Beirne Lay Jr
Military![Personnel of the 97th Bomb Group look out for the return of B-17 Flying Fortresses from a raid on Rouen, from the top of the Control Tower at Grafton Underwood.
Image stamped on reverse: 'Photo Supplied Photopress Central.' [stamp], 'Passed for publication 18 Aug 1942.' [stamp], 'USA (BRI) CCC.' [written annotation] and '216036.' [Censor no.]
Printed caption on reverse: 'Picture shows: Aerodrome Personnel on the Control Tower watching for the return of the planes from the raid.' Handwritten captio](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/wysiwyg_x2/public/freeman/media-379323.jpg.webp?itok=2L-kIr11)
General Carl A Spaatz stands to the left of the ladder, Beirne Lay behind the guide rope and Fred Castle on the near corner. Many other officers from 8th Air Force Bomber Command are also present.
Image stamped on reverse: 'Photo Supplied Photopress Central.' [stamp], 'Passed for publication 18 Aug 1942.' [stamp], 'USA (BRI) CCC.' [written annotation] and '216036.' [Censor no.]
Printed caption on reverse: 'Picture shows: Aerodrome Personnel on the Control Tower watching for the return of the planes from the raid.' Handwritten caption on reverse: 'USAAF 1, 17/8/42 A.' Roger Freeman Collection
Mission and person associations, and people identified in Freeman, Mighty Eighth War Diary
Image originally identified as 97th Bomb Group, as it was filed with 97BG images by Freeman.
Object Number - FRE 887 - US and British Officers look out for the return of B-17 Flying Fortresses from the top of the Control Tower at Grafton Underwood after the 8th Air...
Beirne Lay assumed command of the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico on February 28, 1944. His wife was Philippa Ludwell Lee.
Lay was Shot down on 11 May 1944 in B-24H #41-29468 'Peg O' My Heart' with the crew of Lt Frank Vratny, 838th Bomb Squadron, and evaded capture. See the story of his evasion at the COMET evasion network website’s page https://www.evasioncomete.be/flaybe.html
Lay served as one of the six original staff officers under Gen. Eaker at the beginning of the war and flew in the 97th, 100th and 487th Bomb Groups. He later wrote "Twelve O'clock High" with Sy Bartlett, another 8th Air Force veteran. He also wrote "I Wanted Wings".
Author of many other aviation films screenplays, Beirne Lay wrote about the 11 May 1944 mission and his evasion in his book "I've Had It: The Survival of a Bomb Group Commander", published by Harper Brothers in 1945 and re-issued in 1980 by Dodd, Mead & C° under the new title "Presumed Dead: The Survival of A Bomb Group Commander". A French version, "Merci, Paysans de France", had been published in New York by the Editions de la Maison Française. Beirne Lay is mentioned in many books, among which "Eighth Air Force", by Donald L. Miller (Simon & Schuster Inc., New York - 1946). He died in Los Angeles in 1982 and donated his body to the University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine.
For more information and sources, see his Find A Grave page at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/178594882/beirne-lay
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
![Three airmen of the 100th Bomb Group, Lieutenant Kenneth Menzie, Lieutenant Donald Strout and Lieutenant Norman Scott, plan the route they will take during the next mission in their B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-30380). Image stamped on reverse: 'Reviewed and passed U.S. Army 23 Aug 1943 Press Censor E.T.O. U.S.A.' [stamp]'. Passed for publication 23 August 1943 INTLD 16 General Section Press Censorship Bureau '[stamp], 'Associated Press' [stamp] and '280035.' [Censor no.] Printed caption on reve](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-378743.jpg.webp?itok=HBB0lqjl)
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 487th Bomb Group 838th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 35670952
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
![Colonel Frank A. Armstrong of the 97th Bomb Group in the cockpit of his B-17 Flying Fortress. Image stamped on reverse: 'Photographed by US Army Air Air Forces.' [caption], 'US Official Phot No. USB 230. (WA) Distributed by the Ministry of Information.' [caption] 'USAA(BRI)CCC:TYPE.' [written annotation] Printed caption on reverse: 'LEADER OF THE US BOMBING ATTACK ON WILHELMSHAVEN. Photo shows:- Col. Frank A. Armstrong of Asheville N.C. who led the bombing attack on Wilhelmshaven- the first American air a](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-379326.jpg.webp?itok=PgnVoxm0)
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 97th Bomb Group
- Service Numbers: O-17459
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant General
- Role/Job: Pilot / Commanding Officer
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: VIII Bomber Command Headquarters (Eighth Air Force)
- Highest Rank: Colonel
- Role/Job: Chief of Supply
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 487th Bomb Group 838th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39396817 and O-691484
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot / Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 487th Bomb Group 838th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32288706
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Peg O My Heart
- Unit: 487th Bomb Group 838th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 11 May 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Lavenham/Alpheton Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Berkeley Springs, Morgan County, West Virginia, United States | 1 September 1909 - 30 May 2023 | The son of Beirne Lay and Minnie Colston Lay |
|
Other Evaded |
11 May 1944 - 12 August 1944 | As highest-ranking officer on board, Lt Col Beirne LAY replaced Lt Frank Vratny at the controls and jumped last at only 1000 ft. He landed near Coulonges-les-Sablons, Orne Department, France, about 9 kilometers northeast of Nogent-le-Rotrou, Eure-et-Loir Department, France. He soon met 2nd Lt Walter Duer and both men were helped by French citizens until taken in charge by the underground. They were last helped and sheltered near the village of Mazangé, near Vendôme, Loir-et-Cher Department, France, from where they were led to an US Armored unit liberating the region. Both were flown back by a C-47 to England where they landed on 15 August 1944. | |
|
Died |
26 May 1982 | Westwood, Los Angeles County, California, United States |
Revisions
See the sources in the biography posted on his Find A Grave page: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/178594882/beirne-lay
- Personal research for Beirne LAY’s page at the COMET evasion network website’s page http://www.evasioncomete.org/flaybe.html;
- Escape & Evasion Report at http://media.nara.gov/nw/305270/EE-1036.pdf
Transferred biographical details pertaining to Lay incorrectly added to photo caption of FRE 2047 by user PaulWebber
Merged with duplicate entry to include details from:
- 490th Bomb Group Unit Personnel;
- the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia;
- MACR 4750;
- Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database;
- Beirne LAY’s page at the COMET evasion network website’s page http://www.evasioncomete.org/flaybe.html;
- Escape & Evasion Report at http://media.nara.gov/nw/305270/EE-1036.pdf
SSDI (Social Security Death Index);
-
MACR (Missing Air Crew Report) # 4750.
Beirne LAY’s page at the COMET evasion network website’s page http://www.evasioncomete.org/flaybe.html
Escape & Evasion Report at http://media.nara.gov/nw/305270/EE-1036.pdf
SSDI (Social Security Death Index)
MACR (Missing Air Crew Report) # 4750.
Beirne LAY’s page at the COMET evasion network website’s page http://www.evasioncomete.org/flaybe.html
Escape & Evasion Report at http://media.nara.gov/nw/305270/EE-1036.pdf
SSDI (Social Security Death Index)
MACR (Missing Air Crew Report) # 4750.
Beirne LAY’s page at the COMET evasion network website’s page http://www.evasioncomete.org/flaybe.html
Escape & Evasion Report at http://media.nara.gov/nw/305270/EE-1036.pdf
SSDI (Social Security Death Index)
MACR (Missing Air Crew Report) # 4750.
Beirne LAY’s page at the COMET evasion network website’s page http://www.evasioncomete.org/flaybe.html
Escape & Evasion Report at http://media.nara.gov/nw/305270/EE-1036.pdf
SSDI (Social Security Death Index)
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 4750 / http://www.487thbg.org/Photos/BeirneLay.shtml , http://www.487thbg.org/Photos/CommandCrew.shtml
![Personnel of the 97th Bomb Group look out for the return of B-17 Flying Fortresses from a raid on Rouen, from the top of the Control Tower at Grafton Underwood.
Image stamped on reverse: 'Photo Supplied Photopress Central.' [stamp], 'Passed for publication 18 Aug 1942.' [stamp], 'USA (BRI) CCC.' [written annotation] and '216036.' [Censor no.]
Printed caption on reverse: 'Picture shows: Aerodrome Personnel on the Control Tower watching for the return of the planes from the raid.' Handwritten captio](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-379323.jpg.webp?itok=yT71Hmaq)
