William Ferrick Collingsworth Jr. was born on 16 October 1921 to William Ferrick Collingsworth and Ruth Eileen Clark. Husband of Dorothy Fielden.
He died non-battle 18 January 1945 in France.
Buried at Lynnhurst Cemetery, Knoxville, TN.
First Lieutenant
92nd Depot Repair Squadron, 44th Air Depot Group, 8th Air Force Corps
On January 13, 1945, a B-24 of the 715th Bomb Squadron, 448th Battle Group Heavy was returning from a bombing mission to Worms, Germany. Heavily damaged by flack over the target, the pilot had to land at the Laon/Couvron base in the department of Aisne, France. The airport, controlled by the USSAF (US Strategic Air Forces), was equipped operationally so that it could transport some of the B-24 crew back to their home base at Seething in southwest England. A Noorduyn Norseman transport plane was chartered for that purpose on January 18, 1945. The pilot and copilot were soon joined by six members of the B-24 crew who came aboard. Weather conditions were very bad. During the flight they encountered a strong snowstorm. The pilot flew visually so low that he clipped the tops of poplar trees 500 meters north of the village of Contalmaison. The plane struck the ground and disintegrated. There were no survivors.
William Ferrick Collingsworth Jr. was the pilot of the plane.
Below: a picture of the plane type that First Lieutenant Collingsworth was flying.
- Rank: First Lieutenant
- Date of birth: 16 October 1921
- Date of death: 18 January 1945
- County: Knox
- Hometown: Knoxville
- Service Branch: Army/Army Air Forces
- Division/Assignment: 92nd Depot Repair Squadron, 44th Air Depot Group, 8th Air Force Corps
- Theater: Europe
- Conflict: World War II
- Awards: Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart
- Burial/Memorial Location: Lynnhurst Cemetery, Knoxville, TN
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XIV, Top Panel
- Contact us to sponsor W. F. Collingsworth Jr.
Image Gallery
Click a thumbnail below to view at full size.
