Ross S Houston

Military
media-13468.jpeg UPL 13468 The Delirious Dolores (44-40200) shortly after arrival at Metfield, June 1944. The aircraft was named after pilot James C. McKeown's wife Delores.
McKeown Crew: rear, L to R, (G) George McGee, (N) Ross Houston, (CP) Robert McIntyre, (P) James McKeown, (B) George Patton, (E) Francis Hawkins, front, L to R (RO) Joseph Rimassa, (G) Marshal Williams, (G) Frederick Borger, (G) John Murray.
McKeown was severely wounded on 14 June 1944 over St. Cyr.
The Delirious Dolores crashed with a replacement crew after returning from Saarbruken on 13 July 1944. (P) Max R. Shea, (CP) Charles A. Meadow, (N) Harold F. Simon, (TG) Percival M. Lewis, (RG) Solon W. Elliot Jr. were KIA and the aircraft was destroyed.
Most of McKeown's crew continued to fly on the Moose (44-40205) piloted by Warren C. Moore which, along with the rest of the 853rd Bomb Squadron, was shot down over Misburg on 26 November 1944. Borger, Hawkins, Murray, Patten, and Williams were KIA. Houston, McGee, McIntyre, and Rimissa spent the rest of the war as POWs.

C. Timothy McKeown

Object Number - UPL 13468 - The Delirious Dolores (44-40200) shortly after arrival at Metfield, June 1944. The aircraft was named after pilot James C. McKeown's wife...

Flew 26 missions, lead crew. Shot down over Misberg Ger. . Prisoner of War (POW) Stalag Luft I , 6 mos. Plane was 'The Moose' #4440205 on 11/26/44

Ross' parents were notified of his survival by HAM radio operators in the States who monitored German broadcasts. They were he said at least spared the shock of the MIA telegram. He considered himself lucky to be alive - after enduring only six months imprisonment - when he learned of what happened to prisoners of the Japanese.

Prisoner of War AM 2clstrs, ETO 3 stars, Presidential Citation, Purple Heart

Connections

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Units served with

A Pathfinder B-24 Liberator (V2-P+, serial number 42-51691) of the 491st Bomb Group. Handwritten caption on reverse: '491 BG supplying troops at Arnhem, Sept 1944.'
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Delirious Dolores
  • Unit: 491st Bomb Group 853rd Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: The Moose
  • Unit: 491st Bomb Group 853rd Bomb Squadron

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

2924 Sidney St, St. Louis, MO 63104, USA

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

Germany 26 November 1944

Enlisted

Revisions

Date
ContributorHelen
Changes
Sources

Ringmasters Summer 1996

Date
ContributorFlyingFort
Changes
Sources

Obituary and his personal Stalag I book

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 10765 / Mighty Eighth Air Force Heritage Museum Membership List, July 2000/Self MACR 10765 & Page 300 in the book THE SECOND AIR DIVISION by Turner Publishing Company, 1998 edition, D790.A2S45 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

Ross S Houston: Gallery (2 items)