Photos and History of the 446th Bomb Squadron
from Pilot Lt. Wallace "Spike" Williams Jr.


Pilot Lt. Wallace 'Spike' Williams is standing on the right.
This is the crew of the 446th BS B-25 Arkansas Traveller right after pilot Wallace Williams brought her in for a belly-landing after the landing gear was damaged by flak on a mission to Cagliari, Sardinia. Sgt. Bill Sheehan, standing second from left, was wounded in the leg on the mission. Lt. Spike Williams is standing on the right.

"My thirteenth mission was over Cagliari harbor, southeast Sardinia. It took an awful pounding that day. The Forts and 26s hit it before us and we went in about noon. There were huge fires and smoke from 300 airplanes. Even the 38 escort took 500 lb. bombs. We rode in at 10,500 ft. The boys on the flak guns were hot and it looked black up front. Almost as soon as the bombs went out there was a flak burst just under our right front wing and nacelle. It was too close. One chunk severed the hydraulic lines and perforated the right side of the fuselage. Burst the nose wheel tire and broke Moe's side of the windshield. Sgt. Sheehan got a purple heart with a piece in his leg. Not very serious. I thought we were going down but we followed the formation home and I looked over the situation. It wasn't good. The right wheel hung out of the nacelle. No hydraulic pressure. We circled the field after the rest landed and found we had a leak in a gas tank. Tried to use emergency gear cable but it broke. Got everything set and came in on the belly with only 15 degrees flaps. Pretty rugged experience but we did okay. That was the Traveller's last mission. It went to the bone orchard at Tellergma." Spike Williams.


Pilot Lt. Wallace 'Spike' Williams is kneeling on the right.
In this crew photo for the 446th BS B-25 Pink Lady, Lt. Wallace "Spike" Williams is kneeling on the right. The photo from Mrs. Wallace Williams, is labeled on the back like so: "Mills B. C., Dicky, C. Pil, Bug Stoop, Red Lavall, Leahy, ?, ?. Old 99 in the background."


Go on to Lt. Wallace Williams' Diary, Part 1

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