Ernest Jennings Kirby Jr
Military
Object Number - UPL 30325 - E.J. Kirby, Jr.
E.J. Kirby, Jr. enlisted in the U.S. Army at 18 years old, prior to the Pearl Harbor attack. A young man from North Carolina, he progressed in the ranks from mess sergeant to engineering officer and then to heavy bomber pilot within the span of less than four years. Assigned to the 15th AF in Foggia, Italy, E.J. was well respected by his crew members and commanding officers alike. He completed 15 missions as B-17 pilot before he and five other crewmembers were killed in action over Vienna.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Fifteenth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Fifteenth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Aircraft
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Foggia Satellite #1, San Nicola-d'Arpi
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Other Ferry Flight start |
Savannah, GA | 5 August 1944 | E.J.'s ferry flight across the Atlantic started at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, GA. |
|
Other Ferry flight layover 1 |
Bangor, ME | 5 August 1944 | E.J.'s crew flew B-17 S/N 44-6419 across the Atlantic. The first stop on the ferry flight was Dow Field in Bangor, Maine for an overnight. |
|
Other Ferry flight layover 2 |
Gander Lake, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada | 6 August 1944 - 11 August 1944 | |
|
Other Ferry flight layover 3 |
Azores, Portugal | 12 August 1944 | |
|
Other Ferry flight layover 4 |
Marrakesh, Morocco | 13 August 1944 - 14 August 1944 | |
|
Other Ferry flight layover 5 |
Tunis, Tunisia | 15 August 1944 | |
|
Other Ferry flight final stop |
Gioia Sannitica, Italy | 16 August 1944 | |
|
Other Initial posting at squadron base |
Celone, Italy | 17 August 1944 | Assigned to 463rd BG, 773rd BS at Celone Airfield. |
|
Other First combat mission |
Odertal, Germany | 22 August 1944 | The mission to Odertal was E.J.'s first as well as the longest at 8 hours 25 minutes. |
|
Other Aircraft ditching |
Adriatic Sea | 13 September 1944 | During a mission to Blechhammer, the aircraft eventually lost two engines due to flak damage on the return trip. The crew ditched the aircraft into the Adriatic and were picked up by Yugoslav partisans. |
|
Died |
Vienna, Austria | 13 October 1944 | Mission to attack the synthetic oil facility just outside of Vienna (Florisdorf). Four crewmembers escaped, six total were killed. |
