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Private 1st Class Bill Wingett
Bill Wingett originally enlisted on 9th December 1941, two days after Pearl Harbor was attacked, but after a car crash, hospitalisation and subsequent discharge from the forces meant he had to try again on 19th August 1942. Bill was a machine gunner with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne up until 5 days before D-Day where he was transferred to Headquarters Company. He fought in the campaigns of Normandy, Holland and Bastogne receiving a Purple Heart in each. Discharged on 23rd November 1945, Bill returned 10 months later to join the 82nd Airborne for 3 years as a maintenance man at Fort Bragg Airfield. He died on 1st October 2020 aged 98.
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Road to the Rhine by Robert Taylor. As the Allied armies dashed across France after victory in Normandy, they remained reliant on one thing - supplies. With Cherbourg the only port in use, everything depended on trucks to deliver enough fuel, food and ammunition to keep the momentum going. But there was a problem. Too few trucks, and too few drivers. The invasion was in danger of stalling, and if it did, the Germans might just regain the initiative. Action was needed, and quickly. Montgomery argued that all resources be channeled into a single, powerful thrust into Germany, but Eisenhower disagreed. the Allies would advance on a broad front. But he did give Montgomery the First Allied Airborne Army to try and capture the major bridges in Holland on the road to the Rhine, ahead of the Allies advance. For the men of the 101st Airborne, the Screaming Eagles, their task was to seize the bridges at Eindhoven. The 82nd would do the same at Nijmegan, and the British 1st Airborne would capture the farthest bridge, at Arnhem. On the ground the British 30th Corps would advance northwards and link up with them, and, if successful, turn the German flank on the Rhine. On 17th September 1944 the plan was put into action, the 101st quickly securing all of its objectives, and the 82nd capturing one bridge. The British 1st Airborne fought its way into Arnhem and seized the bridge over the Rhine. Now all they had to do was hold out until the 30th Corps arrived. But 30th Corps was making slow progress, and although the men of the 101st and the 82nd held out until relieved, in Arnhem it was too late to save the British 1st Airborne. Battle-weary, without ammunition or supplies, only a few survivors escaped back across the Rhine. Of the 10,000 men who had landed, just 2,000 made it out. If the operation had succeeded the war in Europe might have been over by Christmas 1944. Instead, hostilities would continue through the bitter winter. |
| Private 1st Class Bill Wingett Aircraft details |
| Private 1st Class Bill Wingett Squadron details |
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