SGT William G. Ferguson

US Army Air Forces

374th Bombardment Squadron, 308th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 14th Air Force

Service # 33434820

William George Ferguson was born on 29 March 1924 in Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania to William Rider Ferguson and Mabel Ferguson. His parents were natives of the Keystone State. Ferguson had an older sister Elaine. His father financially supported the Catholic household in a lengthy career as a brakeman with the steam railroad. His mother was a homemaker.

Ferguson’s entire upbringing occurred in Erie, PA. The family lived with Ferguson’s paternal grandmother and her husband. Ferguson graduated from Erie’s Strong Vincent High School in 1942. When Ferguson registered for the draft on 30 June 1942, he stood 5’ 7” tall, weighed 135 pounds, and worked for furniture retailer Arthur F. Schultz Company in Erie, PA.

Ferguson enlisted in the Army Air Forces on 12 March 1943 in Erie, PA. The unmarried enlistee followed in his father’s footsteps and was employed as a brakeman for the railroad. He entered active duty on 19 March 1944 and received stateside training over the next year to qualify as radio operator for the flight crew of the B-24 Liberator heavy bomber. Ferguson deployed to the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations in April 1945 and was assigned to the 374th Bombardment Squadron, 308th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 14th Air Force.

The 308th Bomb Group arrived in China in early 1943 and flew many missions over the “Hump” between India and China ferrying gasoline, bombs, spare parts, and other supplies needed for combat operations. The unit supported Chinese ground forces, attacked enemy airfields, coal yards, docks, oil refineries, and fuel dumps in Indochina, bombed ports, docks, and maintenance shops in Burma, and attacked Japanese shipping. After Ferguson joined the group, it received its second Distinguished Unit Citation for interdiction of Japanese shipping.

On 8 May 1945, Ferguson was assigned to crew B-24J Liberator #42-73436 “Ubangi Bag III” on a routine mission between Dergaon Airfield in India’s Assam Valley and Chengtu, China. The last radio contact was when the aircraft was over Paoshan, China. The Liberator exploded and crashed near Pawngen, Burma.

Ferguson was killed in the line of duty on 8 May 1945 during a routine mission when his B-24 exploded and crashed near Pawngen, Burma.

All five of the B-24’s crew members perished. Ferguson was temporarily interred at the crash site. His remains were repatriated to the United States. Ferguson was buried with his crewmates in a common grave at Arlington National Cemetery on 15 March 1950. He was memorialized on the Monument to the Aviation Martyrs in the War of Resistance Against Japan in Nanjing, China.

Sources

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14989623/william-g-ferguson

https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/discoveryui-content/view/51338929:6224

https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/discoveryui-content/view/22042909:2442

http://www.usaaf-in-cbi.com/308th_web/308_history.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/308th_Armament_Systems_Group

This story is part of the

Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a

national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US

WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these

stories? These stories will be accessible via smartphone app at any war

memorial or cemetery. If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have

additional information to contribute to it, please contact me at moyer1020@comcast.net.

SBTSProject/[Pennsylvania]/[Erie]

William G Ferguson