William E Roach

Military

On 7-Nov-43 as the pilot of P-47D 42-22490 [OS:U] "Beetle", 355FG/358FS he was despatched with other P-47s form the 355FG to provide escort to B-26 bombers of 9th Air Force attacking German airfields at Montdidier and Meulan, France. On the return the flight ran into headwinds of over 100mph which caused excessive fule consumption. His aircraft ran out of fuel and he made a forced landing at the German airfield at Caen, France and was captured.

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

Aircraft

42-22490

  • Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
  • Nicknames: Beetle
  • Unit: 355th Fighter Group 358th Fighter Squadron

Missions

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

Barth, Germany 7 November 1943 - 12 June 1945 Held at Stalag Luft 1, Barth-Voglesang, Prussia. Officially Returned to Military Control (RMC) 12-Jun-45.

Born

Revisions

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 10-Jul-2015, Added decoration and POW event per National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database; Made connections to Place, aircraft and Mission per MACR 1281; Added Summary Biography based on "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces", Stan Bishop & John A. Hey.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

1996 355TH FG Assoc. Directory MACR 1281 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 1281 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list