Ewald Anton Mast was born in Germany on December 3rd, 1922. He is the son of Albert and Rosa Karscher Mast and the oldest of three siblings. His younger brother Curt Albert Mast was born on March 1924 and is married with three children, Curt is also a WWII veteran and served as an electrician second class aboard the USS Razorback submarine. His younger sister Rosa Bertha Mast was born on June 1926 and passed away on July 2000, Rosa Bertha was married and had three children; Christina Julia Mast was born on July 1928, she is widowed with four children. Just like Ewald, his siblings were all born in Germany. Ewald's father Albert Mast died in 1967 and his mother Rosa Karscher Mast died in 1966.
Albert Mast worked as a German national in England when World War I broke out. He spent the entire conflict as a prisoner working as a cook in an English POW camp, on the Isle of Man.
Albert Mast first arrived to the United States, and later in 1929 Rosa Mast and the four children came through Ellis Island on board the USS Deutschland. The family first settled in the Bronx of New York, and then they moved to Long Island, New York. The family next moved to Rhode Island and eventually settled in North Stonington, Connecticut, where Ewald resided there for 15 years. Many of Albert and Rosa Mast's descents still remain in North Stonington, Connecticut.
Ewald and Curt Albert Mast began their education in kindergarten and within a year Ewald was placed in second grade. Ewald graduate from Westerly High School in 1940 and went to Rhode Island State College for two years before entering into the service. While in college, he received a private pilot's license and had offices qualifications, however because he was foreign born. He was disqualified from serving in that capacity.
Ewald joined the Army Air Corps on January 30th, 1942 and trained at camps in California, Texas and Virginia. On December 30th, 1942 he enlisted into the Harlingen Aerial Gunnery School and on November 13th, 1943 he graduated from the school. He qualified as the "Sharpshooters of the Sky" and received a pair of aerial gunner's wings at a brief graduation exercise. He went overseas early in 1944.
Ewald was serving in the Burma Theater, and at the same time he was flying missions over the South China Sea. His younger brother Curt, mentioned earlier, was serving on the USS Razorback patrolling the area between Formosa and the Chinese mainland.
During the 14th Army Air Force's combat flight over Formosa on the night of August 31, 1944, Ewald was aboard, and he and his crew were reported missing. The American crew was ordered to go on a special mission to clear out an important enemy installation, but the crew failed to come back. Ewald was 21 years old at the time of this mission.
Ewald's parents were notified that he was missing in action (MIA), and then declared killed in action (KIA) by the way of Western Union telegraphs delivered by two U.S. Army personnel to their home in North Stonington. Curt was notified about his brother's status when he returned from patrol. Curt was granted a 30 day emergency leave, returning to the mainland on the first submarine back.
There is a Veterans of Foreign Wars memorial in North Stonington, Connecticut. Ewald's name is inscribed on that memorial, and there is also an unmarked grave in the U.S. Cemetery in the Philippines in honor of Ewald.
-This information was provided by Ed Mast, son of Curt Albert Mast, for the Remembering Shared Honor website.
The following information is provided by the National WWII Memorial website.
ID: 31247318
Entered the Service From: Rhode Island
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Service: U.S. Army Air Forces, 425th Bomber Squadron, 308th Bomber Group, Heavy
Died: Thursday, August 31, 1944
Memorialized at: Manila American Cemetery
Location: Fort Bonifacio, Manila, Philippines
Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart
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Today's military genealogy…
Today's military genealogy story is about Staff Sergeant Ewald Anton Mast, S/N 31247318, United States Army Air Forces, who was killed in action near Takao, Formosa (now Taiwan), on August 31, 1944.
Ewald Anton Mast was born at Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on December 3, 1922. He was the son of Albert Mast (1894-1970) and Rosa Berta (Karcher) Mast (1894-1964). His two siblings were: Curt Albert Mast (1924-2016), Rosy Bertha (Mast) McGowan (1926-2001), and Christine Julia (Mast) Gray (1928-2014).
Ewald's father, Anton Mast, emigrated from his home at Bruchsal, Baden-Württemberg, Germany to Canada. He made the journey without his wife and children. On July 25, 1928, Anton departed Hamburg, Germany, on the passenger ship S.S. Westphalia and arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on August 5, 1928.
Ewald (Age 6), his mother, and siblings left their home at Bruchsal, Baden-Württemberg, Germany on September 13, 1929, and went to Hamburg, Germany, where they embarked as 3rd Class passengers in the passenger ship S.S. Deutschland for their journey to the United States. The S.S. Deutschland departed Hamburg on October 4, 1929 and arrived at New York City.
The reunited Mast family resided in New York and eventually found their way to Rhode Island. By the time of the 1940 United States Federal Census, the Mast family was living on East Beach Road, Charlestown, Washington County, Rhode Island.
Ewald registered for the Selective Service (draft) at the Washington County Courthouse at Westerly, Rhode Island, on June 30, 1942. He resided with his parents at Rural Free Delivery #2, Westerly, Washington County, Rhode Island. He was employed at the Ye Old Wilcox Tavern, Rural Free Delivery, Bradford, Washington County, Rhode Island.
Ewald Anton Mast enlisted as a Private in the United States Army (unspecified branch) at Providence, Providence County, Rhode Island, on December 30, 1942. At the time of his enlistment, he was an unemployed 20 year old, single (without dependents), white, male, with brown hair, brown eyes, and a ruddy complexion. Ewald was 5' 11" tall and weighing 170 pounds. He had completed two years college prior to his entry into the U.S. Army.
Mast became a member of the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) sometime in 1943. He was trained as an aircraft engineer on B-24 Liberator heavy bombers. At some point, he was assigned to the 425th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 308th Bombardment Group (Heavy), Fourteenth Air Force, and sent overseas to China.
The 425th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) was constituted on January 28, 1942 and activated at Gowen Field, Idaho, on April 15, 1942. Prior to April 22, 1942 they had been known as the 425th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy). The squadron was assigned to the 308th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on April 15, 1942. The squadron had already moved overseas to Kunming, China, by the time that Ewald joined the USAAF. The squadron flew B-24 Liberator heavy bombers.
Ewald and his fellow airmen embarked in their B-24J (44-40783) at Liuchow Airfield, China, on August 31, 1944 for a combat mission targeting shipping in the harbor at the Imperial Japanese Navy base at Takao, Formosa (now Kaohsiung, Taiwan). Their B-24J Liberator was shot down by a highly decorated Japanese fighter ace named Takeo Tanimizu who was flying a A6M Zero fighter. Tanimizo attacked two B-24's from that mission on that evening.
Ewald Mast's B-24J (44-40783) was severely damaged by Tanimizu's attack and caught fire. Mast and several other crewmen bailed out of the falling aircraft and were fired upon by Japanese forces. The aircraft crashed into the open sea. Only one man aboard, Captain George K. O'Neil (attached from the 14th Air Force), survived the incident. He was taken by the Japanese and became a prisoner of war. All of the other men were listed as "missing in action."
Ewald Mast's and his crew mates' military status was changed to "killed in action, bodies unrecoverable" on November 1, 1947. Mast remembered on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery at Fort William McKinley, Manila, the Philippines.
Ewald Mast is also remembered on his parent's headstone at the Union Cemetery, North Stonington, New London County, Connecticut.
Ewald Mast was the recipient of the Air Medal and the Purple Heart Medal (Posthumous).
Rhode Island State College …
Rhode Island State College