William Samuel Matthews
MilitaryShot down 18 April 1944 in B-17 #4237902 'Sure Thing' while serving as the Radio Operator. He later became a Prisoner of War (POW), serving time at Stalag XVII-B. He would return home, living in Indianapolis, Indiana for the rest of his life. While there, he was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
People
Aircraft
Missions
![A B-17 Flying Fortress nicknamed "Ruth L", flown by Lieutenant NL Young, of the 96th Bomb Group flies through a cascade of bombs released by another Fortress over Oranienburg, Germany. Strike camera photo. Handwritten caption on reverse: '22/3/44. Looks like JW code - 92BG? [sic]Supposedly Bremen raid but bombs look like M47.'](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-408680.jpg.webp?itok=47P7nfd_)
- Date: 22 March 1944
- Date: 16 March 1944
- Date: 15 March 1944
- Date: 9 March 1944
- Date: 4 March 1944
Places
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Rossville, Illinois, USA | 8 October 1920 | |
|
Enlisted |
Rossville, Illinois, USA | 20 November 1942 | |
|
Other Shot down |
Barnewitz, Germany | 18 April 1944 | Shot down over a mission to Oranienburg, Germany, while on B-17 42-37902, serving as the aircraft's Radio Operator. Would later become a POW. |
|
Other Prisoner Of War |
Stalag XVII-B, Austria | 18 April 1944 | Served roughly 13 months as a POW at Stalag 17B. |
|
Other Discharged |
28 October 1945 | ||
|
Died |
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA | 2 March 1987 | |
|
Buried |
Rossville Cemetery, Rossville, Indiana, USA | 5 March 1987 | |
|
Based |
Framlingham | Assigned to 568BS, 390BG, 8AF. |
Revisions
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 4013 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database