Nazi leader Hermann Goering was confident that the skies over Germany would never be crossed by enemy planes. His confidence was later shaken but the price for proving him wrong was American life.

William Reginald Thorpe Jr. was born in Johnston on Aug. 8, 1921. He resided with his father William Sr., an insurance agent, his mother, Elsie (Coates), and his younger sister, Margaret, on Putnam Avenue. A student at Classical Public School, he involved himself in the debate club, fencing, tennis, French, chemistry and the stamp club.

As a young adult, the blue-eyed brunette, standing over 6 feet tall and tipping the scales at 150 pounds, gained employment at the Congdon & Carpenter Company in Providence. On Feb. 16, 1942, he registered for the draft and joined the United States Army Air Forces. A member of the 418th Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, he would go on to become a 2nd Lieutenant and a navigator.

The 100th had already completed one mission over Berlin and lost but one bomber. Now, on March 6, 1944, they were ready to confront the enemy again. Heading toward Klein Machow, Berlin, in a Boeing-17 Flying Fortress christened the “Sly Fox,” Thorpe acted as navigator for pilot Zeb Kendall. The rest of the crew included co-pilot Edwin Loughran, bombardier Cliff Gowan, flight engineer Melvin Hickman, radio operator Leman Tutor, ball turret gunner Reginaldo Aguila, tail gunner Vic Stoffregen, and waist gunners Ray Bridges and Matt Avaon.

As they neared their target area, the Robert Bosch Electrical Works, the aircraft of the 100th flew straight into a force of German FW190’s. Fifteen of the group’s planes were lost along with 150 of its men. At around noon, the Sly Fox was pummeled with 20 mm shells until its load of bombs exploded and it crashed to the ground, the wreckage landing near Haseluenne.

The 10-man crew was killed in the explosion and later buried in makeshift graves. After the war’s end, they were moved to Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium. Thorpe was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.

Known historically as “The Bloody 100th,” the bomb group recorded that day in March as the biggest aviation loss they had ever encountered – 15 aircraft and 150 men. Kelly Sullivan is a Rhode Island columnist, lecturer and author.