Donald McAllister Malmsten

Military
media-13573.jpeg UPL 13573 Captain Donald M. Malmsten (third from left).

I am the son of Capt. Donald M. Malmsten. My name is Donald M. Malmsten (II). I was born in Lincoln, NE on November 25, 1947.

Object Number - UPL 13573 - Captain Donald M. Malmsten (third from left).

Donald Malmsten enlisted in the Army Air Corps from Burrell, Nebraska.

He trained alongside Frank Speer at Dale Mabry Field near Tallahasee, Florida, on P-51 Mustangs prior to shipping to England. One day the two were to practice camera gunnery together. During the training flight, Speer's aircraft started to shudder violently, so he headed for base. Upon landing, it was discovered that Don had inadvertently turned the gun switch to "Guns and Camera" instead of "Camera". Unfortunately, Don's aircraft had been on a gunnery mission the day before and the armourer had not removed the unused ammunition.

The armourer in question was demoted, but Don escaped punishment with the proviso that he be accompanied 24 hours a day by an MP to keep him from consuming any alcohol until he was shipped out!

Don, along with Speer and several other classmates were shipped out to England. They completed their overseas training at Goxhill, and later both were assigned to the 4th Fighter Group, 334th Squadron. Don was an aggressive pilot who loved to strafe trucks, trains, and military convoys, as well as dogfight with the Luftwaffe. On 7 August 1944 Malmsten was leading Green Section on a strafing mission southeast of Paris to destroy locomotives and boxcars believed to contain V-1 "buzz bombs". Near Dijon, his section strafed a couple of locomotives and received some intense flak. He became separated from his wingman but continued alone, blowing up three more when he came upon some trucks. He attacked one and, pulling up, noticed his engine had started to smoke. He was very low and could only keep it running for a couple of minutes before it caught fire.

He crash-landed in a beet field and got out of the flaming plane. Discarding his equipment, he took off across the fields for about a mile and crawled into a ditch filled with weeds. Here he discovered that he had burns on his cheek and nose. He walked at night for three days before being picked up by the French Underground. They introduced him to the Maquis, who cared for him for a further four weeks until he could be smuggled out, and returned to London in September.

Donald Malmsten had 10.5 enemy aircraft to his credit and had earned the Purple Heart, the Distinguished flying Cross, and the air Medal with ten Oak Leaf Clusters.

Don and Frank Speer met up again back in the States at Dover Air Force Base after VE-Day, when Don got notice of his discharge. Years later, it was told that Don had the habit of flying his plane to the nearest town for Friday night relaxation and flying home afterwards slightly the worse for wear. It appears that he had flown his plane into a mountain one night and was killed.

Connections

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Units served with

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 334th Fighter Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-694194
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
  • Unit: 4th Fighter Group 334th Fighter Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
  • Nicknames: Turnip Termite
  • Unit: 4th Fighter Group 334th Fighter Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
  • Nicknames: Crotch Rot
  • Unit: 4th Fighter Group 334th Fighter Squadron

Missions

  • Date: 21 June 1944
  • Official Description:

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Richfield, UT 12 February 1916 Born Carl John and Salina Esther [Farnsworth] Malmsten.

Enlisted

Omaha, NE, USA 24 May 1942 Omaha, Nebraska

Other

Assigned

Debden, Saffron Walden, Essex CB11, UK 4 April 1944 Assigned to 334FS, 4FG, 8AF USAAF.

Other

Shot down / crash landed

Dijon, France 7 August 1944 Hit by ground fire whilst strafing trains near Dijon, France. Crashlanded and evaded capture EVD. Returned to Duty RTD. MACR 7759.

Other

Evaded

France 7 August 1944 Evaded capture with the help the French resistance and Maquis.

Other

Promotion

Debden, Saffron Walden, Essex CB11, UK 9 August 1944 Promoted to 1st Lieutenant.

Other

Promotion

Debden, Saffron Walden, Essex CB11, UK 25 March 1945 Promoted to Captain.

Died

Lancaster County, NE, USA 11 May 1948

Buried

Wyuka Cemetery Lincoln, Lancaster County NE 14 May 1948 Wyuka Cemetery Lincoln, Lancaster County Nebraska, USA.

Revisions

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Date
ContributorMack
Changes
Sources

I am the son of Capt. Donald M Malmsten. My name is also Donald M. Malmsten (II). I was born in Lincoln ,NE on November 25, 1947.

Date
Changes
Sources

Merged with duplicate entry to include details from:
- Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list

Date
Contributorapollo11
Changes
Sources

Personal research & 'Eighty-One Aces of the 4th Fighter Group' by Frank Speer.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

1000 Destroyed' by Capt. Grover C. Hall, Jr./MACR 7759 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 7759 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

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