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Paul E Davidson

Military

  • Three crew members standing below the nose of their famous B-24D Liberator, 41-11761, 'The

    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.

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  • Back Row L to R Gen Hoyt S Vanderberg P 1st Lt Royden L Lebrecht, Denison, TX C 1st Lt Clinton H Killian, Roosevelt, Utah N 1st Lt Grover A Zink, Qron, Kansas B 1st Lt Albert J Mickish, Perry, OK Lt Col Robert H Parham Radio T/Sgt JohnR Reilly, Utica, NY Front Row L to R E T/Sgt Harold F Weir, Lapeer, MI Rad Ast S/Sgt Paul E Davidson, Springfield, Mo Ast Eng S/Sgt John A Givens Jr, Louis, Mo Crew Chief M/Sgt Paul T Bashis, Cambridge, Mass Tail S/Sgt John Gunnu, Albany, NY Gunner S/Sgt Adney J Harmon, Sacco, Maine

    Back Row L to R Gen Hoyt S Vanderberg P 1st Lt Royden L Lebrecht, Denison, TX C 1st Lt Clinton H Killian, Roosevelt, Utah N 1st Lt Grover A Zink, Qron, Kansas B 1st Lt Albert J Mickish, Perry, OK Lt Col Robert H Parham Radio T/Sgt JohnR Reilly, Utica, NY Front Row L to R E T/Sgt Harold F Weir, Lapeer, MI Rad Ast S/Sgt Paul E Davidson, Springfield, Mo Ast Eng S/Sgt John A Givens Jr, Louis, Mo Crew Chief M/Sgt Paul T Bashis, Cambridge, Mass Tail S/Sgt John Gunnu, Albany, NY Gunner S/Sgt Adney J Harmon, Sacco, Maine

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  • The crew standing and sitting on top of their famous B-24D Liberator, 41-11761, 'The

    The crew standing and sitting on top of their famous B-24D Liberator, 41-11761, 'The "Squaw",' that successfully flew on 71 combat missions without a casualty. 1944

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  • S/Sgt Paul E. Davidson :- DFC award card. 98BG.

    S/Sgt Paul E. Davidson :- DFC award card. 98BG.

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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

Service

Units served with

  • 98th Bomb Group

    98th Bomb Group

    Group
    The 98th trained for bombardment missions with B-24 Liberators during the first half of 1942. ...

  • 343rd Bomb Squadron

    343rd Bomb Squadron

    Squadron
    Established as a B-24 Liberator heavy bomb squadron and trained by Third Air Force. Deployed to Egypt in June 1942 over South Atlantic Transport Route transiting from Morrison Field, Florida though the Caribbean to Brazil; performed trans-Atlantic...

Aircraft

  • 41-11761 - The Squaw - Sleepy

    B-24 Liberator
    The B-24D Liberator bomber, 41-11761, was first named, Sleepy, by the men in the 8th Air Force and the 93rd Bomb Group in the U.K. It was, later, renamed, The Squaw, by it's Command Pilot, Lt. Royden LeBrecht, after being transferred to the 9th Air...

Missions

  • Operation Tidal Wave

    1 August 1943
    Operation TIDAL WAVE. B-24D Liberators attack the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. The bombers flew low to avoid radar detection and dropped time delayed bombs. Out of the 177 B-24s that took part in the raid 167 managed to attack their targets. 57...

Associated Place

  • Lete

    Military site : airfield

Events

Event Location Date
Born 26 October 1921
Lived in Springfield, MO, USA 1942

Springfield, Missouri, USA
Assigned Benghazi, Libya 1943

343 BS, 98 BG, 9 AF.
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.
War Bond Tour Fort Worth, TX, USA 1944

Returned to Fort Worth, TX, USA for war bonds tour with A/C.
Died Albany, NY 30 May 1972
Buried Hopedale Cemetery Ozark, Christian County, MO June 1972

Hopedale Cemetery
Ozark,
Christian County, Missouri
Nationality
American
Nickname
Not yet known
Service numbers
17074993
Highest rank
Staff Sergeant
Role/job
B-24 Gunner
Awards
  • Air Medal
  • 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 March 2022 19:29:17 Kickapoo Changes to biography
Sources

Added details. - Kickapoo
Date Contributor Update
21 March 2022 19:27:40 Kickapoo Changes to role, biography and place associations
Sources

Added details. - Kickapoo
Date Contributor Update
12 March 2022 22:01:22 Al_Skiff Changes to service number, biography, awards, events and unit associations
Sources

http://texashistory.unt.edu / USAAF Photo
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/133362957
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6595306/paul-e-davidson
Date Contributor Update
12 March 2022 17:28:27 jmoore43 Changes to biography
Sources

Added a "-" to the A/C tail # in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.
Date Contributor Update
31 March 2015 20:04:13 Al_Skiff Created entry with surname, middlename, firstname, nationality, highest rank, role, biography, events, unit associations, aircraft associations, mission associations and media associations
Sources

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

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