| JOHN B. KIDD Original 351st Sqdn. Commander -- later the Group Operations Officer
John B. "Jack" Kidd, at the time a Major. commanded Crew #A-4 on the
100th's overseas deployment. Jack Kidd is a larger than life figure in the
history of the 100th. He was the group leader on two of the three most
memorable missions the group flew; the Regensburg -- North Africa shuttle
on 17 August 1943 and 8 Oct 1943 Bremen -- which resulted in a crash
landing at Ludham, England and the famous 'tree' photos. (Kidd was the
13th Combat Wing Leader for the Bremen mission) The mission on August 17,
'43, known as 'The Regensburg Shuttle' is considered my many historians to
have been the single most, important mission flown by the 8th Air Force in
WW II. There were few airbattles in WW II approaching the intensity of
Regensburg. The bombing results were considered classic dispite the
furious resistant of the Luftwaffe.He remained in the USAF and attained the rank of Major General. There were
only five from the 100th to attain General grade rank and only Kidd,
Thomas Jeffrey, and William W. Veal (Original 349th Sqdn. Commander) rose
to Major General. General Kidd (Jack to his 100th comrades) enjoys
universal respect from all members of the 100th.
|
| CREW #A-4 |
|
|
| MAJ JOHN B. KIDD |
PILOT |
CPT |
| CAPT OLLEN TURNER |
PILOT |
CPT |
| 1ST LT ROBERT K. PEEL |
BOMBARDIER |
POW 15 MAR 44 BRUNSWICK |
| M/SGT ROBERT E.
SPANGLER |
LINE CHIEF |
|
| M/SGT ROBERT A. BOYLE |
RADIO |
|
| M/SGT EMMET D. SWANK |
ARMAMENT |
|
| SGT JACK Y. HAMLIN |
S-4 CLERK |
|
| 1ST LT EDWARD B.
COSGRIFF |
STATISTICAL OFFICER |
|
| M/SGT CLAYTON
KIRKPATRICK |
GROUP S-2 |
|
| ATC NAVIGATOR |
|
|
|
JOHN B. "JACK" KIDD MISSION LIST
| Nbr |
Date |
Target |
Position |
Aircraft/Notes |
| 01 |
7/10/1943 |
LeBOURGET |
COM |
23307 |
| 02 |
7/28/1943 |
OSCHERSLEBEN |
COM |
230259 |
| 03 |
8/17/1943 |
REGENSBURG |
COM |
23393 |
| 04 |
10/8/1943 |
BREMEN |
COM |
23393 |
| 05 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| 06 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| 07 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| 08 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| 09 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| 10 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| 11 |
4/12/1944 |
SCHEUDITZ |
COM |
107011 RECALL |
| 12 |
4/13/1944 |
AUGSBURG |
COM |
PFF LEAD 3RD AIR DIVISION |
| 13 |
5/29/1944 |
LEIPZIG |
COM |
PFF |
| 14 |
6/7/1944 |
NANTES |
COM |
107233 |
| 15 |
6/18/1944 |
BRUNSBUTTELKOOG |
COM |
PFF |
| 16 |
7/17/1944 |
AUXERRE |
COM |
-- |
| 17 |
7/31/1944 |
MUNICH |
COM |
PFF |
| 18 |
8/7/1944 |
BEAUTOR |
COM |
37863 |
Promoted from Major to Lt. Colonel after mission #5
MAJOR GENERAL JOHN B. "JACK" KIDD
Retired Feb. 1, 1974.
Major General John Burns Kidd is chief, Military Assistance Advisory
Group, Italy.
General Kidd was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1919. His formative
years were spent in Lakewood, Ohio; Winnetka, Ill. ; and New
Rochelle, N. Y. , where he graduated from high school in 1937. He
attended Oberlin College, Ohio, until accepted as an aviation cadet
in February 1940. He completed flying school at Kelly Field, Texas,
in October 1940 with a rating as pilot and commission as second
lieutenant, U. S. Amy Air Corps.
During World War II, his first assignment was as a flying instructor
at the Advanced Flying School, Kelly Field, Texas. After completing
B-17 aircraft training in May 1942, he served as squadron operations
officer of the 52d Squadron, 29th Bombardment Group, at
MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. , and Gowen Field, Idaho. In October
1942, he was named commander of the newly formed 351st Squadron,
100th Bombardment Group. He took his squadron to England in June
1943 where it joined the 3d Air Division. Immediately upon arriving
he was named group operations officer. In the air war against
Germany he led group, wing and division formations against a wide
variety of targets. He returned to the United States in August 1944.
During 1945 he served as director of operations and training at the
Army Air Forces Flexible Gunnery School, Las Vegas, Nev.
General Kidd went to Germany in March 1949 where he served as chief,
Air Traffic Control, and chief, Flight Operations, in the combined
airlift headquarters during the Berlin Airlift. From October 1949 to
May 1952 he was commander of the 12th Troop Carrier Squadron, 60th
Troop Carrier Group, and also served as group operations officer.
While in Europe he attended a course on Air Defense at the United
Kingdom Land-Air Warfare School, Old Sarum, England.
He returned to the United States in 1952 and was assigned to the
Joint Plans Branch, War Plans Division, Directorate of Plans,
Headquarters U. S. Air Force, working primarily on Pacific-Far East
plans. During this period he participated in five- and eight-nation
conferences on Pacific defense matters; represented the chief of
staff, U. S. Air Force, at the first Southeast Asia Treaty
Organization Military Staff Planners' Conference in Honolulu; and
coordinated military planning matters between the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, State Department and Central Intelligence Agency. He was
chief of the Joint Plans Branch for one year prior to attending the
Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. , from September 1956
to
June 1957.
The following three years his duties centered on nuclear activities
as director of operations at the Air Force Special Weapons Center in
Albuquerque, N. M. , then as operations officer, deputy commander,
and briefly as commander of the 4950th Test Group - the Air Force
nuclear test support unit - Eniwetok; Indian Springs, Nev. ; and
Kirtland Air Force Base, N. M.
General Kidd went to Hawaii in July 1960 as director of plans and
programs for the Pacific Communications Area and a year later became
assistant chief of staff, plans; at Headquarters Pacific Air Forces,
Hickam Air Force Base.
In September 1963, he returned to the Pentagon as a member of the
Pacific Division, J-3, Joint Staff, Organization of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff. Later, he became a division chief. In July 1966, General
Kidd reported to the commander in chief, U. S. Pacific Command, as
deputy assistant chief of staff for operations.
In September 1969, he returned to Headquarters U. S. Air Force and
was assigned to the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for
Personnel as deputy director, personnel planning; in July 1970
became director; and in July 1971 was appointed director, Personnel
Programs. He became chief, Military Assistance Advisory Group,
Italy, July 1, 1972.
His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished
Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster,
Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, Air Medal with two
oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal, and Croix de Guerre
with palm (France). He is a command pilot.
He was promoted to the grade of major general effective May 1, 1970.
|
-end-
|
|
