Gerald K Miller
Military458th BG - 755th BS
Standing: Charles Hillis (TTG), Gerald Miller (R/O), Perce Goewey (WG), Tom McQueen (FE), Don Swanson (BTG), Don Pierce (TG)
Kneeling: Dave Jelinek (B), Charles Quirk, (P), George Campbell (CP), Charles F. Gaine (N)
This crew was shot down on their 14th combat mission, 12 July 1944. Hit by flak, they bailed out over Belgium
Evaded (EVD) Hit by flak and crashed at Harveng on 7/12/44 in B-24 #42100365
His first mission came on D-Day 'It was a fabulous sight to see the invasion forces. It looked like you could jump from one boat to another all the way across the English Channel'. His 16th - and last - was on July 12 1944 over Munich. They lost an engine, then ran out of gas over Belgium and bailed out over a forest near Giviry. Picked up by members of the Resistance, they were first taken to an old castle where they were given other clothes then passed on to various farms where they were fed and sheltered. At one of them two elderly ladies were sheltering five other American fliers - one having been there for an entire year. 'The two ladies baked the best bread I have ever eaten'. Eventually the Germans were driven out and six of the escapees walked up to the Americans arriving in tanks, who at first refused to believe they were Americans. Having no way to send them westward they travelled with the 3rd Armoured Division to the Rhine. After returning to the USA in November 1944 he was assigned to Air Transport Command ferrying the B-25 and B-29 bombers before being discharged in October 1945. He afterwards owned and operated a grocery store with his brother.
Connections
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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: 458th Bomb Group 755th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-812653
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Lorelei
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Rough Riders
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 755th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Wolfgang
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 752nd Bomb Squadron 755th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Briney Marlin
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 755th Bomb Squadron
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Attlebridge Arsenal, Station 120
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Iowa, USA | 4 March 1920 | |
Enlisted |
Herrold, IA 50109, USA | 23 January 1943 | Camp Dodge |
Other Bailed Out/Evaded |
Harveng, 7022 Mons, Belgium | 12 July 1944 | http://www.458bg.com/Crews/Quirk/EE1695_Miller.pdf |
Des Moines, IA, USA | 6406 SW 13th Street |
Revisions
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 6930 / MACR 6930 & Page 279 of the book LIBERATORS OVER NORWICH by Mackay, Bailry & Scorza, 2010, D790G4582010 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database