Headstone and Interment Record

Offical Statement of Death

Affidavit for Iowa service compensation

Iowa WW2 Service Compensation Form

Hilmar Germaine Erickson was born on July 11, 1924 in Mason City, Iowa and was known as Germaine to his friends. His school friends nicknamed him “Sunny.” He and he had one older sister, Ruth. Germaine’s father, Louis Erickson, was born in Lardal, Norway, and came to the US in 1903 at age 16. Louis worked as the construction foreman for a wholesale meat packing plant. His mother, Clara Olivia Erickson [nee Rasmusen], was born in Leland, Iowa.

Germaine graduated from Mason City High School in 1942 where he was an outstanding athlete in baseball and football. Following high school, he went on to Mason City Junior college following high school until he entered the air corps. He enlisted in the Army on February 4, 1943, was assigned service number O-774076, and went to Santa Ana replacement center for basic training. In October 1943 he became an aviation student at the State Teacher’s College in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He continued training as an aviation cadet at Sequoia Field, Visalia, California in February 1944. When he became a pilot, he was assigned to the 9th Air Corps, 391st Fighter Squadron, 366 Fighter Group. In 1944 and 1945 the group followed Allied ground advances, engaging primarily in dive-bombing missions against enemy communications and fortifications. They would periodically move to new bases in freshly conquered territory, to remain close to the action. The group flew armed reconnaissance missions over the battle area during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 through January 1945, and escorted bombers during the airborne assault across the Rhine River in March 1945.

The 366th frequently attacked such targets as railroads, highways, bridges, motor transports, gun emplacements, supply depots, and troops. They often escorted bombers that hit airfields, factories, and marshalling yards. The group sometimes flew area patrols and on occasion dropped leaflets. The group flew its last mission, attacking the harbors at Kiel and Flensberg, on May 3, 1945. After Victory in Europe Day in May 1945, the group remained in Germany as part of the occupation forces, staying at three different bases until its inactivation on August 20, 1946. During its fourteen months of fighting in the European Theater, the 366th Fighter Group earned confirmed kills on 78 enemy aircraft.

As Lt. Erickson went to war, he was first based in England on August 1, 1944 and moved to France by October 1944. He rose through the ranks and was flight commander in the 391st squadron. He flew a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter bomber. He had seventy-two combat missions to his credit and over 650 hours of flight time. Over 400 of those flight hours were combat flight time. In addition to the bombing activities he took part in, 1st Lt. Ericson also had a German Fockewolfe 190 kill to his credit. This was an impressive achievement as the Fockewolfe was arguably the best fighter in World War II and the biggest challenge to the Allied bomber commands.

Lt. Ericson was posthumously presented a distinguished flying cross and an air medal with one silver and three bronze oak leaf clusters in February 1945 for the shoot-down. His commanding officer sent a citation letter to his parents and noted “I take great pleasure in notifying you personally of his success and congratulate you upon having such a fine son, who is doing so much for his country. He is a good boy and doing a grand job.” They were invited to the Portland, Oregon army air base to receive the awards that could not be given to him personally. The Distinguished Flying Cross was presented to Lt. Erickson “for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flights against the enemy on March 28, 1945,” according to the citation read by the army chaplain at the presentation. It continued: “Lt. Ericson lead a squadron to strike a crippling blow to enemy transportation lines in the vicinity of Hagen, Germany. Flying through a concentration of antiaircraft fire and although handicapped by adverse weather conditions, he directed a series of brilliantly executed attacks which resulted in the destruction of numerous rail cars, equipment and material. The unusual leadership, determination and aggressiveness demonstrated by Lt. Erickson under unfavorable conditions, reflect the highest credit upon himself and his organizations.”

Lt. Erickson’s P-47 fighter, 44-21045, was named “Wanda Joan II” for Miss Wanda Joan Wallace, daughter of Col. And Mrs. Irving Speed Wallace, an author and radio commentator of the time. The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American aerospace company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. Its primary armament was eight .50-caliber machine guns, and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack role it could carry five-inch rockets or a bomb load of 2,500 pounds (1,133 kg). When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to eight tons, making it one of the heaviest fighters of the war.

Lt. Hilmar Germaine Erickson died June 2, 1945, less than a month after V-E day, when he was preparing to land at his base in Handorf, near Munster, Germany. His plane crashed into the ground, killing him instantly. Following his death, the state of Iowa’s war compensation board gave his mother $500 on 1 Aug 1949. His grave is in Plot B Row 19 Grave 2 at the Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands.

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? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

Sources:

https://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/AARmonthly/Jun1945O.htm

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=117307

https://www.366thgunfighters.org/the-366th-in-ww-ii.html

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57222970/hilmar-germaine-erickson-dies-in-plane/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57223766/distinguished-flying-cross-lt-hilmar/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57224033/lt-hilmar-erickson-award/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57224187/lt-himar-erickson-shoots-down-german/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57224587/hilmar-g-erickson-pilot-training/

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61186/images/45280_920600178_0585-00052?pId=4292

1st Lt. Hillmar Germaine Erickson

Hilmar G Erickson