Nial Sherwood, Jr.
Second Lieutenant Nial Sherwood, Jr. was a Marine Corps pilot who flew with VMSB-142.
He died in a training accident near Espiritu Santo on 1 December 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number O-13380
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
August 19, 1918
at New York, NY
Parents
Nial Sherwood, Sr.
Helen Young (Gray) Sherwood
Education
Liberty High School
Cornell University (1941)
Occupation
Law student at Cornell
Service Life
Entered Service
November 6, 1941 (enlisted)
August 18, 1942 (commission)
Home Of Record
15 Delaware Avenue
Liberty, NY
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Helen Sherwood
Specialty
Pilot
Primary Unit
VMSB-142
Campaigns Served
None
Individual Decorations
—
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Second Lieutenant Nial Sherwood, Jr. was a Marine Corps dive-bomber pilot. After flight school in Miami and advanced training in California, Sherwood joined VMSB-142 and deployed overseas. The squadron arrived at Espiritu Santo in the fall of 1942, and began making final preparations for a planned combat tour in the Solomon Islands.
On the morning of 1 December 1942, Sherwood and Private John J. Hofrichter, Jr. boarded an SBD-type bomber and took off for a routine dive-bombing practice flight. Due to a tragic mishap of unknown cause, their plane failed to recover from a dive and crashed into the waters of St. Philip & St. James Bay. No trace of either Marine could be located after the crash.
Sherwood and Hofrichter were carried on muster rolls as “missing, not in action” until June of 1943, at which point they were officially declared dead.
Burial Information or Disposition
None; aircraft crashed in water, and remains were not recovered.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Helen Sherwood.
Location Of Loss
Approximate location of the crash, “in St. Philip & St. James Bay, 300 yards northwest of River Jordan, Espiritu Santo.”
