Missing information?
Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?
Submit- Full
name
WEST, William Durham Jr - Date of
birth
17 January 1925 -
Age
20 - Place of
birth
Louisiana -
Hometown
DeRidder, Beauregard Parish, Louisiana
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
18171808 -
Rank
Staff Sergeant -
Function
Waist Gunner -
Unit
701st Bombardment Squadron,
445th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
20 March 1945 - Place of
death
Three miles east of Helgoland, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
William D. West (father)
Maude West (mother)
Glen L. West (brother)
June West (sister)
Plane data
- Serial
number
44-48851 -
Data
Type: B-24-JSH
Destination: Hemmingstadt, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the Heide oil refinery
MACR: 13563
More information
S/Sgt William D. West Jr. attended high school for 3 years before he joined the US Army Reserve in Lafayette, Louisiana on 1 February 1943.The aircraft received a direct hit by flak while on his bomb run. The right wing came off and a large hole was observed in the left wing. The ship then blew up as it crashed into the water.
The entire crew is listed on the Walls of the Missing at Margraten.
He is remembered at the Beauregard Cemetery in DeRidder, Beauregard Parish, Louisiana.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Arie-Jan van Hees, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - 1940 Census / Louisiana Find a Grave Index, 1700-2012, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.8thafhs.org
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.findagrave.com - Anonymous, Tony Destro