Jimmy Reid was born 28 June 1920 in Plymouth, New Brunswick, Canada to Peter and Mary A. Reid. The family lived for a time in Fredricton, New Brunswick., Canada.
Peter and Mary Reid immigrated to the United States leaving their children in the care of Peter's sister Mrs. Edward Mcsorley. On 24 August 1928 the family was reunited with their children's immigration. Jimmy now 8 years old, along with brother Gordon and sisters Alice, Mary and Sadie met their father at a border crossing in Houlton, Maine. The family would eventually take root in the Bristol, Connecticut area.
With the outbreak of World War II Jimmy was enlisted into the Army Air Forces on 20 June 1942 entering service at Hartford CT. After basic training Jimmy would go on to flexible gunnery training. Upon completion of training Jimmy was assigned to the 524th Squadron, 379th Bombardment Group, Eighth Air Force, operating from RAF Kimbolton England, USAAF Station 117, serving in the Lt. Floyd Jamerson crew.
On 16 September 1943, Jimmy was on his 18th mission, flying in his left waist gunner position with his regular crew commanded by 2nd Lt Floyd Jamerson aboard B-17F-75-BO Flying Fortress S/N 42-29893 with the target a ball bearing factory in Nantes, France. Near the target his aircraft came under attack by Luftwaffe pilot Feldwebel (S/Sgt) Josef Lorey in a Focke-Wulf Fw-190A from Jagdgeschwader- (Hunting squadron) JG 2/1, severely damaging the aircraft, killing the pilot causing the rest of the crew to bail out. Jimmy was captured by the Nazis becoming a POW and guest at Stalag Luft 3 Sagan-Silesia Bavaria (Moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser), liberated/evacuated to the USA 9 June 1945, Discharged from Army Air Forces service 27 September 1945. The fates of all 10 crew members can be found in the caption of Jimmy's Crew photo (all crew members on this mission not present in this photo), briefly: 1 KIA, 1 POW/(Died of Wounds), 6 POW, 2 Evaded.
Postwar Jimmy was reunited with his wife Alleen, together they raised a family including son's Danny and Michael in Bristol, Connecticut.
The remainder of Lt. Jamerson's crew shot down that fateful day in September 1943 have now also folded their wings, final resting places here for all:
2nd Lt Floyd H Jamerson (P)
2nd Lt Earl H Guyette (CP)
2nd Lt Joseph F Burkowski (N)
1st Lt John N Beilstein (B)
S/Sgt Alvin M Rabun (ETTG)
T/Sgt John F Paznar (RO)
S/Sgt Howard E Moody (RWG)
S/Sgt James P Reid (WG)
T/SGT John Semach (TG)
S/SGT Charles T Gray (BTG)
Peter and Mary Reid immigrated to the United States leaving their children in the care of Peter's sister Mrs. Edward Mcsorley. On 24 August 1928 the family was reunited with their children's immigration. Jimmy now 8 years old, along with brother Gordon and sisters Alice, Mary and Sadie met their father at a border crossing in Houlton, Maine. The family would eventually take root in the Bristol, Connecticut area.
With the outbreak of World War II Jimmy was enlisted into the Army Air Forces on 20 June 1942 entering service at Hartford CT. After basic training Jimmy would go on to flexible gunnery training. Upon completion of training Jimmy was assigned to the 524th Squadron, 379th Bombardment Group, Eighth Air Force, operating from RAF Kimbolton England, USAAF Station 117, serving in the Lt. Floyd Jamerson crew.
On 16 September 1943, Jimmy was on his 18th mission, flying in his left waist gunner position with his regular crew commanded by 2nd Lt Floyd Jamerson aboard B-17F-75-BO Flying Fortress S/N 42-29893 with the target a ball bearing factory in Nantes, France. Near the target his aircraft came under attack by Luftwaffe pilot Feldwebel (S/Sgt) Josef Lorey in a Focke-Wulf Fw-190A from Jagdgeschwader- (Hunting squadron) JG 2/1, severely damaging the aircraft, killing the pilot causing the rest of the crew to bail out. Jimmy was captured by the Nazis becoming a POW and guest at Stalag Luft 3 Sagan-Silesia Bavaria (Moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser), liberated/evacuated to the USA 9 June 1945, Discharged from Army Air Forces service 27 September 1945. The fates of all 10 crew members can be found in the caption of Jimmy's Crew photo (all crew members on this mission not present in this photo), briefly: 1 KIA, 1 POW/(Died of Wounds), 6 POW, 2 Evaded.
Postwar Jimmy was reunited with his wife Alleen, together they raised a family including son's Danny and Michael in Bristol, Connecticut.
The remainder of Lt. Jamerson's crew shot down that fateful day in September 1943 have now also folded their wings, final resting places here for all:
2nd Lt Floyd H Jamerson (P)
2nd Lt Earl H Guyette (CP)
2nd Lt Joseph F Burkowski (N)
1st Lt John N Beilstein (B)
S/Sgt Alvin M Rabun (ETTG)
T/Sgt John F Paznar (RO)
S/Sgt Howard E Moody (RWG)
S/Sgt James P Reid (WG)
T/SGT John Semach (TG)
S/SGT Charles T Gray (BTG)
Jimmy Reid was born 28 June 1920 in Plymouth, New Brunswick, Canada to Peter and Mary A. Reid. The family lived for a time in Fredricton, New Brunswick., Canada.
Peter and Mary Reid immigrated to the United States leaving their children in the care of Peter's sister Mrs. Edward Mcsorley. On 24 August 1928 the family was reunited with their children's immigration. Jimmy now 8 years old, along with brother Gordon and sisters Alice, Mary and Sadie met their father at a border crossing in Houlton, Maine. The family would eventually take root in the Bristol, Connecticut area.
With the outbreak of World War II Jimmy was enlisted into the Army Air Forces on 20 June 1942 entering service at Hartford CT. After basic training Jimmy would go on to flexible gunnery training. Upon completion of training Jimmy was assigned to the 524th Squadron, 379th Bombardment Group, Eighth Air Force, operating from RAF Kimbolton England, USAAF Station 117, serving in the Lt. Floyd Jamerson crew.
On 16 September 1943, Jimmy was on his 18th mission, flying in his left waist gunner position with his regular crew commanded by 2nd Lt Floyd Jamerson aboard B-17F-75-BO Flying Fortress S/N 42-29893 with the target a ball bearing factory in Nantes, France. Near the target his aircraft came under attack by Luftwaffe pilot Feldwebel (S/Sgt) Josef Lorey in a Focke-Wulf Fw-190A from Jagdgeschwader- (Hunting squadron) JG 2/1, severely damaging the aircraft, killing the pilot causing the rest of the crew to bail out. Jimmy was captured by the Nazis becoming a POW and guest at Stalag Luft 3 Sagan-Silesia Bavaria (Moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser), liberated/evacuated to the USA 9 June 1945, Discharged from Army Air Forces service 27 September 1945. The fates of all 10 crew members can be found in the caption of Jimmy's Crew photo (all crew members on this mission not present in this photo), briefly: 1 KIA, 1 POW/(Died of Wounds), 6 POW, 2 Evaded.
Postwar Jimmy was reunited with his wife Alleen, together they raised a family including son's Danny and Michael in Bristol, Connecticut.
The remainder of Lt. Jamerson's crew shot down that fateful day in September 1943 have now also folded their wings, final resting places here for all:
2nd Lt Floyd H Jamerson (P)
2nd Lt Earl H Guyette (CP)
2nd Lt Joseph F Burkowski (N)
1st Lt John N Beilstein (B)
S/Sgt Alvin M Rabun (ETTG)
T/Sgt John F Paznar (RO)
S/Sgt Howard E Moody (RWG)
S/Sgt James P Reid (WG)
T/SGT John Semach (TG)
S/SGT Charles T Gray (BTG)
Peter and Mary Reid immigrated to the United States leaving their children in the care of Peter's sister Mrs. Edward Mcsorley. On 24 August 1928 the family was reunited with their children's immigration. Jimmy now 8 years old, along with brother Gordon and sisters Alice, Mary and Sadie met their father at a border crossing in Houlton, Maine. The family would eventually take root in the Bristol, Connecticut area.
With the outbreak of World War II Jimmy was enlisted into the Army Air Forces on 20 June 1942 entering service at Hartford CT. After basic training Jimmy would go on to flexible gunnery training. Upon completion of training Jimmy was assigned to the 524th Squadron, 379th Bombardment Group, Eighth Air Force, operating from RAF Kimbolton England, USAAF Station 117, serving in the Lt. Floyd Jamerson crew.
On 16 September 1943, Jimmy was on his 18th mission, flying in his left waist gunner position with his regular crew commanded by 2nd Lt Floyd Jamerson aboard B-17F-75-BO Flying Fortress S/N 42-29893 with the target a ball bearing factory in Nantes, France. Near the target his aircraft came under attack by Luftwaffe pilot Feldwebel (S/Sgt) Josef Lorey in a Focke-Wulf Fw-190A from Jagdgeschwader- (Hunting squadron) JG 2/1, severely damaging the aircraft, killing the pilot causing the rest of the crew to bail out. Jimmy was captured by the Nazis becoming a POW and guest at Stalag Luft 3 Sagan-Silesia Bavaria (Moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser), liberated/evacuated to the USA 9 June 1945, Discharged from Army Air Forces service 27 September 1945. The fates of all 10 crew members can be found in the caption of Jimmy's Crew photo (all crew members on this mission not present in this photo), briefly: 1 KIA, 1 POW/(Died of Wounds), 6 POW, 2 Evaded.
Postwar Jimmy was reunited with his wife Alleen, together they raised a family including son's Danny and Michael in Bristol, Connecticut.
The remainder of Lt. Jamerson's crew shot down that fateful day in September 1943 have now also folded their wings, final resting places here for all:
2nd Lt Floyd H Jamerson (P)
2nd Lt Earl H Guyette (CP)
2nd Lt Joseph F Burkowski (N)
1st Lt John N Beilstein (B)
S/Sgt Alvin M Rabun (ETTG)
T/Sgt John F Paznar (RO)
S/Sgt Howard E Moody (RWG)
S/Sgt James P Reid (WG)
T/SGT John Semach (TG)
S/SGT Charles T Gray (BTG)
