William S. Douglas
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
William S. Douglas entered the Army Air Corps February 1942.
Commissioned First Lieutenant and served as a ferry pilot with the Air Transport Command in Casablanca, French Morocco; and Tripoli, Libya.
Flew C-46 transport aircraft from Casablanca to Cairo, Egypt; transported personnel and war material on the way to the China-Burma-India Theater; and flew troops to Italy.
Separated in September 1945.
Source: Hometown Heroes: The St. Louis County World War II Project. 70.
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Mr. Douglas was assigned to San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center in September 1942. Due to previous flying experience, in February 1943 he was sent to the Spartan School of Aeronautics, in Miami, Oklahoma, where British Royal Air Force (RAF) pilots were trained. He graduated a commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in July 1943.
Mr. Douglas then served in Air Transport Command in Great Falls, Montana, ferrying planes to the Russians in Fairbanks, Alaska, and B-17s from the Seattle [Boeing] factory to American units going overseas.
In February 1944, he was assigned to Air Transport Command in Casablanca, French Morocco, and Tripoli, Libya, where he served for a total of eighteen months. He flew C-46 transport aircraft from Casablanca to Cairo, Egypt, transporting personnel and war materiel on the way to the China-Burma-India theater. He also flew troops to Naples, Italy. In September 1945, he was discharged in Madison, Wisconsin.
His rank was 1st Lieutenant.
He was born in Duluth, Minnesota, on September 6, 1918, the son of George S. and Belva (Downs) Douglas. He graduated from Duluth Central High School in 1937.
Mr. Douglas died in Duluth on August 21, 2008.
Source: Duluth News Tribune, August 28, 2008; Veterans’ Memorial Hall “Veteran Information Sheet” completed by veteran; online Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture (see quotation, below) (http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encycloped...); additional information from veteran (see below)
“Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, programs for training British Royal Air Force (RAF) pilots operated in Oklahoma. The Darr Flight School in Ponca City trained more than eleven hundred pilots, and the Miami, Oklahoma, Spartan School of Aeronautics taught approximately two thousand to fly. More than half a century later, British and Canadian pilots who had helped win the Battle of Britain remained in contact with Oklahomans who had welcomed the young cadets into their homes. In 1995, on the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II, RAF pilots trained in Miami endowed an annual scholarship for a graduate of the city's high school. Each Flag Day the British Union Jack flies in Ponca City to honor British cadets killed during flight training.”
