Portrait KIA B-17 Pilot 1st Lt. Gregory Halford Sept. 10, 1944

[manayunkman]

This came from the niece of this fallen hero.

 

She just might be the last person who remembers him until now.

 

This is a tribute to this pilot who gave his life over Austria on September 10, 1944.

[manayunkman]

1st Lt. Gregory Halford.

 

 

[manayunkman]

Found this on line from the Military Honor Wall.

 

Last Known Activity

Gregory Halford was born in Detroit, Michigan on January 19, 1920 as a son to Wilfred J. and Lucile E. Middocks Halford. He attended, and graduated from St Philip Neri High School in 1936. He later married Ann Arlene Schuck who was one grade behind him at school. The US Census 1930 shows the family in Detroit.

Halford enlisted in the Army Air Forces in 1942, and was selected for flight duty. He was trained as a pilot, including multi-engine aircraft, then commissioned and awarded wings. He married Ann Schuck on January 12, 1944. He was assigned overseas to a bomber unit operating from Italy. He flew at least 10 missions.

On September 10, 1944, he was part of a crew sent to bomb the Lobau oil refinery located at Vienna, Austria. As the aircraft neared the target, flak was intense and accurate. A flak shell hit the aircraft and blew a large hole in the wing. A fire started, and spread down the wing to the body of the plane. The aircraft dropped from formation, spun, and then exploded. Three parachutes were observed.

Actually, four of the crewmen parachuted out. Some accounts state three survived and were captured, but NARA POW records show four of the crew was imprisoned. The dead were recovered from the wreckage and buried locally. After the war, these bodies were retrieved by Allied forces and sent to other cemeteries. Today, Lt Halford lies in the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan.

[manayunkman]

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