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Griffith Williams was one of the 80 airmen who, under the leadership of Jimmy Doolittle, disembarked from the U.S.S. Hornet in the first bombing raid over Tokyo in World War II. Following the raid Lieutenant Williams was assigned to the 12th Air Force in North Africa where he flew combat missions until July 4, 1943, when he was shot down and interned as a Prisoner of War of the Germans.
Pilot
Lt.
Donald G. Smith
Oldham, SD
KIA1
Nov 12, 1942
Co-Pilot
Lt.
Griffith Paul Williams
Chicago, IL
POW2
Jul 14, 1998
Nav/Bomb.
Lt.
Howard Albert Sessler
Boston, MA
Feb 09, 2001
Engineer
Sgt
Edward Joseph Saylor
Brusett, MT
Gunner/Physician
Lt.
(Dr.) Thomas Robert Doc White
Haiku, Maui, HI
Nov 29, 1992
Other Comments:
Distinguished Flying Cross
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to First Lieutenant (Air Corps) Griffith Paul Williams (ASN: 0-421336), United States Army Air Forces, for extraordinary achievement as Co-Pilot of a B-25 Bomber of the 1st Special Aviation Project (Doolittle Raider Force), while participating in a highly destructive raid on the Japanese mainland on 18 April 1942. Lieutenant Williams with 79 other officers and enlisted men volunteered for this mission knowing full well that the chances of survival were extremely remote, and executed his part in it with great skill and daring. This achievement reflects high credit on himself and the military service.
WWII - European Theater of Operations/Sicily Campaign (1943)
From Month/Year
July / 1943
To Month/Year
August / 1943
Description (Sicily Campaign 9 July to 17 August 1943) In preparation for the invasion of Sicily the Allies captured the islands in the Sicilian strait, with aerial bombardment forcing the capitulation of Pantelleria on 11 June 1943. By that time Allied air power had begun the attack on Sicily by bombing defenses and airfields. The invasion itself got under way on the night of 9/10 July with airborne landings that were followed the next day by an amphibious assault. The enemy offered strong resistance, but the Allies had superiority in the air and soon had planes operating from Sicilian bases to support Montgomery’s Eighth Army and Patton’s Seventh.
Interdictory operations against communications in Italy and between Italy and Sicily convinced the enemy that it would be impossible to move strong reinforcements. By 17 August 1943 the Allies were in possession of the island, but they had not been able to prevent a German evacuation across the Strait of Messina.
