Cecil Willard Biggs was born on June 13, 1917, in Freestone, Texas. He was the only son of Benjamin French Biggs and Mary Ann Rife. He married Mary Nan Manning on February 5, 1942, in Teague Tx. Together they had one son, Cecil William Biggs, on December 23, 1942.
Cecil went to Texas Tech in 1939 to pursue a career as an electrical engineer. However, that all changed after Pearl Harbor. Cecil desperately wanted to join the Air Corps. Being the only son, he had to have written permission from one of his parents. His father was very, very protective of him and would not sign for him. He finally convinced his mother to sign after many attempts. His father never forgave her for that. Cecil joined the United States Army Air Corps. in 1942 and attended various flying schools, including the Lake Charles Flying School in Louisiana. In 1943, he was assigned to military service overseas, which sent him to Africa and Europe. For several months, Cecil served as a General's aide and personal pilot for Air Corps to General Mark Clark until he requested to be released from his Aide position so that he could become more involved with combat activity. Subsequently, he transferred to a base in England and joined the 315th troop carrier group.
1Lt Biggs was serving in the 309 Troop Carrier Squadron, 315 Troop Carrier Group, as a First Lieutenant at the time of his death. He was a member of a five-man crew on a C-47A #42-93029 Skytrain cargo plane.
On September 21, 1944, after leaving the drop zone, the plane crashed. Biggs and his crewmates had just dropped off 15 Polish paratroopers south of Arnhem when flames started shooting from their C-47 plane. According to eyewitness accounts, the plane crashed and burned before anyone could escape.
In 1945 and 1946, Dutch citizens recovered some of the remains of the soldiers and buried them in a nearby cemetery. A few years later, U.S. military officials moved them to Zachary Taylor National Cemetery in Kentucky. Buried under a single stone are the remains of Biggs as well as his four crewmates: 1st Lt. William L. Pearce of San Antonio, Texas; 2nd Lt. Thomas R. Yenner of Kingston, Pa., Staff Sgt. George G. Herbst of Brooklyn, N.Y., and TSgt Abendschoen of York, T.X. 1Lt Biggs' final resting place is Salem Cemetery, Freestone, Freestone County, Texas, USA.
Source of information: http://arlingtoncemetery.net, www.americanairmuseum.com, https://monument.marketgarden.com, https://www.baltimoresun.com, https://www.bowersfuneralhome.net