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James H Baldwin

Military

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Assigned to 496FTG, 8AF USAAF. Transferred to 79FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF. ETD.

Awards: DFC (OLC), AM (3OLC), WWII Victory, EAME (1 Battle Star).

Service

Units served with

  • 20th Fighter Group

    20th Fighter Group

    Group
    In August 1943, the 20th Fighter Group arrived in Clyde, Scotland, before travelling to Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire, which was to be their base for the rest of the war. The Group flew 312 missions before their last mission on 25 April 1945. The...

  • 496th Fighter Training Group

    496th Fighter Training Group

    Group
    Activated as 496th Fighter Training Group on 11 December 1943 at Greencastle by VIII Composite Command. ...

  • 79th Fighter Squadron

    79th Fighter Squadron

    Squadron

Aircraft

  • 44-13876 'Baby Baby III' 'Bob Cat IV'

    P-51 Mustang
    Assigned to 79FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF. Personal aircraft of 1st Lt James H Baldwin. Re-assigned to Lt Robert J Meyer.

  • 43-28340 'Baby Baby'

    P-38 Lightning
    Assigned to 79FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF. Personal aircraft of 1st Lt James H Baldwin.

  • 44-13631

    P-51 Mustang
    Assigned to 79FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF.

Associated Place

  • Goxhill

    Military site : airfield
    Goxhill opened in June 1941 as an RAF Bomber Command airfield, before being handed over to RAF Fighter Command in December. The Eighth Air Force took ownership in August 1942, and used the airfield, which they quickly dubbed 'Goat Hill' for operational...

  • Kings Cliffe

    Military site : airfield
    Kings Cliffe began as a satellite air base for the Group based at nearby Wittering. The 56th Fighter Group, however, were all based at Kings Cliffe and it was here that the pilots trained in P-47 Thunderbolts and flew their first missions in the...

Events

Event Location Date
Born Butte County, CA, USA 20 March 1918
Enlisted San Francisco, CA, USA 10 July 1940

San Francisco, California
Lived in Los Angeles, CA, USA 1941
Based Goxhill 1944 – 26 February 1944

Assigned to 496FTG, 8AF USAAF.
Based Kings Cliffe 26 February 1944 – 15 August 1944

Transferred to 79FS, 20FG, 8AF USAAF.
Promotion King's Cliffe, Peterborough PE8, UK 23 April 1944

Promoted to 1st Lieutenant.
Crashed King's Cliffe, Peterborough PE8, UK 17 July 1944

Crashed Belly Landing King's Cliffe/Sta 367 Cat 5 damage Lt James H Baldwin, 17-Jul-44.

P-51D5 44-13631 - 79FS 20FG 8AF
End Tour of Duty (ETD) England, UK 15 August 1944
Died Merced, CA, USA 8 May 2009
Buried San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery Santa Nella Merced County CA 10 May 2009

San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery
Santa Nella
Merced County
California, USA
Nationality
American
Nickname
Not yet known
Service numbers
19000001 / O-748516
Highest rank
First Lieutenant
Role/job
Fighter Pilot
Awards
  • Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters
  • Distinguished Flying Cross with 1 oak leaf cluster
  • World War II Victory Medal
  • European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 1 bronze star

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
21 November 2021 17:02:41 Al_Skiff Changes to biography, awards and events
Sources

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/138685608
Date Contributor Update
07 December 2016 16:31:03 general ira snapsorter Changes to events
Sources

Merged with duplicate entry to include details from:
- the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia;
- King's Cliffe Memorial Edition
Date Contributor Update
01 September 2016 09:20:50 Al_Skiff Changes to service number, highest rank, role, biography, awards, events, unit associations and place associations
Sources

http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/search.php?searchString=Baldwin&Submit=Se...
https://www.fold3.com/page/84923603_james_h%20baldwin/details/
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbapi.asp?Pilot=Baldwin%2C+James+...
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Baldwin&GSfn=James...
Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:14:26 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list

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