Carter Woodruff Harp was born on 24 November 1908 in River Falls, Covington County, Alabama, USA, the eldest of the five children of Euchee Woodruff Harp (1872-1952) and Rosa Lee Harp née Carter (1887-1977). His four siblings were: Leila Belle Harp (1912-1970), Franklin Dallas Harp (1914-1934), Clarence Dixon Harp (1917-1994) and Martha Louise Harp (1920-2008).
The United States Federal Census return in 1910 shows him living in Coleman, Chattahoochee National Forest, Randolph County, Georgia, USA, but by the time of the 1920 census he was residing in Cusseta, Chattahoochee County, Georgia.
On 22 May 1937 he married Helen June Loux (1918-2008) in Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, USA. Marriage Index Reports show that his address was 1582, Fourteenth Avenue, Columbus, Georgia, USA and that he was employed as a Forrester Foreman in the Georgia Power Company. Our Picture Source gives much information about this man.
The American Air Museum in Britain website confirms that he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force on 8 October 1940 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He commenced his training at No.1 Service Flying Training School at Camp Borden, Ontario, before coming to England as a Pilot Officer, service number J/15389 and attached to the Royal Air Force's No.133 Eagle Squadron.
On 16 March 1941 both he and Pilot Officer Hugh Card Brown were flying their aeroplanes in a weather test where visibility was nil and P/O Brown was lost. He was credited with a damaged Messerschmitt Bf 109 on 19 May 1941 over Calais, France and two Focke-Wulf 190's destroyed about 10 miles north-west of Fécamp, France, on 19 May 1942.
The Aircrew Remembered website confirms that on 31 July 1942 he was assigned to operation Circus 201 that involved escorting bomber aircraft with a target of Le Crotoy when they sustained massive losses. They were attacked by Focke-Wulf 190 aeroplanes of Jagdgeschwader 26. His Supermarine Spitfire Mark Vb aeroplane, serial number BL982, was shot down and he was killed, aged 33 years. His body was buried in Plot 13, Row C, Grave 5, in the Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, 42 Rue de Dringhen, 62200 Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.
He is also commemorated with a memorial stone in Section 12 of the Riverdale Cemetery, 1000 Victory Drive, Columbus, GA 31901, Georgia, USA, on Page 79 of the Canadian Government's Second World War Book of Remembrance, on the memorial at St George’s RAF Chapel of Remembrance at Biggin Hill airport in Kent and on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's website. He is shown as P/O Carter Harp on the Eagle Squadrons war memorial in Grosvenor Square, London, W1.
Also killed in action on the same operation were Pilot Officer Grant Eugene Eichar and Flight Lieutenant Coburn Clark King. Pilot Officer Edwin Dale Taylor was also shot down and wounded.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
