Lt. William M. Buttner -

Killed In Action Aug 15, 1944 

 

“Around noon August 15, 1944, an intense air battle took place between a squadron of American P-47's from the 373rd Fighter Group / 411 Fighter Squadron and about 30 Luftwaffe FW-190's southwest of Paris. The P-47 of the newly promoted 1st. Lt. William M. Buttner, one of three P-47's from the 411th Fighter Squadron shot down that afternoon, crashed in the forest near La Celle Les Bordes.”

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On August 16, locals buried Buttner's then unidentified remains in the local cemetery adjacent to the graves of three RAF crewmembers killed June 8, 1944 when their Lancaster bomber was shot down in the same area. It was only after the war the local burial records and serial numbers from the .50-caliber machine guns found at the crash site confirmed the pilot to be Lt. Buttner.

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