Lt. W. M. Knight Dies In Action
Navy Flier Had Previously Been Reported Missing
Lt. William Marshall Knight, 25, U. S. N. R., husband of the former Mary Elizabeth Huff, was killed in action, the wife, 2406 Jackson street, has been notified.
The officer had previously been reported missing. He was a pilot in the Navy’s Fighting 14 squadron, based aboard a carrier, and was accredited with shooting down three Jap fighters in two days’ action over the central Philippines, September 12 and 13. He bagged one of his Japs in a hair-raising headon attack over Negros September 13.
Commissioned an Ensign in the Naval Air Corps at Corpus Christi February 25, 1942, he had been in service in the Pacific since March of 1944. He was accredited with seven Jap planes and three probable hits and had received two air medals. He had been recommended for the distinguished flying cross. He was a pilot of a Hellcat fighter plane.
The message from the Navy department stated that “Lt. Knight’s remains have been interred in the Pacific pending cessation of hostilities.”
Mrs. Knight and daughter, Virginia, reside with her parents, Dr. and Mrs. S. D. Huff, at the Jackson street residence. He formerly had resided in Independence, Kan.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, February 3, 1945 (photo included)
MEMORIAL SERVICES FOR LT. WILLIAM KNIGHT SUNDAY
A memorial service will be held for Lt. William Marshall Knight, who gave his life November 5 over Luzon, at 4 p.m. Sunday in the First Baptist Church.
He was the husband of Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Huff Knight, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. S. D. Huff. Rev. Huff is pastor of the church.
Lt. Knight was stationed on a carrier in the South Pacific for seven months and he had completed 72 missions.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, February 15, 1945
William Marshall Knight was born May 2, 1919 to William Edward and Elizabeth Gertrude Knight. He died Nov. 5, 1944 and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Fort Scott, KS.
Source: ancestry.com
