Warren Francis Donovan
Military
Object Number - UPL 15095 - Jack K. Larsen Crew 384th BG - 544th BS Back L-R: Lt. John Fallon (N), Lt. Jack K. Larsen (P), Lt Warren Donovan (CP), Lt. Edward Murray...
B-17F #42-29717 'Mr. Five By Five' was last seen with one engine feathered and heading towards Switzerland on a mission to Stuttgart, GR on 25 Feb 1944. Prisoner of War (POW).
POW
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 544th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-802583
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Little Audrey
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers 384th Bomb Group Base Air Depot 1 368th Bomb Squadron 369th Bomb Squadron 544th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Mr. Five by Five
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 544th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Patches I The Spotted Cow
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 547th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Little Barney
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 544th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 25 February 1944
- Date: 24 February 1944
- Date: 22 February 1944
- Date: 21 February 1944
- Date: 20 February 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Grafton Undermud
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Westport, MA | 7 June 1915 | |
|
Enlisted |
Boston, MA | 10 March 1941 | |
|
Other POW |
Barth, Germany | 1 March 1944 | Stalag Luft I |
|
Died |
Acton, MA | 11 October 2004 | Warren F. Donovan of Acton, executive vice president and chief executive officer of H.P. Hood and Sons, died April 11 at Emerson Hospital of pancreatic cancer. He was 88. Mr. Donovan was born in Westport, where he milked cows on his family's farm while attending the town high school. After graduating from Westport High School, he worked for H.P. Hood as a truck driver, earning $22.50 a week. About a year later, in 1937, he was promoted to superintendent of the company's New Bedford County department. His responsibilities included monitoring milk quality, inspecting farms, weighing and sampling milk, and collecting milk from farms. In 1941 he enlisted in the Army Air Forces and became a bomber pilot, flying B-17s in Europe. On Feb. 24, 1944, the plane Mr. Donovan was flying experienced engine failure, forcing him and his crew to parachute into enemy territory, according to family members. Mr. Donovan was shot in the head while trying to rescue a member of his crew and captured by the Germans. He was a prisoner of war for 16 months at Stalag Luft 1 near the Baltic Sear in Barth, Germany. He was liberated by the Russian Army in 1945. Mr. Donovan attained the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was awarded the Purple Heart, the Prisoner of War Medal, and the Air Medal and Cluster. He was a founding member of the American Air Museum in Britain, a museum established as a memorial to the 30,000 Americans who died aboard combat aircraft flying from the United Kingdom in World War II. After the war, Mr. Donovan returned to H.P. Hood and worked at the Connecticut and Florida plants before becoming executive vice president and chief operating officer at the Acton plant. Mr. Donovan retired from H.P. Hood in 1983. He then worked for American Express Travel, delivering tickets to various businesses and private homes. Mr. Donovan also worked with the National Library of Congress in Washington on creating an oral history of World War II. The history included videotaped interviews of veterans. Also, he frequently lectured at Bentley College in Waltham about his war experiences. |
|
Buried |
23 June 2005 | Arlington National Cemetery Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA Section: 68 Grave: 1829 | |
|
Other Shot Down/Captured |
Bruschal, Germany | 25 February 1944 | Failed to Return Comments: 41C Group, High Squadron, Lead Group. Feathered #2 engine at 1325 hrs but continued on towards target; at 1420, three minutes before target was reached, jettisoned bombs and peeled off from formation, perhaps heading for Switzerland; crash-landed near Bruchsal, Germany. MACR 2774 |
Revisions
https://384thbombgroup.com/_content/_pages/person.php?PersonKey=988
https://natickveterans.com/2017/08/03/warren-donovan/
https://384thbombgroup.com/_content/_pages/SortieReport.php?SortieKey=1…
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/45580276/warren-francis-donovan
https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/#/arlington-national/search/resu…
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 2774 / MACR 2774, Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces, http://384thbombgroup.com/_content/_pages/PersonnelSearch.php?LastName=… / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
