James Jay Ley
Military ROLL OF HONOUR
Removed errant associationed and transferred collection title to source message: https://digital.grinnell.edu/islandora/object/grinnell:jimmy-ley
Object Number - UPL 53639 - S/Sgt James Jay Ley, 322nd Bomb Group
Assigned to 451BS, 322BG, 9AF USAAF. Clifton Freeman crew. Failed to Return (FTR) Ray-Sur-Authie, FR 29-Feb-44; hit by flak stbd engine feathered dropped out of formation salvoed bombs, Crashed Abbeville, FR Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 2455
Awards: DFC, AM (3OLC), PH.
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
![B-26 Marauders, including (serial number 41-34959, SS-O), of the 451st Bomb Squadron, 322nd Bomb Group line up for take off, 11 November 1943. Passed for publication 11 Nov 1943. Handwritten caption on reverse: '63.' On reverse: US Army Press Censor ETO [Stamp].](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-413264.jpg.webp?itok=Ml213CQs)
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 322nd Bomb Group 451st Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18045325 / O-664504
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 322nd Bomb Group 451st Bomb Group
- Service Numbers: 15096863 / O-671919
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 322nd Bomb Group 451st Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 15084995
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 322nd Bomb Group 451st Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 35385508
- Highest Rank: Sergeant (RAF)
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 322nd Bomb Group 4th Army Air Force Combat Camera Unit
- Service Numbers: O-560349
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Photographer
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-26 Marauder
- Nicknames: Denalis Cheechakoo
- Unit: 322nd Bomb Group 451st Bomb Squadron
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Great Saling
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Algona, Kossuth County, IA | 30 July 1922 | Son of William Everett and Lucile Florence [Wheeler] Ley. |
|
Enlisted |
Des Moines, IA | 15 July 1942 | Des Moines, Iowa |
|
Died |
Abbeville, France | 29 February 1944 | Failed to Return (FTR) Ray-Sur-Authie, FR 29-Feb-44 in B-26 41-34856; crashed Abbeville, FR KIA MACR 2455 |
|
Buried |
Maple Hill Cemetery Lakota, Kossuth County, IA | Re-Interred Maple Hill Cemetery Lakota, Kossuth County, Iowa | |
| Lakota, IA | At time of draft registration noted as Student at Grinnell College in Grinnell Iowa | ||
|
Based |
Andrews Field | 29 February 1944 | Assigned to 451BS, 322BG, 9AF USAAF. |
Revisions
I am the nephew of James Jay Ley, and know the members of his crew from his 451st BS Book of missions and memories published after the war
Letters, pictures, and artifacts of James Jay Ley are archived in the Library of Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, USA. https://digital.grinnell.edu/islandora/object/grinnell:jimmy-ley
I am his nephew, a physician and professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
