Fred J. Walley was born on 6 July 1920 in Mississippi, to David Walley and Rose Alpert. His father was a Major in the United States Army during World War I and died in 1929. His brother 2nd Lt. Henry P. Walley was killed in action in February 1944 in Germany and is memorialized at Cambridge, England.
Died 8 July 1944
Buried at Chattanooga National Cemetery, U, 72-A
Second Lieutenant
425th Bomber Squadron, 308th Bomber Group, Heavy
8 July 1944, aircraft B-24J with serial number 42-73502 crashed on takeoff from Kunming. Aircraft commander 2nd Lt Hollis D. Sneed, along with six other crewmen, perished; one airman survived.
Crew members
Pilot, 2nd Lt Hollis D. Sneed
Co-Pilot, 2nd Lt Irvin Boyd Shaffer
1st Lt Fred J. Walley
F/O Cornelius R.C. Rogge
S/Sgt William F. Short Jr.
The Chattanooga Daily Times, 21 July 1944
Killed in action was Lt. Fred J. Walley, brother of David Z. Walley, 718 Clayton Avenue. The report of the death of Lt. Walley followed by only one week the receipt by his brother here of a letter saying he was in action in India as the pilot of a Liberator bomber. The letter had been mailed out of China on July 6. A previous letter had told of Lt. Walley’s having been missing in action for a time and having escaped with an interesting story to tell when opportunity arose. It had not been many months since the Chattanooga brother received word that another of his four brothers, Lt. H.P. Walley, B-17 pilot, was reported missing over Germany, Feb. 21. Nothing has been heard since of the fate of Lt. Walley. There are two other brothers of the family in service, Lt.-Comdr. N.C. Walley, captain of a naval vessel, and John M. Walley, hospital apprentice first class, serving aboard a navy cruiser. Lt. Walley is also survived by a sister, Mrs. S.S. Marks, Elizabethton, Ky.
The telegram from the adjutant-general to Walley said: “The Secreatary of War desires me to express deep regret that your brother, Lt. Frred J. Walley, was killed July 8 in Kunming, China. Letter follows.
“Lt. Walley was assistant professional at the Jackson Country Club, Jackson, Miss., when he entered service in July of 1941. He had served as bombardier instructor at various training fields in the United States for two years and had been overseas only three months.
- Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Date of birth: 6 July 1920
- Date of death: 8 July 1944
- County: Hamilton
- Hometown: Chattanooga
- Service Branch: Army/Army Air Forces
- Division/Assignment: 425th Bomber Squadron, 308th Bomber Group, Heavy
- Theater: Burma-India-China
- Conflict: World War II
- Burial/Memorial Location: Chattanooga National Cemetery, Chattanooga, TN
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XI, Middle Panel
- Contact us to sponsor Fred J. Walley
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