Collins E. Liersch was born on July 12, 1922. A native of Monroe County, Wisconsin, Collins was the son of Hattie and Alvin Liersch. He attended Kendall High School, graduating in 1940. Before enlisting in the U.S. Air Force, he was in his junior year at what is now known as the University of Wisconsin, Platteville. He was commissioned on June 27, 1944, and later became part of a bomb squadron, operating out of Bedfordshire, England.

Collins served in the 367th Bomber Squadron, 306th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Second Lieutenant and Co-Pilot on the B-17G #42-37840, "Combined Operations," during World War II.

The crew of the aircraft was flying from Thurleigh in Bedfordshire, England, to Langford Lodge in Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland, where they were dropping off their passengers. The route to Langford Lodge was intended to be a cross-country navigation training exercise. The weather on the day dictated that the flight be carried out on instruments rather than visual navigation. They took off from Thurleigh at 15:00 and headed for Northern Ireland by 18:15, having failed to arrive at Langford Lodge, they were declared overdue by the USAAF. Within five minutes, a report was sent back stating that an aircraft had crashed on the Isle of Man.

The aircraft had been flying on a North Westerly course towards the island, it was thought that the pilots had seen land ahead, and that cloud was covering much of it and began turning to port onto a South Westerly course when the aircraft struck the ground just inland from the coast. The aircraft traveled through a stone wall before coming to rest where the wreckage was then destroyed by fire. Their plane crashed near the Chasms on the southern tip of the Isle of Man.

2Lt Liersch is now buried in the Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom. He also has a cenotaph located in Dorset Ridge Cemetery, Wilton, Monroe County, Wisconsin.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov