Carl William Ward
MilitaryAdded photo
Carl Ward had finished 3 years of High School when he enlisted in the Air Corps in November 1942. Trained as a gunner, he was sent overseas and assigned to the 92nd Bomb Group / 407th Bomb Squadron. Usually serving as a Tail Gunner, he had changed places and was in the Right Waist Gunner position on board B-17 # 42-30726 on the fateful 14 October 1943 mission to Schweinfurt, Germany. As told by him to his daughter Ruth Ann, he landed by parachute in a field in Germany and was about to be shot by the Germans, as had just been Tail Gunner S/Sgt William Woodward. Carl Ward’s life was saved when a courageous German woman begged the German soldiers not to shoot him. Ward was thus taken prisoner and first sent to Stalag Luft 3 in Sagan, Poland. As that was a camp reserved mostly for officers, he was later transferred to Stalag XVIIB near Krems, Austria, where he spent a year and a half in Barrack 17A there. Prisoner of War (POW).
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18040599 and O2044434
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32513804
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 38124471
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Gunner / Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 33350889
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator/Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 33282719
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner / Flight Engineer
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 407th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 14 October 1943
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Flint, Michigan, USA | 2 November 1924 | the oldest child of Elmer Basil Ward and Ruth May Armstrong Ward. |
Enlisted |
Detroit, Michigan, United States | 10 November 1942 | as a Private in the Air Corps |
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Braunau, near Krems Austria | 14 October 1943 | Wounded in the face, he managed to bail out and landed in a field. Immediately captured, he was made a Prisoner of War (POW). NARA WWII POW records: "Stalag Luft 3 - moved to another camp - returned to Military Control 13 July 1945." - See details in Summary biography. |
Died |
Flint, Genesee County, Michigan, United States | 2 September 1993 | |
Buried |
Evergreen Cemetery, Grand Blanc, Genesee County, Michigan, United States |
Revisions
Added POW details obtained from his daughter Ruth Ann
Listed http://www.wepledgeallegiance.com/pownews/Original.Roster.endofwar.htm
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 846 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database