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Personal info

Full name
NOBLE, William Paul Jr
Date of birth
8 June 1922
Age
22
Place of birth
Norfolk, Virginia
Hometown
Norfolk, Virginia

Military service

Service number
O-817729
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Function
Co-Pilot
Unit
700th Bombardment Squadron,
445th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
21 June 1944
Place of death
Baltic Sea, 800 meters south of the island of Årø, Denmark

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
B 39 53

Immediate family

Members
William P. Noble (father)
Bertie L. (Cofer) Noble (mother)
Early V. Noble (brother)
Audrey L. Noble (sister)

Plane data

Serial number
42-50329
Data
Type: B-24H
Destination: Berlin, Germany
Misson: Bombing of the city
MACR: 6166

More information

2nd Lt William P. Noble Jr. attended high school for 4 years and was a plumber apprentice. He joined the Air Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve in Richmond, Virginia on 11 September 1942.

The airplane was hit by flak over the target and attacked by a ME 410 and shot down by 20 mm canon fire. Eight crew members were killed, two were taken prisoner.

It is believed that the fighter belonged to Luftbeobachtungsstaffel 1 and was piloted by Leutnant Woeske who claimed a B 24 at 12:42 hours.

On 8 November 1945 at 12:30 his body, along with a small parachute, was found floating in the sea near the island of Barsø by a local fisherman. The body was brought ashore and taken to the hospital in Aabenraa by ambulance. After formal identification it was handed over to the British troops in Denmark who took it to Schleswig in Germany just south of the border. Noble was laid to rest in the British Military Cemetery in Schleswig. He is believed to have been transferred to Ardennes Cemetery in 1948.

The remains of two crew members, Henry J. Gordon and James O. Snyder, were never recovered. Their names are remembered on Tablets of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery.

The killed crew members are remembered with a memorial in Årø, Denmark.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com, www.fold3.com - www.8thafhs.com

Photo source: Peter Schouteten