Reid, Sibley

Michelle Kukan

1920-04-05

Brooklyn, NY

1944-02-06

Tablets of the Missing, Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial, Nettuno, Città Metropolitana di Roma Capitale, Lazio, Italy

First Lieutenant

O-660589

1941-10-29

1944-02-06

Air Medal

Purple Heart

Sibley Reid served with the 526th Fighter Squadron, 86th Fighter Group, 12th Air Force as a fighter pilot. The 86th Fighter Group, nicknamed “The Invaders” typically flew P-40 Warhawks or P-47 Thunderbolts. The 86th Fighter Group was based in Pomigliano 1943-11-19 through 1944-04-30. Reid’s final mission was on the morning of 1944-02-06. According to a Missing Air Crew Report filed by Second Lieutenant Allen M. Hansen, the mission was to bomb Cisterna, Italy. The crew strafed along the beach head, which was north west of Cisterna. After strafing ten miles along this route, the mission crew changed course west toward the shore and it was at this point Hansen last saw Reid. Hansen noted that Reid was not in sight and did not rejoin the formation of fighter planes. Hansen also referred to “intense and accurate small arms fire” which was faced throughout the duration of the mission. This report was filed 1944-02-08. Reid’s status was declared as missing in action (MIA). Eventually, Reid was declared dead while missing and killed in action (KIA) at age 23. His name is mentioned on the Tablets of the Missing in the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial located in Italy.

Sibley Reid was born 1920-04-05 in Brooklyn, New York to Elliot and Gladys Reid. The Reid family moved to Mahwah in 1923. Sibley Reid began his educational career at Ramapo Valley Day School. He eventually moved on to attend Suffern High School, Ramsey High School and Ridgewood High School. After high school, he attended Swarthmore College for two years before dropping out to work at Socony Vacuum Oil Company with his father, Elliot. When war was declared in 1941, Reid enlisted into the Army on 1941-10-29, in Newark, New Jersey. He entered into the US Army Air Corps. In 1942, he completed his middle stage of pilot training in Enid, Oklahoma. His final weeks of pilot training, where he graduated as a second lieutenant and eventually worked as a flying instructor, was at the Advanced Flying School in Lake Charles, Louisiana. In 1943, Reid requested a transfer to active duty and was assigned to the 86th Fighter Group that October. Reid Court in Mahwah, NJ is named after him.

Father: Elliot Reid
Mother: Gladys Reid

Photo 1: Lt. Reid, circa 1944 (Ramapo Valley Independent).

Photo 2: Newspaper clipping announcing Reid's death (Ramapo Valley Independent).

Photo 3: Reid, Ridgewood High School Yearbook, 1937 (Ancestry Library).

Photo 4: Reid's name on the Tablets of the Missing, Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial, (Find a Grave).

Photo 5: Reid's draft registration card, completed 1941-07-01 in Ramsey, NJ (Ancestry Library).

Photo 6: Missing Air Crew Report filed on Reid, dated 1944-02-08 (Fold3).