William D Hand

Military

Flew 7 missions--

7-14-43 Villa Coublay, France;

7-17-43 Northwest Germany;

7-25-43 Heroya, Norway;

7-24-43 Helgoland, Germany;

#6 mission I believe was diversionary raid;

8-12-43 Gelsenkirchen, Germany.



Last mission (Gelsenkirchen), on 12 August 1943 in B-17 #42-29898 'Scarlett O'Hara':

"We dropped our bombs, turned for home, and came under heavy fighter attack. Plane lost engine and couldn't feather engine. The pilot was killed. Flak, fighter, and fire in radio section finished us off."



"Myself, CP and B were able to parachute out. 6 crew members killed. The Germans told me the plane blew up before crew had chance to exit. My parachute came down in a stone quarry, approximately 30km from Bonn, Germany, near the village of Euskirchen, Germany."



"Back and legs injured, mouth and nose smashed--large piece of shrapnel in left wrist. Captured immediately. Bombardier and CP captured also. All of us sent via rail cars to Stalag III (Sagan, Poland)."



"Stayed there until 1-27-45 when again we walked and rode rail cars to Mooseberg, Germany (Stalag VIII) where we were liberated 4-29-45 by 3rd Army tank column."



Plane #42-29898, name was Scarlett O'Hara. Crew members were: (P) Lt. Ralph H. Osborne-Killed in Action (KIA), (CP) Lt. Leslie E. Jones-Prisoner of War (POW), (N) Lt. William D. Hand-Prisoner of War (POW), (B) Lt. Thomas C. Wictham-Prisoner of War (POW), (TS) Patrick J. Keenan-Killed in Action (KIA), (TS) Mildred O. Fambough-Killed in Action (KIA), (S/S Charles B. Irwin-Killed in Action (KIA), (S/S) Warren T. Dayton-Killed in Action (KIA), (S/S) Lawrence E. Truman-Killed in Action (KIA), (S/S) Howard R. Scruggs-Killed in Action (KIA).



PH/ AM/ POW

Connections

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Units served with

The insignia of the 379th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Scarlett O'Hara
  • Unit: 379th Bomb Group 524th Bomb Squadron

Places

  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Enigma, Georgia, USA

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

Germany 12 August 1943

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added a "-" to the A/C tail # in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 1762 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / self, MACR 1762; 379th Bombardment Group Anthology, pg 272