Charles Kenneth Kirby Jr
MilitaryShot down 6 March 1943 in B-17F 4#2-5378, 306BG/367BS while serving as Engineer/Top Turret Gunner. The aircraft had developed an oil leak in no. 3 engine over the Channel, but oil pressure stayed steady so the pilots continued their mission toward the submarine pens at Lorient, France. According to Strong, fighters attacked as this plane was was dropping back due to the earlier oil leak and the fact this Group was in the low Squadron. When engine 4 quit, bailout was ordered. Prisoner of War (POW) in Stalag 17A, Austria.
After service he graduated from Syracuse U. and was in the transportation business, retiring as Vice President of Freight Rate Service.
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: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-726184
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 19075295 at enlistment, then O-664296
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 36219920 at enlistment, then O-726143
- Highest Rank: Major
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 13050532
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 11056150
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 367th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 6 March 1943
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Bedford
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Pittston, Pennsylvania | 15 August 1918 | |
Enlisted |
Mount Moriah Cemetery | 17 September 1941 | Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania |
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
2462 Kaisersteinbruch, Austria | 6 March 1943 | Interned at Stalag XVIIB Braunau-Gneikendorf, near Krems, Austria. NARA WWII POW record : “Returned to Military Control 30 June 1945.” |
Died |
19 March 2002 | ||
West Pittston, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania |
Revisions
NARA WWII Enlistment records
WWII Draft card
NARA WWII POW records
Pages 40 and 41 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/142694377 (NARA)
Page 31 of AV 51/43 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/18238537 (NARA)
SSDI (Social Security Death Index)
Lee Cunningham 30-Jul-2015. Made connections to Place, Aircraft and Mission within existing website data; Added decoration and POW event per National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database; Edited Summary Biography with A/C model letter and Unit association and crew position per "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces", Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE.
306th BG Association Directory, 1 September 1999 Edition; Roll of Honor, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol. I by Bishop & Hey p. 89, First Over Germany by Russell Strong pp. 73-4 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia