Hendersonville veteran's story now in a new book about Netherlands cemetery
Four thousand miles from Hendersonville, citizens of the small Dutch village of Margraten in the Netherlands are honoring a World War II P-47 pilot who died in the liberation of their country from Nazi tyranny.
That pilot, 1st Lieutenant William M. Heaton of Hendersonville, had joined the Allies’ fight for freedom, serving with the 61st Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group. He died on Sept. 5, 1944, shot down by German anti-aircraft fire. Earlier that same day, he had strafed a German train at Niedermeisen, Germany. His destination that day was Merzhausen/Kuneburg, Germany.
He never made it.
This is the Missing Aircrew Report by 1st Lt Gordon J. Blake:
"I was flying Whippet Red Three in Lt Heaton's flight. We were in the area northeast of Coblens, when an airdrome was sighted. White Flight made a pass to strafe, but discovered they were dummy airplanes. Shortly after this Lt Heaton sighted a train south of this airdrome, about fifteen miles away. The [plane] dropped down to strafe and received heavy and accurate light flak. I called Red One and told him about the flak, as he missed the train on his first pass and was pulling up to make a second.Red One severely damaged the locomotive on his second pass and turned right, coming over the edge of the airdrome. We had pulled up and was climbing with about a thousand to fifteen hundred feet of altitude, with the flak very heavy. I looked at Red One and observed a large flash that appeared to be directly in the canopy. The plane continued to fly normally for 15 or 20 seconds and then rolled over, dived into the ground and exploded. No contact with Lt. Heaton was made after he was hit, and no chute was seen." - www.fieldsofhonorfoundation.com
Heaton was credited by Col Francis S. Gobreshie, an American ace, with saving his life in an encounter with German ME-109s. 1st Lieutenant Heaton received the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with Three Oak Leaf Clusters and Purple Heart.
Killed in action at age 24, Heaton was born in Pelzer, South Carolina on April 15, 1920, and was living in Hendersonville when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force. He had worked for Ecusta Paper Corp. in Pisgah Forest. Heaton came from a large family. He had two sisters and two brothers, and left his wife, Diana, behind. The young pilot is buried in the American War Cemetery in Margraten, where almost 8,300 graves keep these heroes who died for the freedom of the people of the Netherlands.
Since 1945, local families have adopted the graves of soldiers. The adopters treat the soldiers like their own family, bringing flowers regularly. Family members of the deceased soldiers say it’s comforting to know their loved ones’ graves are being looked after so respectfully. Long-lasting friendships between Dutch and American families have developed through these gravesite adoptions.
On the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands (2020), a ceremony speaker said, “They came to a place they didn’t know, to be in a war they didn’t want to be in, to do a job very few were willing to do.”
Volunteers from the town of Margraten created the book, "The Faces of Margraten: They Will Remain Forever Young," as a lasting monument to those who sacrificed their lives. The book by Jori Videc, Sebastiaan Vonk and Arie-Jan van Hees is available at online bookstores. More information about The Faces of Margraten project can be found at www.fieldsofhonorfoundation.com, where names of the fallen are listed according to their country of burial.
Another Hendersonville WWII P-47 pilot, Ed Cottrell, is today very much alive and well. Flying 65 missions in the Battle of the Bulge, Cottrell survived being shot up on one mission when oil coated his windshield and he couldn’t see. He landed the plane. His crew chief later told him eight of his engine’s 18 cylinders had been shot out. Cottrell said, “I kissed the ground.”
Cottrell, age 101, stays busy speaking to groups such as Jr. ROTC Cadets and traveling back to European battlefields where he flew. There he meets grateful people whose grandparents have told them stories of living under Nazi occupation. In 2020, Cottrell visited the grave of his roommate, P-47 pilot 2nd Lieutenant Art Somers, killed in action. Cottrell kneeled at Somers’ grave in the Netherlands, completing the circle of honoring America’s heroes from 1944.
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Hendersonville veteran's story now in a new book about Netherlands cemetery
