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Personal info

Full name
WILSON, William
Date of birth
1924
Age
unknown
Place of birth
Maryland
Hometown
Baltimore, Maryland

Military service

Service number
T-137835
Rank
Flight Officer
Function
Navigator
Unit
850th Bombardment Squadron,
490th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Finding of Death
Date of death
19 April 1945
Place of death
Hradištko, Czechoslovakia

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
Plot Row Grave
D 9 35

Immediate family

Members
Hugh Wilson Sr. (father)
Mary L. (Drimmie) Wilson (mother)
Agnes K. Wilson (sister)
Helen M. Wilson (sister)
Hugh Wilson Jr. (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
43-38701
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Aussig, Czechoslovakia
Mission: Bombing of the marshalling yard
MACR: 14192

More information

2nd Lt Frederick W. Harding:
We were just south of Dresden after bombs away when a plane in the lead squadron left the formation and made a long circle to the left. At first we thought he was aborting but then I saw 3 chutes open up. I kept watching the plane to see if anyone also get out but seen after it exploded either when it hit the ground of just before. It seems to me that the men in the plane should have had at least 3 minutes to get out so it is possible the others bailed out without my seeing them. We were at 19.000 feet when he went down and our position was 50.57N – 13.54E.

He had no time to bail out.

A monument at the site of the crash remembers the crew.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1930/1940 Census, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.findagrave.com – Russ Pickett

Photo source: www.findagrave.com – Kevin / JS