Memorial

More information

Pvt Roy L. Stephens joined the Regular Army on 31 January 1940.

He was a member of the small stick of volunteer pathfinder paratroops of the 101th Airborne Division who carried special equipment to set up the drop zone for the folowing aircraft, on board the C-47 with serialnumber 42-100981, with Drop Zone A, near Veghel, the Netherlands, as destination.

He was killed when the C-47 was shot down as it approached the drop zone in the vicinity of Retie, Belgium.

German anti-aircraft artillery opened fire in the vicinity of Retie, Belgium on the low flying planes. De left engine of plane 42-100981 was hit and the fuel tank in the left engine caught fire. The plane crashed in a ball of flames causing the farm of a local farmer, Jan Adriaensen and a barn of another farmer, Peer Franken, to burn to the ground. All five crew members were killed. The remains of Lt Shauvin were never recovered. The plane carried ten passengers of which six survived the crash.

1st Lt Charles M. Faith, who was one of the passengers, gave the following statement: "I went into Operation Market as a pathfinder flying in no. 2 ship. This ship took off from Chalgrove. As we crossed the front line in the vicinity of Retie, Belgium, our ship was shot out of the air. To my personal knowledge, only myself and Pvt Lester R. Hunt, 501st Prcht Inf, were able to clear the ship before it crashed. In addition to myself and Pvt Huntl, the following men were in the ship: Pvt Robinson, Pvt Hawks, Pvt Rofar, Pvt Everly, Cpl Brazzle, Cpl Stephens, Pvt Sarlas and Cpl Bevar. All of the men, with the exception of Cpl Stephens, were from the 501st Prcht Inf., Cpl Stephens was with the 502nd Prcht Inf."

The crew and the passengers of this airplane are remembered on a statue that was erected at the place of the crash.

He is remembered at the Jacksonville City Cemetery in Jacksonville, Calhoun County, Alabama.