George Gregory was born in 1919 to James and Anna Gregory of Jersey City. He entered Saint Peter’s College in 1938 and attended for three years. In 1941, he left Saint Peter’s to join United States Army, rising to second lieutenant in the Army Air Force, 579th Bomber Squadron, 392nd Bomber Group, Heavy. During World War II, the 392nd Bombardment Group was an Eighth Air Force B-24 Liberator group stationed in England at RAF Wendling, East Anglia. The group flew 285 combat missions, suffering 1,552 casualties that included 835 killed in action or line of duty and 184 aircraft lost.

The Liberator group took part in an intensive campaign of heavy bombers against the German aircraft industry during “Big Week” -- February 20-25, 1944. On February 20, the entire Eighth Air Force Bomber Force was dispatched to bomb targets in and around Berlin and as far east as Danzig. The aircraft were returning from the combat mission to Helmstadt with the airship severely damaged from enemy fighter attacks. During an attempted emergency landing at the large English airfield at Manston, the plane exploded while on a landing approach, killing all aboard. The aircraft was No. 42-7529, a B24  H model nicknamed “Coral Princess,” Call Letter “D-Bar.” It was returning from its 20th mission, and Gregory was the navigator. Four of its crew, including Lt. Gregory in Grave D-2, are interred at the Cambridge Cemetery. He was awarded the Purple Heart.

The Big Week raids on the German aircraft industry caused so much damage that the Germans were forced to disperse aircraft manufacturing eastward to safer parts of the Reich.