WILLIAM GEORGE PATTERSON
greenwich time, january 9 1945
|
Lieut. Patterson Missing In China After B-29 Raid
A War Department telegram this morning informed Mr. and Mrs. William K. Patterson of 11 Ritch Ave, East Port Chester, parents of Second Lieut. William George Patterson, that he is missing in action over China since Dec. 27. Lieut. Patterson, 24, had been overseas since November 1944, and in his last letter home, written from an India base, he mentioned having participated in a B-29 Superfortress raid on Bangkok, Burma. The letter was dated Dec. 25, two days before the flight on which he failed to return. After attending New York University for two years Lieut. Patterson entered the Army Air Forces in October 1942. He was sent to Yale University for special training and received a commission as lieutenant and engineer aboard the big B-29 in July 1943. From that time until he went overseas last November he traveled all over the country visiting Boeing plants, where the Superfortresses are manufactured, studying still further the mammoth planes. He attended the Byram School and graduated from Greenwich High School in 1938. At times he was employed at Mead’s Stationery Store and Larsen’s Delicatessen in East Port Chester. His sister, Second Lieut. Dorothy Patterson, is an Army Air Forces nurse stationed in Utah. |
greenwich time, january 23, 1945
|
Lieut. Patterson Killed In Crash Of B-29 In China
Mr. and Mrs. William K. Patterson, of 11 Ritch Ave., East Port Chester, received a War Dept. telegram last night, notifying them that their son, Lieut. William George Patterson, formerly reported missing in action, was killed in the crash of a B-29 Superfortress over China on Dec. 27. The second lieutenant, who was an engineer on the ill-fated plane, wrote his last letter home on Christmas Day and mentioned that he had participated in a raid on Bangkok, Burma. Two days later he took off on his final flight. Lieut. Patterson attended New York University for two years before he entered the Army Air Forces in October 1942. He was sent to Yale University for special training as an engineer aboard the huge planes which at that time had not yet flown a combat raid. He received his commission as second lieutenant and engineer in July 1943 and toured Boeing plants in the U.S., where the B-29s were manufactured, until he was shipped overseas in November that year. He attended the Byram School, where he was later very active as a troop leader for Troop 15, and graduated in 1938 from Greenwich High School. At times he was employed at Mead’s Stationery Store on Greenwich Ave. and Larsen’s Delicatessen in East Port Chester. Besides his parents he is survived by two sisters, Second Lieut. Dorothy Patterson, a nurse with the Army Air Forces, stationed at Kearns, Utah, and Corinne Patterson. |