Harold Spire
Military
Harold Spire in a photograph with the Milton Stenstrom crew on 21 October 1942. (Photo courtesy of Rick Flack)
Object Number - UPL 30689 - Lt Harold Spire in a photograph with the Milton Stenstrom crew on 21 October 1942. (Photo courtesy of Rick Flack)
Note : In both the 1930 and 1940 Censuses, Harold and his parents are listed as Spires. All later documents, including his Enlistment records, his Escape & Evasion Report have him as Harold Spire...
Shot down 21 October 1942 in B-17 #41-24443 while serving as Navigator. Taken prisoner but escaped (twice) and finally made it to safety in Switzerland on 7 May 1945. Painter Peter HURD had made a portrait of him, which appeared in the February 15, 1943 issue of LIFE Magazine.
(See http://ramosmiller.blogspot.com/2007_01_21_archive.html under "Hurd's Navigator"). The LIFE text errs in saying that “Spire and the engineer took over the controls” and that “the seriously wounded pilot gave them directions in operating the plane back to safety in England". It was in fact the Bombardier, Lt Ewart T. Sconiers, who took over the controls after helping the dead co-pilot out of his seat on board “Johnny Reb” #41-9089 on that 21 August 1942 mission to Rotterdam...
Connections
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Units served with
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 97th Bomb Group 414th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 16061443
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 97th Bomb Group 414th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-724720
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 97th Bomb Group 414th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 14055182
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 97th Bomb Group 414th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 15048241 and O-431059
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 97th Bomb Group 414th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 16009044 at enlistment, then O-431060
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
Missions
Places
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
New York State, United States | 30 August 1916 | the son of Harmon Richard Spires and Nellie Spires |
|
Enlisted |
March Field, Riverside, California, United States | 9 October 1941 | |
|
Other Captured |
Quimper, France | 21 October 1942 | after the ditching of B-17F 41-24443 off the coast of Brittany, France and being rescued by a French fishing boat which brought him and 8 other crew members to shore |
|
Other Prisoner of War (POW) and Evaded (EVD) |
Sagan, Poland | 21 October 1942 - 7 May 1945 | held at Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia (now Poland) and managed to escape. Was recaptured and sent to Stalag 17A Kaisersteinbruch. Escaped again and made it to the American Legation in Berne, Switzerland on 7 May 1945. The record of his escape is recorded on Escape & Evasion Report #2846 and may be viewed at:http://media.nara.gov/nw/305270/EE-2846.pdf |
|
Died |
Encino, Los Angeles County, California, United States | 27 March 1978 | |
| Dannemora, Clinton County, New York | Had lived (in 1930) with his parents and brothers Kenneth, Wallington and Edward, and sisters Bernice, Marion and Ivanell in Wilton, Saratoga County, NY |
Revisions
Added a "#" to the A/C serial numbers in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.
NARA WWII Enlistment Records
NARA WWII POW Records
US Censuses for 1930 and 1940
Lee Cunningham 12-Nov-2014. POW information: National Archives Records Administration (NARA) Escape & Evasion Report #2846 http://media.nara.gov/nw/305270/EE-2846.pdf
Lee Cunningham 28-Oct-2014. "losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE; National Archives Records Administration (NARA) Escape & Evasion record. http://media.nara.gov/nw/305270/EE-2846.pdf.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Roll of Honor, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol 1, pp 38-39 by Bishop and Hey