Skip to main content
Edit entry 

William Prochaska

Military

  • Bill Thomas crew, 334BS, 95BG. Rear L-R: William Prochaska (B), William K Thomas (P), James B Stapleton (CP), Collis Haynes (N). Front L-R: William Whitcomb (TG), Floyd Thompson (BTG), Rex Neely (TTG), Guy Tice (WG),

    Bill Thomas crew, 334BS, 95BG. Rear L-R: William Prochaska (B), William K Thomas (P), James B Stapleton (CP), Collis Haynes (N). Front L-R: William Whitcomb (TG), Floyd Thompson (BTG), Rex Neely (TTG), Guy Tice (WG),

    Show caption About this image
  • Back row from left; Prochaska, W K Thomas, Stapleton, Haynes Front Row from left; Whitcomb, Thompson, Neely, Tice and Cameron

    Back row from left; Prochaska, W K Thomas, Stapleton, Haynes Front Row from left; Whitcomb, Thompson, Neely, Tice and Cameron

    Show caption About this image
  •  
  •  

Assigned to 334BS, 95BG, 8AF USAAF. 23 x combat missions.

7-Apr-43, B-17 42-3090 'Taint-a-bird' force landed near Clonakilty, County Cork Ireland. Crew was safe. RTD

B-17 42-3267 ditched in Bay of Biscay out of fuel 28-Jun-43. All on board returned. WIA.

8-Oct-43 B-17 42-30342 'Miss Flower III' Returned to base. RTD

Shot down 14-Oct-43 in B-17 42-30135 'Trouble Shooter'. Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 855

Awards: AM (OLC), PH, POW, WWII Victory, EAME.

Service

People

  • William McPherson

    Military | Captain | Pilot | 95th Bomb Group
    Shot down 14 October 1943 in B-17 42-30135 'Trouble Shooter. ' Prisoner of War (POW). POW

  • William Thomas

    Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 95th Bomb Group
    Assigned to 334BS, 95BG, 8AF USAAF. 27 x combat missions. ...

Show more

Units served with

  • 95th Bomb Group

    95th Bomb Group

    Group
    The 95th Bomb Group was the only Eighth Air Force Group to be awarded three Distinguished Unit Citations. The first, shared by all four Bomb Wing Groups, was for the bombing of an aircraft factory under intense enemy fire at Regensburg on 17 August...

  • 334th Bomb Squadron

    334th Bomb Squadron

    Squadron

Aircraft

  • 42-29787 'Wilder Nell II'

    B-17 Flying Fortress
    Delivered Cheyenne 18/2/43; Salina 5/3/43; Gulfport 31/3/43; Assigned 334BS/95BG [BG-F] Alconbury 15/4/43; Framlingham 12/5/43; Horham 15/6/43; 3m, transferred 326BS/92BG [JW- ] Alconbury 6/8/43, the transferred 525BS/379BG [FR-E] Kimbolton 4/9/43;...

  • 42-30135 Trouble Shooter

    B-17 Flying Fortress
    Delivered Cheyenne 15/4/43; Smoky Hill 22/4/43; Presque Is 10/5/43; Assigned 511BS/351BG [DS-N] Polebrook 26/5/43. Transferred 334BS/95BG [BG-H] Horham 16/6/43. ...

  • 42-30342 "T'aint A Bird II"

    B-17 Flying Fortress
    Delivered Cheyenne 19/5/43; Gore 20/5/43; Smoky Hill 30/5/43; Wright 30/6/43; Smoky Hill 20/7/43; Kearney 22/7/43; Dow Fd 25/7/43; Assigned 334BS/95BG [BG-B] Horham 28/7/43; 54m, transferred APH with Azon for Aphrodite missions, Knettishall; Aphrodite...

  • 42-3090 'T'aint A Bird'

    B-17 Flying Fortress
    Delivered Cheyenne 6/2/43; en route to UK aircraft force landed Clonakilty, N. Ireland 7/4/43 with Bill Thomas, Co-pilot: Jim Stapleton, Navigator: Bill Prochaska, Bombardier: Collis Hayes, Ball turret gunner: Floyd Thompson frost-bitten feet, Radio...

  • 42-3267 'Harley Charley'

    B-17 Flying Fortress
    Delivered Denver 15/4/43; Dow Fd 28/5/43; Assigned 334BS/95BG [BG-A] Framlingham 28/5/43; Horham 15/6/43; (2m) Missing in Action St Nazaire 28/6/43 with Bill Thomas, Co-pilot: Jim Stapleton, Navigator: Collis Haynes, Bombardier: Bill Prochaska, Flight...

  • 42-5445 T'aint A Bird/Lee L

    B-17 Flying Fortress
    Delivered Cheyenne 10/12/42; Sioux City 8/1/43; Rapid City 2/2/43; Minneapolis 19/3/43; Ephrata 12/4/43; Spokane 3/5/43; 390BG crash landed Moses Lake 26/7/43 with Lionel Coon; Written off 20/8/43.

Associated Place

  • Horham

    Military site : airfield
    Horham airfield was planned and built for RAF use, but handed over to the Eighth Air Force and used initially by the 47th Bomb Group. When they joined the Twelfth Air Force in January 1943, it became home to the B-26 Marauders of the 323rd Bomb Group....

Events

Event Location Date
Born Parma, Ohio, USA 18 February 1916

Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Enlisted Cleveland, OH 24 March 1942

Cleveland, Ohio
Based Horham 1943 – 14 October 1943

Assigned to 334BS, 95BG, 8AF USAAF.
Prisoner of War (POW) Moosburg, Germany 14 October 1943 – May 1945

Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag VIIa Moosburg then moved to work camps ending in the Munich area.
Died Florida 15 July 1981
Buried Pinecrest Cemetery Lake Worth, Palm Beach County, FL 18 July 1981

Pinecrest Cemetery
Lake Worth,
Palm Beach County, Florida
Nationality
American
Nickname
Not yet known
Service numbers
15096381 / O-731417
Highest rank
First Lieutenant
Role/job
Bombardier; Navigator, Navigator
Awards
  • Air Medal with 1 oak leaf cluster
  • European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
  • Prisoner of War Medal
  • Purple Heart
  • World War II Victory Medal

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
26 July 2021 15:11:57 Al_Skiff Changes to service number, highest rank, biography, awards, events, person associations, unit associations, place associations and aircraft associations
Sources

https://www.fold3.com/record/84186461/william-prochaska-wwii-army-enlist...
https://www.fold3.com/record/618761088/william-prochaska-1916-veterans-a...
https://95thbg.mmsw.eu/person/5406
http://www.ww2irishaviation.com/clonakilty.htm
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/110236005/william-v-prochaska
Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:27:32 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 855 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / Roll of Honor; MACR 855, , Losses of the 8th and 9th AFs Vol. 1 by Bishop and Hey pp. 101, 169, 339 April 7, 1943, B17 42-3090 'Taint-a-bird' force landed near Clonakilty, County Cork Ireland. Crew was safe. B-17 #42-3267 ditched in Bay of Biscay out of

Share