Edward B. A. Walton, Jr.

FIRST LIEUTENANT EDWARD BALDREY AUSTIN WALTON, JR. lived in Haddonfield NJ at 58 Euclid Avenue at the time of the 1930 census. He was the son of Edward B.A. Walton Sr. and his wife Margaret, and was a direct descendant of John Hart, signatory to the Declaration of Independence. The Waltons were involved in the arts, and Margaret Walton appeared in local theater as a member of the Haddonfield Alumni Players.  

Edward B.A. Walton Jr. was a 1937 graduate of Haddonfield (NJ) High School, where he played football and was a member of the track team. After high school he attended Williams College in Williamstown MA. Upon graduation Edward Walton took a job in the editorial department of the Camden Courier-Post newspaper. 

Edward Walton, known to friends and family as "Ted". He enlisted immediately after Pearl Harbor, and trained as a fighter pilot, reporting for active duty on December 27, 1941. He won his wings and commission on August 5, 1942 at the Southeast United States Army Air Force Training Center at Spence Field, Moultrie GA. Granted a leave, he married he married Miss Alice Leavitt, daughter of State Senator Ralph A. Leavitt, commissioner of the port of Portland ME, in Portland on August 9, 1942. The wedding culminated a college romance. The bride had attended Bennington College while Walton went to nearby Williams.

Edward B.A. Walton, Jr. went overseas as a member of the 318th Fighter Squadron, 325th Fighter Group, flying P-40 fighter. He was lost while flying a mission in North Africa on May 7, 1943. His father, of 319 Camac Street in Philadelphia PA, received the Air Medal which Lt. Walton had earned.

December 23, 1941

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August 4, 1942

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August 14, 1942

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'Ted Walton Missing'

     Walton's parent's were informed Thursday at their home, 319 South Camac Street, Philadelphia, by the War Department.
     Walton, a nephew of Captain George Howard Walton, Republican state committeeman from Camden County, left his job in the Courier-Post editorial department immediately after Pearl Harbor to enlist in the Air Force.
      Receiving his wings last August 5, he married Miss Alice Leavitt, daughter of State Senator Ralph A. Leavitt, commissioner of the port of Portland ME. The wedding culminated a college romance. The bride had attended Bennington College while Walton went to nearby Williams, a prot�g� of ABC Commissioner Alfred E. Driscoll, also a Williams alumnus.  

     Lieutenant Walton then was assigned to Africa, flying his P-40 in the American invasion, and stories of his exploits began coming home. His uncle, a captain in the Army Air Corps, wrote of seeing the youth in North Africa, and told how "Ted" had been awarded the Air medal for directing the squadron after the commanding officer had been shot down.

Camden
Courier-Post

January 24, 1928

MRS. EDWARD B.A. WALTON

Mrs. Walton is playing one of the principal roles in "Captain aplejack", the Haddonfield High school Alumni Association's annual play to be presented in the auditorium of the New memorial High Scholl this Saturday evening. Mrs. Walton is well known in this section for her appearance in amateur theatricals here.