Charles Benson Earnhart
MilitaryAdded photo
Chuck Earnhart enlisted at the end of 1939 in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in Canada, thus well before the entry of the US into the war. After flying a number of missions on Spitfires and shooting down 4 enemy aircraft and damaging another on the ground, he joined the 8th Air Force in England. He followed training on P-47 Thunderbolts and was assigned as a pilot in the 356th Fighter Group / 359th Fighter Squadron. Force-landed due to Flak damage near Zemst-Laar, Belgium on 28 June 1944 in P-47 # 42-25508. Missing Air Crew Report - MACR 651. Reported as Missing in Action (MIA), but managed to evade capture with the help of Belgian patriots. Reaching secret camps in woods in the Belgian Ardennes, he was liberated by American troops and was back in England on 10 September. Returned to his unit 14 September 1944. Ended Tour of Duty in October 1944, but asked to fly additional missions. Had to wait 6 months before he was allowed to fly combat missions again. He flew some missions in the Spring of 1945 during which he shot 4 enemy fighters. His total "kills" (8½) would have assured him Ace status, but he never was awarded it, the official reason being that the credits were obtained in different Air Forces and that he had scored 5 in neither one. His family tried to have that corrected but his records were destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Archives and his Ace status never was officially recognized.
See the story of his evasion at www.evasioncomete.be >>> Fiches >>> EARNHART Charles.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
- Unit: 356th Fighter Group
Missions
- Date: 28 June 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Rock Hill, South Carolina, United States | 15 May 1918 | |
Other Promoted |
2 March 1944 | Promoted from Flight Officer to Second Lieutenant. | |
Other Evaded |
Belgium | 28 June 1944 - 8 September 1944 | Helped by Belgian citizens and the COMET evasion network, he managed to evade capture and was liberated by the arrival of US troops in the Belgian Ardennes |
Other force-landed |
near Zemst-Laar, Belgium | 28 June 1944 | force-landed his P-47 in a field near Zemst-Laar, Belgium |
Died |
Hohenwald, Tennessee, United States | 1 September 2004 | |
Other Promoted |
Promoted from Second Lieutenant to First Lieutenant. | ||
Enlisted |
Canada | in the Royal Canadian Air Force | |
Buried |
Swiss Cemetery, Hohenwald, Tennessee, United States |
Revisions
MACR 651
Escape & Evasion report E&E 1936
Research for his page at http://www.evasioncomete.org/fearnhacb.html
Contacts with his late sister Doris
Combined two entries for Charles B Earnhart. This entry now includes information from the following source:
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 6551 / Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list
MACR 6551 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database