Richard Joseph O'Reilly Flight Sergeant R/267626 100 RAF Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force April 4, 1926 Saint John, New Brunswick September 27, 1943 No. 15 RCAF Recruiting Centre, Moncton, NB 17 6 feet Medium Dark Brown Blue Grey Single Electrician and Improver Roman Catholic George O’Reilly (Father) March 16, 1945 18 Durnbach War Cemetery, Germany Joint Grave 2. E. 27-28

Name: Rank: Service No: Service: Date of Birth: Place of Birth: Date of Enlistment: Place of Enlistment: Age at Enlistment: Height: Complexion: Eye Colour: Hair Colour: Marital Status: Trade: Religion: Next of Kin: Date of Death: Age at Death: Cemetery: Grave Reference:

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Richard Joseph O'Reilly was the son of George Edward O'Reilly (1890-1972) and Frances (Boyne) O'Reilly (1888-1965), of Saint John, New Brunswick, and brother of Mary Madeline O'Reilly (1911-1920), Mary Grace O'Reilly (1913-1920), George Thomas O'Reilly (1915-1992), Paul Conrad O'Reilly (1918-1985), Edward Joseph O'Reilly(1927-1944), and Anne-Marie (b. 1931). Richard’s father was born in Littleton, in Grafton County, New Hampshire and was the manager of the American News Co., and his mother was born in Lepreau, Charlotte Co., New Brunswick. Richard enjoyed hockey, baseball, swimming, and basketball, and worked for Toronto Ship Building in Saint John prior to enlistment. Richard provided his year of birth as 1925 on his attestation papers, but he was actually born in 1926. After training in Canada, he embarked in Halifax June 25th, arriving in the UK on July 3, 1944. He trained with No 18 Operational Training Unit (18 OTU) from August 1 - November 15, 1944, and on February 21, 1945, he was assigned to 100 Squadron of the Royal Air Force at RAF Grimsby in Lincolnshire, England. Flight Sergeant O’Reilly was killed in action serving as Air Gunner of Avro Lancaster Mark III PB117 flying from RAF Grimsby on a mission to bomb the Zeitz Oil Refinery in Leipzig, Germany. The aircraft is believed to have been shot down by flak/AAA fire near the target zone.