An American citizen born and raised in North Carolina, Pilot Officer Cecil William Simmons gave his life to fight the Nazis. Bill earned his pilot’s license at 18 and volunteered for the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940, four months after graduating from high school and well over a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He received his wings in May, 1941, and joined No. 149 Squadron Royal Air Force in England in June, 1941. Flying out of RAF bases at Mildenhall and Lakenheath, Bill completed 26 bombing missions over Europe including participating in the famous first “Thousand Bomber Raid” in May, 1942. In June, 1942, Bill’s Short Stirling bomber received heavy damage on a mission over Bremen, Germany, and the plane was lost over the Ijsselmeer in the Netherlands on its return flight with the loss of the entire crew. Bill was 21.
An American citizen born and raised in North Carolina, Pilot Officer Cecil William Simmons gave his life to fight the Nazis. Bill earned his pilot’s license at 18 and volunteered for the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940, four months after graduating from high school and well over a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He received his wings in May, 1941, and joined No. 149 Squadron Royal Air Force in England in June, 1941. Flying out of RAF bases at Mildenhall and Lakenheath, Bill completed 26 bombing missions over Europe including participating in the famous first “Thousand Bomber Raid” in May, 1942. In June, 1942, Bill’s Short Stirling bomber received heavy damage on a mission over Bremen, Germany, and the plane was lost over the Ijsselmeer in the Netherlands on its return flight with the loss of the entire crew. Bill was 21.
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Royal Canadian Air Force
Gravesite Details
J/15474
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