Meredith McDonald Mills Jr. was born on April 21, 1923, in DeLand, Volusia County, Florida. He was the son of Meredith McDonald Mills Sr. and Russie Ware Mills. He graduated from Ketterlinus High School. He served in the 365th Bomber Squadron, 305th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Staff Sergeant and Ball Turret Gunner of B-17G #42-97350 nicknamed 'Strictly from Hunger' during World War II.

On the morning of July 21, 1944, B-24 Liberator 42-97350 departed RAF Chelveston on a mission to bomb the Kugelfischer ball-bearing plant at Schweinfurt, Germany. While flying over southern Germany near the Swiss border, the aircraft was struck by heavy anti-aircraft fire and sustained three direct flak hits. Though reportedly still under control, the bomber left the formation, and the order to bail out was given. At approximately 13:10 hours, the crew successfully parachuted from the disabled aircraft. German records later confirmed that the Liberator crashed near Epfenhofen, approximately 2 kilometers northeast of Fützen and about 15½ kilometers south of Donaueschingen, where it was described as 94 percent destroyed. Several crew members were captured the same day in the Donaueschingen district, with another taken prisoner the following morning. Five others, who had also parachuted safely, were likewise captured. Instead of being treated as prisoners of war in accordance with international law, these five unarmed American airmen were murdered by local Nazi officials and collaborators near Urach and Schollach.

SSgt Mills and the two airmen were taken prisoner and incarcerated in a building occupied by Catholic Sisters and in which the local Gendarmerie (Rural police) maintained a post. On that day, several local officials and party members, acting under orders from district leadership, proceeded to a wooded area along the route where the captured airmen from Urach were to be marched. As the airmen and their gendarme escorts approached, the guards were ordered aside. The unarmed prisoners were then deliberately shot at close range. Evidence later presented in court indicated that multiple individuals participated in the firing, and that additional shots were delivered as the wounded airmen lay on the ground to ensure their deaths. Later that evening, orders were given to bury him and his fellow airmen in unmarked graves in the forest at Winterberg-Urishof in an attempt to conceal the crime. In February 1945, the Bürgermeister (Mayor) and the Pastor of Schollach recovered their remains and reverently reinterred them in the cemetery at Schollach. Initially laid to rest without markers, their bodies were later formally recovered and reinterred with proper recognition.

After the war, those responsible for the killings were prosecuted at the Dachau War Crimes Trials, where the principal perpetrators were sentenced to death, and an accomplice received a prison term. SSgt Mills is now buried in the Saint Augustine National Cemetery, Saint Augustine, St. Johns County, Florida, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, aircrewremembered.com, americanarchive.iwm.org.uk