James Fenly Spear, Jr.

James Fenly Spear, Jr. Image Source: Tecoan 1942. UA50-01. University Archives, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

James Fenly Spear, Jr., was born in 1922, the second child and only son of James Fenly Spear, Sr. (1889-1928) and his wife Nellie Atwater Spear (1892-1982). In the 1920s, the family lived in Greenville. Mrs. Spear worked as a dietician at ECTC’s cafeteria but later moved, following her husband’s death in 1928, to Chapel Hill, her birthplace, where she managed the Chapel Hill cafeteria. Reportedly, Mrs. Spear was “prepared for the work by two years of study of dietetics and household economics,” presumably at ECTC. Her move back to Chapel Hill enabled her son to graduate from Chapel Hill High School in 1939.

Fenly Spear returned to Greenville to study at ECTC from 1940-1942, majoring in science and mathematics. He was a member of the ECTC drama club, Chi Pi, and did “skilled work as a photographer” for Chi Pi and the campus yearbook, the Tecoan. While at ECTC, Spear got his pilot’s license through the Civilian Pilot Training Program coordinated through the college.

Spear also studied aeronautical engineering at N.C. State College before being called to active duty in the Army Air Force in February 1942. In August, he was assigned to Ellington Field, Houston, Texas, for training in aerial navigation, and received his commission in 1944 at Hondo Field, Hondo, Texas. Soon after, he was stationed in England as a navigator on a B-17 Flying Fortress.

On June 20, 1944, Spear, 21, went missing in action. It soon became clear that on that date, Spear had met his death while returning from a mission over Madgeburg, Germany. The B-17 he was navigating apparently had its engines shot out over Germany, forcing it to crash land on the North Sea. Seven of the crew of 10 were rescued, including the pilot, Lt. Joseph L. Patrick, who wrote to Spear’s mother explaining, “The boys and I have lost a very great friend and wonderful navigator. They all agree when I say that we owe our lives to the fact that he did such a wonderful job navigating us out of Germany.”

In a sad twist of fate, the War Department misinformed Spear’s mother just before Christmas that her son had not been killed but instead captured and was a prisoner of war in Germany. The War Department was egregiously mistaken.

Spears was awarded posthumously the Air Medal and the Purple Heart. His mother honored his memory at ECTC by establishing the Fenly Spear Memorial Scholarship, awarded annually “to a senior science major who has an outstanding record in scholarship, leadership, and good citizenship.” Spear was buried in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery, near his father’s grave.

Sources:

• “Chapel Hill Airman Described As Hero.” Herald-Sun. July 15, 1945. P. 22.
• “Dies In Holland.” Herald-Sun. July 25, 1944. P. 5.
• “Fenley Spear Killed in Action.” Chapel Hill News. July 28, 1944. P. 1.
• “Fenly Spear Memorial Scholarship Awarded.” Charlotte Observer. October 31, 1945. P. 3.
• “Fenly Spear Memorial Award Goes This Year To Miss Sarah McKenzie.” Daily Times-News. October 30, 1945. P. 5.
• “In Memoriam.” Teco Echo. October 28, 1944. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37943
• “List of Chapel Hill Men Lost in World War.” Chapel Hill News. May 24, 1946. P. 4.
• “Lt. J. F. Spear, II, Killed In Action.” News and Observer. July 23, 1944. P. 10.
• “Many Servicemen Visiting Relatives At Chapel Hill; Other Personal Notes.” Herald-Sun. August 15, 1943. P. 18.
• “Plan Memorial For War Dead.” Durham Sun. May 25, 1946. P. 9.
• “Spear Missing Since Plane Was Shot Down.” Chapel Hill News. July 7, 1944. P. 1.
• “Spear, Thought Dead, Is Prisoner of War.” Chapel Hill News. January 5, 1945. P. 1.
• “The School Cafeteria.” Chapel Hill News. August 29, 1930. P. 5.

Related Materials

James Fenly Spear, Jr. Image Source: North Carolina State University, and University of North Carolina (1793-1962). 1943. Agromeck. Raleigh, N.C.: Student Publication Authority, North Carolina State University.

James Fenly Spear, Jr. Image Source: Teco Echo, October 28, 1944. East Carolina University Campus Newspapers. UA50-05. University Archives, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

James Fenly Spear, Jr. Image Source: Herald-Sun. July 25, 1944. P. 5.

James Fenly Spear, Jr’s Draft Registration Card. Image Source: U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947.Ancestry.com

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