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Parachute Infantry Regiment. At the head of his unit, he was out the door
and in the open sky of Occupied France at 12:15 AM to become the first
man from the 101st Airborne to plant his boots on the soil for Operation
Overlord; his only competition for being the first man in Allied uniform
on the ground for the entire invasion were the members of the secretive
OSS “Jedburgh” teams. Once down, he and his men had about 30 minutes
to set up a number of guide devices, including special “Eureka” radar sets
(one placed in a church steeple with the knowing consent of the priest,
the other planted in a tree) and a set of ground lights to tell the aircrew
when to give the “go” signal to their troopers. While this was going on, they
also neutralized a machine gun nest and a 20mm AA gun position that
threatened the latter; the German in charge of the latter was asleep in a
Frenchman’s bed when Lillyman arrived, and his unwilling host had zero
hesitation in telling the Americans where to find him. Just before 1:00 AM,
the full drop began, though even with the aid of Lillyman’s Pathfinders,
the operation was still messy, with paratroopers flung about nearly at
random and forced to assemble themselves into ad-hoc units of whoever
they could find. Later in the day, Lillyman and the Pathfinders were called
upon to spot and mark a field to be used for land gliders for resupply and
reinforcement, named Operation Keokuk. They found a suitable match and
set up their signal devices, but the area was still notably hot, resulting in a
number of gliders coming under fire or going off course and crashing into the trees. Moving to
the aid of one such downed glider, Lillyman was shot in the arm and hit by shrapnel. Evacuated
back to England, Lillyman didn’t want to sit around and checked himself out of the hospital
(read: went AWOL), got on a supply ship, and returned to France on his own initiative. Not being
the subtle type, instead of laying low and quietly reintegrating into his unit, he instead started
giving newsreel interviews. His boss in the 101st was not amused, tearing up a set of promotion
papers and kicking him off the Pathfinders in retaliation for the stunt. Spending the remainder of
the war with the 3rd Battalion of the 502nd, he saw significant action during Operation Market
Garden and in the Ardennes Forest. Retiring from the Army in 1968 at the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel, Lillyman passed on in 1971 from a stroke at the age of 55. A broad array of medals,
ribbons and patches are included, with both the Basic (with arrowhead and two stars on blue-on-
blue identification backing) and Master Parachutist Badges, the scarce Pathfinder “winged torch”
patch, Distinguished Unit Citation ribbon with oak leaf, Distinguished Service Cross (inscribed
to Lillyman and dated for June 6th), Purple Heart (inscribed to match the DSC), Bronze Star, two
French Croix de Guerre (both are the WWII medal, but one has the WWI pattern ribbon with
bronze star, the other the WWII ribbon with bronze palm), one Belgian Croix de Guerre (with
bronze palm), and a D-Day pattern leatherette armband. Included with the documents are the
certificates for the Distinguished Service Cross, Purple Heart, Bronze Star (for WWII), Bronze Star
Oak Leaf Cluster (dated 1952), Parachutist Badge (1942), and Glider Badge (1946), a 1965 issued
retroactive diploma for graduating the Pathfinder Course, vintage photograph of then-Captain
Lillyman participating in a unit inspection, archival photocopies of the general orders announcing
his DSC, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and Purple Heart Oak Leaf Cluster, and an archival photocopy
of the report to the Commanding General of the 101st about Pathfinder activities during D-Day.
Rounding out the grouping is a DVD copy of the History Channel program “Pathfinders”, a copy
of the August 2019 issue of “World War II” magazine featuring a prominent story on Lillyman’s
adventures in Europe, and a provenance letter from one Brian Hoesl, claiming a chain of
ownership starting with Lillyman’s widow and includes author Gary Howard, who reportedly
included the set in his “America’s Finest” book set on U.S. Airborne equipment.
CONDITION: Very good overall, showing wear and handling appropriate to age, though generally
appearing well cared for over the years. The magazine shows some torn pages, and the DVD is
untested. An excellent assembly of documentation, medals, patches and other artifacts from a
major player in one of the most pivotal actions of World War II.
Provenance: The Putnam Green/Sycamore Collection.
Estimate: 25,000 - 40,000