William Gerard Logan
Militarypage 15 of German report KU-3652 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/147913838
Assigned to 602BS, 398BG, 8AF USAAF. 26+ combat missions. Shot down near Kahlstorf (Lehmke), Germany, 3-Feb-45, in B-17 'Maude an Maria' 42-97387. Prisoner of War (POW).
Killed on outskirts of Nuremberg, Germany, by strafing American P-47s during a forced march. Died as a Prisoner of War. His remains were never recovered and, strangely, he is not listed as Missing In Action at https://www.dpaa.mil/Our-Missing/World-War-II/Service-Personnel-Not-Rec…, either for New York or any other State...
Fellow POW 2nd Lt Virgil W. Ethridge, who was on the forced march with Bill Egan, wrote “Time Out”, a 1997 privately published memoir. Quoted from his story in John Nichol and Tony Rennell’s book ”The Last Escape” (Viking Penguin, USA, 2003), mentioning in their Chapter 10 : “As more and more camps in Western Germany fell to the advancing Americans, the prisoners of war from Nuremberg were still strung out on the road south. (Ethridge): “We know we are headed for Bavaria, but we don’t know exactly where.” (Last Escape): “But this time there was a different danger. They had left the British and American bombers – the Lancaster's and Flying Fortresses – behind at Nuremberg, but not the fighter planes. There was a rumour that word had somehow been sent to Allied headquarters alerting them to this column of prisoners of war. If so, the information had not been passed on to the American P-47 pilots now overhead.
Bill Ethridge quote : “The planes were upon us and firing! I was walking on the outside of the column and I hit the ditch as soon as I heard it. Bullets rained down along the road where we had been and some clipped leaves off the trees above our heads. Several men were hit and subsequently bandaged with socks, twine and whatever strips of cloth could be made. One man was killed.” It was found later that this man was William Logan… as recorded in fellow POW Sgt Richard G. Chapple's statement on page 19 of MACR 12044 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/91120167
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 398th Bomb Group 602nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 12125236 / O-828397
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 398th Bomb Group 602nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 38554582
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 398th Bomb Group 602nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 35893396
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 398th Bomb Group 602nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39695900
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 398th Bomb Group 602nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 16167048 / O-825668
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Maude an Maria
- Unit: 398th Bomb Group 602nd Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 3 February 1945
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Brooklyn, New York, USA | 1 January 1919 | Husband of Mary E Logan. |
Enlisted |
New York City, NY | 2 July 1943 | New York City, New York |
Died |
Nuremberg, Germany | 4 April 1945 | Killed by friendly fire from US P-47s on a forced march, 5 miles South of Nuremberg (see page 19 of MACR 12044 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/91120167 ) |
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Germany | Captured on 6-Feb-45 in Rassen (Uelsen), Germany. Sent to Oberursel for interrogation. NARA WWII POW record : "Interned in Germany. Reported on 9 July 1945 as Died as a Prisoner of War." | |
Based |
Nuthampstead | 3 February 1945 | Assigned to 602BS, 398BG, 8AF USAAF. |
Revisions
Statement of fellow POW Sgt Richard G. Chapple about the death of William Logan. From page 19 of MACR 12044 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/91120167
John Nichol and Tony Rennell’s book ”The Last Escape” (Viking Penguin, USA, 2003), Chapter 10 .
NARA file verified AM w/3 oak leaf clusters. Without personnel records it is unknown how many campaigns he participated in regarding the EAME Campaign Medal but it was at least one.
MACR 12214
MACR 12044
German report KU-3652 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/147913838 (NARA)
https://www.fold3.com/image/46713496
https://www.fold3.com/image/310770546
https://www.fold3.com/record/86680088-william-g-logan
https://www.fold3.com/page/640690493-william-g-logan/facts
Mission to Berlin: The American Airmen Who Struck the Heart of Hitler's Reich By Robert F. Dorr
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 12214 / MACR 12214, MACR 12214, Mention in Hell from Heaven: Memoirs of a WW II B-17 Bombardier by Streitfeld with picture of some crew members on p. 115 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database