I am looking for information about a B-17 called the Living Doll. I am also looking for information regarding her pilot, Kenneth D. McMahon In the States he noted he had a buddy called Jim McIntyre or Jim Mc Intere (I am not sure of the spelling). The time frame should be around March 1942 to May 1945. I do know that Kenneth started out with training in New York, Maryland, Miami Beach, and Texas. He was finally stationed in England as a pilot of B-17s. His crew called the plane Living Doll and it had nose art on it painted by one of the gunners. From a very old set of notes he wrote for my mom (which he wrote before he passed on) I can make out the following... "...I then found out I was to be transferred to the 8th Air Force, 562nd Bomb Group, 332 Squadron in England...." I am from his 2nd family and sadly, ALL his military awards, pictures and so forth have disappeared with his first family. I just would like to have a nice picture of him and/or his plane, and any other information that I might be able to recieve. Or get to know anyone who knew him? My mom, Vivian, is ill and frankly has had some memoriy issues, and I just can't get anything further from her. Thank you for your time and efforts with this. I have tried many other places and have come up with nothing =( Many blessings to all!!
Greeting from Scotland and welcome to WW2Talk. Go to familysearch.org and sign up for a free account. They have quite a good archive and you will likely find his service number and place of enlistment in there somewhere. Sorry to hear about your Mom and Kenneth's obstinate 1st family. Surely they could at least scan some of the information for you. No matter though, we'll get you on the right track. Can you get back and post his year/place of birth and knowing what that middle initial stands for might also help. Cheers - Maria P.S. With a name like McMahon you surely have roots in Scotland? Just had a quick look and can't find any Kenneth D's. There are 2 records with just Kenneth but only one of them is for the air force. Could this be him? Found this reference to a B-17 news reel on Ancestry. Look at Part 4. I could play the reel but it only covered Part 1 lasting a couple of minutes. They whole reel looks to be 10 mins long.
Greetings - I am sorry about the delayed in my response, I had an emergency out of town that required my full attention. My 'dad' is a man who is dear to us kids because after our 'father' left Kenneth took over and was the best he could be. He was the true meaning to the word "daddy" - and I/we thank the heavens every day for his presents in our lives. Before we (my mom and her 2 kids) 'came' along, Kenneth had given all his service information (including metals and documentations) to his first born son (whom we have never met) and who has since disappeared...we have not had any contact with that side of the family since 1979. =( Moving on: - his full name: Kenneth Dunning McMahon. He was born July 19, 1913 in New York, New York. He enlisted in the military in March of 1942. He spent time in the US on the East Coast - going to Ordance School and became a bomb explosive expert. I also know he was there on Hog Island overseeing the El Estaro in April 1943. After time at Hog Island, he finished bomber training and then was sent to England. The only items we actaully have is a hand writen document (about 13 pages) that he wrote when he was about 80's year old (while he was recovering from cancer treatments) regarding his time in the service; also my brother found an old uniform with 'wings' in a trunk in the attic (we believe belonged to Kenneth), but all metals and all else has gone missing. =( I will check out the site you have mentioned. Thank you so much for getting back to me, I truly appreciate it!! Many blessings!
Hi there revhwhite, Checking-out the 8th Air Force Bomb Groups and Squadrons there is no 562nd Bomb Group. The 332nd Squadron was part of the 94th Bomb Group, these were based at Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
Thank you for that information. I all have to go on is a hand-written document that Kenneth wrote in 1997 (well after the fact) and he was between cancer treatments. I will look into this new information. Thank you for your time!!
Hi revhwhite. might find a contact here, plenty of pics. http://www.orgsites.com/ca/caf-socal/FlightLineJuly2011.pdf 94th Bomb Group at Bury St. Edmunds by Dave Flood Bury St. Edmunds (also known as Rougham, pronounced ruffum) Airfield, England was the base for the 94th Bomb Group, 3rd Air Division, 8th Air Force in WWII. The 94th flew Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses out of Bury St. Edmunds on raids deep into Nazi Germany. Two of our members were flyers with the 94th at Bury St Edmunds, but at different times. They shared first names with a brother duo who had made aviation history many years before. Orville “Bill” Main and Wilbur Richardson are both members of our wing. Bill Main flew 35 missions in B- 17s during his stint at BSE in late 1944 to mid-1945. Wilbur was at BSE before Bill arrived at the airfield. Wilbur is now the Crew Chief on the Planes of Fame B-17 “Piccadily Lily,” stationed at Chino, CA. Bill is an archivist in our WWII Aviation Museum Library. For about a year, Bill and Wilbur were part of the crew of the CAF’s B-17 “Sentimental Journey,” now based at the CAF’s Arizona Wing. Bill is also part of the group who purchased SNJ-5 #290 and then donated it to the CAF. It is still flying, and is our Wing’s most active aircraft. The 94th Bomb Group arrived at Bury St. Edmunds on 13 June, 1944, after a disastrous raid on Kiehl that left the group with heavy losses. With the arrival of the 94th, the field was extended to 50 hardstands and dispersal areas, three of which were diamond-shaped to give capacity for 50 aircraft. The main runway was east to west and was 2,000 yards long and 50 yards wide. A second runway was 1,400 yards from north to south, and the third was also 1,400 yards north to southeast. The control tower is still standing, and being restored by the Rougham Tower Association. While at BSE, the 94th carried out 325 missions; were credited with 8,824 sorties; and dropped 18,925 tons of bombs. This was at a cost of 153 aircraft missing, with 27 lost because of operational accidents. With a crew of 10 per aircraft, the human lives lost were approximately 1,800 persons killed, missing, injured or captured. The 94th Bomb Group departed BSE/Rougham Airfield in December,1945 Another good site for info on Rougham past and present. http://www.airfieldinformationexchange.org/community/showthread.php?3057-Bury-St-Edmunds-Rougham
Thank you for the lovely response. I enjoyed the newsletter and all the additional information. Many blessings!
Tried searching on the pilots name and the aircraft and only found the following. http://www.485thbg.org/485th_829_photos_pg1.htm A Kenneth McMahon was pilot of a replacement crew in 829th Bomb Squadron, 15th Air Force, Italy. His crew were: Howard McClure, copilot; Barton Brown, navigator; Linthicum (unknown first name), bombardier; Bernard Alzua, flight engineer; Bruce Taylor, radio operator; Pompeo Converso, gunner; Clifford Hanson, ball gunner; Stanley Sodowski, gunner, and Roscoe Tarter, gunner. This crew arrived in Venosa in November 1944 and was still in Venosa when the war ended.
The Stars and Stripes at the top of the Control Tower stairs is the original flag from this base. The Plaque dedicated to Wilbur Richardson along with many others.
