Arthur Gerald Donahue
Military
Photo from contributor's personal collection.
Object Number - UPL 30566 - American Art Donahue in his Spitfire "Massage from Minnesota." Art was from St. Charles, Minnesota, and served with 64 Squadron at RAF Kenley during...
He traveled to Canada, claimed to be Canadian, and was accepted into the RCAF.
After training with No 7 OTU, he was assigned to No 64 Squadron at RAF Kenley on 3 August 1940.
Two days later, he saw combat against Messerschmitt Bf 109s off the French coast, and suffered serious damage to his aircraft, forcing him to land at RAF Hawkinge. Donahue thus became one of ten Americans to fly for the RAF in the Battle of Britain in 1940.
A week later, on 12 August, he was wounded in combat over England's south coast in his Supermarine Spitfire Mk. I. He was forced to bail out of his burning aircraft, and suffered burns and leg injuries.
On 29 September 1940, he was reassigned to No. 71 Squadron, one of three Eagle Squadrons, RAF units composed of American pilots, but did not see combat with that unit. Because of the lack of action, he requested to be reassigned to No 64 Squadron, arriving back there on 23 October.
In February 1941, Donahue served with No 91 Squadron, although in March he went on leave back to the USA. In October 1941 he was posted to No 258 Squadron in the Far East, and participated in the Battle of Singapore, also seeing action over Sumatra in February 1942, where he was wounded by ground fire.
After returning to England in mid-1942, he rejoined No 91 Squadron as a flight commander. It is claimed he became the first American in RAF history to lead an all-English squadron. He was credited with downing two enemy aircraft, with two more probables and one damaged.
Fl Lt Donahue was killed in action on 11 September 1942, while a member of No 91 Squadron. Attempting to intercept a Ju 88, his plane was hit by return fire which crippled his engine and forced him to ditch in the English Channel. His body was never found. Donahue once wrote in a letter to his parents, "My life may not be long, but it will be wide." He is commemorated on the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede in Surrey, England.
He was awarded four medals, including the UK's Distinguished Flying Cross on 27 March 1942. Battle of Britain clasp to the 1939–45 campaign star.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Type Category: Fighter
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
St Charles, MN 55972, USA | 29 January 1913 | 29 January 1913, St. Charles, Minnesota, United States. |
|
Other Shipped Abroad |
Merseyside, UK | 7 July 1940 - 14 July 1940 | Took a ship for Liverpool on July 7, arrived in England on the 14th. |
|
Other Conversion training |
Hawarden, Deeside, Flintshire CH5, UK | 16 July 1940 - 2 August 1940 | Conversion training with No 7 OTU. |
|
Other Assigned |
Royal Air Force Kenley Tribute, Kenley, Kenley, Greater London CR8, UK | 3 August 1940 - 28 September 1940 | Assigned to 64 Sqn RAF. |
|
Other Transferred |
Kirton in Lindsey, Gainsborough, North Lincolnshire DN21, UK | 29 September 1940 - 22 October 1940 | Transferred to 71 [Eagle] Sqn RAF. |
|
Other Transferred |
Royal Air Force Kenley Tribute, Kenley, Kenley, Greater London CR8, UK | 23 October 1940 | Transferred to 64 Sqn RAF. |
|
Died |
English Channel | 11 October 1942 | Killed in action on 11 September 1942, while a member of No 91 Squadron. Attempting to intercept a Ju 88, his plane was hit by return fire which crippled his engine and forced him to ditch in the English Channel. His body was never found. |
|
Other Joined the RAF |
Joined the Royal Air Force. | ||
|
Other Transferred |
Transferred to 91 Sqn | ||
|
Other Transferred |
Singapore | In October 1941 he was posted to No 258 Squadron in the Far East, and participated in the Battle of Singapore, also seeing action over Sumatra in February 1942, where he was wounded by ground fire. | |
|
Other Transferred |
10 October 1942 | No 91 Squadron as a flight commander. | |
|
Buried |
Runnymede Air Forces Memorial, Cooper's Hill Ln, Englefield Green, Egham, Surrey TW20 0LB, UK | Memorialised - Runnymede Memorial, Englefield Green Runnymede Borough Surrey, England. |
Revisions
Combat Chronology / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia
