Person Record

Metadata

Name

Brooks, William Clifford V (Lt. Col.) (1921-2017)

Born

May 9, 1921

Birthplace

Lovell

Places of Residence

Augusta, ME
Lovell, ME
San Antonio, TX

Father

William C. Brooks

Mother

Althea (Farnham) Brooks

Education

Lovell schools
Farmington State Teachers College

Notes

(1) Married Oct. 24, 1942 at Dodd Field Chapel (Where Aviation Cadet Brooks was stationed)
(3) Married in 1996
Stone in North Lovell Cemetery but buried in San Diego, CA
Taken from the Winter 2008 Newsletter, written by Catherine Stone:
It’s hard to imagine Bill Brooks could foresee the direction his life would take when he volunteered to join the Army Air Corps in the Summer of 1941. Born and raised in Lovell, he aspired to become a mathematics teacher. Instead he would become an Air Force navigator, a prisoner of war in Germany and a decorated Lt. Colonel who made the Air Force his career. Last July, he also became Lovell’s first recipient of the French Legion of Honor Medal.
William C. Brooks V was born in Lovell Village on May 9, 1921, the son of William and Althea Brooks. For the first sixteen years of his life he lived with his family on Brooks Farm on the main road through Center Lovell. Some of his fondest Lovell memories are of the old homestead, Sabattus Mountain and the one-room schoolhouse in the Center that he attended. He recalls with laughter one of his teachers, Ted Abbott: "When I was in the 7th and 8th grade he was the teacher and he had a length of about 18" of a rubber hose that he kept in his desk and everybody knew it. He never used it for discipline. He didn’t have to after he asked the 8th grade boys to put their palms out. It hurt but it was good for discipline. Teachers could do that then."
In 1937, Bill’s family moved to Augusta where his father worked for the State Liquor Commission. After attending Fryeburg Academy for two years, he graduated from Cony High School in Augusta and then went to Farmington Normal School to pursue the teaching of math. In August 1941, he volunteered for the Army Air Corps, months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Not surprisingly, he was called to active duty the following January.
After training in Texas, Second Lieutenant Brooks was assigned to the 391st Bomb Group as a navigator on B-26 Marauder aircraft. The unit was deployed to England in January 1944 and on February 28th Bill flew his first mission. He wrote that day in his diary: "Flew 1st real mission. Saw much flak (fired at lead box). Mission to Rosieres (France). Quite tired. Dropped bombs for first time." He was to fly 54 missions over France, Belgium, and Holland - including bombing enemy airfields, bridges and artillery installations in support of the D-Day landings and the subsequent Battle of Normandy.
On August 8, 1944 Bill flew his final mission. He was in the lead aircraft in a formation of 36 planes. While over France his aircraft was severely damaged by anti-aircraft artillery, taking out the right engine and part of the fuselage. The plane had a crew of 8 that day and all of them bailed out. All eight survived, although two were captured by the Germans after suffering injuries upon landing. The tail gunner broke his left ankle and Bill fractured his spinal column after having difficulty deploying his parachute and landing hard.
For the next nine months 1st Lt. Brooks was a Prisoner of War. He spent nine days in solitary confinement and interrogation and then was taken by train to Stalag Luft III at Sagan, Germany. He was then moved to Stalag VII-A in Moosberg, Germany. Bill recounted in a 2001 interview approaching the gate: "I saw a crowd of prisoners inside and the custom was, if we knew some prisoners were coming in, we would go over to be near the gate to see if we had any friends in that group. And it’s true. We did that. That day that I walked through that gate, I heard a voice in the crowd, and I didn’t know anybody that was there of our boys. I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Bill Brooks, go back. You won’t like it here’. And old Pinky Porter, who was a pilot in my bomb group, was yelling this at me and it was true. I didn’t like it."
Life at Stalag VII-A revolved around survival and survival meant food. Red Cross parcels helped but they did not come often. To explain how precious food was, he gives the following example: "When we’d get a box of raisins in an American parcel, there was 16 of us that lived in triple-decker bunks, what we called a ‘combine’. We had 16 men. And when we had a box of raisins, we’d put them all out on the table and count them out, one for each man to make sure each man got his fair share. That’s how important it was. We didn’t want one man to get more than the other." During the nine-month confinement, Bill’s weight dropped from 165 lbs to about 128 lbs.
In one Red Cross parcel, the prisoners were given a "Wartime Log". Bill’s log, which has been donated to the Lovell Historical Society, records the contents of American Red Cross parcels along with parcels from Australia, Scotland, India, and Canada. Additionally, he drew maps of Germany, logged the addresses of fellow prisoners, saved labels from food parcels, and recorded some interesting recipes improvised using the food rations. One such recipe was created by Bill and two fellow prisoners. Their recipe for "Kriegie Fudge" called for 6 oz. of chocolate, 28 oz. of sugar, 2 oz. of klim [dry milk], 3 oz. of prune seeds and 2 tbl. of oleo. For those who would like to try this delicacy the directions follow: "Chocolate D-bar cut up. Prune seeds - without shells and cooked in the oleo until dry and hard. Chocolate, sugar, and klim mixed with about ½ cupful of water and boiled for about 20 minutes. Prune seeds added after fudge boiled and just before pouring into pan".
When the Russians started moving west toward Sagan, the Stalag VII-A prisoners were forced, by the guards, to "march" west from Russian lines. On January 28, 1945 they "marched" 65 miles in snow with the temperature stuck at 20° above to 20° below zero with an appropriate windchill factor. Many prisoners endured freezing of extremities and many, many more had frost bite of the feet.
In May 1945, General Patton’s U.S. 3rd Army liberated Stalag VII-A. When Bill finally was able to return home, via Liberty ship, the trip took 14 days from Le Havre to New York. On his return, he found that his father had died, about the time President Roosevelt had, but all was well with his remaining family, including his wife Rosalie whom he had married before shipping out.
Since then Lt. Col. Brooks has visited France often, meeting with the families of the resistance who helped hide his crew members from German troops. He has received numerous decorations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, Air Medal with 10 oak leaf cluster, P.O.W. medal and European battle ribbon with 3 battle stars. In honor of his war effort, he recently received the Legion of Honor Medal, the French government’s highest award for outstanding achievements in military or civilian life. As Bill recently said, "Not bad for a Lovell boy".

Occupation

WWII - 572nd Bomb Squardron, Air Force
POW
Retired from the Air Force in 1962 and spent next 25 years appraising real estate

Spouse

(1) Rosalie (Karbo), (2) Marion Delahanty (Whooley), (3) Suzanne Albright

Children

William C. Brooks VI
Douglas Kent Brooks (died 2011)
Jennifer Ann (Brooks) Duncan
Jeffrey Thomas Brooks

Deceased

Feb. 10, 2017

Deceased Where

San Diego, CA

Titles & honors

Distinguished Flying Cross; Purple Heart; Air Medal with 10 oak leaf clusters; POW medal; European battle ribbon with 3 battle starts; National Order of the Legion of Honor.

Related Records

2nd Lt. William C. Brooks - 2007.95.0005
William C. Brooks as a 2nd Lt. with Wings.Taken from Photo CD #2 & #5.

Record Type: Photo
57. William C. Brooks - 2001.23.0001
Interview of William C. Brooks on Sept. 19, 2001, focusing on his experience as a prisoner of war during World War II. Transcribed by Martha Grzyb.

Record Type: Archive
Births 1892 -1939 - 1974.02.0686
Index and photocopy of Lovell's births from 1892 through 1939. Located in a notebook titled "Births Deaths 1892-1939 Vital Statistics 1910-1945." A photocopy of the book can be found in the archival box "Lovell Vital Records Box 3."

Record Type: Archive
Brooks, Lt. Col. William C. - 1974.02.1001
Information on Lt. Col. William C. Brooks. Located in the file category "People".

Record Type: Archive
Curtis & Bill Brooks Going to School, 1927 - 2009.52.0020
Going to school in 1927. Curtis L. Brooks is to the left and William C. Brooks V on the right. Taken from Photo CD #5. Used in the Fall 2009 Newsletter.

Record Type: Photo
Gordon Eastman and William C. Brooks - 2004.07.0032
Gordon Eastman and William C. Brooks on May 9, 1974. Taken from Photo CD #1.

Record Type: Photo
Gordon Eastman, Frances Eastman and William C. Brooks - 2004.07.0031
Gordon Eastman, Frances Eastman and William C. Brooks, on May 9, 1974. Taken from Photo CD #1.

Record Type: Photo
Journal of William C. Brooks - 2007.95.0008
The combat journal of William Brooks in 1944, before he was held as a prisoner of war. 2 copies (one unbound for scanning or copying). Located in Journals & Diaries, Box 10.

Record Type: Archive
Journal of William C. Brooks, POW - 2001.27.0001
The journal of William C. Brooks when he was a Prisoner of War in 1944. The journal is titled "A Wartime Log". Alane Alden, who has been researching Wartime Logs, photographed some of the pages. Located in Journals & Diaries, Box 10.

Record Type: Archive
Lovell Cemetery Records, Volume I & II - 2007.31.0001
An update of Lovell's Cemetery Records, originally compiled by Irene St. Germain in 2006 and 2007. A major update was done in 2015, 2019, and 2022. Volume I has an index of names to be found in all Lovell cemeteries and the details on the #4 Cemetery . Volume II has the details on the Center Lovell Cemetery, Fox Cemetery, Lord Cemetery, North Lovell Cemetery, Village, West Lovell Cemeteries, private cemeteries, and an Appendix. The Appendix con...

Record Type: Archive
Lt. Col. William Brooks, 2009 - 2010.01.0013
Lt. Col. William Brooks in 2009. Written on the back: "Here I am with a candidate for Governor sitting on back seat top of a convertible in the parade on Veterans Day (2009). My "Legion of Honor" is on my right breast of my uniform."

Record Type: Photo
Lt. Col. William Brooks Speech on WWII - 2005.29.0001
Videotaped speech delivered by Lt. Col. William Brooks on March 10, 2005 regarding his experience as a Prisoner of War during World War II. Also on DVD.

Record Type: Archive
Lt. Col. William C. Brooks - 2007.95.0006
William C. Brooks as a Lt. Col. with Master Navigator Wings. Taken from Photo CD #2.

Record Type: Photo
Obituaries - 1974.02.0692
Nine notebooks of obituary newsclippings, all indexed.

Record Type: Archive
Presentation Ceremony for the French Legion of Honor Medal to Lt. Col. William C. Brooks - 2007.58.0001
Recording of the presentation ceremony for the French Legion of Honor Medal to Lt. Col. William C. Brooks. The ceremony was in July 2007 in San Diego, CA. In DVD format.

Record Type: Archive
Rosalie & William Brooks, 1942 - 2009.52.0011
The wedding party of Rosalie and William Brooks on Oct. 24, 1942 in San Antonio, TX. Taken from Photo CD #5.

Record Type: Photo
Rosalie & William Brooks & Son - 2004.16.0131
Portrait of Rosalie, William and Bill Brooks sent with a Christmas card. Taken from Photo CD #3.

Record Type: Photo
Scrapbook 40 - Lt. Col. William C. Brooks - 2009.52.0027
Newsclipping compiled by Lt. Col. William Brooks regarding his marriage, military service and some material on Douglas Volk. Articles have been copied and can be found in the Lt. Col. William Brooks People file or in the Brooks Genealogy Material file.

Record Type: Archive
Wedding Announcements - 1974.02.0694
Notebook containing newsclippings of wedding announcements. The names are indexed and the clippings are sorted by Husband's last name

Record Type: Archive
Wedding Party of William & Rosalie Brooks - 2009.52.0022
Bill and Rosalie Brooks and their wedding party on October 24, 1942. Taken from Photo CD #5.

Record Type: Photo