Paul Milton Ellington was born on 31 May 1920 in Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma, USA, the younger child of Percy Fuller Ellington (1886-1926) and Carolyn Marie Ellington née McIrvin (1887-1968). His elder brother was Percy Bent Ellington (1910-2005).
Our Picture Source gives much information about his military service, showing that he initially served in the United States Army Air Corps before being discharged, moving in 1940 to Canada and joining the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in Ottawa. He came to England and when he finished his training was assigned as a Pilot Officer to No.121 Eagle Squadron. When this squadron was disbanded he was transferred as a 2nd Lieutenant to the 335th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force United States Army Air Forces from 14 October 1942.
Promoted to 1st Lieutenant in April 1943 he was designated Flight Commander C Flight on 3 February 1944. He was flying his North American P-51B Mustang aeroplane, serial number 43-7004, on 4 March 1944 on a bomber support mission to Berlin when it was hit by flak just north of Bruges, Belgium and crash landed near Maldegem, Belgium. He was made a prisoner of war and transferred to Stalag Luft 1, near Barth, Western Pomerania, Germany. He was liberated when the Russian army arrived on 1 May 1945 and was returned to the USA where on 20 June 1945 he married Eleanor Louise Henry (1916-2001) in Cumberland, Cumberland County, Maine, USA. They were to have one daughter.
He was awarded the Air Medal with 1 oak leaf cluster, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Prisoner of War Medal, the World War II Victory Medal and was honourably discharged with the rank of Captain on 15 December 1945.
He went to work for the Texaco Oil Company and lived in Oklahoma. By 1993 he had moved to Slidell, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, USA, where he died, aged 81 years, on 29 June 2001. He was buried in Section 54, Site 4856, in the Arlington National Cemetery, 1 Memorial Avenue, Fort Myer, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA.
He is shown as P/O Paul Ellington on the No.121 Eagle Squadron face of the Eagle Squadrons memorial in Grosvenor Square, London, W1.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
