William Gail Mays

Military

Assigned to 815BS, 483BG, 15AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Weiner Neustadt in B-17F 42-29856 flak hit, lost two engines and trailing fuel, crew baled out before aircraft exploded. Prisoner of War (POW). 10-May-44. MACR 4836.



Awards: POW, WWII Victory, EAME.

Connections

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Units served with

Seen through a 433rd Bomb Group B-17 Flying Fortress' strike camera, a 816th Bomb Squadron B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-5786) nicknamed "Whizzer II" goes down over Nis in Yugoslavia on the 15th of April 1944 in a gout of flame after taking a direct flak hit. There were no survivors. Official caption on image: "(483BG:4M3:2VI) (4:15:1208) (24:21300) ([south-west arrow] 140 [degrees]) (Nis M/Y Yugo) (Ship 111 816 Sq)." Handwritten caption on reverse: '15/4/44. 483BG, 15AF. Nis, Yugoslavia. 42-5786
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Fifteenth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Patches
  • Unit: 483rd Bomb Group 815th Bomb Squadron 99th Bomb Group 346th Bomb Squadron

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Greene County, TN, USA 14 March 1923 Son of George E and Nacca [Knight] Mays.

Enlisted

Fort Oglethorpe, GA, USA 11 February 1943 Fort Oglethorpe Georgia

Other

Shot down / baled out

Wiener Neustadt, Austria 10 May 1944 Failed to Return (FTR) Weiner Neustadt in B-17F 42-29856 flak hit, lost two engines and trailing fuel, crew baled out before aircraft exploded. POW. 10-May-44. MACR 4836.

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

Tychowo, Poland 10 May 1944 Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag Luft IV.

Died

Greeneville, TN, USA 16 December 2001
Afton, TN 37616, USA

Based

Tortorella 10 May 1944 Assigned to 815BS, 483BG, 15AF USAAF.

Buried

Greeneville, TN, USA GreeneLawn Memory Gardens Greeneville Greene County Tennessee, USA