William H Wheeler
MilitaryNARA Ref 342-FH-3A10658-C62772AC.
Captain Wheeler was on his 24th mission when he was shot down. He was held at Stalag Luft III until moved to Moosburg from where he was liberated on 29th April 1945 by the American 7th Army.
On his return to London that May he married Mary Chapman with whom he had two sons.
He stayed on in the Air Force serving with the 17th Bomber Wing in Korea, then with the Third Air Force back in the UK. In July 1961 he was Colonel and Deputy Wing Commander of the 100th Bomb Wing at Pease AFB in New Hampshire before his retirement in 1965. For the next fifteen years he was with General Electric Naval Ordnance Division in Pittsfield MA.
The family then moved back to New Hampshsire and Wheeler wrote two books about his experiences 'Bomber Pilot' and 'Shootdown'; the latter covering his time as a POW.
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
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 324th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39392007
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Our Gang
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 324th Bomb Squadron
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Germany | 17 August 1943 - 29 April 1945 | Shot down 17 August 1943 in B-17 42-5069 'Our Gang. ' |
Born |
Revisions
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia;
www.446bg.com ;
Biography completed by historian Helen Millgate. Information sourced from newsletters of the 91st Bomb Group related to the service of William Wheeler.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 281 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database