Hugh E Gillette
Military ROLL OF HONOURKilled in Action (KIA) on 18-Oct-43 as pilot of P-38H 42-66719 while on an operation to escort bombers headed for Duren, Germany. Weather prevented rendeavous of fighters with the bomber formations and both the fighter and the bombers were recalled. He radioed his Flight Leader that he was turning back. It is believed that the aircraft sustained some sort of mecahnical failure and he reported that he was abandoning it over the sea 50 miles east of Clacton, UK. Air-Sea-Rescue airrived at the location wihtin eight miunutes but neither he nor the aircraft were ever found.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: P-38 Lightning
- Unit: 55th Fighter Group 38th Fighter Squadron
Missions
- Date: 18 October 1943
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Other Killed in Action (KIA) |
English Channel | 18 October 1943 | Killed when he baled out of his aircraft over the sea. |
|
Born |
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Other Commemorated |
Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Madingley Road, Coton, Cambridgeshire CB23 7PH, UK | Commemorated on the Wall of the Missing, Cambridge AMerican Cemetery. |
Revisions
Lee Cunningham 7-Jul-2015. Added Decorations and Commemorated event per American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) records; Added note to FTR event per MACR 1040; Added Summary Biography based on "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces", Stan BIshop & John A. Hey MBE.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 1040 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database