William Benson CUTHBERT

B-24 Liberator - type J-1-CO - s/n 42-72981 IG*P   "Fascinatin' Lady"

Macr : 4302

Mission : Bombing on site V1

Takeoff station 146 Seething, Norfolk

Shots by the flak

Airplane partially evacuated by parachute at 18,000 feet at 6:57 p.m.

CEMTERY TEMPORARY of  -- N°--

Story of Cemetery Temporary 

Map of Normandy American Cemetery

 2^ndLt. William B. Cuthbert’s unit, the 713^thSquadron of the 448^thBombardment Group, was activated on May 1, 1943 at Gowan Field in Boise, Idaho.

In December Cuthbert was deployed with the Eighth Air Force to Seething Air Field, nine miles southeast from Norwich in Norfolk, England.  

The bomb group entered combat operations in December 1943. Cuthbert was a navigator on a B-24 Liberator, heavy bomber, hitting targets such as aircraft factories in Gotha, ball-bearing plants in Berlin, U-boat facilities at Kiel, a chemical plant at Ludwigshafen, synthetic oil refineries at Politz, aircraft engine plants at Rostock, marshalling yards at Cologne, and a V-1 bomb assembly plant at Fallersleben.

He took part in the intensive campaign of heavy bombers against the German aircraft industry known as Big Week, February 20 – 25, 1944.

The 713^th Heavy Bombardment Squadron, 448^th Heavy Bombardment Group at Seething Airfield Station 146.

A B-24 Liberator of the 713^th Bomb Squadron.

On April 20, Cuthbert’s 713thBomb Squadron was on its way to hit a V-1 flying bomb launch site near Abbeville in the north of France.

The aircraft was hit by German flak at 8:45 p.m. Eight men parachuted out of the aircraft, the sightings of which were confirmed by several witnesses, including the pilot of the aircraft in formation directly behind them.

The aircraft circled in the air and crashed approximately three minutes after the others bailed out.

Seven were taken captive, and one died on the ground.

Cuthbert was one of the two men who did not exit the aircraft.

Their bodies were found in the wreckage of the B-24 by German troops, 200 miles north of Paris.

One of Cuthbert’s surviving crewmembers indicated that he thought the nose gunner, SSgt. Anthony J. Zuminski, was trapped in his turret, and Cuthbert tried to get him out of the damaged aircraft.

Zuminski is also buried at the Normandy American Cemetery.

Cuthbert was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.

Cuthbert and his crew were attempting to bomb a launch site that would have housed a V-1 Rocket, similar to the one pictured.

Crew of B-24 Liberator - type J-1-CO - s/n 42-72981 IG*P  "Fascinatin' Lady"