Harold K Kendall

Military
media-20426.png UPL 20426 Lt Harold K. Kendall

Added photo linked to #41-23740

Object Number - UPL 20426 - Lt Harold K. Kendall

Harold Kendall was assigned to the 93rd Bomber Group / 409th Bomber Squadron and flew missions from England until the 93rd was temporarily assigned to fly out of North Africa in support of the Allied forces in that theater. On February 25, 1943, B-24 41-23740 'Red Ass', piloted by Lt Jacob (Jake) Epting and with 14 other men on board, including Kendall was forced to land in Spanish Morocco for lack of fuel. The crew was interned in Spain. Chapter 10 of "Ted's Travelling Circus" chronicles their adventures in this incident and it is also mentioned in Top Turret gunner Ben Kuroki's story at http://www.ploesti.com/Kuroki%20Book%202-10.pdf . Harold Kendall flew as Epting's Co-Pilot on #41-24105 "Tupelo Lass" and later had a crew of his own. He was Pilot of # 41-24215 "Lucky" on the 1 August 1943 mission to the Ploesti oil installations, Rumania. Page 228 of "Ted's Travelling Circus" tells about Kendall in that raid. The hydrautic system had been shot away and he successfully landed his plane 'Lucky' on a liberated Sicilian, Italy, airfield. P-40s that were mended and sitting on the airstrip were damaged in Kendall's landing. His crew was pronounced safe.

Harold Kendall died in an aviation accident on 31 December 1967. He and 3 other men ("Tabe Ranria, Alfred Harmon and Juan Pedro Felix") were flying in a small plane and it disappeared without a trace, into the Gulf of California.

Connections

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Units served with

The insignia of the 93rd Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 409th Bomb Squadron
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 409th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 33342132 / O-885918
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Role/Job: Co-Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 409th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Tail Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 409th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Master Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Ground crew
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 409th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 14042973 and O-434752
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Red Ass
  • Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 409th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Lucky Dogpatch Raider
  • Unit: 445th Bomb Group 93rd Bomb Group 409th Bomb Squadron 703rd Bomb Squadron

Missions

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Iowa, United States 19 July 1917

Enlisted

Des Moines, Iowa, United States 29 September 1941 as a Private in the Air Corps

Other

Captured and interned

25 February 1943 Arrested like the other men on board B-24 #41-23740 crash-landed in Spanish Morocco. Interned in Spain, he and the others were released and got back to England

Died

Gulf of California 31 December 1967 in an aviation accident off the coast of California
Chariton, Lucas County, Iowa, United States

Revisions

Date
Contributordecwriter
Changes
Sources

NARA files verified officer number, DFC w/1 Oak Leaf Cluster and AM w/4 Oak Leaf Clusters. His second DFC was earned on the low level Ploesti raid on 1 Aug 1943. He earned at least one bronze star device on the EAME Campaign Medal.

Date
ContributorED-BB
Changes
Sources

NARA WWII Enlistment records
SSDI (Social Security Death Index)
The "Pasadena Independent", 2 January 1968

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

'Ploesti' Dugan & Stewart, Ted's Travelling Circus 93rd BG by Cal Stewart Chapter 10and p. 228, Losses of the 8th and 9th AFs Vol. 1 by Bishop and Hey p. 80 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia

Harold K Kendall: Gallery (2 items)