Walker Melville Mahurin

Military
Walker Mahurin, of the 63rd Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group, in the cockpit of his P-47 Thunderbolt. media-401282.jpg FRE 2530 Walker Mahurin, of the 63rd Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group, in the cockpit of his P-47 Thunderbolt. Roger Freeman Collection

IWM, Roger Freeman Collection

Object Number - FRE 2530 - Walker Mahurin, of the 63rd Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group, in the cockpit of his P-47 Thunderbolt.

Walker Mahurin joined the 56th Fighter Group in July 1942 and arrived in the UK in January 1943. He was later promoted to Captain and Flight Leader of the 63rd Fighter Squadron. He claimed his first victories during the Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission, when he shot down two FW 190s, one flown by Luftwaffe Ace, Major Wilhelm Galland. By November 1943 Mahurin had become the first American "Double Ace. Mahurin would claim 20 kills in the European Theatre of Operations. His final kill in the ETO (shared with 3 other pilots) on 27 March 1944 was a Do-17, which he shot down over France, on a Bomber escort mission. On that same day, his P-47 #42-8487 sustained heavy battle damage from enemy fighters and Mahurin was forced to bail out. He described the experience: "The next thing I know, I'm in the French countryside at high noon with 35 of my fellow fighter pilots circling around me like a beehive... I ran like hell." After hiding in a haystack, Mahurin was picked up by the French Resistance and successfully evaded capture for five weeks. He was evacuated on 6 May 1944 from a field 1km NW of Outarville, near Pithiviers, France by an RAF 161 Squadron Lysander aircraft (pilot F/Lt Alexander) along with 2 French secret agents returning to Great Britain. Like other Allied airmen who had been downed in German-occupied countries, Mahurin did not fly any more missions, for fear that his knowledge of the French Resistance and Helpers could put these people in jeopardy in case he was shot down again. After returning to his Unit, he was sent back to the US. In October 1944, Mahurin was shipped to the Pacific Theatre of Operations to command the 3rd Fighter Squadron. He claimed two more kills flying Mustangs from the Philippines. He finished the war as Lieutenant-Colonel with a promotion to Commander of the 3rd Air Commando Group. Following the War Mahurin stayed with the US Air Force. During the Korean War he commanded the 1st Fighter Group, training in F-86s Sabre; he then served as assistant to his old 56th Fighter Group comrade, Colonel Francis S. Gabreski, with the 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing, before leading the 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing in combat. Flying F-86 Sabres, Mahurin claimed another kill, becoming the only American pilot to score victories in the European and Pacific Theatres and the Korean War.

Mahurin's F-86 Sabre was shot down on 13 May 1952 by North Korean ground fire while strafing a truck and he had to bail out. He was taken Prisoner of War in North Korea, enduring psychological torture, intense questioning and solitary confinement whilst imprisoned before making a false confession that he undertook germ warfare tactics. He was released on 31 August 1953 and later promoted to Colonel after working to develop courses on interrogation survival. Walker Mahurin retired from the US Air Force Reserve in December 1978. He had published the book "Honest John: The Autobiography of Walker M. Mahurin" in 1962.



Connections

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Units served with

People

Captain Walker "Bud" Mahurin of the 56th Fighter Group standing on the port wing of his P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft, conversing with its crew chief, Staff Sergeant John E. Barnes.The aircraft had been "bought" courtesy of war bonds purchased (to a value approximately equivalent to the cost of a fighter) by the citizens of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Consequently, the name painted on the aircraft was chosen by Atlantic City. Handwritten on slide:"Mahurin Halesworth/ on UN M"
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 56th Fighter Group 63rd Fighter Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Enlisted Man
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 507th Fighter Group 56th Fighter Group 463rd Fighter Squadron 63rd Fighter Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-2045114, T-223051
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Fighter Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 56th Fighter Group 62nd Fighter Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-432203
  • Highest Rank: Colonel
  • Role/Job: Fighter Pilot

Aircraft

Captain Walker "Bud" Mahurin on his P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft (serial number 42-8487), speaking to the Crew Chief (Staff Sergeant John E. Barnes) of his P-47 Thunderbolt. Handwritten on slide:"Mahurin Halesworth 39 R. Freeman"
  • Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
  • Nicknames: Spirit of Atlantic City N.J.
  • Unit: 56th Fighter Group 63rd Fighter Squadron

Missions

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Benton Harbor, MI, USA 5 December 1918

Enlisted

29 September 1941 Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana

Other

Bailed out

27 March 1944 of his P-47 #42-8487, near Chartres, France

Other

Evaded (EVD)

27 March 1944 - 7 May 1944 Evaded capture with the help of French citizens and members of the Résistance. Back in the UK on 7 May 1944. Escape & Evasion Report E&E 617 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5555257

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

13 May 1952 - 31 August 1953 His F-86 Sabre was shot down by North Korean ground fire while strafing a truck

Died

11 May 2010 Newport Beach, California, United States
Fort Wayne, Allen County, Michigan

Buried

Walker Mahurin rests at Arlington

Revisions

Date
ContributorED-BB
Changes
Sources

Associated media UPL 41814

Date
ContributorED-BB
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Sources

Added media : press clippings from his Escape & Evasion Report E&E 617 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5555257

Date
ContributorED-BB
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Sources

WWII Draft Card
NARA WWII Enlistment Records
MACR 3440
NARA - Captured German records - J-757 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/131494961 = «Fate of pilot unknown»
Escape & Evasion Report E&E 617 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5555257
http://www.plan-sussex-1944.net/francais/pdf/infiltrations_en_france.pdf

Date
Contributorfugari
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Sources

JCook Photo Collection & Archives

Date
Changes
Sources

Aircraft Connection :
http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/search.php?searchString=mahurin&Submit=S…

Birth and death details corrected :
Http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=mahurin&GSfn=walker&GSby…;

POW details added :
National Archives and Records Administration. U.S., Korean War Prisoners of War, 1950-1954 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

Original data: Korean War Data File of American Prisoners of War [Archival Database]; Records of American Prisoners of War During the Korean War, 1950-1953; Records of the Army Staff, Record Group 319; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.

Repatriated Korean Conflict Prisoners of War, 7/5/1950-10/6/1954 [Archival Database]; Records of Repatriated Korean War Prisoners of War, 1978-1980; Records of the Veterans Administration, Record Group 15; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.

Date
ContributorEmily
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Sources

Associated media from new Freeman Collection images & selected Key image

Date
ContributorEmily
Changes
Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 3440 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / www.56thfightergroup.co.uk/personnel.htm

Walker Melville Mahurin: Gallery (27 items)