Kirk Leonard W.

Monuments

B17-F 41-24608 'Yahoodi' Monument

Crash of the B17-F 41-24608 'Yahoodi' Info Sign

Name:

Leonard W. Kirk

Rank:

Second Lieutenant

Serial Number:

O-661496

Unit:

359th Bomber Squadron, 303th Bomb Group

Date of Death:

1943-01-03

State:

Texas

Cemetery:

Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Plot:

Tablets of the Missing

Row:

Grave:

Decoration:

Air Medal, Purple Heart

Comments:

Leonard W. Kirk was born in 1920 in McCulloch County, Texas. He was the son of Leonard Lawson Kirk and Nannie Lee Woodard Kirk.

Leonard W. served in the 359th Bomber Squadron, 303rd Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Second Lieutenant and Co-Pilot on the B-17F #41-24608 'Yahoodi' during World War II.

On January 3, 1943, his crew took off from RAF Molesworth in England on a mission to attack the St-Nazaire submarine base in France. At around 11:30 AM, they were shot down by flak and enemy fighters, and their plane crashed in the town of Batz-sur-Mer - 10 km south of Le Croisic. The incident resulted in the deaths of seven crew members. The rest were able to survive but were captured by the Germans. 2Lt Kirk was one of the casualties. His body was never recovered, but his name is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov, francecrashes39-45.net