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name
STOLL, William Marion - Date of
birth
4 January 1923 -
Age
21 - Place of
birth
Evansville, Vanderburgh County, Indiana -
Hometown
Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
35695145 -
Rank
Staff Sergeant -
Function
Radio Operator -
Unit
533rd Bombardment Squadron,
381st Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
20 June 1944 - Place of
death
Hamburg-Rothenburgsort, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| D | 12 | 5 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Mary A. Stoll (mother)
Melvin Stoll (brother)
Fern Stoll (sister)
Eleanora Stoll (sister)
Plane data
- Serial
number
43-37612 -
Data
Type: B-17G
Nickname: Old Iron Gut
Destination: Hamburg, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the Rheunania Ossag oil refinery
MACR: 5991
More information
S/Sgt Stoll attended high school for one year and was a chauffeur with the Neill-La Veile Supply Company.He enlisted on 26 January 1943 and was sent overseas in April 1944.
The bombardier, 2nd Lt Clifford Evans, one of the surviving crew members testified the following after the war: "The airplane took three direct bursts of flak, causing instantaneous explosion, blowing the plane apart into bits from the ball turret forward. I was blown into mid-air with only my parachute remaining on my back, the explosion having ripped off the flak suit, goggles, helmet and oxygen mask. There was no time to prepare for an emergency. I was the only member of the crew who wore a back type P3B parachute and that is the sole reason for my being alive today. The other members of the crew had refused to wear this type of chutes because they thought it was too awkward and too heavy. The other two members saved, the tail gunner Sgt Robert Beaman and waist gunner Sgt Theodore Schmidt, were in that part of the plane which was not blown completely apart and had time to fasten at least one hook of their chest packs, before leaving the falling part of the airplane. While descending in my parachute, large portions of the wing, a complete landing strut and wheel, thousands of fragments, a fully inflated dingy and debris and an opened parachute with none in it, passed me up. Further evidence of the terrific explosion which completely demolished the plane in mid-air might be offered in the fact that the bomb load had not as yet been released. The Germans later told me they had found the fragments of bodies of the following men, identified by crash bracelets and dogtags: Pilot Lt Mark R. Dunkel, Lt Frank L. Kelly, Sgt William Stoll and John L. Pillotti. They did not mention, nor did I ever see any of the possessions of Lt Kenneth Roehr and Sgt Aaron Kochel."
Six crew members were killed, three men survived and were taken prisoner.
The remains of the killed men were initially buried at the cemetery of Hamburg-Billstedt.
S/Sgt William M. Stoll is remembered at Campground Memorial Cemetery in Shepherdsville, Bullitt County, Kentucky with a memorial marker.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.newspapers.com - The Courier-Journal, WWII Draft Card
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, www.findagrave.com