Paul E Davidson

Military
media-14414.jpeg UPL 14414 Three crew members standing below the nose of their famous B-24D Liberator, 41-11761, 'The "Squaw"'. Above the men are the awards presented to the Army Air Force men who successfully flew 71 missions without a casualty.
L-R : Staff Sgt Paul E. Davidson - Lt. Clinton H. Killian - and Staff Sgt. Adney J. Harmon.

Added details, spelling, word spacing, punctuation changes. - Kickapoo

Object Number - UPL 14414 - Three crew members standing below the nose of their famous B-24D Liberator, 41-11761, 'The "Squaw"'. Above the men are the awards presented to the...

Staff Sgt. Paul Davidson was a crew member and a gunner on the B-24D, 41-11761, The Squaw, and flew on Operation Tidal Wave to Ploesti. 1 Aug 43. His pilot and plane diverted to Cypress, and returned to base at Benghazi, Libya. 3 Aug 43. later, he returned to Fort Worth, Texas, USA, with Lt. Royden LeBrecht and his crew for a war bond tour . 1944



Awards : Distinguished Flying Cross with an Oak Leaf Cluster - Air Medal - WWII Victory Medal - EAME Campaign Medal with 1 Battle Star

Connections

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Units served with

Three airmen of the 389th Bomb Group stand with a B-24 Liberator used as a Flight Assembly Ship. Image via Tim Bivens. Handwritten caption from Bivens: 'My friend remembers it being named "Bucksheesh Benny" that it was used to fly Jack Benny around USA shows. Says it flew in North Africa with Benny and was eventually assigned to 389th as a hack and later as a form-up ship. He thinks it was originally with another group (possibly 376th or 98th).' Handwritten caption on reverse: '389th BG Form-up ship.'

98th Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Ninth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

41-11761

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: - Sleepy - The Squaw
  • Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 98th Bomb Group 343rd Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

26 October 1921

Other

Survived Ploesti

Ploiești, Romania 1 August 1943 Crew member B-24 41-11761 'Little Squaw' flew on the 1st Aug 43 Ploesti raid, diverted to Cypress.

Died

Albany, NY 30 May 1972

Other

War Bond Tour

Fort Worth, TX, USA Returned to Fort Worth, TX, USA for war bonds tour with A/C.

Other

Assigned

Benghazi, Libya 343 BS, 98 BG, 9 AF.
Springfield, MO, USA Springfield, Missouri, USA

Buried

Hopedale Cemetery Ozark, Christian County, MO Hopedale Cemetery Ozark, Christian County, Missouri

Revisions

Date
ContributorKickapoo
Changes
Sources

Added details. - Kickapoo

Date
ContributorKickapoo
Changes
Sources

Added details. - Kickapoo

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Sources

http://texashistory.unt.edu / USAAF Photo
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/133362957
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6595306/paul-e-davidson

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added a "-" to the A/C tail # in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Sources

http://texashistory.unt.edu / USAAF Photo

Paul E Davidson: Gallery (3 items)

Object number: UPL 14408 - Back Row L to R Gen Hoyt S Vanderberg P 1st Lt...

Object number: UPL 14412 - The crew standing and sitting on top of their...

Object number: UPL 14414 - Three crew members standing below the nose of...