Before U.S. entry into World War II, the United States set up costal defense areas on both coasts. The United States Navy’s Naval Auxiliary Air Station at Martha’s Vineyard was near Edgartown, Massachusetts. It operated from 1943 to 1946. There were three runways, a crash boat and crew, and a rocket firing range. A nearby station at Noman’s Land Range had a gunnery and bombing targets as well as training and towing facilities. The Katama Airfield on Martha’s Vineyard also served as outer defense and training site. During World War II, 21 Navy and Marine Corps squadrons spent time at the naval station, which was decommissioned in 1946.
Lafayette County’s Claude Leo Piper served with the U.S. Naval Reserve at the U.S. Naval Auxiliary Air Station at Martha’s Vineyard.
Claude Leo Piper was born on August 23, 1925 in New Diggings in Lafayette County to Norval and Florence (Field) Piper. Before he was born, his older sister Virginia died of an illness on Jan. 3, 1925.
From the 1930 U.S. Census, the Piper family lived in New Diggings Township in Lafayette County. The household included father Leo, mother Florence, and children Norval, Mary, Freda, Kathleeen, Clotis, Claude, Jeanette, and William. Father Leo was a miner in the zinc mines.
From the 1940 U.S. Census, the Piper family lived in Cave-in-Rock Precinct outside of the village, in Hardin County, Illinois. The household included father Leo, mother Florence, and children Kathlyn, Claude, Janette, Billy, Joe, Raymond, James, and Alberta. In 1935, the family had been living in New Diggings. Father Leo was a miner in the spar mines for paid wages.
Father Norval Leo died June 19, 1941 in Cave-in-Rock. He died suddenly, per his obituary. He and Florence had a total of 14 children. She moved back to Benton with some of the children. Son Leo graduated from Benton High School, likely in 1943.
On Aug. 23, 1943, Claude Leo Piper registered for the WWII Draft in Rockford, Illinois. His residence was Benton but he gave a mailing address in Rockford, Illinois. He was employed by American Cabinet in Rockford.
This researcher couldn’t find an enlistment record for Piper as those naval records are not readily available.
The Jan. 31, 1945 WWII Navy Muster Rolls listed Claude Leo Piper as an AOM3c(T). He was a part of Torpedo Squadron 97 (Vt-97) which was in service from Nov. 1, 1944 to April 1, 1946, when it was decommissioned. Torpedo Squadron 97 was one 100 squadrons serving in the U.S. Navy from 1921 to 1946. This was organized under the VTN-52 Squadron, which was a night torpedo squadron. They flew Grumman TBM 1-D and TBM 3-D torpedo bomber planes which were made by General Motors.
From the March 5, 1945 The Capital Times, the news from Boston was that “Claude L. Piper, 19, son of Mrs. Florence Piper, Benton, Wis., was killed Saturday in a plane crash, according to a navy announcement.
“Piper, an aviation ordnance man third class, vanished after his plane plummeted into the sea during a training flight off Martha’s Vineyard.”
Further news came from the March 21, 1945 Grant Count Herald that stated “Claude Piper…was killed near Martha’s Vineyard Island, off the Massachusetts coast, when a torpedo bomber he was riding in with other crew members crashed into the sea… He is survived by his mother, five sisters and seven brothers. Two of the brothers, Cletus and Norval, are in the service.”
Additional information came from the March 29, 1945 Hardin County Independent (Elizabethtown, Illinois) that “Mrs. C. M. Ketner, Cave-in-Rock, received the announcement of the death of OAM 3/C Claude Piper, who formerly lived in Cave-in-Rock.” The notice stated that Claude was “missing” and that he was a “gunner on a torpedo bomber.”
A user on FindAGrave posted a section of the “VT(N)-52 Squadron War Diary Entry” for March 2, 1945. The notice stated Ensign Carl Arthur Soderberg, Jr., and his aircrewmen, Claude Leo Piper, and William Eugene Offenstein “failed to return to base from a routine minimum altitude attack on NAAF (North African Air Forces), Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. Ensign Soderberg’s wingman, Ensign L. W. Bowen, reported that during the approach to the airfield, about two miles east of Edgartown, Mass., Ensign Soderberg began a gradual letdown and Ensign Bowen followed. At 500 feet Ensign Soderberg made a hard starboard turn in his TBM-3D Bureau Number 68351 toward Ensign Bowen, who pulled up to avoid a crash. Ensign Soderberg and his aircrewmen have not been seen since and it is presumed the plane crashed. None of the plane’s occupants has been found.”
*Note: AOM 3/C Claude Leo Piper is not listed on the National WWII Memorial Registry as he was with the U.S. Naval Reserve. This researcher could not find Piper on the Navy, Marine, Coast Guard list for Wisconsin or Illinois as dead or missing. It is unknown if his death status was DNB, KIA or FOD. It is unknown if his family received the Purple Heart award for his sacrifice.
Piper is memorialized on the Benton WWII Memorial.
AOM 3/C Claude L. Piper, who died on March 2, 1945, has a cenotaph marker at Saint Patrick’s Cemetery in Benton.
Thank you, Aviation Ordnance Man Claude Leo Piper, for your service to and sacrifice for this country. We honor you and remember you.
