John B Kernochan

Military ROLL OF HONOUR

Shot down 11 December 1943 in B-17 #42-30218 'Dolly'. Prisoner of War (POW).



Kernochan died on 30 May 1945 in the United States. Here is the text from an obituary published in a local newspaper:

'Saranac Lake Man Dies'

'Lieut. John B. Kernochan, 24, who was born in Saranac Lake and was recently released from a Nazi prison camp, fell or jumped to his death from a 20th floor window of the Hotel Commodore in New York.'



'The young bomber pilot, a Cornell graduate, apparently became a dazed wanderer after being liberated from the prison camp. His family, it was reported, did not know he had returned from Germany to the United States.'



'Kernochan was reported by relatives to have become a nervous and mental wreck as a result of starvation and mistreatment in prison. Liberated by U. S. troops he had been removed to a hospital in France.'



'At Cornell where he majored in hotel administration he was a member of the Officers club, Quill and Dagger and the Scarab. He was on the board of managers of Willard Strait Hall. He was the son of the late Louis Kernochan, a business man in Saranac Lake.'



My uncle Clafford's wife, Dorothy Kernochan (MacFadden), stated that John was castrated.

--- Robert L. MacFadden

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

The insignia of the 95th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Heavenly Daze | Dolly
  • Unit: 95th Bomb Group 335th Bomb Squadron

Places

  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Saranac Lake, NY, USA 19 September 1922

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

11 December 1943 Stalag Luft 3 Sagan-Silesia Bavaria (Moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser) 49-11

Died

New York, NY, USA 30 May 1945

Buried

Pine Bush, NY 12566, USA

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added POW camp information from WW2 POW records at the National Archives (NARA).

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added a "-" to the A/C serial number in the "Summary biography" for clarity.

Date
ContributorLucy May
Changes
Sources

John B Kernochan did not die in the aircraft crash but later, after being badly treated as a Prisoner of War. His name remains on the Roll of Honour in the American Air Museum.

Obituary shared with the American Air Museum by Robert L MacFadden.

http://www.ww2pow.info/index.php?page=directory&rec=82190
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/58538828/john-benson-kernochan

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 1561 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database