Terence Hugh Crowley was born on December 4, 1920, in Palmyra, Wayne County, New York. He was the son of Peter J. Crowley and Delia "Bridget" Lehane - Lyons Crowley. After graduating from Palmyra High School in 1939, Crowley attended Siena College near Troy, New York. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces at Rochester on July 22, 1942, and was called to active duty on February 1, 1943, entering military service at Atlantic City, New Jersey. His training assignments included Indiana Central College in Indianapolis; Nashville, Tennessee; Maxwell Field, Alabama; Lakeland Army Airfield, Florida; Selman Army Airfield in Monroe, Louisiana; and Tyndall Army Airfield in Panama City, Florida, where he completed flexible-gunnery training. He served in the 786th Bomb Squadron, 466th Bomb Group, Heavy, as a Second Lieutenant and Navigator of B-24H #42-95157 during World War II.

On August 15, 1944, B-24H Liberator #42-95157 departed RAF Attlebridge in Norfolk, England, carrying a ten-man crew under the command of 1st Lt. Verdun Winston Munroe. Their mission was to bomb the Luftwaffe airfield at Vechta in northwestern Germany. After attacking the target, the crew began the return flight across the northern Netherlands and the North Sea toward England. While crossing the Netherlands, their formation was attacked by approximately twenty German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters from III./JG 53 and II./JG 5. Munroe’s Liberator was repeatedly struck by enemy fire and sustained severe damage. No longer able to remain airborne, the crippled bomber crashed near the rural village of Nijetrijne in Friesland at approximately 1:30 p.m. Six of the ten crewmen were killed. Three survived and were captured as prisoners of war, while the fourth survivor successfully evaded German capture.

2Lt Crowley was killed during the attack and did not escape from the crippled bomber before it crashed. He is now buried in the Saint Annes Roman Catholic Cemetery, Palmyra, Wayne County, New York, USA.

Sources of information: www.findagrave.com, www.verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl, americanarchive.iwm.org.uk