William E Shields Jr

Military

Shot down by flak and fighters on a mission to the Marshalling Yards at Frankfurt on 4 Feb 1944 in B-17G #42-38030 'The Merry Widow', Prisoner of War (POW).



William (Tex) Shields

Radio Operator/Gunner, 337th Sqdn., 96th Bomb Group, Snetterton Heath, England



Tex flew 20 missions, he was wounded on the October 8th mission to Bremen. On his 20th mission (Frankfurt, Germany) February 4, 1944 his plane was shot down. He was initially sent to Stalag Luft 6 at Heydekrug, Germany. He was transferred to Stalag Luft 4 and then to Stalag Luft 6 at Barth where he was liberated in May of 1945 when Russian troops captured the camp.



Tex was flown back to Camp Lucky Strike near Paris by the 91st Bomb Group. In June he returned to the states and was discharged in September of 1945.









Connections

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Units served with

The insignia of the 96th Bomb Group.

96th Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

42-38030

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: The Merry Widow
  • Unit: 305th Bomb Group 96th Bomb Group 337th Bomb Squadron

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Other

Prisoner of war

4 February 1944

Born

Fort Worth, Texas Stalag Luft 4 Gross-Tychow (formerly Heydekrug) Pomerania, Prussia (moved to Wobbelin Bei Ludwigslust) (To Usedom Bei Savenmunde) 54-16

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added POW camp information to the POW event and a S/N per WW2 POW records at the National Archives (NARA).

Date
Contributorjmoore43
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Added a "-" to the A/C serial # in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.

Date
Contributorjmoore43
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Added "Possible DUPLICATE" in the Nickname field so an Admin can check out this person.

Date
Contributorjmoore43
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Added a connection to A/C #42-38030 listed in the "Summary biography".

Date
Contributor[email protected]
Changes
Sources

Sources: Several bios Tex provided the 8th Air Force Historical Society chapter. lda 3/22/16

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 2195, Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces; Snetterton Falcons pg 60 & 108