William Roberts Winters was born on 2 Jul 1917 in Delavan, WI, to Will and Grace Winters. He lost his father in an automobile crash when he was only 8. Along with his sister, Margaret, and brother, Ed, he was raised by his single mother and graduated high school in 1935. In September 1940, both Bob and Ed enlisted in the Army at Chanute Field, Rantoul, Illinois.
William was promoted to Corporal in February 1942. He graduated at Foster Field in Victoria, TX, on 10 Nov 1942 and was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant. Four days later, he arrived in Orlando, FL, assigned to the newly formed 81st Fighter Squadron, where he was tagged with the nickname “Whitey” (due to his thinning white hair) by his new buddies.
William continued combat training at Orlando and Cross City. The squadron left Orlando in March 1944 and went to New York, where they boarded the HMS Sterling Castle for the two-week trip to Lymington, UK. From there, William flew three close air support missions on D-Day. The squadron soon moved into France and across the country as the ground troops advanced.
On November 25, 1944, aboard P-47 #42-28406 "Peaches," Cpt Winters took off from A-96 airfield in Nancy, France, for a mission in Sarrebourg. At 13h05, his aircraft was shot down by flak during a low-level strafing run between Postroff and Wolfskirchen, causing his death. His aircraft crashed on the edge of Ischwald forest - southeast of Wolfskirchen. The crash was observed by 1Lt Charles R. Marks and 1Lt Joseph E. Carrieres.
Report of 1Lt Joseph E Carrieres (MACR 12401 page 4):
On 25 November 1944 at approximately 1300, while on a close support mission west of Sarrebourg, red and yellow flights were making simultaneous strafing and dive bombing passes on two roads running north and south about one-half mile apart.
Pulling up to the left in our second pass, my wingman said: "Someone is going in". Looking down I saw our flight leader, Capt William R Winters, O-667017, in a P-47D-26, aircraft serial number 42-28406, about 20 feet above the ground and going in. The aircraft was hit with a very violent explosion.
Source of information: francecrashes39-45.net, www.goldstarfamilyregistry.com