Having actually gone "Missing" on the above date, he was not officially declared by the military as being dead until November 19, 1945.
Body lost at sea
Specifically: Near Torres Strait Islands
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
William Lief entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from New York County, New York to serve during World War II.
He enlisted in the Army Air Corps as an Aviation Cadet on January 13, 1942 in New York City, New York. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a Draftsmen and also as Single, without dependents.
At the time of his disappearance, he was assigned to Headquarters Squadron, V Bomber Command at Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
On 26 March 1943, Lief was a crew member in the B-17 Flying Fortress #41-24384, "Pluto." Also on board was the Commanding General of V Bomber Command, Brigadier General Howard K. Ramey. The mission of the aircraft was to carry out a scheduled 7-hour reconnaissance flight of Merauke and Horn Island.
The last communication ever heard from the aircraft was a message from the radio operator twenty minutes after takeoff. An extensive air search was conducted but no sign was ever found of the aircraft, or the twelve men on board. All on board the aircraft were officially declared dead on 19 November 1945.
Second Lieutenant William Lief was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # O-726002
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Those who perished on B-17F #41-24384:
The records and the MACR are unclear as to what each Airman's assignment was on the B-17. The MACR lists Gen Ramey & LtCol Chaffin as the Pilot & Co-Pilot however that might have only been done because they were the ranking members of the flight.
There also was only one passenger on the flight and that was LCdr Mannoccir.
Berkowitz, Marvin ~ Sgt, NY
Chaffin, Harold N ~ LCol, Co-Pilot, AR
Collier, James D, Jr ~ M/Sgt, LA
Griffin, James R ~ Capt, TX
Hopfield, George T ~ Pfc, OH
Johnson, Harry A ~ S/Sgt, NY
Lief, William ~ 1st Lt, NY
Loewenberg, Stanley A ~ Capt, NY
Mannoccir, Ferdinand D, II ~ LCDR, Passenger
Quaal, Ortis L ~ T/Sgt, SD
Ramey, Howard K ~ Brig Gen, Pilot, MS
Stith, Robert R ~ S/Sgt, OK
Crew Report by: Russ Pickett
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Special thanks to:
ShaneO for submitting this record for crew updates!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Body lost at sea
Specifically: Near Torres Strait Islands
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
William Lief entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from New York County, New York to serve during World War II.
He enlisted in the Army Air Corps as an Aviation Cadet on January 13, 1942 in New York City, New York. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a Draftsmen and also as Single, without dependents.
At the time of his disappearance, he was assigned to Headquarters Squadron, V Bomber Command at Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
On 26 March 1943, Lief was a crew member in the B-17 Flying Fortress #41-24384, "Pluto." Also on board was the Commanding General of V Bomber Command, Brigadier General Howard K. Ramey. The mission of the aircraft was to carry out a scheduled 7-hour reconnaissance flight of Merauke and Horn Island.
The last communication ever heard from the aircraft was a message from the radio operator twenty minutes after takeoff. An extensive air search was conducted but no sign was ever found of the aircraft, or the twelve men on board. All on board the aircraft were officially declared dead on 19 November 1945.
Second Lieutenant William Lief was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # O-726002
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Those who perished on B-17F #41-24384:
The records and the MACR are unclear as to what each Airman's assignment was on the B-17. The MACR lists Gen Ramey & LtCol Chaffin as the Pilot & Co-Pilot however that might have only been done because they were the ranking members of the flight.
There also was only one passenger on the flight and that was LCdr Mannoccir.
Berkowitz, Marvin ~ Sgt, NY
Chaffin, Harold N ~ LCol, Co-Pilot, AR
Collier, James D, Jr ~ M/Sgt, LA
Griffin, James R ~ Capt, TX
Hopfield, George T ~ Pfc, OH
Johnson, Harry A ~ S/Sgt, NY
Lief, William ~ 1st Lt, NY
Loewenberg, Stanley A ~ Capt, NY
Mannoccir, Ferdinand D, II ~ LCDR, Passenger
Quaal, Ortis L ~ T/Sgt, SD
Ramey, Howard K ~ Brig Gen, Pilot, MS
Stith, Robert R ~ S/Sgt, OK
Crew Report by: Russ Pickett
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Special thanks to:
ShaneO for submitting this record for crew updates!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Having actually gone "Missing" on the above date, he was not officially declared by the military as being dead until November 19, 1945.
Body lost at sea
Specifically: Near Torres Strait Islands
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
William Lief entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from New York County, New York to serve during World War II.
He enlisted in the Army Air Corps as an Aviation Cadet on January 13, 1942 in New York City, New York. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a Draftsmen and also as Single, without dependents.
At the time of his disappearance, he was assigned to Headquarters Squadron, V Bomber Command at Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
On 26 March 1943, Lief was a crew member in the B-17 Flying Fortress #41-24384, "Pluto." Also on board was the Commanding General of V Bomber Command, Brigadier General Howard K. Ramey. The mission of the aircraft was to carry out a scheduled 7-hour reconnaissance flight of Merauke and Horn Island.
The last communication ever heard from the aircraft was a message from the radio operator twenty minutes after takeoff. An extensive air search was conducted but no sign was ever found of the aircraft, or the twelve men on board. All on board the aircraft were officially declared dead on 19 November 1945.
Second Lieutenant William Lief was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # O-726002
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Those who perished on B-17F #41-24384:
The records and the MACR are unclear as to what each Airman's assignment was on the B-17. The MACR lists Gen Ramey & LtCol Chaffin as the Pilot & Co-Pilot however that might have only been done because they were the ranking members of the flight.
There also was only one passenger on the flight and that was LCdr Mannoccir.
Berkowitz, Marvin ~ Sgt, NY
Chaffin, Harold N ~ LCol, Co-Pilot, AR
Collier, James D, Jr ~ M/Sgt, LA
Griffin, James R ~ Capt, TX
Hopfield, George T ~ Pfc, OH
Johnson, Harry A ~ S/Sgt, NY
Lief, William ~ 1st Lt, NY
Loewenberg, Stanley A ~ Capt, NY
Mannoccir, Ferdinand D, II ~ LCDR, Passenger
Quaal, Ortis L ~ T/Sgt, SD
Ramey, Howard K ~ Brig Gen, Pilot, MS
Stith, Robert R ~ S/Sgt, OK
Crew Report by: Russ Pickett
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Special thanks to:
ShaneO for submitting this record for crew updates!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Body lost at sea
Specifically: Near Torres Strait Islands
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
William Lief entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from New York County, New York to serve during World War II.
He enlisted in the Army Air Corps as an Aviation Cadet on January 13, 1942 in New York City, New York. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a Draftsmen and also as Single, without dependents.
At the time of his disappearance, he was assigned to Headquarters Squadron, V Bomber Command at Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
On 26 March 1943, Lief was a crew member in the B-17 Flying Fortress #41-24384, "Pluto." Also on board was the Commanding General of V Bomber Command, Brigadier General Howard K. Ramey. The mission of the aircraft was to carry out a scheduled 7-hour reconnaissance flight of Merauke and Horn Island.
The last communication ever heard from the aircraft was a message from the radio operator twenty minutes after takeoff. An extensive air search was conducted but no sign was ever found of the aircraft, or the twelve men on board. All on board the aircraft were officially declared dead on 19 November 1945.
Second Lieutenant William Lief was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # O-726002
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Those who perished on B-17F #41-24384:
The records and the MACR are unclear as to what each Airman's assignment was on the B-17. The MACR lists Gen Ramey & LtCol Chaffin as the Pilot & Co-Pilot however that might have only been done because they were the ranking members of the flight.
There also was only one passenger on the flight and that was LCdr Mannoccir.
Berkowitz, Marvin ~ Sgt, NY
Chaffin, Harold N ~ LCol, Co-Pilot, AR
Collier, James D, Jr ~ M/Sgt, LA
Griffin, James R ~ Capt, TX
Hopfield, George T ~ Pfc, OH
Johnson, Harry A ~ S/Sgt, NY
Lief, William ~ 1st Lt, NY
Loewenberg, Stanley A ~ Capt, NY
Mannoccir, Ferdinand D, II ~ LCDR, Passenger
Quaal, Ortis L ~ T/Sgt, SD
Ramey, Howard K ~ Brig Gen, Pilot, MS
Stith, Robert R ~ S/Sgt, OK
Crew Report by: Russ Pickett
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Special thanks to:
ShaneO for submitting this record for crew updates!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inscription
2LT, US ARMY AIR FORCES WORLD WAR II
