Francis W O'Reilly

Military ROLL OF HONOUR
Private Francis W. O'Reilly of the 303rd Bomb Group, puts on a parachute harness in front of a B-17 Flying Fortress. Passed for publication 28 Jan 1943. Printed caption on reverse: '"England is swell, but I'd rather have Brooklyn," is the message Private Francis W. O'Reilly sends to his parents at 472 Baltic Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. as he buckles on a parachute harness at an American Army Air Force station somewhere in England. Francis is 23 years old, was educated at St. Francis Prep School, and worked wit media-407569.jpg FRE 4190 Private Francis W. O'Reilly of the 303rd Bomb Group, puts on a parachute harness in front of a B-17 Flying Fortress. Passed for publication 28 Jan 1943. Printed caption on reverse: '"England is swell, but I'd rather have Brooklyn," is the message Private Francis W. O'Reilly sends to his parents at 472 Baltic Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. as he buckles on a parachute harness at an American Army Air Force station somewhere in England. Francis is 23 years old, was educated at St. Francis Prep School, and worked with Robbins Dry Dock before joining the army. He is thriving in England, and getting used to the mud.' On reverse: Current Affairs Ltd, US Army Press Censor ETO and US Army General Section Press & Censorship Bureau [Stamps]. Roger Freeman Collection

IWM, Roger Freeman Collection

Object Number - FRE 4190 - Private Francis W. O'Reilly of the 303rd Bomb Group, puts on a parachute harness in front of a B-17 Flying Fortress. Passed for publication 28 Jan...

Francis W O'Reilly served as a waist gunner with the 303rd Bomb Group.



Photo caption of FRE 4190: '"England is swell, but I'd rather have Brooklyn," is the message Private Francis W O'Reilly sends to his parents at 472 Baltic Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. as he buckles on a parachute harness at an American Army Air Force station somewhere in England. Francis is 23 years old, was educated at St. Francis Prep School, and worked with Robbins Dry Dock before joining the army.'



O'Reilly was shot down on 14 May 1943 in B-17 #42-5243 'FDR's Potato Peeler Kids'. The aircraft crashed into North Sea near Kiel, Germany, and O'Reilly was Killed in Action (KIA). His body later washed up on 10 August 1943 and was eventually repatriated. Francis O'Reilly is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in New York.

Connections

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Units served with

Official emblem of the 303rd Bomb Group approved 7 November 1942.

303rd Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

Rhude Mark Mathis

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 359th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-662289 and 18054662 on enlisting
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Bombardier

Aircraft

42-5243

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: FDR's Potato Peeler Kids
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 359th Bomb Squadron

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Enlisted

Yaphank, NY, USA 2 February 1942 At Camp Upton

Other

Killed in Action (KIA)

North Sea 14 May 1943

Born

New York, NY, USA

Buried

Brooklyn, New York, USA Holy Cross Cemetery

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added a "-" to the A/C serial number in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity.
Added a Burial event info per Find-a-grave Memorial ID 156453172.

Date
ContributorLucy May
Changes
Sources

Brought in information from duplicate record. Source:
MACR 15593 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

See also:
NARA Enlistment record: https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=1&cat=all&tf…

Findagrave record: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=o'reilly&GSfn=fra…;

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 15593, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol. I p. 118 by Bishop & Hey, 303rd BG web site,

href="http://303rdbg.com/rost-nopq.html#N">http://303rdbg.com/rost-nopq.html#N>

Francis W O'Reilly: Gallery (1 items)

Private Francis W. O'Reilly of the 303rd Bomb Group, puts on a parachute harness in front of a B-17 Flying Fortress. Passed for publication 28 Jan 1943. Printed caption on reverse: '"England is swell, but I'd rather have Brooklyn," is the message Private Francis W. O'Reilly sends to his parents at 472 Baltic Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. as he buckles on a parachute harness at an American Army Air Force station somewhere in England. Francis is 23 years old, was educated at St. Francis Prep School, and worked wit

Object number: FRE 4190 - Private Francis W. O'Reilly of the 303rd Bomb...