William served as a Private First Class, 513th Parachute Infantry, 17th Airborne Division, U.S. Army during World War II.

He resided in Sussex County, New Jersey prior to the war.

He enlisted in the Army on June 30, 1943 in Newark, New Jersey. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being Single, without dependents.

William was "Killed In Action" when the C-46D #44-77595 transport plane he was a passenger on was shot down by German Artillery during the war.

He was awarded the Purple Heart.

Service # 42000883

Son of Jacob R. and Emily Scharge Sandford who resided in Patterson, New Jersey.

He is possibly interred with his brother, Jacob R. Sandford, in the Cedar Lawn Cemetery, Paterson, New Jersey.

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C-46D #44-77595, which was assigned to the 47th Squadron, 313rd Troop Carrier Group, was transporting 34 paratroopers from Achiet, France with a destination of Wesel, Germany on a drop mission. The C-46 was hit by German Artillery and ended up crashing in Germany.

All 4 flight crew members and 24 paratroopers were killed. 11 paratroopers were able to parachute out before the crash.

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Those killed on C-46D #44-77595:

Badger, Herschel C ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, MO
Davis, Floyd C ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, GA
Dowda, Thomas B ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, FL
Fowler, Harold D ~ Pvt, Paratrooper, AL
Ginter, Louis B ~ Tec/4, Paratrooper, OH
Guarino, Joseph P ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, OH
Higuera, Louis G ~ Pvt, Paratrooper, AZ
Hirzel, George W ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, PA
Johnson, Dick D ~ Corp, Paratrooper, IA
Lombardi, Joseph A ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, MA
Lowinger, Milton ~ S/Sgt, Paratrooper, NY
Lundine, Homer W ~ T/Sgt, Flight Engineer, KS
Monk, Wesley J ~ T/Sgt, Paratrooper, AL
Monteleone, Gasper J ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, NY
Oliva, Frank J ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, PA
Patton, Paul J ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, TX
Payne, James E ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, NC
Phillips, Moorehead ~ 1st Lt, Pilot, PA
Power, Harold M ~ S/Sgt, Radio Operator, MS
Reft, John ~ T/5, Paratrooper, PA
Reinwald, Anthony J ~ Sgt, Paratrooper, IL
Rogers, Ronald D ~ Sgt, Paratrooper, AR
Rowe, William T Pfc, Paratrooper, TX
Sanford, William B ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, NJ
Simmons, William C ~ 1st Lt, Co-Pilot, NC
Skipper, Gilbert W ~ S/Sgt, Paratrooper, MD
Szwak, Raymond A ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, NJ
Thomas, John R ~ S/Sgt, Paratrooper, NY

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The 11 who parachuted out of this C-46 include:

Brelsford, Arthur B ~ Pvt
Chase, Homer B ~ T/4
Choate, Orell D ~ Pfc
Curran, Robert G ~ Pvt
Di Silvio, Armond ~ 1st Lt
Garcia, Tobias ~ Sgt
Jackson, D ~ Pvt
Malone, Bartholomew P ~ Pvt
Maturn, W R ~ T/4
Nelson, Donald L ~ Pfc
Tomlison, Lynn R ~ 1st Lt

Bio, listing, & Crew Report by:
Russell S. "Russ" Pickett

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