William Franklyn Williams Jr (1919 - 1944)

Born 8 Aug 1919 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States

Ancestors

Died 21 Jul 1944 at age 24 in Linz, Linz Stadt, Upper Austria, Austria

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Biography

Lt. William Williams Jr was Missing in Action during World War II.

William Williams Jr is a Military Veteran.
Served in the United States Army Air Force 301st Fighter Squadron 1943-1944
Tuskegee Airman flying Ace

William Williams Jr was awarded the Purple Heart.

William Williams Jr is Notable.

William Williams served as a US military pilot during World War II. He was one of the “Documented Original Tuskegee Airmen.” The Tuskegee Airmen were known for heroic combat service in support of Allied Forces in the European Theater. They served with the 332d Expeditionary Operations Group and the 477th Bombardment Group, both largely Black units of the United States Army Air Forces.

William Franklyn Williams Jr. was born in 1919 to William Williams and Lottie Pittman, in Cleveland, Ohio.^[1]. His parents had moved to Cleveland from Alabama, and his father was employed as a laborer in a foundry. The family lived on East 8th Street in Cleveland, and the 1930 census shows his father employed as a concrete worker. ^[2]. In 1940, the family was living on Keyes Avenue.^[3].

Later that year, William was living with his family on 121st Street but he was attending Talladega College in Talladega, Alabama. He registered with the war office on 16 Oct 1940 in Gallodaga, Alabama. ^[4] He then enrolled in flight training at the Tuskegee Army Air Field, completing his training on 30 Jun 1943. In late December of that year, he was deployed to Italy where he became part of the 301st Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group. His first combat mission was on 4 Feb. 1944.

The group was stationed at Ramitelli Air Field, in Italy, and it was from there that he would take his final flight, on 24 July, 1944. He was on a bomber escort mission to Brux, Czechoslovakia when he failed to return from his mission. There was some strong cloud cover, and some communication with another plane prior to his just appearing to disappear from view. An investigation that was underway in 1953 indicated that a Major Wood had been informed that Williams' plane had been shot down by enemy fire, and he not parachuted to survive the crash. Paperwork indicated that Major Wood had attended the funeral. But a letter from 1954 from Wood states that Williams was to be buried with full military honors in the vicinity of Loqua, Yugoslavia. Wood had fully intended to go to this funeral, but German operations that commenced between 19 July and 11 Aug of 1944 prevented him from attending. As a result, he did not have the exact location of the burial, and any field investigations pursued later failed to produce the place of Williams' burial.^[5]

As a result, 2lt. Williams continues to be listed as MIA. His name is inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at Epinal Cemetery in France. ^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD5S-52T : accessed 23 June 2020), Willie Williams in household of Willie Williams, Cleveland Ward 9, Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States; citing ED 163, sheet 5A, line 15, family 76, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1363; FHL microfilm 1,821,363.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X43K-77M : accessed 23 June 2020), Willie F Williams Jr. in household of Willie F Williams, Cleveland (Districts 251-500), Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 349, sheet 14A, line 50, family 39, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1774; FHL microfilm 2,341,508.
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KW5F-K71 : 1 December 2019), William Williams in household of William Williams, Ward 16, Cleveland City, Cleveland City, Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 92-406, sheet 5A, line 40, family 97, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 3219.
4. ↑ U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947: William Franklyn Williams Jr.
5. ↑ Individual Deceased Personnel File for William F. Williams, Jr.
6. ↑ https://www.abmc.gov/decedent-search/williams%3Dwilliam-29