Shot down 26 November 1943 in B-17 42-37815 'Miss Lace. ' Evaded.



William Campbell graduated from Childress Training School for Bombadiers on May 13th 1943. After further training as a Gunner he was crewed up at Rougham and ready for action with the 94th BG that November. From the 6th to the 25th of the month he flew on 14 missions.



The last one was a training mission over England and they made it back in time for the

Thanksgiving Day turkey dinner. The next day the target was Ivry in France and during start-up discovered problems with the radio. Then just short of the IP they encountered moderate flak and 'in less time than it takes to tell' were attacked by swarms of enemy fighters. Campbell left his seat when the plane went into a dive and discovered that the navigator had been badly wounded. As the plane then levelled off he tried to rouse the pilots and found them both slumped in their seats only held up by seat belts. The plane went into another steep dive and he and the Flight Engineer Frank Moast prepared to evacuate. He had difficulty opening his 'chute but managed to land intact in a field. He was immediately approached by an elderly Frenchman and a young lad and was then passed on from one hide-out to another. On the third night he was taken to the home of a French Army officer who interrogated him at length; it didn't help that Campbell had no dog tags on him at the time. He was escorted to Paris and so began his tale of evasion.