Wallace B Kirkpatrick
MilitaryMy father, Wallace B. Kirkpatrick is far right, hands on hips.
Wallace B Kirkpatrick's photos
On 13 January 1943 in B-17F 41-24498 while serving as Navigator the aircraft sustained a mid-air collision with B-17F 41-24471 "Four of a Kind" 306BG/369BS just north of the target at Lille, France. He was able to parachute to safety and was captured. Prisoner of War (POW). Cause of collision was combination of evasive action and the turbulence caused by the AA. Completed 2 missions and went down on his third.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
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
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 369th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 17024209 / O-442297
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group
Missions
- Date: 13 January 1943
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Bedford
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Texas | 19 January 1921 | Born at home, some where near Reagan Texas on the "Brazos River bottom." |
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Zagan, Poland | 13 January 1943 - 8 June 1945 | Held at Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia (now Poland) later moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser. Officially Returned to Military Control (RMC) 8-Jun-45. |
Revisions
As told to me by my father.
http://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Great-Escape-POW-gets-5-m…
the Good Conduct Medal has three Bronze Loops
Lee Cunningham 20-Jan-2015. Added decoration and POW event per National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database; made connections to Place, Aircraft and Mission within existing website data; Edited Biography per "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE; added crew position and SN per MACR 15634.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces Vol. 1 by Bishop and Hey, p. 63, MACR 15502, 306 BG Association 1999; Combat Crews page 143;