Individual Details
William Wade "Billie" FURR
(16 Jul 1921 - 7 Jul 1968)
Mustang Leveled Headquarters of Nazis, Who Fired at ‘Chuting Pilot
By BILL WOMBLE.
Quite by accident, but nonetheless quite effectively, First Lt. William Wade Furr of Raleigh, 24, Army fighter pilot ace, struck his most telling single blow at the Nazi at the moment his P-51 Mustang warplane “conked out” over enemy territory a year ago, forcing him to bail out and float down to certain capture.
Lieutenant Furr, veteran of nearly five years of active Army duty, and son of Mrs. P. E. Furr of 2629 Fairview Road, revealed this upon his return to Raleigh this past week after release from a German prison camp.
Destroyed Headquarters.
When the burning and disabled Mustang hurtled to earth, the ship struck a French farmhouse squarely, causing the whole building to disintegrate. The 300-odd gallons of gasoline still left in the Mustang's tanks helped no little in the destruction wrought by the ship. The lieutenant could see it all as he swayed beneath his silk canopy.
“I learned soon after they captured me that this farmhouse was field headquarters for a German air unit,” said Furr, indicating by his smile that such information was considerable consolation to him for having lost his ship and then suffering capture.
His “swan song” from action and the Mustang's death dive occurred on June 5, 1944, southeast of Calais, France, said Lieutenant Furr. At the time, he was patrolling inland from the coast, protecting the big American “heavies" that were bombarding the coastline in preparation for the invasion of Europe, which came the next day. Engine failure, and not enemy action, caused his ship to become disabled.
The Raleigh fighter pilot, who holds two Distinguished Service Crosses, four Air Medals, the Purple Heart, and other decorations, said the Nazi ground gunners took pot-shots at him as he floated to earth, and only the fact that a 45-mile gale was blowing saved his life. He was hit in one leg by shrapnel from a 20 mm. shell, but was not dangerously wounded.
“The high wind interfered with their aim,” he said, “and they couldnt’ get the shells close enough to me. Had it not been blowing so hard, I'm sure they would have riddled me before I could get down.”
As it turned out, the Germans were waiting for him as he struck earth, and he didn’t have a chance to get away, he said. He added it was two weeks before he was able to get treatment for his wound. By that time the wound had become infected.
Over Nine Victims.
Lieutenant Furr has been credited in Army Air Force press releases with destroying nine and one-half German planes, two of them on the ground. The modest young pilot said he personally did not know as yet of credits for but seven planes. He added he had not received official notice of results of examinations of movie films of his last few actions, hence this might account for the difference.
Every fighter ship, he explained, is equipped with an automatic camera that records each action. The camera starts operating as the pilot presses his gun trigger.
Shortly after his capture, Lieutenant Furr related, he was transferred to a prisoner of war camp south of Berlin. Three more transfers followed, as the Russians pressed in from the east and the Americans and British from the north and west.
It was march, march, march on these transfers, the Raleigh pilot said, and a number of men suffered frozen feet. Furr was so stricken, but not severely, and he said his feet now bother him only in cold weather.
On the last transfer, which involved about 300 miles of travel, Lieutenant Furr said the prisoners were packed into a boxcar. He doesn't recall exactly how many days he was in the car, but believes it was about eight. Finally, he arrived at Moosburg, in Bavaria, and there was interned in a new camp.
Other Raleigh Boys.
By the time that elements of General Patton’s army arrived in April to free the Americans, Lieutenant Furr was in company with four other captured Raleigh men—Lt. Col. Joseph Matthews, Capt. Fitz Davis, Capt. Al Johnson and Capt. Charles Jennette.
Asked about the treatment he received while a prisoner, Lieutenant Furr said “it wasn’t too bad.” He added he would rather not talk in detail on this point at this time.
With plenty of time in which to think and form opinions of Germany and future peace, most of the men in his camp had done just that, Lieutenant Furr said, and they felt that the United States must share to a large degree the responsibility for remaking Germany, if that is possible.
“They're thoroughly whipped,” he said, “and they know that they are whipped, but they’re not admitting it. If they are treated this time in the same manner as they were after the last war, we will have no one but ourselves to blame, should they make a comeback as a military nation.”
To the Allies’ air forces belongs the credit for crippling the Nazis to a degree that they could not stand off either the invasion of France or the over-running of their own country, Lieutenant Furr believes.
Many Fanatics.
During the three-hour battle around his prison camp at Moosburg, Furr said he saw a sample of the fanaticism which prolonged the war far beyond its logical end. Hitler’s SS troops and members of the Gestapo were shooting camp guards who wished to surrender, he said.
Earlier, he had heard fellow prisoners tell of German boys, some as young as 12 years, who manned machine guns in hopeless last-minute stands. These boys, members of Hitler's youth organization, would not quit under any circumstances, Lieutenant Furr was told by American infantry officers, and they had to be shot in combat.
Lieutenant Furr, following a furlough here, will report for reassignment.
By BILL WOMBLE.
Quite by accident, but nonetheless quite effectively, First Lt. William Wade Furr of Raleigh, 24, Army fighter pilot ace, struck his most telling single blow at the Nazi at the moment his P-51 Mustang warplane “conked out” over enemy territory a year ago, forcing him to bail out and float down to certain capture.
Lieutenant Furr, veteran of nearly five years of active Army duty, and son of Mrs. P. E. Furr of 2629 Fairview Road, revealed this upon his return to Raleigh this past week after release from a German prison camp.
Destroyed Headquarters.
When the burning and disabled Mustang hurtled to earth, the ship struck a French farmhouse squarely, causing the whole building to disintegrate. The 300-odd gallons of gasoline still left in the Mustang's tanks helped no little in the destruction wrought by the ship. The lieutenant could see it all as he swayed beneath his silk canopy.
“I learned soon after they captured me that this farmhouse was field headquarters for a German air unit,” said Furr, indicating by his smile that such information was considerable consolation to him for having lost his ship and then suffering capture.
His “swan song” from action and the Mustang's death dive occurred on June 5, 1944, southeast of Calais, France, said Lieutenant Furr. At the time, he was patrolling inland from the coast, protecting the big American “heavies" that were bombarding the coastline in preparation for the invasion of Europe, which came the next day. Engine failure, and not enemy action, caused his ship to become disabled.
The Raleigh fighter pilot, who holds two Distinguished Service Crosses, four Air Medals, the Purple Heart, and other decorations, said the Nazi ground gunners took pot-shots at him as he floated to earth, and only the fact that a 45-mile gale was blowing saved his life. He was hit in one leg by shrapnel from a 20 mm. shell, but was not dangerously wounded.
“The high wind interfered with their aim,” he said, “and they couldnt’ get the shells close enough to me. Had it not been blowing so hard, I'm sure they would have riddled me before I could get down.”
As it turned out, the Germans were waiting for him as he struck earth, and he didn’t have a chance to get away, he said. He added it was two weeks before he was able to get treatment for his wound. By that time the wound had become infected.
Over Nine Victims.
Lieutenant Furr has been credited in Army Air Force press releases with destroying nine and one-half German planes, two of them on the ground. The modest young pilot said he personally did not know as yet of credits for but seven planes. He added he had not received official notice of results of examinations of movie films of his last few actions, hence this might account for the difference.
Every fighter ship, he explained, is equipped with an automatic camera that records each action. The camera starts operating as the pilot presses his gun trigger.
Shortly after his capture, Lieutenant Furr related, he was transferred to a prisoner of war camp south of Berlin. Three more transfers followed, as the Russians pressed in from the east and the Americans and British from the north and west.
It was march, march, march on these transfers, the Raleigh pilot said, and a number of men suffered frozen feet. Furr was so stricken, but not severely, and he said his feet now bother him only in cold weather.
On the last transfer, which involved about 300 miles of travel, Lieutenant Furr said the prisoners were packed into a boxcar. He doesn't recall exactly how many days he was in the car, but believes it was about eight. Finally, he arrived at Moosburg, in Bavaria, and there was interned in a new camp.
Other Raleigh Boys.
By the time that elements of General Patton’s army arrived in April to free the Americans, Lieutenant Furr was in company with four other captured Raleigh men—Lt. Col. Joseph Matthews, Capt. Fitz Davis, Capt. Al Johnson and Capt. Charles Jennette.
Asked about the treatment he received while a prisoner, Lieutenant Furr said “it wasn’t too bad.” He added he would rather not talk in detail on this point at this time.
With plenty of time in which to think and form opinions of Germany and future peace, most of the men in his camp had done just that, Lieutenant Furr said, and they felt that the United States must share to a large degree the responsibility for remaking Germany, if that is possible.
“They're thoroughly whipped,” he said, “and they know that they are whipped, but they’re not admitting it. If they are treated this time in the same manner as they were after the last war, we will have no one but ourselves to blame, should they make a comeback as a military nation.”
To the Allies’ air forces belongs the credit for crippling the Nazis to a degree that they could not stand off either the invasion of France or the over-running of their own country, Lieutenant Furr believes.
Many Fanatics.
During the three-hour battle around his prison camp at Moosburg, Furr said he saw a sample of the fanaticism which prolonged the war far beyond its logical end. Hitler’s SS troops and members of the Gestapo were shooting camp guards who wished to surrender, he said.
Earlier, he had heard fellow prisoners tell of German boys, some as young as 12 years, who manned machine guns in hopeless last-minute stands. These boys, members of Hitler's youth organization, would not quit under any circumstances, Lieutenant Furr was told by American infantry officers, and they had to be shot in combat.
Lieutenant Furr, following a furlough here, will report for reassignment.
Events
| Birth | 16 Jul 1921 | Raleigh, Wake County, NC |  | ||
| Occupation | 1950 | building construction supply foreman - Raleigh, Wake County, NC | |||
| Marriage | 28 Jul 1952 | Durham, Durham County, NC - Lois May RISLEY |  | | |
| Death | 7 Jul 1968 | Westover Air Reserve Base, Hampden County, MA | | | |
| Alt name | Wilmer W. FURR | | |||
| Soc Sec No | 240-12-3365 | | |||
| Military | in World War II | | | ||
| Burial | Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA | |
Families
| Spouse | Lois May RISLEY (1923 - 2017) |
| Father | Pearle Edgar "Pearl Edd" FURR (1880 - 1927) |
| Mother | Pattie Lou KIMBALL (1888 - 1960) |
| Sibling | Dorothy E. FURR (1909 - 1973) |
| Sibling | Eloise J. FURR (1914 - 1994) |
Notes
Marriage
Lois May Risley, class of '45, to Capt. William Wade Furr, USAF, July 28, 1952, Hayes Barton Methodist Church, Durham. Mrs. Furr attended Hardbarger's Business College and has a position with the North Carolina Department of Labor in Raleigh. Captain Furr, a graduate of N. C. State College, Raleigh, has been stationed for the past two years at Ramey Air Force Base, Puerto Rico. After a temporary assignment at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Dayton, Ohio, they will be at home at Ramey Air Force Base, Puerto Rico.The Alumnae News, Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina, Summer 1952
Death
CHICOPEE — Lt. Col. William W. Furr, 46, of 246 Mandalay Rd., Fairview, an officer at the Eighth Air Force Inspector General’s office at Westover Air Force Base, was stricken at home Sunday and pronounced dead on arrival at the base hospital. Medical Examiner Edward I. Kraus said death was caused by acute coronary occlusion. Lt. Col. Furr was born in Raleigh, N. C., July 19, 1921. He was an Air Force veteran of World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars. He won a Purple Heart during World War II. Besides his wife, Mrs. Lois Mae (Risley) Furr, he is survived by a son, Steven; two daughters, Linda and Barbara, all of the home, and two sisters, Mrs. Eloise Davis and Mrs. Dorothy Hatcher, both of Raleigh. The funeral will be held Wednesday at 2:30 at McCarthy’s funeral home, Springfield, with memorial services at 3 at Westover Air Force Base Chapel 3. Burial will be in a national cemetery at a date to be announced. Calling hours are today from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9.The Morning Union, Springfield, Massachusetts, July 9, 1968
Military
First Lieutenant, US Army Air Corps (352nd Fighter Group <http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/352ndfg.jsp>, 328th Fighter Squadron) – captured 1944 France (lost August 13, 1944 flying P51B named Lois), Status: returned, Where Held: Stalag 7A Moosburg Bavaria 48-12 (Work Camps 3324-46 Krumbachstrasse 48011, Work Camp 3368 Munich 48-11), Home State: North Carolina.Endnotes
1. "North Carolina, Center for Health Statistics, Vital Records Unit, County Birth Records, 1913-1922", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CTMK-KW2M : 4 April 2020).
2. North Carolina County Marriages, 1762-1979. Database with images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org.
3. The Morning Union, Springfield, Massachusetts.
4. 1930 Wake County, North Carolina, Census, Raleigh, ED 29, page 87A.
5. United States Social Security Death Index.
6. National Archives and Records Administration. World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005. Original data: World War II Prisoners of War Data File [Archival Database]; Records of World War II Prisoners of War, 1942-1947; Records of the Office of the Provost Marshal General, Record Group 389; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD..
7. findagrave.com.