Franklin Fred Bartz
Second Lieutenant Franklin F. Bartz was a Marine fighter pilot assigned to VMF-911.
He was killed in a mid-air collision while on a training flight near Cape Lookout, North Carolina, on 15 May 1945.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number O-36302
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
CONUS Loss
Because this individual died within the limits of the continental United States, they are not tracked by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
December 10, 1920
at Torrance, CA
Parents
John Oscar Bartz
Margaret Bertha (Schuske) Bartz
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Grocery Clerk
Safeway Stores, Inc.
Service Life
Entered Service
Enlistment date unknown
Commission March 29, 1944
Home Of Record
6611 West 83rd Street
Los Angeles, CA
Next Of Kin
Parents, John & Margaret Bartz
Military Specialty
Pilot
Assistant Parachute Officer
Primary Unit
VMF-911
Campaigns Served
—
Individual Decorations
—
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
2Lt. Franklin Bartz earned his Marine commission and pilot’s wings at NATC Corpus Christi. After additional training in Jacksonville, Florida and Oak Grove, North Carolina, he joined VMF-911 at MCAS Cherry Point. This squadon, aptly nicknamed the “Devilcats,” was the second to receive the sleek, twin-engine Grumman F7F “Tigercat” fighter. Training flights with the new planes began in February, 1945.
On 15 May 1945, Bartz took off from Cherry Point in F7F-1 #80292. The day’s training schedule for Tigercat pilots included “eight masthead bombing [missions], five over water navigation, four sector search, and four night flights.” It is not known which exercise Bartz performed, but it would be his last: his Tigercat collided with F7F-3 #80371 approximately 70 miles east of Cape Lookout, North Carolina. The other pilot, 2Lt. John B. Merryman, parachuted to safety and was picked up by a Martin PBM Mariner flying boat.
No trace of Lieutenant Bartz could be found. He was posted as missing after the collision; repeated searches over the next several days were unsuccessful, and it was ultimately decided that Bartz died in the collision.
Burial Information or Disposition
None; remains not recovered.
Memorials
No known memorials.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of parents, John & Margaret Bartz
Location Of Loss
Approximate location of the crash, as recorded by aviationarchaeology.com
Period records indicate a distance of 66 – 71 miles from Cape Lookout.
