William Whitfield Trimble was born on November 27, 1917, in Louisiana. He was the son of William Trimble and Eula Elva Medaries Trimble. He was the husband of Mary Cathryn Mullis Trimble.
William Whitfield joined the Army Air Corps and received his pilot wings as a 2nd Lieutenant in early 1943. He served with the Eighth Army Air Corp in England and flew in the first American air raid on Berlin, Schweinfurt, Nuremberg, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Munich. He also flew two low-altitude missions over Normandy on D-Day.
At the time of his death, Trimble was serving in the 615th Bomber Squadron, 401st Bomber Group, Heavy, as a First Lieutenant and Pilot on the B-17 #42-40002 'Breezing Home' during World War II.
On June 19, 1944, his crew took off from Station 128 in Deenethorpe, England, for a mission to bomb the Bordeaux-Mérignac airfield in France. Hit by flak at around 10:00H, their plane developed mechanical problems (1 engine on fire - 2 others out of order - oil pressure). The plane was completely evacuated at 8,000 feet. Fortunately, all members survived the crash and the war. Their airplane crashed in Le Pouyau - 4 km south of Lesparre-Médoc. 1Lt Trimble was captured by the Gestapo. He was able to escape with the help of the French Underground and returned to England.
Trimble retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the United States Air Force. He died on February 23, 2005, at the age of 87 and is now buried in the Mission Burial Park North, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, USA.
Source of information: www.findagrave.com, francecrashes39-45.net