Leland J Kessler
MilitaryOn 6 September 1942 while serving as Ball Turret Gunner aboard B-17F 41-24516 'Meltin' Pot' the aircraft lost 2 engines off Londonderry after flight from Newfoundland and was ditched off of Magilligan Point, Northern Ireland. The aircraft came down in shallow water and all ten crew walked ashore.
19-May-1943, was in B-17 42-29786 which crashed at Dunsby in a training accident.
Shot down 21 May 1943 in B-17 42-3214. Prisoner of War (POW) Stalag 17B. Careful research concluded he was shot down by an Me-109 flown by Uffz Helmut Beckmann of 2/JG-27. Resides in Canton, Ohio. First Over Germany reveals he was the hero getting other crewmen out of the stricken plane. Captured immediately and taken to Wilhelmshaven Naval Base and in front of Admiral Doenitz who was there. Spent nine days at Dulag Luft interrigation Center. Sent to Stalag 7A Moosberg, then to Stalag 17B; then forced marched west and then liberated in the woods by tank division of Patton's 3rd Army 02 May 1945.
He completed 16 missions.
He was the first enlisted combat man assigned to the 368th. He was also the so called Sqd. Artist and painted all of the planes' titles and pictures on the noses. He did a couple planes for other Sqd. Crews. He also painted the squadron insignias on the ceiling of the Aero Club at Thurleigh for Mrs. Hesther Levitts, Red Cross prop. He was in April 2003 President of the 306th Association.
ETO/ WWIIV/ AM/ GC/ POW; PH; DFC
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Aircraft
Missions
- Date: 21 May 1943
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Bedford
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Canton, Ohio | 25 May 1921 | |
Other Ditched |
Magilligan Point, Limavady, Limavady BT49, UK | 6 September 1942 | Aircraft B-17F 41-24516 lost two engines en-route to Thurleigh and was ditched into the sea near Magilligan Point, Northern, Ireland. |
Other Training Accident |
19 May 1943 | Involved in a training accident 19-May-43 in B-17F 42-29786. | |
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Krems an der Donau, Austria | 21 May 1943 - 1 June 1945 | Shot down with B-17F 42-3214. Held at Stalag 17B, Braunau-Gneikendorf, near Krems, Austria, marched west and liberated by Patton's 3rd Army in the woods on 2-May-1945. Officially Returned to Military Control (RMC) 1-Jun-45. |
Died |
3 October 2003 | ||
Buried |
Calvary Cemetery Canton, Ohio |
Revisions
Combined two entries. Now contains information from the following source:
MACR 16173 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
Lee Cunningham 13-Nov-2014. Missing AIr Crew Report (MACR) 15096; National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database.
306th BG Association Directory, 1 September 1999 Edition; MACR 16173; T. Kracker, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol. 1 by Bishop & Hey pp. 30-31, 128, 129 First Over Germany by Strong p. 26 & 119, 306th BGA Collection, Russell Strong / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / http://www.306bg.org/crewphotos/Crew%20Pictures%20Adam-Rector/Crew%20Pi…