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Captain Samuel “Sam” Fleming

  • Unit: 437th Troop Carrier Group, 86th Troop Squadron
  • Date of Birth: January 20, 1919
  • Entered the Military: December 8, 1941
  • Date of Death: March 24, 1945
  • Hometown: Port Glasgow, Scotland, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Place of Death: Near Wesel, Germany
  • Award(s): Air Medal with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart
  • Cemetery: Wall of the Missing. Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands
Contributed by Mrs. Lisa Genton
Divine Mercy Academy (Monroeville, Pennsylvania)
2024/2025

Early Life

Samuel Fleming was born on January 20, 1919, in Glasgow, Scotland, to Agnes McDonald Fleming and William Fleming. At the age of six, he immigrated to the United States with his mother and his brother, four-year-old William, aboard the Cameronia. The ship sailed from Glasgow on August 29, and arrived in New York on September 6, 1925. The family then traveled to Germantown, Pennsylvania, to meet their father, William.

Samuel grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, alongside his brother, William, and sister, Helen. The Flemings lived on Woolston Avenue, and Samuel attended Central High School, where he graduated in 1937. 

After high school, Fleming worked as a clerk at Atlantic Refining Company before he decided to serve his country. Following his enlistment, while stationed in Texas, he married Martha Ann Waddell on May 25, 1943.

Samuel Fleming, age six, on the manifest of the SS Cameronia, which departed Scotland on August 29, 1925. National Archives and Records Administration.
The Fleming family lived in Philadelphia in 1940. National Archives and Records Administration.
Marriage record for Samuel Fleming and Martha Ann Waddell, Waddell, Texas, May 25, 1943. Ancestry.

Homefront

Samuel Fleming grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a city rich in history. It was the birthplace of American independence, home to the First Continental Congress, and where the Declaration of Independence was written. However, by the time Samuel came of age in the 1930s, Philadelphia had seen better days. Unemployment was high, industries were leaving, and civil unrest was growing.

Despite these struggles, Philadelphia remained Pennsylvania’s largest city. By the 1940s, it was the third-largest war production city in the United States. Factories in Philadelphia produced vital wartime materials, including armaments, transportation equipment, communication instruments, and advanced weaponry. The war effort revived the city’s industries, which caused a surge in the demand for labor.

This economic revival prompted many African Americans to move from the South to Philadelphia in search of jobs. However, while work was plentiful, housing was not. The influx of new workers created a housing crisis, which added to the city’s social and economic challenges.

Passon Field Victory Gardens, Philadelphia, 1944. Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries.

Military Experience

Samuel Fleming enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps on December 8, 1941, at Fort Meade, Maryland. During his early service, he was stationed at several bases across the United States, including Moore Field in Texas, Bergstrom Field in Austin, Texas, Sedalia Army Air Field in Missouri, and Fort Bragg in North Carolina. By February 1944, he was deployed overseas to Ramsbury Airfield in England.

Captain Samuel Fleming served with the 86th Troop Squadron, 437th Troop Carrier Group. His squadron moved through France and eventually reached the east banks of the Rhine River in preparation for Operation Varsity, which was part of the larger Operation Plunder. Operation Varsity was the largest single-day airborne operation of World War II.

Samuel Fleming’s draft registration card, 1941. National Archives and Records Administration.
Robert “Bobby” Frederic and Sanuel “Sam” Fleming in England, October 1944. Fields of Honor.

Commemoration

On March 24, 1945, during the Rhine crossing, Fleming flew his final mission. His C-47 transport plane, towing two gliders, was hit by flak and small arms fire. According to First Lieutenant Charles Sterba, Jr., the plane caught fire and began to descend. Before impact, Captain Fleming gave the order to bail out. Two crew members parachuted to safety and were captured by German forces but were later rescued when Allied paratroopers arrived.

Captain Fleming’s remains were never recovered. He is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands.

An investigation after the war ended declared Captain Samuel Fleming’s remains “unrecoverable.” This is the first page of that finding, April 9, 1947. Individual Deceased Personnel File.
An investigation after the war ended declared Captain Samuel Fleming’s remains “unrecoverable.” This is the second page of that finding, April 9, 1947. Individual Deceased Personnel File.
Samuel Fleming is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands. American Battle Monuments Commission.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Passon Field Victory Gardens 1944. Photograph. 1944. Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. Accessed January 26, 2025. https://collaborativehistory.gse.upenn.edu/media/passon-field-victory-gardens-1944.

Pennsylvania. Philadelphia County. 1930 U.S. Census. Digital images. http://ancestryclassroom.com.

Pennsylvania. Philadelphia County. 1940 U.S. Census. Digital images. http://ancestryclassroom.com.

Samuel O. Fleming. Individual Deceased Personnel File. National Archives and Records Administration – St. Louis.

Samuel Fleming. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957. Digital images. https://ancestryclassroom.com.

Samuel Fleming. World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947. Digital images. https://ancestryclassroom.com.

Samuel O. Fleming. World War II Final Pay Voucher. National Archives and Records Administration – St. Louis.

Samuel Fleming. Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 – 1946 (Enlistment Records). National Archives and Records Administration. https://aad.archives.gov/aad/.

Samuel Fleming. U.S., WWII Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946. https://www.fold3.com/.

Secondary Sources

“437th Troop Carrier Group.” American Air Museum in Britain. Accessed February 28, 2025. https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/unit/437th-troop-carrier-group.

“The Arsenal of America: Pennsylvania During the Second World War.” Explore PA History. Accessed January 26, 2025. https://explorepahistory.com/story.php?storyId=1-9-19.

“Capt Samuel Fleming.” Find a Grave. Updated August 6, 2010. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56298746/samuel-fleming.

Ershkowitz, Herberg. “World War II.” The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Updated 2011. Accessed January 26, 2025. https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/world-war-ii/.

“Fleming, Samuel.” American War Memorials Overseas, Inc. Accessed February 24, 2025. https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/people_details.php?PeopleID=26422.

“Fleming, Samuel.” Fields of Honor Database. Accessed March 1, 2025. https://www.fieldsofhonor-database.com/index.php/en/american-war-cemetery-margraten-f/62742-fleming-samuel.

Gohl, Stanley D. “Operation Overlord – D-Day: the 437th was there!” Joint Base Charleston. June 3, 2014. Accessed March 13, 2025. https://www.jbcharleston.jb.mil/News/Features/Display/Article/860751/operation-overlord-d-day-the-437th-was-there/.

Operation Varsity: The Largest Airborne Assault of WWII w/ Author James Fenelon. The History Underground. Video [1:09:25]. Accessed February 28, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx3R2QLU76M.

“The Philadelphia Transit Strike of 1944.” Civil Rights in a Northern City: Philadelphia. Online exhibition. Temple University Libraries. https://exhibits.temple.edu/s/civil-rights-in-a-northern-cit/page/what–the-philadelphia-transit.

“Samuel Fleming.” American Battle Monuments Commission. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.abmc.gov/decedent-search/fleming%3Dsamuel.

“Samuel Fleming.” Honor States. Accessed March 1, 2025. https://www.honorstates.org/profiles/105922/. 

Seelinger, Matthew J. “Operation VARSITY: The Last Airborne Deployment of World War II.” The Army Historical Foundation. Accessed February 28, 2025. https://armyhistory.org/operation-varsity-the-last-airborne-deployment-of-world-war-ii/.

“Twentieth Century to 1945.” The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Accessed January 26, 2025. https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/time-periods/twentieth-century-to-1945/.

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