Hardwick SkiesStation 104 · 93rd Bomb GroupAdd to the Record
Crew Roster · Personal File
← Airmen Index
Paul Kirken
Serial No. 13040527

Paul Kirken

Tail Gunner

S/Sgt. Paul Kirken (no middle initial) served as tail gunner on B-24D 41-23732, 409th Bomb Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group, on the 16 April 1943 mission to Brest.

Initially reported Missing in Action on 16 April 1943; a Change in Status notification from 2nd Bombardment Division, dated 23 February 1944, officially changed his status to Killed in Action. The lack of an original MACR filing prompted Headquarters AAF Washington to write to Eighth Air Force in October 1944, which led the 93rd Bomb Group to compile and submit this report.

Killed in Action

Sortie Log

1 CATALOGUED SORTIE
16 APR 1943

The sorties below are those we have been able to document for this airman, drawn from flight logs, mission records, and archival sources. It is not necessarily a complete account of every mission flown; gaps may reflect missing documentation, transferred assignments, or records lost to time.

8AF Mission
Date
Target
Aircraft
№ 51
16 APR 1943
Brest
B-24D serial 41-23732, assigned to the 409th Bomb Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group, departed Hardwick on 16 April 1943 on a bombing mission to Brest, France. The aircraft was last sighted at approximately 1328 near Isle D'Ouessant (Ushant), off the coast of Brittany, where it was seen to crash into the sea after coming under attack from enemy aircraft. Three men were seen to parachute from the aircraft before it went down. Those three crew members were subsequently declared Prisoners of War and later returned to duty. No eyewitnesses to the attack remained in the group at the time the MACR was compiled on 26 October 1944, more than a year after the loss. The MACR was prepared at the request of Headquarters, Army Air Forces, Washington, D.C.
Liberty Lass41-23732