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Personal info

Full name
WILLIAMS, Sherrill Roy
Date of birth
29 July 1921
Age
23
Place of birth
Clinton, Anderson County, Tennessee
Hometown
Clinton, Anderson County, Tennessee

Military service

Service number
O-757406
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Function
Pilot
Unit
751st Bombardment Squadron,
457th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
24 March 1945
Place of death
Rheine-Hopsten Air Base, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
M 13 16

Immediate family

Members
Ross C. Williams (father)
Mary E. (Owen) Williams (mother)
Golda Williams (sister)
Walter L. Williams (brother)
Ross C. Williams Jr. (brother)
Elizabeth (Fox) Williams (wife)

Plane data

Serial number
43-38854
Data
Type: B-17G
Nickname: Tennessee Toddy
Destination: Hopsten, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the airfield
MACR: 13616

More information

2nd Lt Sherrill R. Williams was an architect before he joined the National Guard in Clinton, Tennessee, on 24 February 1941.

The aircraft was apparently hit directly by a shell, which did not burst on contact. About 8 or 9 feet of the right wing was cut off. There was a flash where the flak hit but no fire visible thereafter. After being hit, the aircraft peeled to the right, turned over on its back and went down out of control. It was in a sort of spin. It appeared to break apart at the wings, the fuselage separating from the wings. When it was last seen, the wings were still in a sort of spin. The aircraft was not seen to catch on fire.

One parachute was reported coming from the aircraft, but what part of the aircraft it came from was not reported.

Three crew members survived and were taken prisoner, six were killed.

The bodies of the deceased crew members were disinterred from a common grave near Ladbergen, Germany. All identification and personal effects were removed by personnel of the German army and sent to Frankfurt-am-Main.

According to Sgt Klimoski, who was one of the surviving crew members, Lt Williams probably couldn't get out of the aircraft because of the centrifugal force or because of injuries.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, Wilfred Kerckhoffs, Homepage - The 457th Bomb Group (H) Association (457thbombgroupassoc.org), www.findagrave.com, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.ancestry.com - The Atkerson/Norman Family Tree / U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil

Photo source: Nico Leers, Homepage - The 457th Bomb Group (H) Association (457thbombgroupassoc.org), Arie-Jan van Hees, Pilot Class Book 43-I, Marfa, Texas.