William Charles Adamson
Rank: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army Air Forces
Serial: 13044302
Unit: 419th Bomber Squadron, 301st Bombardment Group
Entered service from: New Jersey
Died:
Buried at: Plot F O 1678, Beverly National Cemetery, Beverly, New Jersey
Biography
Staff Sergeant William Charles Adamson of Audubon, New Jersey.
Staff Sergeant William Charles Adamson was born on November 26, 1919, in Maryland, the son of Charles and Annie Adamson. His father was a veteran of World War I who operated the Camden Travel Service, a steamship ticket agency, at 211 North Sixth Street in Camden, New Jersey, and was active in the American Legion. The Adamson family had previously lived in Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania before moving to 43 Lafayette Road in Audubon early in 1930, later moving to 49 Creston Road in Audubon.
Known to friends and classmates by his middle name, William Charles Adamson graduated from Audubon High School in 1937, where he served as editor-in-chief of the yearbook, “Le Souvenir.” He went on to study at the South Jersey Law School, which later became part of Rutgers University’s Camden campus. He was employed at the RCA factory in Camden before enlisting in the Army on December 8, 1941—the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Assigned to the 419th Bomber Squadron, 301st Bombardment Group, Sergeant Adamson was trained as a tail gunner on a B-17 bomber. His unit moved to England in July and August of 1942, assigned to the Eighth Air Force, and began combat in September 1942, attacking submarine pens, airfields, railroads, bridges, and other targets in France. After eight missions, the group was re-assigned to the Twelfth Air Force and moved to North Africa in November 1942, bombing docks, shipping facilities, airdromes, and railroad yards in Tunisia, Sicily, and Sardinia. During his service overseas, Sergeant Adamson flew out of the following airfields:
| Chelveston, England | Aug. 9, 1942 |
| Tafaraoui, Algeria | c. Nov. 26, 1942 |
| Maison Blanche, Algeria | Dec. 5, 1942 |
| Biskra, Algeria | c. Dec. 16, 1942 |
| Ain M’lila, Algeria | c. Jan. 17, 1943 |
| St-Donat, Algeria | Mar. 6, 1943 |
Staff Sergeant William Charles Adamson was killed in an accident while serving in North Africa on March 13, 1943, on a day when the 301st Bomb Group was attacking shipping in the Sicilian straits. He was 23 years old. His death was reported in the April 6, 1943 edition of the Camden Courier-Post. On June 20, 1943, the South Jersey Law School conferred an honorary LL.B. degree on Sergeant Adamson at its annual commencement exercises.
Five members of Audubon High School’s class of 1937 were lost while serving in America’s military during World War II. Besides Charles Adamson, the dead include Edwin Klenk, George Riggin, Charles Stevenson, and Peter Albano.
After the war, William Charles Adamson was brought home to New Jersey. His body was returned aboard the USAT Barney Kirschbaum in May of 1948, and he was buried at Beverly National Cemetery in Beverly, New Jersey, on June 4, 1948. His father passed away on March 5, 1952, and was also buried at Beverly.
He was survived by his parents; sisters Virginia of Audubon and Mrs. Ellen Anduzzi of Washington, D.C.; and brothers Robert and Ernest of Audubon; John W., serving in the Navy; and Joseph, serving in the Merchant Marine.
So. Jersey College Has Many in Forces
Camden Courier-Post —
15 Percent of Graduates Serving U.S.; Many Hold Commissions
More than 15 percent of the graduates of the College of South Jersey are serving in some branch of Uncle Sam’s military forces, it was announced today, by Dr. Charles A. Maurer, dean of the college.
They are serving in the Army, Navy, Marines and in the Royal Canadian Air Force. A large number of the graduates hold commissions ranging from Navy ensigns and Army second lieutenants to Naval lieutenants senior grade and Army majors.
Graduates of the college and the South Jersey Law School, who are in the Army Air Corps are Mair Auerbach, Earle Benton, Thomas F. Connery, Joseph Hilderbrand, David MacGhee and Robert W. Lowden.
Serving in the Army are Philip W. Cooper, Joshua V. Davidov, William G. Freeman, Nelson G. French, Joseph Frost, Jack H. Fuhrman, John R. Hall, William B. Knight, W. Warren Luckenbill, Joseph Moss, Robert W. Norris, Ralph Obus, William Peel, John F. Rodgers, C. Zachary Seltzer and Robert T. White.
Graduates in the Navy are John J. Crean, Angelo De Persia, Samuel T. French Jr., Thomas B. Hazelton, Robert Hollingsworth, John H. Mohrfeld, Bernard W. Nicel, Frederick A. Smith and Fred Thatcher.
Undergraduates serving in the Army are John Borden, William Boyd, Dominic De Persia, Elmer Highley, Frank Houser, William I. Johnston, Samuel Massimiano, James Matthews and Robert Runge. Those in the Navy are John Winton, Clyde Creato, William T. Hiering, John Heckers and Robert F. Miller.
Those with the Royal Canadian Air Force are Leo Burnett, Robert Cundy, Charles Adamson, John Broomall, Ralph Corriden, Clark Fountain, Ben Hollick, Alfred Pierce, William Sippel and Richard Truette. Vincent J. Manno is now at an Army officers training school.
Note: This appears to be in error. It does not appear that any of these men were serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force in July of 1942; rather, all had enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps prior to the writing of this article.
3 From So. Jersey Reported Missing in Shipping Losses
Camden Courier-Post —
Haddon Heights Youth in List; Asbury Park Chief Mate Dead
The Navy Department yesterday reported three South Jersey men as missing and an Asbury Park man as dead in the second casualty list of the U.S. Merchant Marine. Richard O. Kelleher, 21, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry A. Kelleher, of 300 Second avenue, Haddon Heights, who was reported lost by a shipmate survivor of a ship sunk in the Atlantic more than two months ago, is listed officially in yesterday’s report as missing.
Other South Jersey men on the list of missing and probably shipmates of Kelleher are James A. Murphy, oiler, of Millville, and Thomas S. Tingle, second cook, of 156 Leaming avenue, West Cape May. Kelleher was listed as a fireman-water tender.
A shipmate, Joseph Adamson, 19, of 49 Creston avenue, Audubon, was saved after the ship was shelled and sunk. On his return home he broke the news to Kelleher’s parents. The father is plant manager of the Campbell Soup Company.
Adamson is a son of Charles Adamson, who conducts a steamship and travel ticket agency at 211 North Sixth street, Camden. Adamson said Kelleher was in the engine room of the ship when it was hit. The crew manned lifeboats and called to Kelleher, who had reached the main deck to leap overboard. Kelleher, he said, insisted on carrying out his ship duties when the first shell struck. Before he could reach the rail he was trapped when an explosion occurred. He had been struck in the leg by a shell fragment.
Young Kelleher, a graduate of Haddon Heights High School, joined the merchant marine to seek adventure. He was a nephew of County Treasurer Kelleher. Another brother, Ensign Harry Kelleher, 25, is attending a Naval intelligence school at Cornell University.
Law School Makes Posthumous Award
Camden Courier-Post —
An LL.B. degree was conferred posthumously upon Charles Adamson, Camden man killed in North Africa, during annual commencement exercises of the South Jersey Law school. The exercises were held in the Hotel Walt Whitman with Arthur E. Armitage, president, in charge.
An LL.B. degree was conferred on him posthumously at the law school’s commencement exercises in June, 1943.
Funeral Rites Held For S/Sgt. Adamson
Camden Courier-Post —
Services for S/Sgt. William C. Adamson were held today, in the U.S. National cemetery, Beverly. Sergeant Adamson was killed in North Africa March 13, 1943, at the age of 23. He was a tail gunner in the Army Air Forces, with the 419th Bomber Group.
A resident of Audubon at 49 Creston avenue, he enlisted in the army Dec. 8, 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor. He was a graduate of the Audubon High school, class of 1937, and was a student at the South Jersey Law school when he entered the service. An LL.B. degree was conferred on him posthumously at the law school’s commencement exercises in June, 1943. He had been employed at RCA Victor.
Surviving are his father, Charles, a veteran of War I; his mother, Annie; two sisters, Virginia, Audubon, and Mrs. Ellen Anduzzi, Washington, D.C., and four brothers, Robert and Ernest, both of Audubon; John W., in the navy, and Joseph, in the Merchant Marine.
Photos
Charles Adamson’s entry in the Audubon High School Class of 1937 yearbook, in which he served as editor-in-chief; Beverly National Cemetery, where he is buried; and the Audubon World War II memorial.