Sgt. William H. Deighan

Sergeant William Deighan, U.S. Army Air Forces, 568th Bomber Squadron, 390th Bomber Group, was the engineer/top turret gunner aboard the B-17 heavy bomber #232026, nicknamed "Tis a Mystery" piloted by 1st. Lt. Duane G. H. Sweeny of Iowa.

All members of Sweeny's crew were killed in action on December 30, 1944, according to the 390th Bomber Group Memorial Museum Research Department.

The Missing Air Crew Report, #11247, consists of four pages - none of which give any detail as to the crash of the aircraft into the sea except as quoted below:

"A/C 026, flying #3 position of lead squadron took off as brief at 08:34 hours climbing in pattern and disappeared into the clouds over the base which were from 3,000 to 9,500 ft., with moderate to severe icing conditions reported at about 7,000 ft. A/C 026 was not seen nor heard from after entering clouds."

A longer biography appears in the second edition of Nutley Sons Honor Roll

This Nutley Son's name is not on the WWII memorial.

William H. Deighan

BRANCH OF SERVICE U.S. Army Air Forces

HOMETOWN Belleville, NJ

HONORED BY Mr. & Mrs. John F. Mendes

ACTIVITY DURING WWII
HE WAS LOST OVER THE ENGLISH CHANNEL.

SGT William Deighan
ID: 12136696
Branch of Service: U.S. Army
Hometown: Essex County, NJ
Status: FOD (Finding of death)

William Deighan

ID: 12136696
Entered the Service From: New Jersey
Rank: Sergeant
Service: U.S. Army Air Forces, 568th Bomber Squadron, 390th Bomber Group, Heavy
Died: Saturday, December 30, 1944
Memorialized at: Cambridge American Cemetery
Location: Cambridge, England
Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart

Sources

American Battle Monuments Commission

National World War II Memorial

Newark Evening News, Jan. 19, 1946

The Nutley Sun, Jan. 25, 1946

390th Bomber Group Memorial Museum, Research Dept.

Contact Us
Created by Anthony Buccino
Snail Mail: PO Box 110252, Nutley NJ 07110
Entire contents NutleySons.com
Copyright © 2001 - 2014 by Anthony Buccino
All Rights Reserved

Web sponsors
Anthony's World
Old Nutley
Belleville Sons Honor Roll