Paul R. Stubbs was born on April 2, 1917, in Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts. His father, Charles Hazelton Stubbs (1896-1953), and his mother, Florence M. (Noble) Stubbs (1893-1919) were both born in Massachusetts. The couple married in 1916 and Paul was their only child. Charles was employed as a fireman for the B & M Railroad in Boston, and later at the Molly Buttons Manufacturing Mills in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

According to the 1940 Census, Paul was stationed at France Field in the Panama Canal Zone with the 39th Observation Squadron. His rank was Corporal and his service number was 6148229. On June 8, 1941, the observation aircraft O-47A with three crewmembers, including 2LT Augustus Jared Allen, CPL Paul R. Stubbs and SSGT James D. Cartwright, crashed for unknown reasons. Despite an extensive search of the area, the wreckage was not found and the crew was declared DNB (died from non-battle injuries). In 1999, a Panamanian citizen discovered the wreckage in a canal in dense jungle terrain. The crew members’ remains were still inside. On November 3, 2005, the entire crew of the O-47A was honored with a group memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.

Paul was buried with military honors on October 11, 2005, at Hilldale Cemetery in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Rita Winterhawk, a cousin whose DNA was used to help identify Paul’s remains, selected Hilldale Cemetery over being buried at Arlington so that Paul’s grave would be close to other family members. He has one other memorial on the Walls of the Missing at the East Coast Memorial in New York City.

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? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact me at dwheelehan@gmail.com

SOURCES

Massachusetts, U.S., Marriage Index, 1901-1955 and 1966-1970, Ancestry.com

Massachusetts, U.S., Death Index, 1901-1980, Ancestry.com

1920 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com

1930 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com

1940 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com

WWII Army and Army Air Force Casualty List, Fold3.com

U.S., Veterans' Gravesites, ca.1775-2019, Ancestry.com

CPL Paul R. Stubbs, Find-a-Grave Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery

CPL Paul R. Stubbs, Find-a-Grave Memorial, East Coast Memorial

Corp Paul Stubbs, Find-a-Grave Memorial, Hilldale Cemetery

“Haverhill Army Flyer, Missing, May Be Safe,” Boston Globe, June 18, 1941, pg. 10.

“U.S. Abandons Search For Missing Plane,” Evening Star, June 24, 1941, pg. 24.

“Pilot who vanished in ’41 is finally home,” Boston Globe, October 12, 2005, pg. 26.

SBTSProject/Massachusetts/Essex

Paul R Stubbs