Remembering World War II

Name: Harold Landigan Mills Rank: Staff Sergeant Service Number: 31000859 Service: 24th Observation Squadron, 76th Observation Group, United States Army Air Force Date of Birth: March 20, 1911 Place of Birth: Advocate Harbour, Cumberland Co., NS Date of Enlistment: February 18, 1941 Place of Enlistment: Portland, Cumberland Co., Maine Address at Enlistment: Cumberland Co., Maine Age at Enlistment: 29 Height: 5 feet, 8 inches Occupation: Spotter Marital Status: Single Date of Death: October 22, 1942 Age: 31 Cemetery: Pine Grove Cemetery, Falmouth, Maine Harold Landigan Mills was the son of Edward Hamilton Mills (1880-1977) and Elizabeth ‘Bessie’ Delia (Landigan) Mills (1887-1967). He had one older sister Maie Irwin (Mills) McLellan (1908-1977). Harold had two half-brothers from his father’s first marriage – Eldon LaMont Mills (1903-1987) and Carl Morris Mills (1904-1979). The family moved to the United States in the 1920’s, Harold immigrated by train (Canadian Pacific Railway), initially to Vanceboro, Maine, via St. John, New Brunswick, on June 1, 1928. They settled in Portland, Maine, in Cumberland Co. In 1930, Harold was working as a truckman. He completed his Petition of Naturalization for US citizenship in Portland on September 10, 1937. He was still working as a truck driver at the time. In 1940, the family, including Harold, his parents and his sister Maie, a registered nurse, and her husband Gerald Ballantyne McLellan (1908-2001) were all living in South Portland, Maine. Census says he was a spotter. Harold had completed three years of high school when he enlisted in February of 1941. Harold was assigned to the 24th Observation Squadron, 76th Observation Group of the United States Army Air Force at Pope Field, at Fort Bragg, in Harnett Co., North Carolina. Staff Sergeant Harold Landigan Mills died on duty in an accident when his aircraft, a L-4A Grasshopper, serial #42-36502, crashed in a wooded area 4 miles north west Fort Bragg, at 4:35 pm. He was dead on arrival at the Station Hospital at 7 pm. He is interred at the Pine Grove Cemetery, in Falmouth, Maine.

Harold Landigan Mills

Sources findagrave

During training exercises at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, a Piper Cub radios corrections to a fire control center. Light observation aircraft performed in a variety of roles in WWII