William Joseph Williams
MilitaryIn front, from left to right : Ralph Palmer, pilot; Ryal Skaggs, Co-Pilot; William Powell, Navigator; Frank Wieczerzak, Bombardier. (Photo via the Robert Piarote family)
Removed associations not depicted in photo
Shot down by fighters after dropping out of formation due to an engine failure on return from mission to Frankfurt on 29 January 1944 in B-17 #42-30354 'Hustlin' Hussy'. Evaded capture for 6 months until caught in a trap set by the Gestapo and collaborators. Prisoner of War (POW). See the full story of his evasion and capture at http://www.evasioncomete.be/fwilliawj.html
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group 549th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39274861
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group 549th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group 549th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group 549th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 31171364
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group 549th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 13093716
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator / Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Hustlin Hussy
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group 549th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 29 January 1944
Places
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Konzentrationslager Buchenwald
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
7 November 1920 | Knox, Starke County, Indiana | |
Enlisted |
6 January 1943 | Evansville, Indiana | |
Other Bailed out |
29 January 1944 | of B-17 42-30354 over Belgium; landed near Lobbes, Hainaut Province, Belgium | |
Other Evaded capture |
29 January 1944 - 3 August 1944 | Helped by Belgian and French citizens and Résistance members; hidden in various places in Belgium; led to Paris where he was arrested on 3 August 1944 after infiltration of the evasion network by the Germans helped by collaborators | |
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
3 August 1944 | Interned in the Fresnes prison, near Paris; transferred to the Buchenwald concentration camp, Germany; moved to Stalag Luft 3, Sagan, Poland; force-marched from there to Stalag 7A, Moosburg, Germany; liberated there by US troops on 29 April 1945. NARA WWII POW records : “Returned to Military Control : 14 June 1945.” | |
Died |
22 November 2007 | Titusville, Florida | |
Born |
Oaktown, Knox County, Indiana | ||
Buried |
William Williams rests at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Lake Placid, Florida |
Revisions
MACR 2268
NARA WWII Enlistment records
NARA WWII POW records
RAMP Liberation Report # 8
Merged with duplicate entry to include details from:
- the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia ;
- MACR 2268;
- 8th AF Losses
MACR 2268 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database