Lacy Claude Gilliam
Military
Added photo, cropped from the Heichel crew one
Object Number - UPL 20301 - Lacy C. Gilliam - England - 28 April 1945
Enlisting in the Air Corps in August 1943, Lacy Gilliam trained as a gunner and was sent overseas and assigned to the 491st Bomb Group / 854th Bomb Squadron in England. He was on board B-24 "Belle Ringer" # 42-51195 when it crash-landed in Belgium on return from the 14 March 1945 mission to bomb the marshalling yards at Gütersloh, Germany.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 491st Bomb Group
- Service Numbers: 10105080 and O2022747
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 491st Bomb Group 854th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 35847379
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 491st Bomb Group 854th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32966605 and O-944688
- Highest Rank: Flight Officer
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 491st Bomb Group
- Service Numbers: 13084865 and 2061944
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 491st Bomb Group 854th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 31379109
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Flight Engineer / Top Turret Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Belle Ringer
- Unit: 491st Bomb Group 493rd Bomb Group 852nd Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 14 March 1945
- Official Description: Mission 886: 1,262 bombers and 804 fighters are dispatched to hit oil, rail and industrial targets in Germany; they claim 17-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air; 3 B-17s and 2 fighters are lost: 1. 526 B-17s are sent to hit oil refineries at Nienhagen...
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: North Pick
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Texas, United States | 1 February 1925 | the son of Adam and Florence Gilliam |
|
Enlisted |
Miami Beach, Florida, United States | 5 August 1943 | as a Private in the Air Corps |
|
Other Survived crash-landing |
near Florée, Belgium | 14 March 1945 | of B-24 # 42-51195 in Belgium |
|
Died |
Hondo, Medina County, Texas, United States | 24 September 1953 | |
| Medina County, Texas, United States | |||
|
Buried |
Hondo Cemetery, Hondo, Medina County, Texas, United States |
Revisions
Corrected first name : It's Lacy instead of Leroy...
NARA WWII Enlistments records
1940 US Census
http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth39868/m1/30/
Personal search on Lacy Gilliam (contacts with family)
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Unit history
