William John Sizemore was born on 12 March 1917, the son of William J. Sizemore and Anna May Watson. Husband of Sara Vernon Traffenstedt and father of Lynda Gayle Sizemore. His son, William John Sizemore III was born on February 8, 1944 at the Newell Sanitarium.
Died non Battle 22 September 1943
Buried at Chattanooga National Cemetery, Y, 496
Captain
26th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group
Captain Sizemore was returned from Barrackpore, India.
The Nashville Banner, 29 September 1943
U.S. Tenth Air Force Headquarters in India – Twenty U.S. Army officers and men were killed in the crash of an army transport plane near Calcutta, it was disclosed today. All persons in the plane except Lt. Dale Johnson were killed immediately. Johnson died two days later.
The Chattanooga Daily Times, 30 September 1943
Capt. William J. (Bill) Sizemore, 26, son of Mrs. Anna W. Sizemore, 1728 Ichabod Lane, and a pilot of the army air forces ferry command, died sept. 21 in a transport plane crash in the Asiatic theater of the war near Calcutta, India, it was learned here yesterday. His wife, the former Miss Sara Vernon Traffenstedt, received official confirmation of her husband’s death late yesterday in a telegram from the War Department. Mrs. Sizemore said she had not yet been informed whether her husband was flying the ship when it crashed, and whether it was accidental or the result of battle action. She said she understood that 19 of the 20 men aboard the plane died in the crash.
Capt. Sizemore joined the ferry command in January, 1942, and was commissioned the following May. He received his primary and basic flight training here at Lovell Field through the Civil Aeronautic’s Administration’s civilian pilot training conducted at the University of Chattanooga. He was an instructor in the CAA program at Lovell Field, flying under the direction of Harry Porter.
As an officer of the air force ferry command, Capt. Sizemore flew planes from the United States to every theater of war except the South Pacific theater, his wife said. He had earned service ribbons for every theater of war in which he had flown. He was a graduate of Livingstone Academy at Crossville, Tenn., and of Chattanooga High School. He was employed for a time at the Vogue here, and lter at a large department store in Syracuse, N.Y.
Capt. Sizemore visited his wife and family here for five days during August while on a brief leave, before reporting for the mission which took him to India. He is survived by his wife, an 18-month-old daughter, Lynda Gayle; his mother, and a sister, Mrs. Ivan Neas, all of 1728 Ichabod Lane. He was a member of the First Baptist Church.
- Rank: Captain
- Date of birth: 12 March 1917
- Date of death: 22 September 1943
- County: Hamilton
- Hometown: Chattanooga
- Service Branch: Army/Army Air Forces
- Division/Assignment: 26th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group
- Theater: China Burma India
- Conflict: World War II
- Awards: Service Ribbons
- Burial/Memorial Location: Chattanooga National Cemetery, Chattanooga, Hamilton County, TN
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XII, Top Panel
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