Chester Parlin Grimm | American Air Museum in Britain

Joined RCAF, service pilot training, instructor at 11 SFTS, shipped overseas to ETO, operational training at OTU, assigned to 121S, transferred to 335FS 4FG 8AF USAAF.
Squadron bounced by German fighters over the Channel while escorting RAF Bostons. Grimm shot down in Spitfire VB EN853 AV:D during the engagement. ASR forces were unable to locate him. 22 January 1943. Killed in Action (KIA).

Service

Units served with

8th Air Force

Eighth Air Force Bomber Command became the Eighth Air Force on February 1944, it oversaw bombardment of strategic targets in Europe until 1945. ...
335th Fighter Squadron

Squadron
The 335th Fighter Squadron was the offspring of No. 121 (Eagle) Squadron RAF. Formed on 21 May 1941, No. 121 was the second of the three Eagle Squadrons composed of American volunteers flying out of England. They were known as the "Chiefs" and were...
No. 121 'Eagle' Squadron

Squadron
'On 14 May 1941, No. 121 was reformed at Kirton-in-Lindsey as the second 'Eagle' Squadron to be manned by American volunteers. Equipped with Hurricanes, it began defensive patrols in October but in November it converted to Spitfires. It moved to North...

Aircraft

EN853

Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire EN853 Mk Vb, Built at Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory. ...

Missions

VIII Fighter Command RAF ESCORT

22 January 1943
4th Fighter Group despatches 25 Spitfires to support RAF Bostons attacking the German airfield at St. Omer, France. 1 Fighter is MIA and one is Damaged Beyond Repair.

Associated Place

Biggin Hill

Military site : airfield
An RAF Station with US lodger units. USAAF Spitfires and P-38s were attached to RAF No 11 Group stations in mid-1942 for training; also used for special operations by British and US forces.
Debden

Military site : airfield
RAF Debden, construction of which began in 1935, is perhaps most famous as a Battle of Britain fighter airfield, partly responsible for the defence of London in 1940. In 1942 it was also home to three RAF 'Eagle Squadrons’ of volunteer American pilots...

Events

Event	Location	Date
Born	Glasford, IL, USA	13 January 1914
Born - 13 January 1914 Glasford, Illinois, USA.
Joined RCAF		1941
Joined Royal Canadian Air Force.
Service pilot training	Yorkton, SK, Canada	1941
Service pilot training, retained as an Instructor at 11 Service Flying Training School.
Shipped overseas	Merseyside, UK	1941
Shipped overseas to ETO.
Operational training	Great Britain, United Kingdom	1941
Operational training at OTU. Conversion to Hurricane and Spitfires.
Assigned	Kirton in Lindsey, Gainsborough, North Lincolnshire DN21, UK	1941 – 15 September 1942
Assigned to 121 [Eagle] Sqn RAF.
Best Man	Yorkton, SK, Canada	5 November 1941
Sgt Pilot James Maurice Fitzgibbons and Mary Elaine Ostrander were married in Yorkton. Sgt Pilot Chester Grimm was best man.
Transferred	Debden, Saffron Walden, Essex CB11, UK	15 September 1942 – 22 January 1943
Transferred to 335th FS 4th FG 8th AF USAAF.
Killed in Action (KIA)	Dunkirk, France	22 January 1943
Squadron bounced by German fighters over the Channel while escorting RAF Bostons. Grimm shot down in Spitfire VB EN853 AV:D during the engagement. ASR forces were unable to locate him. 22 January 1943. Killed in Action (KIA).
Commemorated	Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Madingley Road, Coton, Cambridgeshire CB23 7PH, UK	1945
Commemorated on the Wall of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery
Lived in	Farmington, IL 61531, USA

Date	Contributor	Update
25 February 2016 14:02:44	Al_Skiff	Changes to unit associations and place associations
Sources
http://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/people_details.php?PeopleID=3556 http://www.4thfightergroupassociation.org/uploads/8/2/0/3/8203817/335_gr...
Date	Contributor	Update
24 October 2015 17:44:28	Al_Skiff	Changes to middlename, biography, events, unit associations and place associations
Sources
http://www.4thfightergroupassociation.org/uploads/8/2/0/3/8203817/335_gr... http://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/people_details.php?PeopleID=3556
Date	Contributor	Update
20 December 2014 18:34:49	Lee8thbuff	Changes to awards, events, place associations and mission associations
Sources
Lee Cunningham 20-Dec-2014. Added Decoration and Commemoration event per American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) record. KIA event per "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bichop & John A. Hey MBE.
Date	Contributor	Update
27 September 2014 18:06:10	AAM	AAM ingest
Sources
ABMC, Losses of the 8th and 9th AFs Vol 1 by Bishop and Hey p. 65 with picture of the plane / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list