Arthur W. Thompson.
Navigator · 409th Squadron · Of Cambridge, New York.
The Man Behind the Name
2nd Lt. Arthur William Thompson (O-794181), born April 8, 1919, served as navigator on the crew of the 409th Bomb Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group. Before the war he worked as a machinist and spoke French, German, and some Romanian.
Thompson was on his 13th mission when his aircraft was downed during the August 1, 1943 Ploesti raid. The plane crash-landed approximately 10 miles southwest of the target at 15:15 hours after sustaining severe damage. Thompson was not wounded in the crash.
Thompson and the surviving crew were interned in Romania. He was held as an internee until Romania's change of allegiance in 1944, after which he was released and repatriated through Bari, Italy. He departed Bari by plane on September 4, 1944, arriving at Lyneham on September 6, 1944.
Thompson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with Cluster. He completed the E&E questionnaire on September 7, 1944. He noted the Halazone water purification tablets as the most valuable item in his aids box, and recommended better maps and proper local currency for future kits.
Service record.
Missions flown.
The missions below are those we have been able to document for this airman, drawn from flight logs, mission records, and archival sources. It is not necessarily a complete account of every mission flown; gaps may reflect missing documentation, transferred assignments, or records lost to time.