Staff Sergeant Curtis Lacy Christley, born 11 May 1914, was the son of Curtis O and Minnie (Kelly) Christley of Slippery Rock, Butler County, Pennsylvania. Slippery Rock is 50 miles due north of Pittsburgh.

In the 1920 census 5-year-old Lacy is living with his parents on Plain Prow Road in Slippery Rock. His father is a farm laborer.

In the 1930 census 15-year-old Lacy is living with his parents at 201 N Main Street in Slippery Rock. His father is a farmer.

In the 1940 census 25-year-old Curtis is living with his parents and paternal aunt Anna Dobson 83, still at 201 N Main Street in Slippery Rock. His father is the justice of the peace. Curtis works in a steel mill.

Curtis married Ruth Colley sometime in early 1943. A daughter, Phila Beatrice Christley, was born 31 Dec 1943, one month after he went missing in action.

Curtis was assigned to the 556th Bomb Squadron of the 387th Bomb Group flying B-26 Marauders out of Chipping Ongar Airfield 24 miles northeast of London. Curtis was the top turret gunner/engineer on B-26 41-31697 piloted by Major Walter J. Ives.

The NARA WWII casualty listings by state and county for Pennsylvania show Christley, Curtis L, SSgt from Butler County as killed in action 29 Nov 1943. Their plane iced up over the English Channel and 2 of the crew bailed out, the co-pilot and SSGT Christley. The pilot regained control of the plane and it made it back to England with no other problems. According to the crew the pilot never gave a bail-out order and the co-pilot decided to leave the plan on his own accord, taking SSGT Christley with him. Assuming their parachutes didn't malfunction they would have died of hypothermia in the English Channel.

The Butler County Orphan’s Court named Mellon National Bank and Trust Company guardian of Phila Beatrice Christley in 1947. Did not find what happened to Ruth.

Source: American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) contributor Brian Kueker.

This story became part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (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 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.

Curtis L Christley