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name
CHAPLIN, Emil "Kapie" - Date of
birth
April 1919 -
Age
25 - Place of
birth
New York -
Hometown
Clifton, Passaic County, New Jersey -
Religion
Jewish
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-1541431 -
Rank
First Lieutenant -
Function
unknown -
Unit
Medical Detachment,
155th Airborne Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion,
17th Airborne Division
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
24 March 1945 - Place of
death
North of Wesel, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| C | 10 | 12 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Max Chaplin (father)
Pauline Chaplin (mother)
George Chaplin (brother)
Calvin Chaplin (brother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
unknown -
Data
unknown
More information
Emil Chaplin's name was originally Kaplan.He graduated from Clifton High School and from the School of Journalism at the University of Georgia. He was a school teacher preparing for his master's degree when he volunteered for the Army of the United States in Newark, New Jersey on 14 February 1942.
He was a passenger in the CG-4A glider with serialnumber 43-41470 with destination Landing Zone S, north of Wesel, Germany.
The glider pilots who returned had no knowledge of what had happened to the Pilot and Co-Pilot of this glider, or of the glider. This glider was released over the landing zone at 1115 hours and was last seen as it entered the smoke over the landing zone and was not observed after that. Most likely it was shot down over the landing zone.
The crew of two men and three passengers were all killed.
The passengers were members of HQ Battery and Medical Detachment of the 155th Airborne Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, 17th Airborne Division.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ww2-airborne.us, www.ancestry.com - 1940 Census / WWII Jewish Servicemen Cards / Headstone and Interment Record / WWII Enlistment Records, 17th Airborne Division Historical Report of Operation Varsity, Book: The Last Drop, Operation Varsity 24-25 March 1945 by Stephen L. Wright, Clifton Merchant Magazine, May 2009
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Des Philippet, www.ancestry.com - Clifton High School Yearbook 1936 / University of Georgia Yearbook 1940, The Herald News 7 May 1945