William George Sheahan

Military

Shot down by ME109s on 2 March 1944 in B-17G #42-31467 'Sac Hound' on a mission to Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Plane crashed SW of Namur, Belgium. Seriously burned in the head, face, right ear and right hand, William Sheahan evaded capture with the help of Belgian citizens and members of the underground. Ultimately hidden in secret camps in the Belgian Ardennes until liberation by US troops. Robert Sheahan was back in England on 16 September 1944. He visited three times in Belgium after the war to re-unite with some of his wartime helpers and see the places he was hidden. He ended his military career as a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Air Force. See his page at http://www.evasioncomete.be/fsheahawg.html

Connections

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Units served with

A pathfinder B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 44-8258) of the 401st Bomb Group. Image by Robert Astrella. Written on slide casing: '48258 14 A, Mount Farm.'

401st Bomb Group

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

People

Douglas Martin Conway

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 17072159 at enlistment, then O-685775
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Bombardier

Robert Orval Davis

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 13075926 at enlistment, then O-808000
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Navigator

Seymour Falk

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 17037059
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: waist gunner

Hazard Justice

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 15340143
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner

Roger Thomas Leking

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 35348050
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Waist Gunner

Aircraft

42-31467

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Sac Hound
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Chicago, Illinois, USA 1 April 1921

Enlisted

4 April 1942 in the Air Corps, Chicago, Illinois

Other

shot down

2 March 1944 over Belgium, as Pilot on board B-17 "Sac Hound" 42-31467.

Other

Evaded capture

2 March 1944 - 8 September 1944 with the help of Belgian citizens and Resistance members of the evasion network "Comète"

Died

27 October 2005 Lincoln, Nebraska
Chicago, Illinois

Buried

William Sheahan rests at the Calvary Cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska

Revisions

Date
ContributorED-BB
Changes
Sources

Updated link to the page at www.evasioncomete.be

Date
ContributorED-BB
Changes
Sources

NARA WWII Enlistment records
MACR 2742
Escape & Evasion Report E&E 1994
Research for his page at http://www.evasioncomete.org/fsheahawg.html

Date
ContributorJrickey
Changes
Sources

Personal account

Date
ContributorJrickey
Changes
Sources

Personal account

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 2742 / MACR 2742, Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces,

href="http://www.401bg.org/Main/History/Members/Details.aspx?ID=170">http://www.401bg.org/Main/History/Members/Details.aspx?ID=170> / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database