Harold K Kendall
MilitaryAdded photo linked to #41-23740
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
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 409th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39303459
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner / Flight Eng
Aircraft
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
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.
NARA WWII Enlistment records
SSDI (Social Security Death Index)
The "Pasadena Independent", 2 January 1968
'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