George Moffat was born to Ethel and James Moffat in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, on 5 March 1917. His mother passed away in 1918 when George was only eighteen months old; the following year, James emigrated to Canada with his young son in tow. They eventually arrived in the United States: in 1930, George was living with his grandparents in Lorain, Ohio.

George graduated from Lorain High School in 1935, and went on to attend Wittenberg University. The burly young man was a heavyweight wrestler and a member of the varsity football squad.

By 1940, Moffat was living with his father in Brooklyn and working as an apprentice shipfitter. This was a trade learned from his grandfather Walter, a former shipbuilder, with whom George lived in Ohio.

Working in a shipyard likely influenced George to join the Marine Corps; he enlisted on 14 August 1940 and joined the Reserve Aviation Unit stationed at Floyd Bennett Field. After a year of tough training, Moffat earned his pilot’s wings and a commission as a second lieutenant in the regular Marine Corps on 7 August 1941.

Moffat was sent to Texas for duty with the barracks detachment of Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. He remained aboard over the start of World War II and into early 1943. While in Texas, Moffat advanced in rank to captain – and, on 23 May 1942, married Johanna Sadowski in Nueces. Johanna was a saleswoman from Sunset Park; she knew George from his shipfitting days, and traveled to Texas for the wedding. Their son Richard would be born in Brooklyn on 17 May 1943.

In the summer of 1943, George Moffat was promoted to major and transferred to California for duty with a combat squadron. He joined VMF-211 – a veteran squadron made famous for their stand at Wake Island – shortly before they deployed overseas. Moffat was assigned as the gunnery and ordnance officer.

VMF-211 arrived in the Russell Islands in October 1943, and began flying missions over Bougainville in preparation for an invasion.

On 3 November 1943, Major Moffat and six other VMF-211 pilots took off for a patrol over Empress Augusta Bay. They were instructed to fly cover for Allied ships supporting the invasion of Cape Torokina, Bougainville.

Over Cape Moltke, the Marines spotted a large number of Japanese aircraft heading for the fleet. In the ensuing dogfight, VMF-211 claimed three Zeroes shot down – but Major Moffatt (F4U-1 17559) and First Lieutenant Robert V. Hatfield (F4U-1 17643) failed to return.

Search flights spotted some floating wreckage off Cape Moltke, but no trace of Hatfield or Moffat was ever found. Both Marines were declared dead on 4 November 1944.

CENOTAPHS
Manila American Cemetery & Memorial