Memorial

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William Hovanec was a metal worker.

He enlisted in Cleveland, Ohio on 5 February 1943.

Nicknamed the Carpetbaggers, this unit for the most part did not fly traditional bombing missions, instead it served as the first Special Operations group of the United States Army Air Force. At the peak of operations, in July of 1944, this group cooperated to fly "Spies and Supplies" into Western Europe on an almost nightly basis, bad weather excepted. Millions of propaganda leaflets, thousands of guns, tons of supplies of all kinds, and hundreds of individual personnel, the specially trained "Jedburgh" teams, the larger O.S.S. "Operational Groups", were all flown into occupied Europe by the flyers of the Group on forays unprotected by fighters or any other air cover in specially prepared B-24 bombers. Additionally, a small number of C-47 flights were flown which took in supplies and brought out agents and evaders from Allied Forces.

The mission for that night was to drop supplies on dropzone Peinture near Marigny-l'Eglise for the resistance fighters of the Maquis group Camille. This was one of the two parachute drops expected in the area, the second being by a Halifax II, #LL364 from 138 RAF Squadron, who would drop supplies for a SAS unit operating in the area.

The B-24 turned over a nearby village to line up its run to the dropzone, while the Halifax turned towards his radio beacon and crossed over the route of the B-24. The two aircraft collided in mid-air at about 01:00 hrs near Marigny-l'Eglise.

The entire crew of both airplanes, eight in the B-24 and seven in the Halifax, were killed. The bodies of the deceased crew members remained untouched at the crash site for ten days because the Germans would not give permission to bury them, until the mayor decided to bury them without their consent.

A memorial at Marigny-l'Eglise is dedicated to the airmen.