AOM2c. Donald Charles Gamble
US Navy FAW-7
from:New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, USA
(d.1st Apr 1944)
Donald Gamble was a member of the St. Martin's Episcopal Church and was awarded a cross for his long service as a choir boy there. He attended New Bedford High School and prior to going into the Navy, Donald was a clerk at the Minkin Auto & Radio Store in New Bedford, MA. Donald's parents were Charles and Hazel (Hammond) Gamble.
He actually lied about his age to get into the Navy. He signed up on his 17th birthday but told the officials he was 18. He was stationed at Newport, RI, Jacksonville, FL, Norfolk, VA and lastly in England. His hut in Jacksonville, FL was called the Buzzard's Roost. His Great Nephew, Weston Sherman, has named his tree house the Buzzard's Roost to honor his Great Uncle. Per family lore, Donald's last words to the family while leaving his home on Spruce Street to fly to England were "take care of Patsy". My Mother (Donald's sister Patricia or Patsy as he called her) was between 6 and 9 years old when he was in the service so unfortunately she does not remember him.
Donald's duty during WWII was the ball turret gunner (the one under the plane just behind the wings also known as the Belly gunner). His Bomber plane was called the PB4Y-1 and also known as the B24 Liberator. On March 31, 1944 his plane went missing over the Bay of Biscay near England as his bomber was patrolling for German submarines and they encountered bad weather with no fighter escorts when they came out of a cloud bank. We believe the German fighters got them and they were listed as lost at sea on the 31st then declared killed in action on April 1, 1944.
In England there is a cross with his name on it at the Cambridge Memorial Cemetery and his name in a book viewed by the public every day at the St. Paul's Church in London. And closer to home - his name is on the WWII Memorial Wall in Washington, DC and a memorial brass plaque at the Battleship Cove in Fall River, Mass. At the Rural Cemetery (in his home town of New Bedford, Mass) he has a veteran's stone. The book "U.S. Navy PB4Y-1 (B-24) Liberator Squadrons: in Great Britain during World War II" by Alan Carey is very much like our Uncle's life in England and his life during the WWII. He is actually pictured on page 58 with the rest of his VB-110 squad members.
His parents (Charles and Hazel Hammond Gamble) were awarded the Navy Air Medal with 3 Gold Stars and a Purple Heart posthumously for Donald's outstanding ability and zeal during day and night missions in defense of our vital supply line to the European theatre of war. He was one of a group which played an important part in reducing the German U-Boat menace from their home station at Dunkeswell in Devon England. His unwavering devotion to duty throughout a period of intense operations was in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval service. He participated in many operations under constant threat of German aerial attack and in the face of treacherous weather conditions. He was a member of the Navy Club of Greater New Bedford, MA SHIP NO. 22.
Because a few of the children died young or in WWII with the name "Charles" as a first or a middle name - this name was never used again and was considered to be jinxed. My grandmother even told her children to never use the name again (as the first or middle name) and they never did. And this philosophy has even been passed to the next generation and should be carried forward to generations to come. Donald is a direct descendant of Mayflower Pilgrims Myles Standish (GS #86,222), George Soule (GS #86,222), John Alden (GS #86,222), Francis Eaton, John Howland, Thomas/John Rogers, Degory Priest, Henry Howland, Richard Warren, Francis/John Cooke and John Tilley. And lastly, one nice thing is that we all have at least one picture of him in each of our homes - even though many of us never met him - he is still in our hearts.
