2nd Lt. Robert William Lilley
Born: 21 June 1922 – Illinois
Parents: William & Myrtle Lilley
Siblings: 2 sisters, 1 brother
Home:
– 1837 South Thirteenth Avenue – Maywood, Illinois
Education:
– St. Eulalia Grade School
– Proviso Township High School
– Class of 1941
Occupation:
– Welder – Chicago Metal Hose Company – Maywood, Illinois
Enlisted:
– U.S. Army Reserve
– joined about 1940
– did not register with Selective Service
Inducted:
– U.S. Army Air Corps
– 22 July 1942
– 25 January 1943 – Fort Sheridan, Illinois
– entered service as an enlisted man
Serial Number: O-753145
Training:
– Officer Candidate School
– Santa Ana, California
– Kirtland Airfield, Albuquerque, New Mexico
– qualified as a bombardier
Unit:
– 721st Bomb Squadron, 450th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 15th Air Force
Plane: B-24-H – “Deuces Wild” (another photo)
– Serial Number: 41-29222
– left United Stated from Florida
– flew to South America
– flew across the Atlantic to Dakar, Senegal, Africa
– from Dakar, the plane flew to Manduria, Italy
– the flight took twenty hours
Engagements:
– 26 successful bombing missions over Austria
– mission reports
– 24 March 1944 – 27th bombing mission
– Ball Bearing Works – Styr, Austria
– briefing – 6:15 AM
– planes took off in poor weather
– on way to Styr, “Deuces Wild” and another B-24, “Yankee Fury,” collided
– crashed head-on into the Adriatic Sea
– both crews were lost
Missing in Action: 24 March 1944
Declared Dead:
– 20 August 1944
Buried:
– Tablets of the Missing – Florence American Cemetery – Via Cassia, Italy
Medals:
– Air Medal – 13 January 1944 – 23 January 1944
– 1st Oak Leaf Cluster – 27 January 1944 – 10 February 1944
– 2nd Oak Leaf Cluster
– Purple Heart
