William Francis Gilliland was born in 1918 in Indiana. He resided in Fulton County, Indiana prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on November 14, 1940, prior to the war, at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a mechanic and also as Single, without dependents. William served as a Sergeant and Engineer on C-46 #41-24660, India-China Wing, Air Transport Command, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.

C-46 #41-24660 took off from Sookerating, Burma on a mission to Yunnanyi, China. They were shot down by a Japanese aircraft on January 18, 1944 and missing. It is unknown where they crashed. Having actually gone "Missing" on the above date, he was not officially declared by the military as being dead until January 16, 1946. His name is commemorated on the Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Taguig City, Philippines. He also has a cenotaph located in Green Bower Cemetery, Gardner, Worcester County, Massachusetts.

William was one of over 2000 Americans who lost their lives defending China from their Japanese invaders from 1941-1945. He is commemorated on the The Monument to the Aviation Martyrs in the War of Resistance Against Japan in Nanjing, China.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov