William George Mears was born on 28 July 1916 in Quechee, Vermont. He was the son of Frank William and Emily A. Lewin Mears. His parents were both born in Vermont. His step-mother was Mrs. Irene J Smith Mears Marsh. She has been incorrectly listed as his foster mother. William’s father was a blacksmith. He had a brother, Donald.

On 16 October 1940, William was living in Windsor, Vermont, and working for the Windsor Manufacturing Company. He was 5’4” tall and weighed 125 pounds. He had blue eyes, brown hair, and a light complexion. He also had a scar from an appendicitis operation.

On 10 November 1941 he enlisted as a private in the US Army Air Corps at Camp Blanding, Florida. He was 5”4” tall and weighed 124 pounds. He had completed four years of high school.

William was a sergeant assigned to the 68th Bomb Squad, 44th Bomb Group that was stationed in Shipdham, Norfolk, England.

On 6 December 1942 he was the radio operator on B-24D #41-23786 during a mission to bomb the German airfield of Drucat airfield at Abbeville, France.

19 B-24s were dispatched from 44th Bomb Group. While enroute to the target the 66th and 67th Squadrons received radio orders to return to base, but the leading 68th Squadron failed to intercept these orders and continued on with their six aircraft. The other 13 planes returned to base. All six bombed their target and were returning when approximately thirty FW 190s, in waves of two or three, made attacks from 12 o'clock, straight on. Very early in the encounter, aircraft #786 had #4 engine (right out-board) knocked out and #3 was damaged. The pilots valiantly fought to keep in formation due to the inherent dangers a single plane would surely encounter.

But due to the lack of power, the aircraft pulled off to the right and was losing altitude. The enemy fighters then proceeded to withdraw from the attack on the main formation and concentrated their attacks on aircraft #786.

After several attacks that also proved damaging to three FW 190s (two shot down and one damaged), two of the enemy aircraft again attacked from dead astern of the aircraft. The tail turret guns were seen to stop firing and pieces of the ship in that area were shot away, and the airplane nosed down toward the sea.

The two pilots continued to fight for control as the nose was seen to pull up on several occasions. However, when the plane eventually hit the water, the nose was down, causing the ship to break into pieces and catch fire, quickly sinking. None of the crew attempted to parachute out, electing to stay with their craft and take as many of their enemy with them as possible. For such bravery and gallant action, the entire crew was awarded the Silver Star posthumously.

As the planes made their way back from the target, they were attacked by thirty enemy FW 190s. They crashed into the English Channel with the entire crew killed and missing in action. This was the first loss for the 44th Bomb Group.

On 14 January 1943 the Vermont Journal reported: Sgt. William Mears Missing In Action

Word has been received that Sgt. William Mears, 26, of Windsor, was reported missing in action December 6. Sgt. Mears was born in Quechee, the son of Frank W. and Emily Lewin Mears, both of whom are deceased. He is the stepson of Mrs. Irene Marsh of Windsor and an aunt, Mrs. W. A. Lee, lives in Springfield.

Sgt. Mears lived in Windsor since 1937 until the time of his enlistment in the air corps in 1941. He has been station at various camps, including Grenier Field, Manchester, New Hampshire. He was serving with a bomb squadron December 6 when he was reported missing.

On 16 December 1943 the Springfield Reporter (Springfield, Vermont) reported: Windsor Boy Missing a Year Reported Dead

Mrs. Irene Marsh has received a letter from Maj. Gen. J. A. Ulio of the War Department stating that her foster son, Sgt. William G. Mears, who has been reported missing in action since December, 1942, has been officially declared dead since all efforts to locate him since that time have been fruitless. In November of this year the United States medal for meritorious conduct was awarded Sgt. Mears, and was accepted by his brother, Donald Mears.

Sgt. Mears was the son of the late M. and Mrs. Frank Mears and was born in Quechee on 29 July 1916. He was employed by the Windsor Manufacturing Corp., before entering the Army Air Corps. He graduated from Windsor High School in 1934.

The letter received by Mrs. Marsh follows: “Mrs. Irene B. Marsh: “It is my distressing duty to inform you that all possible efforts have failed to locate your son, Sgt. William G. Mears of the Air Corps who was officially reported missing in action in the Western European area on 6 December 1942. Sgt. Mears was a crew member of an airplane that crashed in the English Channel on that date when returning from a combat mission over enemy-occupied Europe.

All available records, reports and circumstances relating to the disappearance of your son have been carefully reviewed and considered and an official finding of death has been made. The death finding in Sgt. Mears’ case showed the presumed date of death as 6 December 1942.

I very much regret that the conditions of warfare on many fronts and over isolated areas and vast expanses of water have served to deny to some of us an accurate knowledge of the actual dates and circumstances of the deaths of our loved ones. We can, nevertheless, find sustaining comfort in the knowledge that this uncertainty regarding actual circumstances of time and location can in no way alter the significance of their sacrifice; and to then, as to those others the circumstances of whose deaths have been fully recorded, must be ascribed the great honor of having given their lives for their country in her gravest crisis.

I extend my heartfelt sympathy to you. Sincerely yours, J. A. ULIO, Maj. Gen., The Adjutant General”

The Vermont Standard reported on 15 June 1944: A presentation of a Silver Star medal for gallantry in action was made to Donald Mears of Windsor Memorial Day, awarded posthumously to his brother, Sgt. William Mears. Sgt. Mears was cited for remaining at his post of radioman on a crippled bomber in a raid over Europe and helping to shoot down two enemy planes before his own ship crashed into the sea. Earlier he had been awarded the Purple Heart, the presentation also being made to his brothers. Sgt. Mears entered the service 19 March 1941 and was reported missing in action 6 December 1942. He was born in Quechee 28 July 1916, the son of the late Frank Mears and Emily Lewin Mears. He spent his early childhood here, attending the village school. An attractive, likeable young man and a good student, he made many friends in the home town of his father and mother. He loved to return to Quechee whenever he had the opportunity.

Sgt William George Mears is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Ardennes American Cemetery, Neupre, Belgium. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location.

Sgt William George Mears was awarded the following medals: ★ Silver Star ★ Air Medal ★ Purple Heart★ World War II Victory Medal★ American Campaign Medal★ Army Presidential Unit Citation★ Army Good Conduct Medal and the ★ European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign.

A grateful nation honors his service and keeps his memory alive.

This story was created by researching numerous records. These included census records, military application for headstone, World War II Army Enlistment Record, Findagrave.com, Newspapers.com articles, Honorstates.org, records of the 44th Bombardment Group, b24.net, familysearch.org, fieldsofhonor-database.com etc.

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 here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories?