Grant Badger Higgs was born 31 Jan 1915 in Alberta, Canada. His parents, Alpha Higgs and Elizabeth Badger, were born and married in Utah. He had three brothers and three sisters.

Grant graduated from West High School in Salt Lake City. After graduation he worked for the Utah Copper Company. He enlisted in the Army Air Force on 27 Jan 1942. His flight training was in Utah and Washington State.

In March 1943 he went England to serve in the 365th Bombardment Squadron - Heavy, 305th Bombardment Group.

Leaving from Chelveston Airfield on 13 Jun 1943, Lt. Higgs was piloting a B-17 #42-5125 "Boom Town Jr" on a mission to Bremen, Germany. The plane was damaged by flak over Bremen, losing 2 engines. Lt. Biggs tried to get back to England. The plane was intercepted over the North Sea by a pair of JU-88s, German combat aircraft, shot down and forced to ditch.

Ist Lt. Grant B. Higgs was listed as Missing in Action, then Killed in Action. His body was never recovered. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Air Medal.

He has a memorial plaque at the Wasatch Memorial Park in Salt Lake City, Utah.

References:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56290689

https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=116871

http://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/83078

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see 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?

Grant B Higgs