William Harold Maddox
Militaryletter dated 11/21/1942 written in Eye, England.
In Bill's own words:
"I was in England for two or three weeks on the way to North Africa during WWII."
"I flew a A-20 from Goose Bay to BW1 [Bluie West 1] Greenland to Iceland to Prestwick, Scotland and to Eye, England. The invasion of North Africa occurred while I was in Iceland."
"It was hard not to get lost in a strange town with no lights on anywhere." [V-Mail sent from England dated 21 November 1942]
"The operations officer took over my airplane to fly to North Africa on Invasion day and I proceeded to go with 4 officers and 100 men by ship through Gibraltar to Algiers and then by rail to Casa Blanca where my squadron was located."
Bill was part of the 47th Bomb Group, 86th Bomb Squadron of the US Army Air Corps. He served in the military after WWII and retired a Lieutenant Colonel.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Twelfth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Twelfth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Brome
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Paducah, KY, USA | 6 July 1917 | |
Enlisted |
6 November 1941 | Enlisted in the Air Corps in Jackson, Mississippi, as an Aviation Cadet. | |
Based |
Eye | 21 November 1942 | Awaiting transportation to North Africa. |
Foggia FG, Italy | 18 October 1943 - 13 November 1943 | Based at Vincenzo Airfield, a satellite airfield of Foggia. | |
Died |
Nashville, TN, USA | 23 March 2016 | |
Based |
Prestwick | Landed at Prestwick, Scotland on the Northern Ferry route. | |
Other Travelled by ship to Algiers |
Algiers, Algeria | ||
Other Travelled by train to Casablanca |
Casablanca, Morocco | Joined up with squadron | |
Memphis, TN, USA | Lived in Memphis, TN, when enlisted then returned there after having lived all over the world with the USAF. Living in Nashville, TN, USA, in 2015. | ||
England, UK | Exact dates not known |