Hello all! I'm in the process of trying to find more information about my biological great grandfather 1st Lt. Clemens F. Miller. Our family sadly never had the chance to meet him as we only found out recently that he was the biological father of my grandmother. With only a couple photos, a couple letters from the Army and all of the letters between my great-grandmother and him I don't really have much to go on. Here's what I've been able to piece together so far: - Graduated with his G wings on December 20, 1942 at Dalhart, class 42-26. His F/O serial number was T-120546. His Lt. serial number was O-1999561. I'm not sure when he was promoted to Lt. - He was part of the 87th TCS 438th TCG and was awarded an Air Medal for his participation in Operation Elmira on D-Day. (GO#33 Hq IX TCC). - He was also awarded and Oak Leaf Cluster for his participation in Holland. I'm hoping to find out as much info as I can about his participation during the war. I'm also quite curious to find out which aircraft/chalks he flew, as well as who he carried if there is information out there somewhere. [attachment=244] [attachment=245] Thanks! Ryan Orshinsky
Ryan. I am a member of the research team of National WW2 Glider Pilots Association. We do have your grandfather in our data base. Basically it confirms the information you have. If you send an email to nwwiigpa@gmail.com we will send you a link to that information and other members of the research team will help you find information on the missions he flew. We will also add the photos you send to his file at Silent Wings Museum and one of them to his bio in the data base. Chuck Hobbs
Hi Chuck, thanks for the reply! I guess you received the two photos I sent to that email address already today. Will you guys be able to reply to that email with the link to the information or do you want me to send another one? Ryan
Ryan I have not seen your email yet. They do not come directly to me. I should see it soon. I will check. Chuck
Ryan, There is very little detail on the 438th TCG and the specifics regarding their Serials during D-Day. Yes, the 87th TCS Glider Pilots were fully involved in the glider serials. The 438th TCG was assigned Serial 31 of Mission Elmira carrying 82nd AB Signal Co. and 82nd AB HQ plus the majority of the 30th Airborne Medical Co. However, to date the mission order for Serial 31 has not been found so it is unknown who flew which glider. All that is known is that 14 CG-4A's and 36 Horsa Gliders were used. There are some great photographs and film footage taken of loading the gliders plus their take off. I have some uploaded on my Facebook page - Honouring IX Troop Carrier Command. As you mentioned, your Great Grandfather is listed in GO #33. Neil.
Ryan. For some reason we do not appear to have received your email to the WW2 GP association. If you resend it to chobbs91@me.com I will send you the link and get your photos into the system. Chuck
Ryan. You will be hearing more from the NWW2GPA soon. Thanks for sending me the photos. Neil: I assume GO 33 you attached to your post is one that awards the Air Medal to glider pilots from the87th TCS.
For the second photo I posted in my original post, I assume that is a Horsa glider in the background? I know it's probably a long shot, but I was wondering if anyone had come across photos of a Horsa with a 'Heart' painted on it for nose art, or part of nose art?
Hi Ryan, I was thinking the same thing about the heart, and I did look at some of my limited collection of Horsa Photos. I haven't had any luck yet, but I'll keep trying... John
Hi Ryan, I have doing a bit of googling tonight and discovered this pdf which lists your great granfather in a table on the last page (3rd row from bottom). While there are no column headings, I take this table to be a list of accidents/losses incurred by the 87th TCS during 1943-45 (probably incomplete). The left hand column appears to be the date of the incident/loss and using that and the Waco serial number which he appears to have been the pilot of, 42-53258, I arrived at this page on the Aviation Safety Network site. Whatever his injuries during the accident, they obviously did not prevent him shipping out to the ETO. Regards, Pat
Thanks for that Pat! I hadn't come across that one before if my searches. I emailed the Aviation Archaeology group to see about getting a copy of the accident report from them.