The Battle of Barrington November 27th, 1934

[full auto 45]

The Battle of Barrington was an intense and deadly gun battle between Federal agents Sam Cowley and Ed Hollis against Lester "Baby Face Nelson" Gillis and John Paul Chase. As a result of the shootout, Agents Hollis and Cowley were killed, Nelson died a short time later down the road. His naked body was dumped in a ditch beside the road.

 

(From Wiki)

On the morning of November 27, Nelson, sporting a thin mustache on his youthful face, Helen Gillis (Nelson's wife), and John Paul Chase, Nelson's right-hand man, departed Lake Geneva and traveled south, toward Chicago, on U.S. Route 12 (now U.S. 14). Nelson planned to meet two underworld figures in Chicago and had reasoned daylight the safer time to travel as agents would expect an evening departure.

Near the village of Fox River Grove, Illinois, Nelson observed a vehicle driven in the opposite direction. Inside the car were federal agents Thomas McDade and William Ryan. McDade and Ryan were traveling to Lake Geneva to support a fellow agent who had relayed an encounter with Nelson. The agents and the gangster recognized each other simultaneously and after several U-turns by both cars, Nelson wound up in pursuit of the federal agents.

As Nelson's powerful V-8 Ford, driven by Gillis, caught up to the slower federal sedan, Nelson and Chase opened fire on the agents. Neither McDade nor Ryan were injured. The agents returned fire, sped ahead and ran off the highway. Taking defensive positions, McDade and Ryan awaited Nelson and Chase. The agents, however, were unaware a round fired by Ryan had punctured the water pump and/or the radiator of Nelson's Ford. With his vehicle losing power, Nelson was next pursued by a Hudson automobile driven by two more agents, Herman Hollis and Samuel P. Cowley

See More......

[gijive]

Re-positioned photo so no one spills their coffee trying to look at the picture.

 

 

 

 

Lester Gillis Dead

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2019 by gijive

[john]

More on the Thompson pictured, please?

[gijive]

More on the Thompson pictured, please?

John,

 

Try this link" http://www.machinegunboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20808&hl=%2Bbaby+%2Bface+%2Bnelson+%2Bthompson

[john]

Thanks. That's what I thought.

Very impressive.

I'm jealous, and probably in good company.

Missed those posts of this before, but usually don't miss more than a few and it's easy to catch up.

Must be getting old......

[Merry Ploughboy]

FWIW, the American Rifleman, May, 2017 issue, has a very detailed, thorough article, "A Battle at Barrington: The Men and the Guns", by Stephen Hunter (perhaps best known for his Bob Lee Swagger novels). It may have been discussed before in this forum or the Gangsters and Lawmen forum; I confess to not having searched.

 

Be well.

[john]

More interesting to me in that mom's family came from Brainerd and we still have relatives all over the Brainerd area as well as hunting property in Crow Wing county north of There.

Not to mention my wife grew up in Wilmette Ill and I know the North shore area well.

And to top that off, we are in the middle of listening to Stephen Hunter's audiobook of 'G-Man'

Been a Hunter Dan since Point of Impact came out.

[Ron Mills]

As has been discussed in previous posts on this subject, there is a monument erected on the site in Barrington; it's part of a park. I visited it a few times as I lived just up the road outside of what is now Crystal Lake. There have been reenactments there a few times. There was an interview in the local paper, The NW Herald, years ago (early 90s?) about an elderly gent who saw the whole thing as it unfolded, as he was repossessing telephones in the area (Depression era, tough for most everybody). You might be able to search their archives and find the story, I'm not sure.

Lester was a madman, whew!