Gene Fellmeth
Ballplayers Wounded in Combat
| Date and Place of Birth: | December 14, 1924 Massillon, OH |
| Date and Place of Death: | March 18, 2013 Canal Fulton, OH |
| Baseball Experience: | Minor League |
| Position: | First Base/Outfield |
| Rank: | Staff Sergeant |
| Military Unit: | 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group US Army Air Force |
| Area Served: | European Theater of Operations |
Eugene M. "Gene" Fellmeth, son of William and Rowena Fellmeth, was born
on December 14, 1924, in Massillon, Ohio. He grew up in Canal Fulton,
Ohio, where his father ran a confectionary store, and attended Canal
Fulton High School, where he played baseball, football and basketball.
Upon graduation in 1942, Fellmeth attended Wittenberg College (now
Wittenberg University) in Springfield, Ohio, where he continued to play
baseball and basketball.
Fellmeth worked for the Firestone Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio, during
the summer, and entered military service on August 21, 1943. Serving
with the Army Air Force, he trained at St. Louis, Missouri, and Las
Vegas, Nevada, where he received his gunner's wings in November 1943. He
then trained at Tampa, Florida, and Gulfport, Mississippi, before
leaving for duty overseas with the 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group
at Thorpe Abbotts in Norfolk, England.
Staff Sergeant Fellmeth was a tail gunner on a Boeing B-17G Flying
Fortress, starting October 28, 1944, and the 100th Bomb Group was known
as "The Bloody Hundredth", because of its reputation for losing a high
number of aircraft and crews.
On December 31, 1944, Fellmeth's B-17, "Humpty Dumpty," was shot down on
the 13th mission over Hamburg, Germany. The plane took a direct hit
during its bomb run, which knocked out the electricity and power, as
well as the number #1 and #4 engines. The crew successfully bailed out
and were immediately taken prisoner by the Germans. They were taken to
an interrogation center in Oberursel, near Frankfurt, before being sent
to Stalag Luft I, near Barth, on the Baltic Sea.
Prior to this mission, Fellmeth had been awarded the Air Medal for
"exceptionally meritorious achievement." The medal had been sent home
and as his younger brother, William, Jr., was unwrapping the package, a
telegram was received from the War Department to say that Gene was
missing in action.
Stalag I was liberated by the Russians in May 1945, and Fellmeth
returned home to the United States. He graduated from Wittenberg in
1948, and was selected as an All-Ohio basketball player in 1947 and
1948, as well as All-Ohio Conference 1946-1948. In 1949, the 24-year-old
first baseman/outfielder signed with the Portsmouth A's - a Philadelphia
Athletics farm team in the Class D Ohio-Indiana League. Fellmeth played
77 games and batted .240. He was back with Portsmouth in 1950, but
realised his future wasn't in baseball. he graduated from Cleveland
Marshall Law School (now Cleveland State University) in 1951, and was
admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1951, and was a practicing lawyer from 1951
to 1983.
During his time practicing law, Fellmeth was a Prosecutor for Massillon
Municipal Court in 1953, Law Director for the Village of Canal Fulton in
1954, and then again from 1960 to 1974, Mayor for the Village of Canal
Fulton from 1955 to 1959, and 1975 to 1983, Law Director for the Village
of Navarre in 1965, and Recorder of Stark County from 1980 to 1983. He
was later elected Judge of Massillon Municipal Court where he served
from 1983 until his retirement in 1996. After retirement he served as an
Active Retired Visiting Judge.
Gene Fellmeth, who was inducted into the Wittenberg University Athletic
Hall of Honor in 1988, passed away on March 18, 2013, in Canal Fulton,
Ohio. He was 88 years old and is buried Canal Fulton Cemetery.
Date Added January 30, 2018
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