Gravely, William Seymour

Gravely, William Seymour

Gravely

William Seymour

William Seymour Gravely

Born: March 30, 1888

Died: July 25, 1956

Biography

William Gravely applied to QB (estimated) July, 1930 as an Air Corps Captain posted to Kelly Field, San Antonio, with 2500 flight hours having soloed in El Paso, (date unknown). Among his sponsors: Dale Gaffney (SFO), C. Tinker (NY), E.E. Hughes (SLC), H.B. Pentland (UNK), and William Payne (BNA).

William S. Gravely was born on March 30, 1888, in Martinsville, Va. He attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Class of 1911) and was appointed a first lieutenant, Field Artillery Reserve, on Nov. 27, 1917. He was placed on active duty that same date and served until he was commissioned a first lieutenant, Air Service, Regular Army, on July 1, 1920.

His first commissioned service was with the 314th Field Artillery at Camp Lee, Va., from November 1917 to April 1918 when he went to Fort Sill, Okla., at attend the School for Aerial Observers. Upon completion of the course in June 1918, he took a brief course at the School of Aerial Gunnery at Selfridge Field, Mich. In July 1918 he was assigned to duty with the 2nd Provisional Wing at Houston, Texas, then proceeded to Ellington Field, Texas, in February 1919. The following July he became Operations Officer, 12th Aero Squadron, and served at El Paso, Texas, and Nogales, Ariz., until August 1920 when he was ordered to duty at Godman Field, Ky., as Operations Officer.

From March to August 1921, he was stationed at Carlstrom Field, Fla., where he graduated from the Air Service Pilot School. He then went to Kelly Field, Texas, graduating from the Air Service Bombardment School in January 1922. His next assignment was to the 13th Attack Squadron, Kelly Field, as Operations Officer, until the following month when he sailed for the Philippine Islands where he was assigned to the 2nd Observation Squadron as Flight Commander at Kindley Field. He moved to Clark Field, Philippines, in October 1922 for duty with the 28th Bombardment Squadron, and in July 1923 became an instructor with the 3rd Pursuit Squadron at Clark Field.

He again went to Kindley Field, Philippines, in February 1924 for duty as an instructor until his return to the United States where he became Assistant Operations Officer, 10th School Group, Kelly Field, Texas, in March 1924. He was named Director of Observation, 10th School Group, in July 1925, and subsequently became an Instructor and Director of Observation at the Air Service Advanced Flying School (redesignated Air Corps Advanced Flying School) at Kelly Field.

In August 1930 he proceeded to Langley Field, Va., where he graduated from the Air Corps Tactical School in June 1931. He was then assigned to Brooks Field, Texas, where he was designated Post and Group Operations Officer, 12th Observation Group. He was detailed to the Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kan., in August 1935, and upon graduation in June 1936, went to March Field, Calif., for duty with the 19th Bombardment Group, serving as Group Executive, Intelligence and Operations Officer, and Deputy Commander. 

1939 – Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations & Intelligence, Panama Canal Department

1942 – Deputy Chief of Staff, Caribbean Air Forces

1942- 1943 Chief of Staff, 7th Air Support Command [North Africa]

Oct 1943 – Jan 1944Commanding Officer 57th Bombardment Wing

Jan 1944 – Commanding Officer 12th Air Force Training & Replacement Command

1944 – Commanding Officer 74th Flying Training Wing

Aug 1944 – Dec 1944 – Commanding Officer Maxwell Field, Alabama

PROMOTIONS
Captain, Dec. 13, 1928; major (temporary), June 16, 1926; major (permanent), June 2, 1938; lieutenant colonel (temporary), March 1, 1940; lieutenant colonel (permanent), Nov. 29, 1940; colonel (temporary), July 16, 1941; brigadier general (temporary), Jan. 17, 1944.

Retired: September 30, 1945

Gone West: July 25, 1956

57th Bombardment Wing - History

Constituted as 8th Pursuit Wing on 19 Oct 1940. Activated on 6 Nov 1940. Inactivated on 1 Nov 1941.

Redesignated 8th Fighter Wing. Activated on 24 Jul 1942. Moved to Egypt, Oct-Dec 1942, and served with Ninth AF in the Middle East and North Africa. Redesignated 57th Bombardment Wing in Apr 1943. Assigned to Twelfth AF in Aug 1943 and continued operations in the Mediterranean theater until the end of the war. Inactivated in Italy on 12 Sep 1945.

Redesignated 57th Air Division. Organized on 16 Apr 1951. Assigned to Strategic Air Command.

Components. Groups. 12th Bombardment: 1943-1944. 47th Bombardment: 1943-1944. 49th Pursuit: 1941. 57th Fighter: 1943-1944. 79th Fighter: 1943-1944. 310th Bombardment: 1944-1945. 319th Bombardment: 1944-1945. 321st Bombardment: 1943-1944, 1944-1945. 340th Bombardment: 1943-1944, 1944-1945.

Wings. 92d Bombardment: 1951-. 98th Bombardment: 1951-1953. 99th Bombardment: 1953-. 111th Reconnaissance: 1951-1953.

Stations. Maxwell Field, Ala, 6 Nov 1940; Morrison Field, Fla, 16 May-1 Nov 1941. Drew Field, Fla, 24 Jul-28 Oct 1942; Egypt, 23 Dec 1942; Tunisia, c. 29 Aug 1943; Lentini, Sicily, 4 Sep 1943; Naples, Italy, 7 Oct 1943; Foggia, Italy, 29 Oct 1943; Trocchia, Italy, 4 Jan 1944; Ghisonaccia, Corsica, 20 Apr 1944; Fano, Italy, 7 Apr 1945; Pomigliano, Italy, Aug-12 Sep 1945. Fairchild AFB, Wash, 16 Apr 1951-.

Commanders. Capt Harold H Fulk, 6 Nov 1940-1941. Unkn, 1942-c. Mar 1943; Col Thomas C Darcy, c. Mar 1943-unkn; Capt John J Darmody, 1943; Col William S Gravely, 15 Oct 1943-1 Jan 1944; Brig Gen Robert D Knapp, 1 Mar 1944; Col Anthony G Hunter, 24 May 1945-unkn. Brig Gen Charles J Bondley Jr, 16 Apr 1951; Brig Gen David Wade, 1 Nov 1952; Brig Gen James V Edmundson, 20 Mar 1954; Brig Gen Edwin B Broadhurst, 18 Jan 1955-.

Campaigns. Air Combat, EAME Theater; Tunisia; Naples-Foggia; Rome-Arno; Southern France; North Apennines; Central Europe; Po Valley.

(Unit) Decorations. None.

Insigne. Shield: Per bend azure and gules, a bend argent between in chief a globe of the third lined sable emitting three lightning flashes or and issuing from base a hand holding a torch of the fourth garnished of the fifth flammant of the second and silver. (Approved 7 Apr 1954.)

Data from Air Force Combat Units of World War II By Maurer, Maurer, Published 1986

Runt

Roanoke, Virginia

March 30, 1888

July 25, 1956

1911

Civil Engineering

Yes

Signal Corps

314th Field Artillery, and later 12th Aero Squadron during World War I

First Lieutenant

Brigadier General

1939 – Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations & Intelligence, Panama Canal Department

1942 – Deputy Chief of Staff, Caribbean Air Forces

1942- 1943 Chief of Staff, 7th Air Support Command [North Africa]

Oct 1943 – Jan 1944Commanding Officer 57th Bombardment Wing

Jan 1944 – Commanding Officer 12th Air Force Training & Replacement Command

1944 – Commanding Officer 74th Flying Training Wing

Aug 1944 – Dec 1944 – Commanding Officer Maxwell Field, Alabama