S/Sgt.

George Uyemura

Quartermaster Supply Technician

443rd Sub Depot

384th Bombardment Group (Heavy)

Serial Nr 39167618

Died 12/03/2008

George Uyemura was born 2nd April 1917, in Plumas County, California. His parents were Kusujiro and Masu Uyemura. He was listed as having Japanese nationality.

George enlisted with the US armed forces on 27th October, 1941. During 1941 he was to be married to Ruby Shizue Uyemura. They were to have three children - Daniel (1945), David (1948) and John (1953) - tragically John was to die at the age of 50 in 2003. Ruby had passed away in 1998.

S/Sgt. Uyemura was assigned to the 443rd Sub Depot on 31st December 1943. The 443rd had arrived in the UK mid-January 1943, and was at the time called the 6th Service Squadron. Under the leadership of Major John H. Humphries, the 443rd was created and arrived at Grafton Underwood, ahead of the 384th Bomb Group. The 443rd was split into two separate functions - engineering and supply. Their role was to keep everything working, and to maintain the logistical supply to ensure this could happen.

In his role as a Quartermaster Supply Technician, S/Sgt. Uyemura would have dealt with receipt of goods and materials into the base, their subsequent storage and issue, and all other duties in relation to a warehousing role today.

On 15th April 1945 S/Sgt. Uyemura was transferred to 665th Air Materiel Squadron, a component of the 418th Air Service Group that would eventually accompany the 384th when their move to Istres, France was made after the end of hostilities.

During his time at Grafton Underwood, it is recorded that S/Sgt. Uyemura was a visitor to the Clarke family in Islip, a village in Northamptonshire a few miles from Grafton Underwood. He would visit with some other personnel, including S/Sgt. Charles V. Renshaw, and often stay overnight with the family on days off - a fortnightly Christian meeting organised by Claude Clarke being the reason for their visit to the village. The photograph on this page show a group of servicemen with local villagers, including Claude Clarke.

After the war S/Sgt. Uyemura was to return to America. In 1950 he is shown to be a Minister in Fresno, California and by 1953, he is listed as a Minister in Denver, Colorado. His obituary also details of time spent in Ontario, Oakland, Spokane, Seattle and finally Portland.

George was to pass away on 12th March 2008, and is buried in Willamette National Cemetery, Portland, Oregon.

Research courtesy of Keith Andrews on behalf of 384th Bombardment Group Museum.

With kind thanks to the 384th Bomb Group website (384thbombgroup.com) for permission in using material from their records in the making of this story. It holds a wealth of information, documents and photographs of their activities during World War 2.

Further information courtesy of www.newspapers.com and www.fold3.com