First Lieutenant Henry Edwin Salmons

Early Life

As the nation mourned the death of President Theodore Roosevelt, the Salmons family welcomed the third of five children, Henry Edwin Salmons, known as Edwin. Edwin had two older brothers, a younger brother, and a sister. According to the 1930 census, the family adopted a 17-year-old daughter, Anna Lou Miner, who studied to be a nurse. 

Edwin’s father, Dr. Lee Roy Salmons, served in the 81^st Division, 321^st Ambulance Company, 306^th Sanitary Train during World War I. He was a dedicated country doctor in the Winston-Salem area who cared for anyone regardless of ability to pay. 

It was a shock to his family and community when he died suddenly at the age of 45 in 1934. Edwin’s mother was a homemaker, and after the death of her husband, she and the younger children lived with her brother. Tragedy struck again as Edwin’s mother passed away after an extended illness five years later. 

Edwin graduated from R.J. Reynolds High School in 1936. He was active in athletics and extracurricular clubs, including football, tennis, boosters, House of Representatives, literature society, and science club. After graduation, Edwin worked as an office clerk at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco. 

Edwin and Julia Brown McCorkle met as part of the same friend group. They married on April 4, 1941.

Homefront

North Carolina Military History

North Carolina became known as “Torpedo Junction” because German U-boats hung out off the coast and damaged or sunk ships regularly by 1942. North Carolina responded by adding 100 military bases to join Fort Bragg. These bases were placed along the coast to address military training and security needs. 

Some bases were temporary, while others remained, making their presence felt economically, socially and politically, including: Seymour Johnson Air Force Base (1942),  Pope Army Air Field (1942), Marine Corps Station New River (1942), Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune (1941), Montford Point (1942), Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point (1942). Montford Point, now Camp Johnson, was initially established for the segregated training of African American Marines.

Aside from the new military presence in North Carolina, other military industries were booming.  Wilmington built ships, Burlington refurbished missile parts, and later made tanks, and Rocky Mount produced yarn used for uniforms, parachutes, backpacks, and belts.  

In Winston-Salem, residents did their part to assist the war effort. The Smith Reynolds Airport trained military pilots. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco supplied most of the cigarettes to the troops. Beyond the war industries, Winston-Salem also manufactured hosiery, underwear, textiles, tinfoil, furniture, swimsuits, and air conditioning equipment. Krispy Kreme donuts also made their appearance on the food scene.

Growing Pains

Winston-Salem merged the cities of Winston and Salem in 1913. The Moravians founded Salem for religious freedom, and Winston-Salem maintained that strong religious tradition with 148 churches representing 26 denominations in 1942. 

For the next ten years, Winston-Salem experienced growing pains. The number of residents with telephones doubled to over 14,000. The number of parks in the city increased threefold. As Winston-Salem became less rural, the city contemplated pet and noise ordinances, installed parking meters, and used radios for law enforcement. They decided to hire African American officers to patrol African American neighborhoods.

Winston-Salem invested in a variety of recreational activities. Golf became a year-round activity, and various area college football teams came to town. The Bowman-Gray Racing Track was built, and NASCAR was established in Winston-Salem. To fully utilize the new stadium, they rezoned it to be in the White section of town.

Segregation

The segregated southern city of Winston-Salem had separate hospitals, separate schools, and designated White and African American areas of town. The poll tax was $1.00.  African Americans traveling through Winston-Salem used the Green Book to know where it was safe to stay, eat, or receive other services.

Winston-Salem was home to two orphanages. One run by the Western North Carolina Methodist Conference for White children. The other, one of only two orphanages for African American children in the state, was run by the Memorial Industrial School. The Memorial Industrial School fed its residents by running a farm on the property during World War II.

Tobacco is King

Tobacco was the main cash crop. In the early 1930s, black shank and blue mold affected the crops. New Deal programs assisted with teaching farmers crop rotation strategies to help eliminate the problem. Farmers were encouraged to rotate tobacco with lespedeza, corn, and other vegetables. Home demonstration agents taught farmers to preserve their food, and electricity was added to farms by the Rural Electrical Authority.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco was founded in Winston-Salem in 1875. Eighty percent of the workers were African American.

In 1943, a handful of African American women led a sit-down strike for better pay and working conditions. Management threatened to fire them if they did not show up for work. They decided that if they showed up and banded together, management could not fire them all.

The war would take workers from the tobacco fields and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco. To make ends meet, German Prisoners of War (POWs) worked in the tobacco fields and as replacement workers. 

Demon Deacons Come to Town

Winston-Salem, home to Salem College, an all-women’s college, and the African American Teachers College, soon decided it needed a men’s college. In 1941, the Reynolds family donated land for the transfer of Wake Forest Medical School. The medical program increased from two to four years, and the residency program was completed at the local Baptist Hospital. 

An invitation was extended for the rest of Wake Forest University, an all-male college, to move from Wake Forest to Winston-Salem. The process officially began in 1952 and was completed in 1956. During World War II, Wake Forest was used by the Army for their Advanced Finance School. Due to low enrollment caused by the war, Wake Forest began accepting women. 

Military Experience

Edwin Salmons registered for the draft on October 16, 1940, and was initially classified III-A by the local draft board on May 20, 1941, a deferment for dependency reasons. Deferments of this type included wives, children, and parents who were dependents of the potential draftee. The concern was that those left behind would burden the government financially.  

Such deferments were generally reviewed after one year to determine if the reason for the deferment still existed versus the government’s need for troops. Edwin and Julia were married a little over a month before the deferment was granted.

Ultimately, Edwin enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps Reserves on July 3, 1942. During this time, he was an Air Cadet training to be a navigator for B-24 Liberators at several bases throughout the United States. He trained in Las Vegas, Nevada, Hondo, Texas, and Casper, Wyoming. 

The navigator plotted the course and navigated the airplane over land and sea using dead reckoning, the sun and stars, radio, and radar navigation. Salmons tested and inspected all navigation equipment, received and reviewed weather reports and destination instructions, and used navigation instruments. He shared the nose of the plane with the bombardier and, at times, was responsible for manning guns.

With his training complete, Salmons was honorably discharged, temporarily appointed as a second lieutenant until six months after the end of World War II, and was issued a new identification number. 

War Eagle

In June 1944, Salmons arrived at Harrington Airfield in the United Kingdom. The airfield was described as a tent city. 

Salmons was assigned to the Lemke flight crew, named for the pilot. These ten men routinely worked together, calling their plane War Eagle. Over the next several months, they flew 20 combat missions and eight gas haul missions before being transferred to Cheddington, United Kingdom, to fly with the 406^th Night Leaflet Squadron.

Compared to Harrington Airfield, Cheddington was described as a comfortable place. Soldiers lived in Quonset huts of 80 people, with double bunks and foot lockers at the end of each. Bicycles were the mode of transportation around the base. A shower building was a half block away. Bathrooms were just running water through a trough. Movement at night required the use of pinhole red lights to prevent detection. 

TOP SECRET: Operation Carpetbagger

Edwin Salmons participated in Operation Carpetbagger, run by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Their mission was to drop leaflets, containers, packages, gas, and people behind enemy lines to assist the resistance and encourage German surrender in France, Norway, Germany, and Denmark. 

These missions were done in the dark of night alongside the Royal Air Force (RAF). The B-24s had been removed from combat due to high casualties and refitted for Operation Carpetbagger. They were painted a glossy black to avoid detection. It was the navigator’s job during these missions, after dropping the designated cargo, to continuously update the crew on areas of safety in case it became necessary to parachute out. In total, 25 planes were lost during these missions. 

Upon returning from these missions, the flight crew was debriefed. To encourage full disclosure of everything that happened, the men were offered “liquid encouragement.” It was thought that if relaxed, they would be more forthcoming with the most minor details. Once the debrief was completed, they were instructed to never talk of it again.

Final Flight

Edwin Salmons and the rest of the Lemke crew finished a mission, but they were diverted to Royal Air Force (RAF) Oulton due to weather. The next day, they left RAF Oulton to return to Cheddington. 

Shortly after takeoff on October 18, 1944, gas started leaking out of the wing. The cap on the gas tank may not have been tightly screwed on, and the crew were forced to return to RAF Oulton. On return, the plane crash-landed. 

There were three survivors, and six died on impact, including Edwin Salmons. He was awarded the Purple Heart and an Air Medal with Two Oak Clusters.

Commemoration

A Family Lives On

Edwin Salmons’s daughter, Julia, was born two months after her father’s death. In an interview with Salmon’s granddaughter, it was her grandfather’s wish that his wife be pregnant upon his departure for the war so that if he did not come home, she would always have a part of him there. He told his wife that she could name the baby whatever she wanted as long as the child was called Judy if it was a girl, so Julia was always called Judy, an uncommon nickname at the time.

Edwin Salmons is buried at Cambridge American Cemetery, in Cambridge, England.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Black and Gold Yearbook. Winston-Salem Public Schools, 1936.

“Dr. L.R. Salmons, Widely Known Physician Is Dead.” Winston-Salem Journal [Winston Salem, NC], January 10, 1934. Newspapers.com (932338140).

Flying Control Log. 492nd Bombardment Group. April 1944. https://fold3.com.

H. Edwin Salmons. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Index, 1741-2004. Digital Images. https://ancestry.com.

Henry Edwin Salmons. Final Pay Voucher. National Archives and Records Administration – St. Louis.

Henry Edwin Salmons. Individual Deceased Personnel File. National Archives and Records Administration – St. Louis.

Henry Edwin Salmons. U.S. Headstone and Internment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949. https://ancestry.com.

Henry Edwin Salmons and Julia Brown McCorkle. North Carolina. Forsyth County Marriage Certificate. Digital images. https://ancestry.com.

Henry Edwin Salmons. World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947. Digital Images. https://ancestry.com.

Henry Edwin Salmons. World War II Enlistment Records, 1938-1946. Digital Images. https://ancestry.com.

Hill’s Winston-Salem. 1934. North Carolina Collections, Forsyth County Public Library. https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25209?v=pdf.

Hill’s Winston-Salem. 1942. North Carolina Collections, Forsyth County Public Library. https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25232?ln=en&v=pdf.

Lee Roy Salmons. Death Certificate. Digital images. https://ancestry.com.

Le Roy Salmons. North Carolina, World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919. Digital Images. http://ancestry.com

Leroy Salmons. U.S. Army Transport Service Arriving and Departing Passenger Lists, 1910-1939. Digital images. http://ancestry.com.

Lilley, Julia Grimes Cherry. Interview with the author. February 15, 2025.

“Mrs. Salmons Is Dead After Long Illness.” Winston-Salem Journal [Winston Salem, NC], October 27, 1939. Newspapers.com (933059060).

North Carolina. Forsyth County. 1920 U.S. Census. Digital images. https://ancestry.com.

North Carolina. Forsyth County. 1930 U.S. Census. Digital images. https://ancestry.com.

North Carolina. Forsyth County. 1940 U.S. Census. Digital images. https://ancestry.com.

Salmons Family Records, 1919-1947. Courtesy of Julia Cherry Lilley.

Tar Heel Army Missile Plant. 1983. Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress (NC-15). https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/nc/nc0300/nc0371/data/nc0371data.pdf. 

Secondary Sources

“1Lt Henry E. Salmons.” Find a Grave. Updated August 6, 2010. Accessed December 12, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56287202/henry-edwin-salmons.

“42-97445 War Eagle.” American Air Museum in Britain. Accessed February 17, 2024. https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/aircraft/42-94775.

“973 – Navigator.” Military Yearbook Project. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://militaryyearbookproject.org/references/old-mos-codes/wwii-era/usmc-wwii-codes/aviation/973-navigator.

Bratland, Heather and Emily Jones. Winston-Salem’s Green Book Sites. Online Exhibition. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/445478c7012f44ed9cb7cb281bdf725e.

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“City of Winston-Salem History.” City of Winston-Salem. Accessed January 17, 2025. https://www.cityofws.org/1047/City-of-Winston-Salem-History.

Fearnbach, Heather. Forsyth County’s Agricultural Heritage. Forsyth County Historic Resources Commission, 2012. https://www.cityofws.org/DocumentCenter/View/4100/Forsyth-Countys-Agricultural-Heritage-PDF.

Fulmer, Royce A. and Rademacher, Thea. A Drop in the Night: The Life and Secret Mission of a World War II Airman. Flint Hills Publishing, 2014.

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Gerard, Philip. “The 1940s: Workers Unite.” Our State, August 27,  2018. https://www.ourstate.com/workers-unite/.

“Henry Edwin Salmons.”  American Air Museum in Britain. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/person/henry-edwin-salmons.

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“Nazis Invade Winston-Salem sort of…”. North Carolina Collection Blog. January 19, 2015. Forsyth County Public Library. https://northcarolinaroom.wordpress.com/2015/01/19/nazis-invade-winston-salem-sort-of/.

“Operation Carpetbagger.” National Museum of the Air Force. Accessed February 28, 2025. https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/195994/operation-carpetbagger/.

Operation Carpetbagger: The Secret Mission to End World War II. Documentary. https://youtu.be/FILukWnMwtM?si=G9TlnxIB8Dpj_sfR.

Quine, Katie. “Why is Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem?” Our State, February 16, 2015. https://www.ourstate.com/wake-forest-university/.

Swearington, Phil. The Carpetbagger Project: Secret Heroes. Self-published, 2009.

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This profile was researched and created through the Researching Silent Heroes program, sponsored by the American Battle Monuments Commission.