William Everett "Bill" McGill was born on August 25, 1922, in Colbert County, Alabama. He was married to Alice Rosetta McGill.

William served in the 339th Bomber Squadron, 96th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Staff Sergeant and Ball Turret Gunner on the B-17 #42-37808 'Special Delivery' during World War II.

On January 5, 1944, his crew took off from Station 138 airfield in Snetterton Heath, England, for a mission to bomb the Bordeaux-Mérignac airfield in France. Shot down by fighters at 11:30 AM, they evacuated their plane by parachute. Their aircraft crashed near Lesparre-Medoc, France. Of the crew, five members were captured by the Germans and taken as prisoners. The five remaining members were able to evade the capture. SSgt McGill was one of the POWs. He was taken to Stalag-Luft VI. When the Russians closed in on this camp, he was transferred to Stalag-Luft IV in Gross-Tychow, Germany.

Post-war, McGill was employed as a dental technician at Walker Dental Lab and was a member of St. Luke's United Methodist Church, the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Disabled American Veterans. He died on November 15, 1995, at the age of 73, in Decatur, Alabama. McGill is now buried in the Roselawn Gardens Of Memory, Decatur, Morgan County, Alabama, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, francecrashes39-45.net