James E. Spillane Jr.
Rank: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Force
Serial: O-758094
Unit: 436th Fighter Squadron, 479th Fighter Group
Entered service from: New Jersey
Died:
Burial: New St. Mary’s Cemetery, Bellmawr, NJ
Awards: Purple Heart
Biography
James E. Spillane Jr.
Second Lieutenant James E. Spillane Jr. was born in Pennsylvania in 1919. He grew up in the Bettlewood section of Haddon Township NJ, living on East Collingswood Avenue. This neighborhood was served by the Oaklyn NJ post office, and is often referred to as Oaklyn. The son of James and Ida Spillane, his father was a sergeant on the Haddon Township police force.
James Spillane Jr. graduated from Edison Junior High school in Haddon Township, NJ, and graduated from Collingswood High School in the class of 1938. An outstanding athlete, Lieutenant Spillane was a star on the Collingswood High School football, baseball, and basketball teams. He also played baseball in the Camden County League.
James Spillane was transferred to the Signal Corps prior to transferring to fighters in January 1942, and was stationed at Fort Monmouth NJ. In March of 1942 he passed his examination for service in the Air Corps. In May of 1942 he was sent to Hawaii before his transfer to the Air Corps came through. He had to retake the test to qualify for pilot, navigator, or bombardier training. He qualified for pilot training and earned his wings.
Second Lieutenant Spillane was sent to England in April of 1944, assigned to the 436th Fighter Squadron, 479th Fighter Group. He flew combat missions from England over Germany, France, and the Low Countries. His plane was involved in an accident while taxiing at Wattisham in England on May 26, 1944. He was killed in action while flying a cover mission, protecting the bomber formations, over France, on June 9, 1944. He was 25 years old.
James Spillane was reported to have been killed in action in the June 22, 1944 edition of the Camden Courier-Post. He was brought home after the war, and he now lies at New St. Mary’s Cemetery in Bellmawr NJ, next to his parents.
New St. Mary's Cemetery
New St. Mary’s Cemetery, Bellmawr, NJ
Collingswood High School Football
James Spillane, Collingswood High School football
Six Injured Locals Will Return for Traditional Tilt Saturday
Camden Courier-Post —
HUSSONG IS LIKELY TO BE IN SHAPE
Barring unforeseen mishaps in practice, which is expected to be strenuous at both camps, Camden and Collingswood High Schools both will have their full strength for this Saturday’s traditional football classic.
Jimmy Spillane, who was the regular quarterback for the “Colls” until he was injured several weeks ago, will not play, but LeRoy Stanton has played such an outstanding game at the signal-calling post that he can easily be considered the varsity player.
The Purple and Gold of Camden High, which suffered a humiliating 34 to 0 pasting at the hands of the Trenton Bengals last Saturday, will be considerably stronger than in that tragic contest. Six players who watched the Trenton game from the sidelines due to injuries will be back in harness.
Wally Hussong, regular end, who suffered a slight concussion in a practice session, is awaiting the doctor’s permission to again don his uniform. It is expected that Wally will not be permitted to work out until late this week and it is probable that he will play against the Panthers.
The other injured boys who are expected to be in shape are Harry Bloxom, end; Herman Bader, halfback, and Dan Dever, Ed Poole and E. Wallace, linemen. Johnny Zizac, star guard, has been having difficulty with a leg injury and he will take it easy this week so as to be in prime condition fo rthe [sic] game.
The tussle will be played at the Farnham Park Athletic Field.
Walt Cowan Twirls ‘Colls’ to Easy 8-1 Decision Over Westmont
Camden Courier-Post —
COUNTY CHASE TIGHTENS AS LEADERS ARE BEATEN
With Walt Cowan again covering himself with glory on the mound, Merrill Peacock’s Collingswood Independents tightened the race in the strong Camden County League last night when they handed Walt Murphy’s pacemaking Westmont nine an 8 to 1 shellacking, at Westmont.
The reverse was the second in six starts for Westmont and chops its advantage to a game and a half over the second-position Haddon Heights tossers. The victory for Collingswood was its third in seven starts, all three triumphs having been credited to Cowan.
Cowan limited the Westmont outfit to three bingles and was never in difficulty, giving up his only run in the last session. While he was holding the homesters well in check, his mates were peppering the delivery of Walt Friend and Johnny Sink for eight safeties.
“Colls” Hit Timely
Collingswood clouted the ball in timely fashion to produce one run in the second inning, four in the fifth and three in the eighth.
Tom Costello singled to start the rally in the second inning and he took second on a sacrifice by Richards to score when Reds Carr poked the ball into center for a single.
Neither team tallied for two innings and the “Colls” then went on a four-run spree in the fifth.
Jimmy Spillane touched off the fireworks when he was passed and took third when George Groff reached first on an error. Jim Davis connected for a single to send Spillane across the plate and Grover Wearshing was passed to fill the bases.
Sink Replaces Friend
Bob Fortune also was passed to force Groff across the plate and it was at this stage of the contest that Friend was relieved in favor of Sink. Sink worked well to retire Costello and Richards on pop outs and then walked Carr to send Davis home. Wearshing tallied the fourth run of the inning when Collins reached on an error. Spillane fanned to end the rally.
Hits by Davis, Wearshing, Fortune and Richards accounted for three more counters in the following frame.
Westmont’s only run of the game came in the last session when Peterson doubled and Bill Hyland singled.
COLLINGSWOOD
Spill’e, cf — ab 3, r 1, h 1, o 1, a 0 Groff, lf — ab 3, r 1, h 0, o 0, a 0 Davis, 2b — ab 4, r 2, h 2, o 1, a 2 Wears’g, 3b — ab 2, r 2, h 1, o 0, a 2 Fortune, ss — ab 2, r 1, h 1, o 4, a 2 Cost’lo, rf — ab 3, r 1, h 0, o 1, a 0 Rich’ds, 1b — ab 3, r 0, h 1, o 7, a 0 Carr, c — ab 3, r 0, h 1, o 2, a 0 Cowan, p — ab 3, r 0, h 0, o 2, a 1
Totals — ab 26, r 8, h 8, o 18, a 7
WESTMONT
Pet’on, 2b — ab 3, r 1, h 1, o 4, a 1 Elvert, ss — ab 2, r 0, h 0, o 5, a 0 Kirk, lf — ab 3, r 0, h 1, o 2, a 0 Hyland, 1b — ab 3, r 0, h 1, o 3, a 1 Bisb’g, cf — ab 2, r 0, h 0, o 0, a 0 Harle, rf — ab 2, r 0, h 0, o 1, a 0 Behnke, 3b — ab 2, r 0, h 0, o 1, a 1 Gasior, c — ab 2, r 0, h 0, o 2, a 1 Friend, p — ab 1, r 0, h 0, o 0, a 2 J. Sink, p — ab 1, r 0, h 0, o 0, a 0 Aydelotte — ab 0, r 0, h 0, o 0, a 0
Totals — ab 21, r 1, h 3, o 18, a 6
Collingswood — 0 1 0 0 4 3 — 8 Westmont — 0 0 0 0 0 1 — 1
Errors — Wearshing, Hyland, Behnke, Elvert. Two-base hits — Fortune, Peterson. Struck out — By Cowan, 2; Friend, 1; Sink, 1. Base on balls — Off Cowan, 2; Friend, 7; Sink, 1. Umpires — Reif and Hoffman.