger, 36824420, buried St. Johns Lutheran Cem. Old Ahippun, Wisconsin

Tech. Sgt., White, Claude Morris, Passenger, 17127786, ***

*** Note: Cederberg, Gattermeir, Henderson, Moore, Peters, and White are all buried in the same plot at the Fort Scott National Cemetery in Fort Scott, Kansas. Due to the plane crash, their remains were, no doubt, co-mingled.

Sergeant Arthur Bernhart Cederberg was interred at the Fort Scott National Cemetery in Kansas. His Service Number was 19176619. At the time of his death, he was survived by his parents. Additionally, according to a December 1945 newspaper account, Miss Phyllis Billesby of Sioux Falls, South Dakota had been engaged to Arthur. She had come to Fowler, California to visit Arthur’s parents.

References

From - ancestry.com:

Family Tree

From - Fold3:

Service Record

Missing Air Crew Report

From - newspapers.com:

Fowler Ensign, 3 May 1945

Fowler Ensign, 21 June 1945

Fowler Ensign, 12 July 1945

Fowler Ensign, 29 November 1945

Fowler Ensign, 20 December 1945

Online Resources:

americanairmuseum.com (American Air Museum in Britain), plane crash record

Findagrave:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/479387/arthur-bernhart-cederberg

Findagrave Memorial ID: 479387

SBTS:

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 email: feedback@storiesbehindthestars.org.

SBTSProject/California/Fresno

Arthur B Cederberg