James A Hilley

34117846

James Andrew Hilley was born on 27 April 1919 in Nixonton, Pasquotank County, North Carolina. His father was Charles William Hilley, a native of Durants Neck, Perquimans County, North Carolina. His mother was Ellen Jackson Hilley, a native of Perquimans County, NC. James grew up with an extended family. Charles had three children with his first wife: Grizzie born in 1897, Mabel born in 1901 and Leroy born in 1905. The 1910 census identified Charles as a farmer and a widower. Charles married Ellen in August 1910. They had six children: Charles Edward born in 1911, William Earl born in 1913, Nancy Elizabeth born in 1917, George Washington born in 1922 and Mary Gray born in 1923. James was the 7th of 9 children.

The 1920 census shows Charles and Ellen living with 5 children in Nixonton. Charles continued to farm. According to the 1930 census, the Hilley family had moved to Elizabeth City, also in Pasquotank County. Present in the home were five of the children. Charles was not working at this time. Leroy, Charlie and Earl were all working at a hosiery mill. Ellen’s mother, Kizzie Jackson, was also living with the family. James likely attended Elizabeth City High School at some point during the 30s. Charles died at age 66 in 1933. Ellen died in 1939 at age 51. At the time of the 1940 census, James was living with four of his siblings in Elizabeth City. Leroy was head of the household working as a clerk in a grocery store. James’ occupation was delivery boy for a dry goods store known as E.S. Chesson Store. He had completed one year of high school. Charlie and William continued to work in the hosiery mill. Sisters Grizzie, Mabel and Nancy were married and living in Elizabeth City. Nancy was employed as a “cracker wrapper” for a candy factory. Grizzie and Mabel were raising children, giving James nieces and nephews who were close to his age.

James enlisted in the U.S. Army on 7 August 1941 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. His education was described as two years of high school. His civil occupation was described as a sales clerk. The branch was “Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA.” His height was 68 inches (5’ 8”) and his weight was 133 pounds. James draft registration card not available, but a substitute card stated “In lieu of original registration card destroyed by fire July 19, 1946. Pasquotank County Local Board No. 1 46-139-001.”

Following basic training, James was selected to train and serve as an aerial gunner. He ended up with the 44th Bombardment Group, the first group to use the new B-24 Liberator. The 44th received the nickname “The Flying Eight Balls.” According to the American Air Museum in Britain website, the 44th was activated on 15 Jan 1942 at McDill Field, Florida. The group moved to Barksdale Field, Louisiana flying anti-submarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico and acting as a training unit. In July 1942, the 44th moved to Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma in preparation for deployment. In late September 1942 the group went to Cheddington, England, then to RAF Shipdham in Norfolk, England in October. James was a crewman aboard the B-24D (#41-23783), nicknamed the “Betty Anne”, which was assigned to the 67th Bomber Squadron in the 44th Bombardment Group and part of the Eighth Air Force.

On November 7, 1942 the 44th flew its first mission, a diversionary mission to distract the enemy while other groups went to their assigned targets. Two days later, they went on their first mission where they dropped bombs on enemy territory. On their sixth mission, the 44th Bomb Group had their first loss of a plane and its crew. By February 4, 1943 the 44th Group had eleven missions under its belt, with losses on five of them.

On the morning of February 15, 1943 a reconnaissance flight had spotted a German Raider vessel thought to be the “Togo” docked at Dunkirk. It was thought the ship was ready to slip out at any time to raid Allied shipping. Crews were hurriedly called and 17 planes from the 44th Bomb Group took to the air from RAF Shipdham. The planes rendezvoused with planes from the 93rd Bomb Group, with the “Betty Anne” leading the formation. At 15:40 over Dunkirk, the “Betty Anne” took a direct hit from 88 mm flak under the flight deck at about the nose wheel section. Five of the eleven crewmen were able to evacuate the plane before she crashed. The five were captured as POWs, although one died of his injuries. Sargeant Hilley was acting as Waist Gunner. He was one of the six crewmen KIA who went down with the plane. His body was one of the four crewmen recovered and identified. The other two were never recovered. There was no MACR (Missing Air Crew Report) prepared, so information about the crew and their status follows: Captain/Pilot Arthur Cullen was wounded, made a prisoner of war and repatriated after 20 months. Command pilot, Major Donald Waters MacDonald received a serious stomach wound, but escaped the plane. MacDonald died on the operating table of a German Luftwaffe hospital in France, with the designation KIA (Killed in Action.) In addition to James, three other crew members were designated KIA: 1st Lt Paul L. Mackey (navigator), 2nd Lt. Paul D. Caldwell (Bombardier) and T/Sgt. Samuel S Weiser (Radio Op/Ball Turret Gunner.) Two crew members were designated MIA/KIA: T/Sgt. Albert W. Emery (engineer) and S/Sgt. Thomas E. McKinsey (gunner.) The remaining crew members became POWs: T/Sgt. David H. Wood (gunner), Sgt. Charles A. Arnold (gunner) and Sgt. Jesse M. Norwood (gunner.)

The 25 February 1943 Edition of The News and Observer (Raleigh) reported that Leroy had received a telegram that James was missing in action. The 19 May 1943 edition of The Durham Sun and Rocky Mount Telegram reported that James was killed in Europe. In the 4 July 1943 issue of The News and Observer, James was one of 249 North Carolina heroes “killed in action during the present war.”

James is buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial in Neuville-en-Condroz, Arrondissement de Liège, Liège, Belgium. James received a purple heart.

James’ brother William also served during WWII. He was discharged in January 1944 following an injury in the line of duty. William was a technician third grade with ordnance. James’ nephew, Saint Elmo Umphlett, served with the U.S. Army as a corporal. Another nephew, Delbert E. Jackson, served as a sargeant with the Army Air Force in the Pacific. He was awarded four battle stars.

Thank you, James Hilley, for your service and sacrifice for our freedom! It was an honor to write your story.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Together We Served and on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

Laura Hanaford - Contributing Author, Stories Behind the Stars

If you have any details, photos, or corrections for this story, please click HERE to email Together We Served directly.

SBTS Project/Pasquotank/North Carolina

References:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56358763/james-a.-hilley

https://www.honorstates.org

https://www.ancestry.com (U.S. Census Records,Headstone and interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, U.S. World War II Draft Cards and Enlistment Records)

familysearch.com

https://www.findagrave.com

Genealogybank.com

Fold3.com

https://goldstarfamilyregistry.com

https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/person/james-hilley

Newspapers.com

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117323569/casualty-list

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117322185/north-carolina-heroes-249-kia

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117260146/killed-in-europe

https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/person/james-hilley

https://www.44thbombgroup.org/home

Acknowledgements:

Thank you to the American Air Museum in Britain website for providing “an interactive archive of images and information.” https://www.americanairmuseum.com/