Bill enlisted in the Army Air Forces on April 7, 1943 at the age of 18.
He was assigned to the famous 8th AAF in England and was a Navigator on a B-24 Liberator. His unit was the 448th Bombardment group. His group was based at Seething England, near Norwich.
Bill flew 30 combat missions as lead navigator. This was at a time when the chances of a crewman on a heavy bomber over Europe had only about a 1 in 5 chance of going home after those 30 missions. Most were shot down and killed or captured by German fighters and flak.
The main targets of the 8th AAF were railroads and ship yards. Other targets were the German oil industry, ball bearing and aircraft factories.
Bill’s plane was shot down over Belgium at one point during his tour. His crew was rescued by a follow up plane. He narrowly survived this mission. Another time while sighting through the navigator’s sight bubble, Bill realized that the flak was becoming intense. When he lowered his head to grab his flak helmet, a piece of shrapnel hit the sight bubble and destroyed it. Bill received no injuries.
Bill attained the rank of Captain and won the Air Medal five times. He was also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
He was discharged on January 27, 1946.
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