Original U.S. WWII AAF 9th Air Force Flight Gear & B-4 Canvas Flight Crew Bag Grouping of Staff Sergeant William K. Kendall, 641st Bomb Squad, 409th Bomb Group - 60 Combat Missions and Air Medal with 12 OLCs
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Original Items. One-of-a-Kind Group. This is the tremendous B-4 Flight bag grouping of Staff Sergeant William K. Kendall (ASN 33720273), 641st Bombardment Squadron, 409th Bombardment Group, 9th Air Force, who flew 60 combat missions as a turret gunner on both the A-20 “Havoc” and the A-26 “Invader”. He was awarded the Air Medal with a staggering 12 oak leaf clusters. He also appears to have been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, but we couldn’t find reference to this online. This grouping came from the family of Kendall, so everything present came from the family. From a newspaper article:
The 24-year-old gunner helped to knock out enemy coastal gun positions, buzz-bomb sites and air fields prior to D-Day. After the invasion, he participated in the 9th Air Force’s non-stop battering of enemy bridges, roads, railyards, troop concentrations and supply dumps.
This grouping includes:
- Kendall’s B-4 Canvas flight crew bag with his name and number stenciled on both sides, heavy wear overall from use. Original data tag is retained showing manufacture by Canvas Products Corp.
- Distinguished Flying Cross in presentation case with lapel pin.
- Air Medal in presentation case with lapel pin.
- Air Medal box with Sterling Aircrew wings, 3rd Air Force and 9th Air Force patches, Coastal bomber triangle patch, Good Conduct medal, VFW Ribbon, WWII pin, and piece of shrapnel likely recovered by Kendall.
- Type A-11 leather flight helmet in Size Small with 1944 contract date. Manufactured by the Selby Shoe Co.
- ANB-H-1 headset with PL-354 plug. Good shape.
- ANB-H-1 receivers without headset with plug.
- T-30-S avionics set with elastic strap.
- Canvas duffel bag, unmarked.
- Interesting likely cargo parachute by Grace Corset Co. dated February 1944.
- .50 Caliber round with holes, display.
- 10 Yen note.
- Army Air Forces patch on cloth from pillowcase, cut out.
- AAF Cloth Map Asiatic Series, not Kendall’s, possibly a relative.
- Set of shoulder boards and patches from an AAF Captain Pilot in the 7th Air Force. Not Kendall’s possibly belonging to a relative. Attached is a ribbon bar with the DFC, Air Medal, Asiatic-Pacific campaign medal. Not Kendall’s.
William Keiffer Kendall was born on June 27th, 1920 in Smithsburg, Maryland. He enlisted on April 9th, 1943 in Baltimore, Maryland, and trained as a turret gunner to serve aboard A-20 and A-26 bombers. He served overseas with the 641st Bombardment Squadron, 409th Bombardment Group, 9th Air Force, flying a staggering 60 combat missions and being awarded the Air Medal with 12 oak leaf clusters, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was discharged on May 29th, 1945, and passed away on November 28th, 2006 at the age of 86.
This is a fantastic set with some pieces that may belong to a relative, worthy of further research.
Ready for display!
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