William John Caselton was born on August 7, 1923, in New Jersey to Gartner William Caselton and Catherine E. Flynn.
William's education included Columbia College and worked at the census bureau during the summer holidays.
In 1942, William enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. He was admitted and began his training as a navigator. After completing his training, William was assigned to the 790th Bomb Squadron, 467th Bomb Group, which was stationed at RAF Rackheath in England. From here, William and his crew flew several missions against Germany.
During William's last mission, he managed to leave the aircraft in time. William landed near the crash site and was found by A. Lampe, the local commander of the Marechaussee in Nieuw-Weerdinge. William stayed at his house overnight. The next day, Lampe brought William, together with his colleague Homburg, to teacher Raap in Nieuw-Weerdinge. He remained in hiding at this address for five days.
When it became unsafe at this address, he was moved to Ter Apel, where he went into hiding in the house of a teacher of the HBS, Roorda. On the night of 17 to 18 of March, the German Sicherheits Dienst (SD), assisted by Landwachter Jan Alssema, raided the house and arrested William, Roorda, and his son Koos. First, together with a few other men from Ter Apel, they were taken to the barracks of the Marechaussee in Stadskanaal. William was sent - via Stadskanaal and Groningen - to a prisoner-of-war camp near Lübeck, where he was liberated by the Russians on April 7, 1945.
Roorda was taken to the notorious Scholtenhuis, the local headquarters of the SD in the center of the city of Groningen, and was eventually taken to the House of Detention, also in Groningen, where he was liberated by Allied troops in mid-April 1945. His son Koos ended up in the House of Detention in Hoogezand, where he was liberated by Canadian troops on April 13, 1945.
After the liberation, Jay returned to America. Here he married Lillian Perrone in 1953. Together they had two children.
William died on July 1, 1970, in Chester, New Jersey. His current burial place is unknown.
Source of information: www.slodrenthe.nl
Source of photo: www.teunispats.nl