Walter Earl Kelly
MilitaryA Norristown, PA tavern keeper's son, Walter Kelly graduated from Villanova University with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. He enlisted in the Air Corps in June 1941 and started training as a pilot. After receiving his wings, he flew on many training flights before learning to fly B-17s at McDill Air Force Base near Tampa, FL. Assigned to the 97th Bomber Group, he was sent to Europe in the Spring of 1942. He was pilot of "Heidi Ho" Serial 41-9017 on the 8th Air Force's first Heavy Bomber mission to Rouen, France on August 17, 1942. After a number of other operations, he was transferred to North Africa with the 97th in November 1942. Promoted to Captain in 1943 by General James Doolittle, he flew for a short time as the General's personal pilot. Walter totalled 52 missions against Germany and 38 against the Japanese after his transfer to the Pacific. He ended his military career as a Colonel in the USAF.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Heidi Ho
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group 482nd Bomb Group 92nd Bomb Group 94th Bomb Group 97th Bomb Group 327th Bomb Squadron 342nd Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 17 August 1942
- Official Description:
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Grafton Undermud
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Norristown, Pennsylvania, United States | 3 April 1919 | the son of Thomas Elwood Kelly and Mary (Maurer) Kelly |
Enlisted |
Fort Indiantown Gap, Annville, Indiana, United States | 30 June 1941 | as an Aviation Cadet in the Air Corps |
Died |
Melbourne, Florida, United States | 20 July 2014 | |
Norristown, Pennsylvania, United States | |||
Buried |
Revisions
Deleted connection with Image FRE 2250 as that September 1943 photo shows a Private Walter E. Kelly from Chicago, Illinois... and definitely NOT then Captain Walter E. Kelly from Norristown, PA...
NARA WWII Enlistment Records
Gerald Astor's "The Mighty Eighth"
US 1930 Census
Article at http://colonyclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/walter-kelly.pdf
97th Bomb Group Association, Inc., Roster - June 1, 2000; great-nephew / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia