Duane Willard Beeson

Military
media-13474.jpeg UPL 13474 Lt. Colonel Duane Willard Beeson.

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

Object Number - UPL 13474 - Lt. Colonel Duane Willard Beeson.

Duane W Beeson joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941, by February 1942 he had completed over 200 hours of flying and was transferred to Britain to join No. 71 (Eagle) Squadron, RAF 24 days later he joined the 4th Fighter Group in September 1942. By October 1942 Beeson had become the first Ace of the 4th Fighter Group. He was shot down during a mission on 5 April 1944 and taken Prisoner of war. He was liberated in April 1945, and on his return to the United States sought transfer to the Pacific Theatre of Operations, but the war in the Pacific came to an end before he was assigned. Following the War Beeson was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and based in Sarasota, Florida where he met his wife- Tracey Waters, whom he married in 1946. In 1947, aged 25 Beeson died after contracting a brain tumor. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.



Flew 240 hours with RAF. Transferred to 8th AF September 1942. Second highest scoring pilot in ETO before being shot down. Crashed near Brandenburg on 5 Apr 44 in P-51 'Boise Bee' Prisoner of War (POW). Credited with 24 enemy aircraft destroyed.



Awards: DSC, DFC (6OLC) SS, AM (5OLC), Croix de Guerre, PH, POW, WWII Victory, EAME.



17.33

Connections

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Units served with

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
  • Unit: 495th Fighter Training Group 4th Fighter Group 334th Fighter Squadron 551st Fighter Training Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
  • Nicknames: Boise bee
  • Unit: 4th Fighter Group 334th Fighter Squadron
A damaged P-51 Mustang (QP-B) of the 334th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group, flown by Captain Duane Beeson under repair inside a Nissen hangar, 5 March 1944. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'March 5, 1944. Capt. D. Beeson's flak-damaged QP-B in the Mobile Repair Unit Nissen hangar to patch it's tail feathers. Source - F. Bodner. 162 KP.'
  • Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
  • Nicknames: Bee
  • Unit: 4th Fighter Group 334th Fighter Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: Spitfire
  • Unit: 4th Fighter Group 334th Fighter Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: Spitfire
  • Unit: 4th Fighter Group 335th Fighter Squadron No 121 'Eagle' Squadron

Places

  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Dulag Luft Grosstychow Dulag 12
Prisoners of war, including Colonel Hubert Zemke of the 479th Fighter Group at Stalag Luft I.
  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Stalag Luft I, Barth, Germany

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Boise, Idaho, USA 6 June 1922

Enlisted

Vancouver, BC, Canada 23 June 1941 Royal Canadian Air Force

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

Barth, Germany 5 April 1944 - 19 April 1945 Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag Luft I. POW No. 436819.

Died

Washington, DC 13 February 1947

Buried

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington County, Virgina Section 11, Grave 34

Based

Kirton-in-Lindsey Assigned to 71 (Eagle) Squadron RAF.

Based

Debden 5 April 1944 Assigned to 334FS, 4FG, 8AF USAAF.

Revisions

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added a connection to Stalag Luft 1 per WW2 POW records at the National Archives (NARA).

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added POW camp info to the POW event from WW2 POW records at the National Archives (NARA).

Date
ContributorWD-C Mustang
Changes
Sources

Associated media already in DB

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Sources

AAM DB entry.

Date
Contributorapollo11
Changes
Sources

Personal research & 'The Debden Warbirds' by Frank Speer.

Date
Contributorapollo11
Changes
Sources

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

Date
ContributorEmily
Changes
Sources

Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list

Freeman, The Mighty Eighth, p. 276

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Fighter Aces of the U. S. A. and Mustang Aces of the Eighth Air Force; Who's Who in the Eighth Air Force and/or Biographical Directory Command & Staff Officers Eighth Air Force 1942-45 MACR 3606 / MACR 3606 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list

Duane Willard Beeson: Gallery (23 items)