CPL Wimburne Mitchell Phinney

courtesy of the Phinney family

CPL Wimburne Mitchell Phinney was born 15 Mar 1923 in South Farmington, Nova Scotia, Canada. He was the eldest of the 4 children born to Henry Maxwell and Elizabeth Johnston (Mitchell) Phinney. His father was a native of Nova Scotia and his mother a native of England. The family moved to Massachusetts in 1928 and lived in Burlington then Melrose where all 4 children attended Melrose High School. It was noted in the high school annual for Wimburne's senior year that he wanted to join the Royal Air Force. He was still a Canadian citizen at the time. His father worked as a carpenter and general contractor but reported a 1939 income of only $323 although he owned the home at 160 Main Street in Melrose which was valued at $4500 in 1940.

Wimburne was a carpenter's apprentice when he was drafted in April 1943. He was sent to Europe after his basic military training and on 4 Sep 1944 was transferred from the replacement depot to Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2nd Battalion 116th Infantry which then attacking Brest. CPL Phinney's military occupational specialty (MOS) is recorded as 803-field musician which means he was the company bugler but really was mostly a messenger/runner and support for the operations of the battalion. CPL Phinney was killed in action on 7 Oct 1944 in the vicinity of Kerkrade, Holland.

CPL Phinney rests forever in the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery.

Brother, Keith L. Phinney, was a B-17 bomber pilot during the war.