Name: Martin George Egler

DOB: December 2, 1924

Place of Birth: Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio

DOD: March 22, 1945

Place of Death: English Channel

Age at Death: 24

Place of Burial: Gettysburg National Cemetery, Gettysburg, PA

Branch of Service: US Army Air Forces

Service No: 35057102

Rank: Staff Sergeant

Unit: 579th Bombardment Squadron, 392nd Bombardment Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force

Martin George Egler was the son of Martin Edward and Katherine Stuehler Egler. He was born on December 2, 1924 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Martin and Katherine had immigrated from Austria in 1906; their native language was German which the family apparently spoke fluently at home. They became Naturalized Citizens in 1912. His father was a conductor for the Cleveland Railway streetcar service which ran extensively throughout Cleveland. When they married in 1910 in Cleveland, Martin’s father had been employed as a machinist. Martin had four siblings; Ernst E. (born about 1911), Hilda K. (born about 1912), Karl W. (born about 1914), and Helen M. (born about 1920).

During the Great Depression even Katherine went to work, joined by eldest son, Ernst, working in a bakery. By 1940 Mr. & Mrs. Egler were divorced. He was living on his own and working as a watchman for the streetcar system. Mrs. Egler was living with her two eldest sons, Ernst and Karl, who had never married. Katherine, Ernst, and Karl were all working as bakers in a retail bakery. Helen was still living at home, working as a bank clerk. Indifferent to her parent’s rocky marriage, daughter Hilda had married in 1936 to Carl F. Krieger and they lived outside the family unit. The youngest, Martin, was still attending the West Tech High School. In September of 1941 his sister, Helen, was married to Italian Enea Mario Pierre.

In his book The Cleveland Nazis 1933-1945, Michael Cikraji asserts that it was Cleveland that became the epicenter of American Nazism in the first half of the twentieth century’s second decade. They established the Teutonia Society. Ten years later the heads of the society moved on to Chicago, but a nest of vipers remained in Cleveland to establish the Friends of New Germany. In 1936 the group transformed into Amerikadeutscher Volksbund (German-American Bund). Over the years they not only pulled in discontent German-Americans, but Italian Americans as well. However, as the group became more and more fanatical, more and more German and Italian Americans, as well as the general population of Cleveland, protested at their gatherings, denounced their activities, and the government began to investigate them. The departure of their leader who returned to Old Germany, and Kristalnacht, clarified for many in the community that no part of Nazism was a good thing. The organization went underground when Germany invaded Poland.

When the war began and the Executive Order regarding Enemy Aliens was signed, it is unfortunate that ALL German and Italian Americans became suspect overnight. Most Japanese were interred, many Italians were interred and had to register as Enemy Aliens. If German-Americans had not become citizens, they were interred in large numbers. But even those who had naturalized and many who had fought for America in World War I were looked at with a high degree of suspicion. And it was overwhelmingly the young men of these families who enlisted to fight the enemy overseas.

Where Martin’s family stood politically during the 30s is unknown. His brothers, Ernst and Karl, registered for the draft in 1940 as required by law. They both served in the US Army, Karl enlisting in March of 1941, before the war began, and Ernst in March of ’42. These were both voluntary enlistments; how much were they influenced by a need to prove the family’s loyalty to America?

In December of 1942, while he was working for the Cleveland Cutter & Reamer Company, in their machine shop. Just a few days after his eighteenth birthday Martin himself registered for the draft. Three months later – he had not yet graduated from high school - he was enlisted in the Army.

It was at the Cleveland induction center on March 31, 1943 where he showed up and was issued his serial number and received his dog tags. He was then transported to the reception center which was most likely Fort Hayes in Columbus. Upon arrival Martin would have gone through several medical and psychological tests then sat through the Army General Classification Test, a 150-question quiz the score of which would determine his initial military occupational specialty. He was issued his first uniform and told to pack up his personal belongings, including the clothes he had arrived in; all to be shipped home.

Having been sorted to join the Army, Charles would have been given a cash allotment and told where to report for basic training. That would last for about thirteen weeks. During those weeks he would have undergone physical training, some classroom education, and further testing to determine his specialty. It was during this time that his testing likely showed him as a good candidate for the Army Air Forces. Upon completion of basic training, and determination of his classification he would have been sent on for further specialized training. Ultimately, he was assigned to the 579th Bombardment Squadron, 392nd Bombardment Group.

The Bombardment Group was stationed in Wendling, England and that is where Martin joined them in April of 1944, as a replacement. His training as a nose turret gunner in the B-24 Liberator was complete and it was time for him to fly and fight for real. The squadron’s assignments in their B-24 Liberators were oil refineries, marshalling yards, railroad viaducts, steel plants, tank factories and the like. Martin was with them when the squadron participated in Big Week (between February 20-25, 1944) when the heavy bombers attacked a German aircraft and component parts factory. Prior to D-Day the group bombed airfields and V-weapon sites in France and also flew on D-Day striking at Nazi coastal defenses. They “hit enemy positions to assist ground forces at St. Lo during the breakthrough in July 1944. Martin received the Air Medal in early August that year and an Oak Leaf Cluster later in the month.

On September 11, 1944, flying in SN: 42-52615 nicknamed Sally Ann II, the squadron was returning from their mission of bombing an ordnance manufacturing depot at Hanover, Germany. The plane was damaged by flak – the crew trying to reach their home base, but did not make it. The pilots had to ditch in the North Sea. The bulk of the crew survived and were picked up by air/sea rescue, but two crew members were killed. Martin had wounds on his face and neck for which he was hospitalized. He received his Purple Heart Medal in mid-October. Released from the hospital to duty, he rebounded and flew with the squadron bombing railroads, bridges, and highways to cut off German supply lines during the Battle of the Bulge from December 1944 to January 1945.” Martin received his second Oak Leaf Cluster in early December.

On March 22, 1945 their mission was to bomb Hessental, now known as Schwabisch Hall – to the northeast of Stuttgart, Germany. Hessental was the flight- testing facility for Messerschmitts, most notably the last one, the Me262 – with jet propulsion. The strike flew in good weather, encountered no enemy fighters, and dodged little flak. Martin was flying in the Command Bomber. Both he and the pilot had achieved their hours to go home. They were returning and just coming over the Norfolk shores when a loaded flare gun somehow jostled loose, fired and set off a box of flares that engulfed the interior of the plane in smoke and flames. Since they were only twelve miles from home base, they were flying at a low altitude. When the plane went into a steep dive, it was all the crewmembers could do to escape the plane. Only four survived. The story of the interrogation of the surviving crew members as well as the hideous situation these men tried to live though is detailed on a website maintained by the 392nd Bomb Group (see sources). The plane finally crashed at Whitehouse Farm, Horstead, England. While the online retelling indicates that there were omissions from the MACR, it is my personal opinion that a MACR was not filed, because the air craft was simply not missing. Certainly, other paperwork was filed regarding the crash, and that seems to be the source of the information.

Martin was initially buried at Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial in Cambridge, UK with the rest of the crew who were killed in the crash. He was repatriated to the United States and reinterred at Gettysburg National Cemetery on July 12, 1948 at the request of his family. He lies in Section 2, Grave 458. Staff Sergeant Egler was awarded the Purple Heart Medal, the Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the American Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, and European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.

Martin’s brother, Ernst (often in documentation as Ernest), served with the Coastal Artillery during the war. He returned to his job at the bakery after the war, and at the age of about 42, was finally married. His brother, Karl, Karl married Alma Mae Smith Cramer in 1953 when he was about 40. Notably, both marriages took place after their mother, Katherine, had passed away in 1951. Hilda Egler Krieger died in 2000 having lived in Ohio all her life. Helen Egler Pierre died in 2002.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see https://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? These stories will be accessible via smartphone app at any war memorial or cemetery. If you have any details, photos, or corrections for this story, please email me by clicking on the words “Added by:” at the bottom of this story.