Tazwell B Wingfield
MilitaryTaz's daughter added this.
INT Had mechanical failure and landed in Switzerland on 7/12/44 in B-17 'Gloria' #42102457
My father enlisted because he didn't want to be drafted. He had worked at a newspaper and liked to paint and draw cartoons. While a Swiss internee, he learned German, was involved in a Methodist church, painted, and ice skated a lot. He later used the GI bill to obtain 2 college degrees in education from Florida Southern College and Stetson University. He had a career as an elementary school teacher and principal in central Florida. After retirement, he had a vegetable garden, researched his family tree (whose Wingfields actually originated in Suffolk, England--where he flew from), and joined the Swiss internees association. He was a Sunday School superintendent in the Methodist Church in Tavares, Florida for 36 years. If not for WWII, he would not have met my mother while on R&R in Miami for just two weeks. His last station was in Texas (San Antonio, I believe) and while there, wrote to propose marriage--she also accepted by letter. They were married during a hurricane on September 15, 1945 in Miami.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 94th Bomb Group 410th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 94th Bomb Group 410th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Filthy Hag aka Gloria
- Unit: 94th Bomb Group 410th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 12 July 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Rougham
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Pax, WV, USA | 22 October 1920 | Born in Pax, WV. Enlisted while living in Beckley, WV; later address of parents changed to Baltimore, MD. |
Other Married |
Miami, FL, USA | 15 September 1945 | |
Died Interned (INT) |
Eustis, FL, USA | 15 April 1995 - 12 July 1944 | Died in Eustis, Florida. Buried in Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell. |
Buried |
6502 SW 102nd Ave, Bushnell, FL 33513, USA |
Revisions
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 7510 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database