Bernard Paul Gillingham Full Narrative

Bernard Paul Gillingham was born on May 19, 1914, in Spokane, Washington, the second of two sons. During his years at Hillyard High School in Spokane, later named John R. Rogers High School, he was well-known as an accomplished athlete. He played tennis and was a boxer, and he graduated from Rogers with a specialty in Manual Arts in January 1933. After high school, Gillingham made a name for himself as a member of the Spokane Ski Club. In 1937, he was ranked "C" in downhill and slalom by the Pacific Northwest Ski Association. He was also an accomplished bag punching artist and traveled for a period with a circus performing his act. Before attending Washington State College (WSC), Gillingham also worked at a bank. He attended WSC from 1937 to 1941 as a Forestry major, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta. He continued to perform his punching bag routine, this time for students' entertainment. However, it was the sport of skiing for which Gillingham was known during his time at WSC. He was president of the WSC Ski Club during the 1937 to 1938 academic year, and he was the ski team captain during the 1939 season. Gillingham also began to take flying lessons while at WSC and he enrolled in the Civilian Pilots Training Program (CPTP). He enlisted in the Army Air Corps as an Aviation Cadet on April 26, 1941, leaving WSC for basic flight training at Moffett Field in California. He received his wings as a pilot on December 14, 1941, and he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and departed for Australia. Gillingham was assigned to the 35th Pursuit Squadron, under the 8th Operations Group. On April 11, 1942 he was flying a single seater pursuit plane above the Australian outback, on patrol over the area. Shortly after takeoff, he experienced engine trouble and radioed headquarters he was on his way back to the airfield. In an attempt to avoid another plane on the runway, he crashed into the woods bordering the airfield and died instantly.