William F. Shelley

William F. Shelley was a gunner on the Paul Long crew. He flew 5 missions with Long before the crew transitioned to B-24s.

In a letter in 1992, he described his service as follows:

I was part of the 7th Bomb Gp that came up from India in July of 1942. We were based at Lydda, along with HALPRO, and flew missions against Tobruk, after staging out of Fayid, Egypt. At the time we had some very tired B-17E's with high oil consumption engines.

While in the Middle East, we were on detached service from the 7th and were released for return there about the time Operation Torch began. Some of us stayed and eventually became a part of the 513th Squadron. 376th Gp. My good friend Wilbur Mayhew is one of those. He had been an aerial photographer and gunner, as I was.

Quite likely I'd have stayed in the Middle East had it not been they took me off combat to set up a photo section in the restrooms of fhe Administration building of the Lydda Airport. That was a full time job but I wasn't too happy to be Umited to ground duty. Quite a story of how we staffed that section with Aussies, Americans, S. Africans, and RAF English blokes! Also used the Brits equipment and film.

After we returned to India in the Fall of 1942, I asked my CO to let me continue flying - even if I was the Lab Chief! He oked it and I eventually flew 40 missions and came home in the Fall of 1943, went through cadets and ended the war a 8-29 Combat Crew Instructor at Biggs Field, EI Paso, TX

376 ARCHIVES

The website 376bg.org is NOT our site nor is it our endowment fund.

At the 2017 reunion, the board approved the donation of our archives to the Briscoe Center for American History, located on the University of Texas - Austin campus.

Also, the board approved a $5,000 donation to add to Ed Clendenin's $20,000 donation in the memory of his father. Together, these funds begin an endowment for the preservation of the 376 archives.

Donate directly to the 376 Endowment

To read about other endowment donation options, click here.


My Trip to San Pancrazio

October 2019


Reunion

NOTE change in month !!!

DATES: Oct 26-29, 2023

CITY:Tucson, AZ

HOTEL: Double Tree Suites Airport hotel

7051 South Tucson Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85756

520-225-0800


Click here to read about the reunion details.

previous reunions


For Sale

The Other Doolittle Raid


The Broken Wings of Zlatibor


The Liberandos


Three Crawford Brothers


Liberando: Reflections of a Reluctant Warrior


376th Bomb Group Mission History


The Last Liberator


Full Circle


Shadows of Wings


Ten Men, A "Flying Boxcar," and A War


I Survived Ploesti


A Measure of Life


Shot Down In Yugoslavia


Stories of My Life


Attack


Born in Battle


Bombardier's Diary


Lost Airmen


Langdon Liberando