William Douglas Whitson

Military
media-22628.jpeg UPL 22628 Capt. William Douglas Whitson after being decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross at Chelveston, England on 25 July 1943 for his actions on 25 May 1943 whilst piloting the B-17 # 42-29623 named "Old Bill". He successfully landed his crippled aircraft having had the nose of the plane shot off, bombardier killed, and he and his co-pilot wounded.

U.S., Find A Grave Memorial # 75868023 (biography)

Object Number - UPL 22628 - Capt. William Douglas Whitson after being decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross at Chelveston, England on 25 July 1943 for his actions on 25...

Assigned to 422BS, 305BG, 8AF USAAF. Wounded along with Co-pilot when 20mm round from enemy fighter exploded in nose of B-17 42-29673 'Old Bill', 15-May-43. Bombardier flew back to base where Capt Whitson landed the damaged A/C. Later with 3 engines out performed deadstick landing in B-17 42-29870 'Big Moose' at RAF Heston.



Awards: DFC, PH, WWII Victory, EAME.

Connections

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Units served with

Unofficial emblem, 305th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Old Bill
  • Unit: 305th Bomb Group 365th Bomb Squadron 422nd Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Big Moose
  • Unit: 305th Bomb Group 384th Bomb Group 365th Bomb Squadron 545th Bomb Squadron 379th Bomb Group

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Denton, TX, USA 25 March 1920 Son of Warren P Snr and Oda Jo [McDade] Whitson.

Enlisted

Dallas, TX, USA 14 July 1941

Other

Combat damaged

Chelveston, Wellingborough NN9 6AN, UK 15 May 1943 Wounded along with Co-pilot when 20mm round from enemy fighter exploded in nose of B-17 42-29673 'Old Bill', 15-May-43. Bombardier flew back to base where he landed the damaged A/C.

Died

Denton County, TX, USA 30 August 2011

Based

Chelveston Assigned to 422BS, 305BG, 8AF USAAF.

Other

Combat damaged

Heston, Hounslow TW5 0RD, UK With 3 engines out performed deadstick landing in B-17 42-29870 'Big Moose' at RAF Heston.

Other

Pilot training

San Diego, CA, USA Basic flight training - Ryan School of Aeronautics in San Diego.

Other

Pilot training

Stockton, CA, USA Advanced flight training - Stockton, California.

Buried

3801 Roselawn Dr, Denton, TX 76207, USA Roselawn Memorial Park Denton, Texas

Revisions

Date
Contributormillebr
Changes
Sources

Fold3.com; Ancestry.com

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol. I by Bishop & Hey pp. 122-3

William Douglas Whitson: Gallery (6 items)