William Morris Adams | American Air Museum in Britain

Assigned to 854BS, 491BG, 8AF USAAF. 1 x combat mission.
Failed to Return (FTR) Hanover in B-24 42-110107 "Wham Bam Thank You Ma'm" 24-Aug-44; Bialed out of A/C, captured and held overnight at Munster A/D. Marched through Russelsheim after rail journey curtailed by bomb damaged rails. Beaten unconscious by civilians and left for dead on farmers cart in cemetery, escaped, along with Sgt Sidney E Brown, during air raid and re-arrested 4 days later. Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 8296

Awards: POW, WWII Victory, EAME.

Service

People

Sidney Brown

Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 491st Bomb Group
Assigned to 854BS, 491BG, 8AF USAAF. 1 x combat mission. ...
Norman Rogers

Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 491st Bomb Group
Assigned to 854BS, 491BG, 8AF USAAF. 2 x combat missions. ...

Units served with

491st Bomb Group

Group
The 491st Bomb Group flew B-24 Liberators in bombing missions over northern France and Germany from June 1944 until April 1945. Missions over Germany included bombing the headquarters of the German General Staff at Zossen. The Group was awarded a DUC...
854th Bomb Squadron

Squadron

Aircraft

42-110107 "Wham Bam Thank You Ma'm"

B-24 Liberator
Assigned to 854BS, 491BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Hanover mission; downed by flak over Russelheim, Germany, on 24-Aug-44. 3 x POW, 6 x KIA. MACR 8296 ...

Missions

568

24 August 1944

Associated Place

North Pickenham

Military site : airfield
Built comparatively late during 1943-44 as an Eighth Air Force bomber base, North Pickenham was rather cramped as an airfield site so the main runway was shorter than typical. It had three concrete runways, 50 loop hardstandings and two dispersed T2...
Stalag Luft IV

Other location
Dulag Luft 12

Other location

Events

Event	Location	Date
Born	Schuylkill County, PA	14 August 1925
Son of William Alvin and Althesta [Fetterolf] Adams.
Based	North Pickenham	1944 – 24 August 1944
Assigned to 854BS, 491BG, 8AF USAAF.
Baled out	40 miles Nth Hanover	24 August 1944
Failed to Return (FTR) Hanover in B-24 42-110107 "Wham Bam Thank You Ma'm" 24-Aug-44; Baled out of A/C, captured and held overnight at Munster A/D. MACR 8296
Beaten by civilians	Russelsheim, Germany	26 August 1944
Dispatched by rail for Oberusel, due to a bombed out rail line, marched on foot through Russelsheim, beaten unconscious by civilian mob 26-Aug-44.
Evaded (EVD)		26 August 1944 – 30 August 1944
Escaped from cemetery during air raid. Evaded capture (EVD). Arrested four days later.
Prisoner of War (POW)	Tychowo, Poland	September 1944 – May 1945
Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag Luft IV.
Died	Pennsylvania, USA	8 March 1980
Buried	Heplers Church of God Cemetery Pitman, Schuylkill County, PA	12 March 1980
Heplers Church of God Cemetery Pitman, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania

Date	Contributor	Update
11 December 2021 10:18:05	Al_Skiff	Changes to biography, awards and events
Sources
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46594777/william-morris-adams
Date	Contributor	Update
05 April 2020 01:43:51	jmoore43	Changes to biography
Sources
Added a "#" to the A/C serial number in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.
Date	Contributor	Update
27 March 2019 18:51:11	Al_Skiff	Changes to middlename, service number, role, biography, events, unit associations, place associations and mission associations
Sources
https://www.fold3.com/image/28687377 https://www.fold3.com/image/28687682 http://aircrewremembered.com/norman-rogers.html https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46594777
Date	Contributor	Update
27 September 2014 18:27:29	AAM	AAM ingest
Sources
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 8296 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database