William Frederick STARK

Married

Parents : August Fredrick & Beulah Mae King STARK

Siblings : Augusta Mae

Source : --

B-26 Marauder - type B-21-MA - s/n 41-31741 PN*N

"Winnie Dee II"

Macr : 80390

Mission : Ramrod - Secteur de Flers (61)

Take off station 485  Andrews Field , Essex UK 

Crash observed by S / Sgt Robert F Wittling

Shots by flak

Airplane evacuated by parachute

Explosion in flight - 8:40 p.m.

CEMTERY TEMPORARY of  Blosville N°3508

Story of Cemetery Temporary 

Map of Normandy American Cemetery

 In January 1942, William enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in Lubbock (Texas). He completed a gunner training, then a radio operator one.
On July 17,he was assigned to the 322nd Bomb Group which had just been activated and was located at the Mac Dill Field’s base (Florida). A few months later, he joined the Hunter’s base (Georgia) where the B-26 were parked. William would become familiar with this bomber until his departure to England in July 943. He followed the South Atlantic route to join the 322nd Bomb Group at the USAAF base, station 185 at Andrews Field.
He started his first missions.
On October 16, the 322nd Group was transferred to the 9th US Air Force.
Until February 1944, the Group completed multiple missions with targets such as airfields, power stations, shipyards, train stations… In March, transport liaisons, railway and road bridges, V1 sites,… were the targets in order to prepare the D-Day.
On June 6, between 6.10 am and 6.25 am, the 322nd Group attacked the Atlantic Wall defenses, then, in June, it was the bridges, crossroads, fuel and ammunition depots’ turn to be attacked during the Battle of Normandy.
In July, the Group also participated to the Saint-Lô offensive as well as the Operation Cobra.
On Saturday, August 12th 1944, in the middle of the afternoon, the Group was put under alert, a weather window had just opened in the middle of a rainy weather since the beginning of the day.
Several goals were announced during this briefing : bombings in the area around Falaise, Flers, Domfront and an ammunition depot. Thirty-five B-26 were assigned to this mission launched by surprise. Then, William joined the briefing led by a pilot, the 1st . Then, he headed towards his aircraft, in the tarmac. It was the B-26 «Winnie Dee II». William had already completed missions aboard this bomber but not with that crew. Indeed, the impromptu launch of the mission had rushed the bombers compositions and assignments.
William climbed aboard and took his position as a machine gunner.
At 6.43 pm, the bombers took off from Andrews Field to fly in formation, the flight went smoothly, despite the low clouds.
Past the French coast, the formation headed towards the zone of mission, in the South-West of Caen. While approaching their target, as the weather got worse and the visibility had become very bad, the bombers were forced to descend altitude, but the risk was too important and the order to cancel the mission was given.
The German Flak was active since the Group had arrived in Normandy ; the heavy fire inflamed the sky, the B-26 was hit by a direct shot near the hold, as well as the right wing and the right motor took fire.
The bomber left the formation and quickly lost altitude.
The pilot, 1st Lieutenant Hunt, gave the order to evacuate. William was injured by a piece of shrapnel, Sergeant Raymond Morin, a radio operator, helped him to move and pushed him out of the aircraft..
The aircraft kept falling while losing pieces. A part of the rear fuselage came off, as well as the right motor. Inside the aircraft, three crew members remained ; the pilot, Francis Hunt, the copilot Lyle Peters and the bomber navigator Morris Rafalow. The B-26 inexorably dived towards the ground, over the commune of Saint-Pierre-du-Regard (Orne). It was 8.40 pm when the impact happened. Inside the wreck, the copilot’s burned body was found, the pilot’s body was found several meters away, his parachute closed. The navigator was found with no parachute, hundreds of meters away from the crash place, probably ejected during the fall…
As for the three other members who had managed to escape : the tail gunner S/Sgt Thielan was captured by the Germans ; Sgt Morin fell in the middle of the Germans who shot him during his descent. His body was found by a civilian on August 17, half buried in a field near the village.
William : his parachute opened late and besides, was damaged. The descent was brutal. William’s body was found on August 17 by a civilian. His limbs were broken.
The following day, he took the body and buried it in his property’s garden with the greatest respect possibly given to this hero.

The grave would be maintained and flowered until January 1947. The body was exhumed to be transferred to the Blosville temporary cemetery, under an X number. The investigation which started to identify the B-26 crew’s bodies was long. William was the last to be identified in January 1949, after two investigations.

He was buried in November 1949, in Colleville-sur-mer cemetery.

Crew of B-26 Marauder - type B-21-MA - s/n 41-31741 PN*N

"Winnie Dee II"