Memorial

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S/Sgt Walter C. Parkins worked for the Clinchfield mill.

He enlisted at Fort Jackson, South Carolina on 22 May 1942 and received his wings in Las Vegas, Nevada on 24 August 1942. He spent considerable time serving as a gunnery instructor at various fields until he volunteered for overseas service and was sent to England in May 1943.

Well known and popular in Marion, Sgt Parkins could hardly wait to get overseas, and over there in England. He wrote frequently of how well he was getting along and how much he liked the service and the country.

The aircraft was engaged in a fight with six or seven enemy fighters, which caused the bomb bay to catch fire.

It was assumed that the airplane crashed in the vicinity of Metternich or Liplar-Erfstadt.

Six crew members survived and were taken prisoner; four were killed. According to German records, they were initially buried at Gross-Vernich. However a field investigation conducted on 13 February 1951 failed to locate the remains.

Further investigation revealed that most certainly the airplane didn't crash in Metternich or Liplar-Erfstadt but in Volmershoven and that the four killed crew members were buried in boxes at the cemetery of Witherschlick on 13 August 1943 as unknowns.

These remains were disinterred either on 23 March 1945 or 8 March 1946 by a U.S. team and evacuated to Margraten. At that time, the investigation team recommended further efforts to trace these four unknown casualties at Margraten. The results of this investigation are not known.