Prisoner of War (POW) Crashed near Mayen on 10/11/44 in B-17 'Hell On Wheels' #4297948

Called up in October 1942 he trained as a navigator and in May 1944 joined the 384thBG at Grafton Underwood. They were shot down on his 17th mission landing in a potato field where they were met by civilians with pitchforks but rescued by a German army patrol, one of whom gave them apples to eat! Wounded in his left leg Bill was held at Stalag Luft 111 and was in hospital for most of his internment. As the Russians moved closer the POWs were jammed into rail box cars without food or sanitary facilities, many of the men suffering from Diarrhea, then marched from Nurnburg, again with no food or shelter. Bill and two others escaped but got nowhere and handed themselves in at a nearby village where they were treated well and fed. A few days later they were freed by an American airborne unit and eventually flown to France. After his discharge he went to Law School and practiced as a lawyer until his retirement aged 79. He stayed in the Reserves, was active in the Korean War and served as Assistant Staff Judge Advocate at SAC HQ, retiring after 26 years with the rank of Colonel.