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Military
"A crew of the 379th Bomb Group poses beside a Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" 'Judy B' at an 8th Air Force base in England, 16 July 1943." Crew list for 17-Jul-43: Lt Willis C Carlisle, Lt Charles R Bigler, Lt John W Bradley, Lt Joseph G Glaser Jr, T/Sgt Benjamin B Johnson, T/Sgt Albert P Tyler, Cpl Charles J Kukawski, Sgt James A Dyson, Sgt Vernon F Bennett, Sgt John A Stachura. Pictured L-R: Rear: 2Lt Lt Charles R Bigler, 1Lt Willis C Carlisle, Lt Joseph G Glaser Jr, Lt John W Bradley. Front: Cpl Charles J Kukawski, T/Sgt Benjamin B Johnson, T/Sgt Albert P Tyler, Sgt John A Stachura.
"A crew of the 379th Bomb Group poses for the photographer at an 8th Air Force base in England, 26 July 1943." Rear L-R: Lt John W Bradley, Lt Joseph G Glaser Jr, Lt Charles R Bigler, T/Sgt Albert P Tyler. Front L-R: ??, S/Sgt John A Stachura, ??, Sgt Charles J Kukawski, T/Sgt Benjamin B Johnson.
Assigned to 524BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. 13 x combat missions. Failed to Return (FTR) Le Bourget in B-17 42-29866; Shot down by flak 16-Aug-43. After he was shot down, lived with about 90 different families before he was captured. Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 1352.
Awards: AM (2 OLC), PH, POW, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 379th Bomb Group
Assigned to 524BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. 14 x combat missions. Co-pilot of B-17 42-29866 'Judy B' on Hamburg mission, when pilot Lt Willis C Carlisle was killed at controls. A/C fought off fighters whilst in uncontrolled plunge from 16,000ft to 3,500ft 25...
Group
The 379th Bomb Group (H) (heavy), based at Kimbolton, flew more sorties than any other Bomb Group in the Eighth Air Force and dropped a greater bomb tonnage than any other Group. The B-17 Flying Fortress Group was awarded two Distinguished Unit...
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 23/2/43; Sioux City 20/3/43; Kearney 8/4/43; Dow Fd 15/4/43; Assigned 525BS/379BG [FR-A] Kimbolton; then 524BS [WA-T]; Missing in Action Schweinfurt 17/8/43 with Erwalt Wagner, Co-pilot: Bill Barnard, Navigator: Joe Hilderbrand,...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 27/2/43; Sioux City 16/3/43; Kearney 8/4/43; Dow Fd 15/4/43; Assigned 524BS/379BG [WA-L] Kimbolton 21/4/43; Missing in Action Le Bourget 16/8/43 with Chas Biglar, Bombardier: John Boyle, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Albt Tyler,...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 4/3/43; Sioux City 19/3/43; Kearney 8/4/43; Bangor 13/4/43; Assigned 524BS/379BG [WA-K/I] Kimbolton 22/4/43; Missing in Action Bochum 12/8/43 with Ralph Osborne, Radio Operator: Mildred Fambrough, Ball turret gunner: Larry Truman,...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 20/4/43; Tinker 28/4/43; New Castle 29/4/43; Assigned 525BS/379BG [FR-X] Kimbolton 23/6/43; Missing in Action Schweinfurt 17/8/43 with Howie Koeppen, Waist gunner: Jack Posemsky (2 Killed in Action), Co-pilot: Harry Thomkpson,...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 18/1/43; Assigned 527BS/379BG [FO-R] Presque Is 29/4/43; Kimbolton 26/6/43; Missing in Action Anklam 14/10/43 with Matt Zack (524BS crew), Co-pilot: Fritz Minder, Navigator: George Lemen, Bombardier: John Vournakis, Flight engineer/top...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 10/3/43; Dow Fd 15/4/43; Assigned 95BG 22/4/43; 3m, transferred 524BS/379BG [WA-T] Kimbolton 22/6/43; Missing in Action Hamburg 25/7/43 with Frank Hildebradt, Co-pilot: Don Rogers, Navigator: Leon Baxter, Bombardier: Albt Johnson,...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 13/4/43; Bangor 31/5/43; Assigned 527BS/379BG [FO-T] Kimbolton 11/6/43; Missing in Action Bremen 8/10/43 with Bill Hickey, Co-pilot: Bill Isengard, Navigator: Pasquale Natale, Bombardier: Jim Cudworth, Flight engineer/top turret...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 7/5/43; Dow Fd 30/5/43; Assigned 524BS/379BG [WA-Y] Kimbolton 1/6/43; Missing in Action Brunswick 30/1/44 with Ken Davis, Co-pilot: Chas Fowler, Navigator: Paul Clark, Bombardier: Stan Dolgin, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Alex...
16 August 1943
This mission consists of two elements of B-17s despatched to bomb the German airfields of Le Bourget (Paris), Poix and Abbeville, France. The first element is a combined force of 180 B-17s from: 91BG (21); 92BG (17); 303BG (20); 305BG (20); 306BG (20);...
Military site : airfield
Planned for RAF use, Kimbolton airfield was built by W and C French Ltd. in 1941. The airfield was increased in size to accommodate a full US heavy Bomb Group, and the first such unit to us it was the 91st Bomb Group, who arrived in September 1942....
Other location
Other location
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA | 2 October 1922 |
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Son of Evelyn Jane Kukawski. |
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| Enlisted | Kalamazoo, MI | 4 July 1942 |
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Kalamazoo, Michigan. |
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| Based | Kimbolton | 1943 – 16 August 1943 |
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Assigned to 524BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. |
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| Baled out EVD / POW | Le Bourget, FR | 16 August 1943 |
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Failed to Return (FTR) Le Bourget in B-17 42-29866; Shot down by flak 16-Aug-43. After he was shot down, lived with about 90 different families before he was captured. POW MACR 1352 |
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| Prisoner of War (POW) | Tychowo, Poland | 16 August 1943 – May 1945 |
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Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag Luft IV. |
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| Discharged USAAF | 26 September 1945 | |
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Honourable discharge. |
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| Enlisted | 24 September 1947 | |
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Enlisted USAF. |
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| Discharged USAF | 1 July 1949 | |
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Honourable discharge. |
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| Died | Grand Rapids, MI | 1 November 2000 |
| Buried | Holy Cross Cemetery, Grand Rapid, MI | 5 November 2000 |
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Holy Cross Cemetery, |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 11 May 2021 07:51:28 | Al_Skiff | Changes to biography and events |
| Sources | ||
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/131904918/charles-kukawski |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 10 May 2021 21:53:18 | jmoore43 | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
Added punctuation in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 04 August 2019 17:28:56 | Al_Skiff | Changes to middlename, biography, awards, events, unit associations, place associations, aircraft associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/image/28693474 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 16 July 2019 20:27:30 | Al_Skiff | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
Key Image ID. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:05:45 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 1352 / MACR 1352/wife / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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