William James Gray Jr
MilitaryUSAAF Photo
Lt William J Gray Jr, was on a dive bombing mission in Germany. On his way back to base after releasing his bomb load, he and his "Yellow" flight members were providing top cover at 7,000 feet for "Red" and "Blue" flights when an enemy truck was spotted on the road leading into the town of Lindau. He received permission from Yellow leader, Lt David E Harding, to pursue and strafe the truck. His first and second passes were ineffective - the truck wasn't burning. On his third pass he failed to pull up soon enough and caught a wing tip on the tree tops causing him to cartwheel into the ground and burned about 200 yards from the road.
In October 1948, American Graves Registration Command investigators located the crash site about 3 miles northwest of Lindau. They recovered four machine guns whose serial numbers matched those on Lt Gray's P-47. It wasn't until April 2016 that his remains were recovered which were embedded in the roots of a tree that had overgrown the crash site. In January 2017, the remains were confirmed to be Lt Gray's and he was repatriated with his family in Washington state.
Awards: DFC, AM (6OLC), PH.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
- Unit: 366th Fighter Group
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Münster-Handorf, Hahndorf
- Site type: Cemetery
- Known as: Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, The Netherlands
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Seattle, WA, USA | 27 October 1923 | Son of William J Sr and Elizabeth [Cooper] Gray. |
Enlisted |
Seattle, WA, USA | 28 September 1942 | Seattle, Washington |
Died |
88131 Lindau, Germany | 16 April 1945 | While strafing a truck, his aircraft sustained damage and crashed, killing him upon impact. Lindau, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany. KIA. MACR 14462. |
Other Remains recovered |
88131 Lindau, Germany | 16 April 1945 - 14 July 2017 | Lt Grays remains were recovered from below a tree which had grown over the crash site. |
Buried |
Tahoma National Cemetery Kent King County WA | 14 July 2017 | Interred Tahoma National Cemetery Kent King County Washington, USA |
Based |
Thruxton | 12 June 1944 | Assigned to 391FS, 366FG, 9AF USAAF. |
Other Commissioned |
United States | Commissioned 2nd Lieutenant. | |
Buried |
Netherlands American Cemetery | Tablets of the missing Netherlands American Cemetery |
Revisions
MACR 14462 records point of departure as Y-94, or Münster-Handorf Airfield: https://www.fold3.com/image/1/46750750
https://www.fold3.com/page/85031811_william_j%20gray%20jr/details/
https://www.fold3.com/image/46750750/?terms=William%20J%20Gray
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbmsn.asp?SN=26665&Submit6=Go
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=56131851
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=180406213
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=56299254
https://www.fold3.com/page/85031811_william_j%20gray%20jr/details/
https://www.fold3.com/image/46750750/?terms=William%20J%20Gray
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbmsn.asp?SN=26665&Submit6=Go
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=56131851
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=180406213
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=56299254
https://www.fold3.com/page/85031811_william_j%20gray%20jr/details/
https://www.fold3.com/image/46750750/?terms=William%20J%20Gray
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbmsn.asp?SN=26665&Submit6=Go
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=56131851
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=180406213
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=56299254
American Battle Monuments Commission; fieldsofhonor-database.com; Fold3.com; Ancestry.com; MACR 14462