looking for stories about world war 2 339 aaf bomb group 1944,1st lt
william d stockton

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 04 Feb 2005 09:05 PST

Was Stockton killed in action?

If so, I have found a resource where Stockton's name is mentioned and
you can contact others who will undoutedly have many, many stories and
photos of this unit.

Will you accept this as an answer?

tutuzdad-ga

Dear raybo1943-ga;

Since my clarification request I found much more information that I am
quite excited about. I think you?ll like it so I am going to go ahead
and post it as an answer. It isn't often that these types of questions
result in any positive research, but Stockton was apparently well
liked and very brave. He is remembered fondly by his unit's history
and has become an important part of that legacy:

1st Lt. William D. Stockton appears in the roster of the 339th Fighter
Group as a Pilot. He is also listed among those killed in action 18
Oct. 1944, during which time he is recorded as having been attached to
the 503rd Squadron (one of three lesser squadrons of the 339th that
acted as bomber escorts).

Roster of 339th Fighter Group Personnel
http://ourworld-top.cs.com/the339thftrgrp/personnel.html

Here you will find a brief history of the 339th Fighter Group:
http://usaaf.com/8thaf/fighter/339fg.HTM


His plane would have bore the famous Warner Brothers insignia depicting Bugs Bunny:
http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/pictures/503.gif

I?ve located a plaque honoring Stockton?s Squadron at the Avenue of
444 Flags in Hermitage, PA
http://ourworld-top.cs.com/the339thftrgrp/avenueofflags.html

You can order a book with stories and photos that tells the history of
the 339th Fighter Group, by Tom Penrose by using this link:
http://ourworld-top.cs.com/the339thftrgrp/book.html
Or you can get it from Turner Publishing:
http://www.turnerpublishing.com/detail.aspx?ID=9



In addition to these tidbits of information, you will find more
details using these links:

WARBIRDS: 339TH FIGHTER GROUP
http://www.web-birds.com/8th/339/339.html

WARBIRDS: 503RD SQUADRON
http://www.web-birds.com/8th/339/503/503.html
Includes a very nice photo of 1st Lt William Stockton, and many of his friends:  
http://www.web-birds.com/8th/339/503/r52-29ar.jpg

The same photo appears in this gallery:
339th FG
http://www.museum119.cz/339thfg.htm

Maps of the Group?s area of operations:
http://www.web-birds.com/8th/339/map.jpg
http://www.web-birds.com/8th/339/map2.jpg

Stockton is also mentioned (in the next link below) as the Pilot of a
P-51C (Mustang) similar to the one seen here:
http://www.spitcrazy.com/Geneseo-P-51C.jpg

(His plane?s serial number was 42-103327 and his callsign was ?Beefsteak?) 
LITTLE FRIENDS
http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/339thfg.jsp

He is again mentioned in this document CREDITS FOR ENEMY AIRCRAFT:
http://geocities.com/billj@flash.net/oldindex.html

In this document Stockton is credited with damaging a German FW190 in
air combat during Mission Number: #130 as a bomber escort over Grimma,
Germany on 11 September, 1944. For this mission the Group was awarded
the Distinguished Unit Citation. (This same document indicates that he
narrowly escaped being killed himself after his plane suffered ?high
speed damage? during the ?dogfight?.)

On Mission Number: #132 Stockton is credited with destroying a JU88 by
strafing it on the ground. :
http://www.web-birds.com/8th/339/september44.html

William Preddy was also a member of the 503rd and was also shot down.
You can read stories about his experiences here and it might give you
some ideas as to what Stockton also faced:

PREDDY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION
http://www.preddy-foundation.org/


Supposedly, there is a database that is coming online soon that will
allow you to search the veteran?s archives (to what extent I don?t
know). The 339th was part of the 8th Air Force and you will find the
database here when it does go live:

MIGHTY EIGHTH
http://www.mightyeighth.org/Veterans_Database.cfm


You can contact surviving members of this group here:
http://ourworld-top.cs.com/the339thftrgrp/membership.html

I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

339th FIGHTER GROUP ASSOCIATION
http://ourworld-top.cs.com/the339thftrgrp/index.html


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

339TH

503RD

FIGHTER

SQUADRON

GROUP

MUSTANG

P-51

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Request for Answer Clarification by raybo1943-ga on 04 Feb 2005 20:50 PST

yes do you know how Billy was shot down? and your answer was helpful
,i think he was shot down helping someone to safety and do you know
any more about this?   Thank you Ray Stockton

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Clarification of Answer by tutuzdad-ga on 05 Feb 2005 07:36 PST

That was indeed one of the things I specifically looked for and didn't
find. I'm certain however that one or more of the surviving members of
the 339th Association link I provided to you would know the answer to
that and probably many of the details surrounding it.

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga