Francis Lewis

1st Lt. Francis S Lewis was assigned to the 301st BG 419th Squadron.
Military Occupational Specialty (MOS): Pilot.

Enlisted in the National Guard in 1938. Then into Federal service Dec 40, then at Camp Murry WA, at 21, (No Fly promise to mother is void) applied to Aviation Cadets.

Commissioned 2nd Lt, Pilot Jul 42 and ordered to B-26s at Barksdale and after training took a B-26 to Rabal, assigned to a group near Tunis. Jul 4, flew my first mission as #2 on Gp Cmdrs wing. I was CoPilot in #2. Our CoPilot flew in #6, left rear. We had P-38s for close cover, and Malta Spits above the overcast. #5 aborted at Malta. Then the P-38s vanished, and we had no radio contact. Over Gervini bombs cleared #1, Flak and Fighters hit. COs left wing blew off, #3 banked hard left, #4 spun through the debris, #6 went down. We went up and right. All in 10 seconds. Radios dead, no B-26s in sight, and we were leading (?) group. Spits heard the calls, and prevented disaster. Me? Shocked and of no help to the 1st Pilot. #3 and #4 did get home. P-38s reported 'no enemy encountered'. Wing Commander 'X' led the critique, crying. That helped.

Transferred to the 301st, no objection! Mission #2, Foggia, Aug 25. Mission 51, Steyr on 24 Feb 44.

Eastern Airlines pilot May 45 to May 79.

The following information on Francis Lewis is gathered and extracted from military records. We have many documents and copies of documents, including military award documents. It is from these documents that we have found this information on 1st Lt. Lewis. These serviceman's records are nowhere near complete and we are always looking for more material. If you can help add to Francis Lewis's military record please contact us.

Date	Order	Award	Document Originator	Rank
11/26/1943	General Order (GO)* : GO 28	AM Air Medal	Issuing Authority: 15th Air Force	Current Rank: 1LT
11/26/1943	General Order (GO)* : GO 28	AM/OLC Air Medal Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster	Issuing Authority: 15th Air Force	Current Rank: 1LT
11/26/1943	General Order (GO)* : GO 28	AM/2OLC Air Medal Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster	Issuing Authority: 15th Air Force	Current Rank: 1LT
03/13/1944	General Order (GO)* : 126	AM/3OLC Air Medal Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster	Issuing Authority: 15th Air Force	Current Rank: 1st Lt
05/14/1944	General Order (GO)* : 454	AM/6OLC Air Medal Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster	Issuing Authority: 15th Air Force	Current Rank: 1st Lt
05/14/1944	General Order (GO)* : 454	AM/7OLC Air Medal Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster	Issuing Authority: 15th Air Force	Current Rank: 1st Lt
05/14/1944	General Order (GO)* : 454	AM/8OLC Air Medal Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster	Issuing Authority: 15th Air Force	Current Rank: 1st Lt
05/14/1944	General Order (GO)* : 454	AM/4OLC Air Medal Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster	Issuing Authority: 15th Air Force	Current Rank: 1st Lt
05/14/1944	General Order (GO)* : 454	AM/5OLC Air Medal Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster Silver Oak Leaf Cluster = 5 OLCs	Issuing Authority: 15th Air Force	Current Rank: 1st Lt
05/30/1944	General Order (GO)* : 729	AM/9OLC Air Medal Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster	Issuing Authority: 15th Air Force	Current Rank: 1LT

* Documents are of the type/classification of "General Order" for most award documents. The listed documents are GO, General Order unless otherwise stated. For example. Special Orders.

The Issuing Authority is the Command and author of the document.

2/25/1944 PUC

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