Taylor Co., TX - Obituaries - Lt. Thomas W. Williams *********************************************** This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Dorman Holub Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm *********************************************** The Abilene Reporter News Abilene, Taylor County, Texas Friday, January 14, 1944 LT. THOMAS W. WILLIAMS DIES AS PLANES COLLIDE Second Lt. Thomas W. Williams, 22, Abilenian, three other officers and five enlisted men were killed yesterday when two Flying Fortresses collided 10 miles south of Brooksville, Fla. Brig. Gen. Hume Peabody, commander of the Army Air Forces Tactical Center at Orlando, Fla., told the Associated Press the four-engined bombers collided head-on during a training flight. An officer from the Brookville base told members of the family here last night that the accident happened when Lieutenant Williams and his co-pilot were changing positions and that the other bomber rammed into the one in which the Abilenian was riding. Lieutenant Williams' mother, Mrs. W.H. Williams, lives at 602 Meander. In addition to his mother survivors are two brothers, Majojr W.H. Williams, now in the South Pacific and Joe Williams of Abilene and 2 sisters: Elizabeth of Abilene and Alice, now attending Hockaday school in Dallas. Funeral arrangements were pending word from Brooksville as to when the body would be shipped to Abilene Kiker-Knight funeral home. Lieutenant Williams was born 17 September 1921 at DeLeon and moved to Abilene with his family in 1931. He was graduated from Abilene High school and the University of Texas, entering the service in August, 1942. He received his commission as a pilot in April 1943. The Abilene Reporter News Abilene, Taylor County, Texas Saturday, January 15, 1944 A military funeral for Lt. Thomas W. Williams, 22, will be held in the First Baptist church with the Rev. Millard A. Jenkens, officiating by an Army chaplain. Burial in the family lot at DeLeon. Lt. Williams, son of Mrs. W.H. Williams, 602 Meander, attended Hardin-Simmons University two years, where he was a member of the debate team, and later was graduated from the University of Texas.