The "A D-Day Mystery...Can You Help Solve It?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Memorial Day, 2019 and the morning paper published a few stories devoted to the day that was established to remember all our military troops who gave their lives in service to the United States of America.  It was back on May 5th, 1868 that Maj. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed at the end of the month, May 30.  May 30, 1868 was the first large observance of Memorial Day (originally called Decoration Day) to honor those troops killed during the Civil War.  May 31, 1971 was the first declared National holiday which was to be on the last day of May to honor all those who died in all American wars.  Today the holiday is now celebrated on the last Monday of May and commemorates men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.  In Lancaster flags were flown and the newspaper published stories that told of the history of the day and the heroism of so many fought for their country.  But, today one story caught my attention and I though I may be able to help aid the person featured by posting a synopsis of the story on my blog.  The story today told of an American airman whose plane was shot down in Germany on D-Day, June 6, 1944.  The airman parachuted out of the plane and landed in a lake.  Nearby was a British Army Special Air Service signalman who helped the airman get his twisted parachute off and smuggled him back to England with the help of the French Resistance.  That British signalman's name was William Henry Plumb.  

William Plumb died in 2007, but never talked much about his experiences while serving for his country.  His daughter, Janet Plumb is now trying to piece together his story about the rescue.  Janet lives in Dorset in southwest England and her aunt died about a year ago.  When Janet's aunt died, Janet went through old photos of the family and found something unusual.  A few of the photographs were pictures of unfamiliar people and on the back of one of the photos read: Lancaster, Pa. June 1947, Mr. Wiggs Sheryl.  

A second photo read: Lancaster, PA, June 1947 Sheryl.  One photo showed a young curly-haired girl wearing a frilly white dress, covering her mouth while a man to her side is holding the leash of a dog.  The other photograph shows what appears to be the same girl with a two-story house with two chairs on the lawn.  Were they taken in Lancaster, PA?   With the 75th anniversary of D-Day fast approaching, Janet Plumb would love to be able to identify the fellow who was saved by her father and put a face on the heroism she always admired in her father, since it is a part of her family's history.  Can someone in Lancaster or in the surrounding communities help her with the ID of the family in the photos.  If you can help, please notify the newspaper reporter, Chad Umble, who wrote and researched the story in the Lancaster Newspaper at cumble@lnpnews.com.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The rear of the bottom photo.