Destination~Vienna by Kevin W. Edwards

2. DESTINATION~VIENNA

3. Destination~Vienna
• Destination~Vienna New Historical Narrative Retraces WWII Conflict
from One Air Force Navigator's Aerial View Kevin W. Edwards Delivers
Captivating Historical Record and Personal Narrative
• A new book, "Destination Vienna", written about a 783rd Navigator, has
just been published. Kevin W. Edwards, the son of the late William W.
Edwards, a former 2nd Lieutenant/Navigator who served in World War II
with the 783rd Squadron of the 465th Bomb Group, has written a book
about the 15th Army Air Corp. centering on his father's experience as a
Navigator with the 783rd. "Destination Vienna" retraces a mission, in his
father's own words of the events he and his crew experienced on a single
day in March 1945 when their plane was hit and the subsequent events
that followed. The subject of the book was the 465th. Bomb Group's 166th
mission in Italy. The narrative is cleverly interspersed with history and the
events that evolved leading up to this particular 'Vienna' mission.

4. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS-
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his
life for his friends. John 15:13
The Author would like to thank all those who I would like to thank Gene F. and Mary
helped with this book. Moxley for their effort and dedication to
Many thanks and special appreciation to chronicling the history of the "Missing In
all the men and women of the World War Action" crews of the 465th Bomb Group.
II generation who worked tirelessly, A very special thanks to both the brave
fought valiantly, and sacrificed greatly to crews from the 783rd Squadron of B-24
keep the world free from evil. Liberator bomber #44-49894, Call letter
A debt of gratitude and thanks to all of Blue "U", and to the Cella replacement
those who served with the 15th Army Air crew may their sacrifices always be
Corps for their courage and commitment remembered.
to duty, honor, country in the face of Love and thanks always to my lovely
great peril. wife, Sharon, and our two children, Kyle
Thanks, to all of our Allies, partisans, and Kelly, for their support and
resistance fighters, and those people of encouragement in the writing of this
Austria and citizens of Vienna, who book.
despite great personal hardship and May you always walk in
danger, provided aid and comfort to U.S. sunshine, May you never want
servicemen in need through unheralded for more.
and ,at times, even unrecorded acts of May Irish angels rest their wings
heroism. right beside your door.

5. Destination~Vienna
“I know that I shall meet my fate,
Somewhere among the clouds above.”
Yeats

6. High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of, wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor ever eagle flew
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God
John G. Magee 3 September 1941

7. DESTINATION~ VIENNA
This book is dedicated to my father, William W. Edwards, who
served his country in World War II as a navigator on a B-24
bomber with gallantry and valor in a time of great peril. And
also to the courageous 783rd Squadron crew of B-24L-#44-49894-
call letter Blue "U" who flew with him, as they all risked their
own lives and made great sacrifices to keep us free.
Let their names always be remembered.
Pilot-1st Lieutenant William E. Herman-KIA
Co-Pilot-Lieutenant David N. Reeher -MIA
Navigator-2nd Lieutenant William W. Edwards-MIA
Bombardier-Lieutenant Kern McIlhenny -MIA
Nose Turret Gunner-Sgt. Billy J. Irwin-KIA
Top Turret Gunner-Sgt. Thomas F. Dennick -MIA
Ball Turret Gunner-Sgt. Ernest Fink-KIA
Flight Engineer/Waist Gunner-S/Sgt. Earl E. Eiberger-KIA
Radio Operator/Waist Gunner-Sgt. Doyle B. Mayo -MIA
Tail Turret Gunner-Sgt. Robert H. Canterbury-KIA
"A Man is not Dead until he is Forgotten

8. World War II was a great conflagration of
unimaginable horror and destruction resulting in over 70
million killed, millions more displaced, families broken or
destroyed, great cities and even whole countries left in
ruins. This book will backdrop, from the end of World War I
or "The War to End All Wars" on the 11th hour of the 11th
day of the 11th month in 1918, and the signing of the Treaty
of Versailles the almost immediate series of events that led
up to World War II.

9. We will chronicle these events as they relate to the life
of one individual and his ultimate entanglement with
the dynamics of a world engulfed in war. This book will
retrace the mission of one solitary B-24 Liberator
bomber crew on a single day in March 1945, when
they met their "fate, somewhere among the clouds
above." We will see the kindred spirit of complete
strangers, who were thrust into and subsequently
banded together by untenable circumstance, to rise
and act to cast off the yoke of evil.

10. Wales

11. Central High School-1940

12. Bridgeport Ritz Ballroom

13. Peace in our time!

16. Aviation Cadet-William Edwards-1943

17. 2nd Lt William W. Edwards
Commissioned

18. Cella Crew-Casper Wyoming
September 1944

19. " The Air Force's Business Is to Fly and Fight,
and Don't You Forget It!"
General Hap Arnold

20. The 15th ARMY AIR CORPS IN ITALY

21. Pantanella Air Base-1944/45

22. B-24 Bombers take off from Pantanella

23. B 24 Bombers to Destination

24. In Vienna, too, the word Gestapo expressed the
quintessence of Nazi terror.
Himmler

25. VIENNA~FINAL DAYS
St Marxer Friedhof-3rd District Cemetery

26. Tuskegee Airmen- 332d
Fighter Group
The combat record of the Tuskegee Airmen
• Over 15,000 combat sorties (Including 6000+
for the 99th prior to July '44)
• 111 German airplanes destroyed in the air
• 150 German aircraft destroyed on the ground
• 950 railcars, trucks, and other motor vehicles destroyed
• 1 destroyer sunk by P-47 machine gun fire
• Sixty-six pilots killed in action or accidents
• Thirty-two pilots downed and captured, POWs
• NO Bombers were ever lost to Enemy Aircraft while
being escorted
• 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses earned
• 744 Air Medals
• 8 Purple Hearts
• 14 Bronze Stars
•••We of the 464th and 465th Bomb Groups•••
As well as all of the other Groups in the 15th AF
"SALUTE YOU!"

27. Bombing run over Vienna

28. Bomb bay doors open!.............Bombs away!

29. “……the air about us erupts into an orange and black inferno.
The plane was tossed up violently…..”

30. Lieutenant William W. Edwards-Missing in
Action

31. I Have A Rendezvous With Death

32. Missing Man Formation

33. REFLECTIONS
To fallen soldiers let us sing
Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing
Our broken brothers let us bring
To the mansions of the Lord
No more bleeding, no more fight
No prayers pleading through the night
Just divine embrace, eternal light
In the mansions of the Lord
World War II Memorial-
Where no mothers cry and no children weep
Washington D.C. We will stand and guard though angels sleep
Through the ages safely keep
The mansions of the Lord
inspired by the movie- We were soldiers

34. Mission Accomplished
Cella Crew Stateside-1945
GOD BLESS THE USA !

37. Special Acknowledgement-Glenn
Miller and his Orchestra

38. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
KEVIN W. EDWARDS
…………is the son of the late William W. Edwards, a former 2nd Lieutenant/Navigator with the 783rd
Squadron of the 465th Bomb Group/55th Wing of the 15th Army Air Force in Italy. He was born in
Bridgeport,Connecticut and grew up in Stratford, graduating from Stratford High School. Presently, he is
a 2nd career high school teacher of Mathematics at Wilby High School , after having been a mechanical
engineer and manufacturing executive for over 30 years. He graduated from Sacred Heart University in
Fairfield, Connecticut with a Master of Arts in Teaching, Fairfield University(Bridgeport Engineering
Institute ) in Bridgeport, Connecticut with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Norwalk
State Technical College in Norwalk, Connecticut with an Associate in Applied Science-Mechanical
Engineering Technology.
He resides with his wife Sharon and their two children, Kyle and Kelly, in Waterbury, Connecticut.