Birrell Walsh Was a WWII Hero That Helped Preserve Our Freedom

Birrell Walsh was born in Rugby, North Dakota on June 7, 1907. From the 1910 U.S. Census, we learn that Birrell’s father, Thomas, 47, was a retired farmer working on odd jobs. His mother Margaret, 43, had three children living at home at this time; (Birrell), 2, Charles, 6 and Richard, 4 years old. They all lived on a farm in Rugby.

Ten years later, the family was still living in Pierce County North Dakota. Birrell’s father was again a farmer. The family added a new sister for Birrell; Margaret, 7. This according to the 1920 U.S. Census.

In 1926, Walsh was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. After graduation in 1930, Birrell was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, joining the Army Air Corps. In 1931 he was assigned to air craft training. That same year he went to Advance Flying School, Bombardment Course. Birrell was then rated as a pilot of multiengine planes. He was promoted to First Lieutenant in August of 1935.

From 1931 to 1941 this researcher could find no other military records of Walsh’s assignments or squadrons prior to 1942. On June 12, 1940, Birrell was promoted to Captain and then to Major on July 22, 1941. His final promotion to Colonel came on January 5, 1942.

Records from the B-17, S/N 40-3061, recorded Major Walsh as a pilot stationed in the Philippine Islands. On December 30, 1941 the B-17 took off from Batchelor Field, Australia, piloted by Major Walsh and flown to Singosari Airfield on Java. This base was home for the 19th Bomb Group. Then Colonel Walsh was assigned as Chief of Staff for the Commanding General of the 505th Bombardment Group.

Birrell Walsh married Alta Dorothy Shea on June 29, 1943. The wedding took place in Des Moines, Iowa. Birrell was 37 years old and Alta, 31, at this time. They had one infant son, Russell, according to records from 1944.

On the 6th of November, 1944, the ground crew of 505th boarded a train in Harvard, Nebraska for Fort Lawton, Washington, just outside of Seattle. Late in the afternoon of the 15th, the 505th Ground Echelon walked up the gangplank from the soil of the United States to the decks of the Victory Ship, USS "Sea Star", headed for an “unknown destination.”

Early in December the Air Echelon members took the train to Hamilton Field in San Francisco. There they boarded ATC C-54’s for a flight to the South Pacific Island of Tinian in the Marianas. All flight crews and ground personnel were united by Christmas of 1944.

The air field was not quite complete when the B-29's landed, with the Navy Seabees working night and day to finish. The pace of activity at North Field in its construction days was maddening. The line area was a dust bowl with Air Force and Seabee personnel at workday and night. Several Navy Construction Battalions were on the job building four runways, four taxi-strips, and the cross runways. The hardened surfaces were made of coral blasted out of hillsides and moved by truck over "haul roads" to North Field. The CB trucks ran every 30 seconds from coral pit to runway. Blasting was everywhere and constant. Airplanes had to be moved frequently to escape flying debris. Day and night work by the Seabees finished the "World's largest airfield" with its four 8500 ft. runways in an amazingly short time.

At Tinian, the B-29 crews continued training in navigation, radar runs and bombing practice. The first live action occurred as part of the 20th Air Force. They bombed Japanese targets in Iwo Jima and the Truk Islands. Then began daylight missions against Japan, operating at high altitude to bomb strategic objectives. Received a DUC (Distinguished Unit Citation) for a strike against the Nakajima aircraft factory at Ota in Feb 1945.

The Nakajima bombing mission, took off from the North field on Tinian on February 10, 1945. Colonel Walsh was a passenger/observer on the B-29 named the “Slick’s Chicks" with a Boeing Serial Number of 42-24784. According to Army Casualty Reports, the B-29 Slick’s Chicks was attacked by Japanese fighter planes. The plane’s pilot, Captain Slaughter, banked hard and collided with B-29 Deaner Boy and both planes crashed. No parachutes were seen by two different pilots of other B-29’s in the flight.

Another version was that a Japanese fighter plane rammed the Slick’s Chicks bomber, and parts from this plane slammed into the Deaner Boy, causing it to crash also. This Japanese version according to the book B-29 Hunters of the JAAF, Osprey Publishing, Aviation Elite Units 5, By Koji Takai & Henry Sakaida.

In either case, no parachutes were seen. All 23 crew members were killed.

After the crash, Takashima villagers cremated the fallen airmen and buried their remains. Today, there is a memorial at the site, with the names of all crewmen inscribed along with the following words: “We wish to commemorate these 23 brave souls, and offer a wish for world peace and friendship between Japan and America.”

In 1949, both crew members’ remains were removed from Japan and returned to the United States. On May 10, 1949, the ashes of the 23 flyers were buried in a common grave at the Arlington National Cemetery with a full military ceremony. The headstone is located at section 15, grave 77.

Colonel Walsh received the following awards: Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the air Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Silver Star, and the Presidential Citation with two clusters.

From the U.S., National Cemetery Interment Control Forms

“Remains were returned under WWII Dead Program and are buried in a common grave with (see list attached to QMC Form 14 for BARNHART, Owen O. Jr., to whose QMC form 14 the list is attached). 5335-CG-8. 23 remains - 1 casket.”

Missing Air Crew Records number 12055 (MACR 12055):

List of crew members KIA aboard the Slicks Chick

· Pilot, Capt. Carmel Slaughter, 26, Orlando, Florida

· Co-Pilot, 2nd Lt. Dan Godsy, 21, Oklahoma

· Navigator, 1st Lt. Kenneth Swanson, 24, Illinois

· Bombardier, 1st Lt. Herbert Weiner, 22, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

· Flight Engineer, 2nd Lt. Joseph Jarosz, 24, New Jersey

· Radio Operator, S/Sgt. Nick Corbo, 25, Scotia, New York

· Radar, Sgt. Kenneth Mago, 21, Wisconsin

· Right Gunner, S/Sgt. Ralph McClellan, 24, Verona, Ohio

· Central Fire Control Gunner, S/Sgt. Robert Yonce, 19, Illinois

· Tail Gunner, Sgt. Frank Kastenmeier, 19, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

· Left Gunner, Sgt. James Melvin, Michigan

· Col. Birrell Walsh (Passenger/observer), 37, Rugby, North Dakota

Crew of B-29 Deaner Boy

· Pilot, 1st Lt. Owen Barnhart Jr., 23, Contra Costa County, California

· Co-Pilot, 2nd Lt. Donald MacAuley Morrison, Waltham, Massachusetts

· Navigator, 2nd Lt. Cornelius Kerns, 21, Norfolk, Virginia

· Bombardier, 1st Lt. Hugh Burner, 26, Islington, Massachusetts

· Flight Engineer, 2nd Lt. Harley Hazelwood, 24, Pagosa Springs, Colorado

· Radio Operator, S/Sgt. Norman Smith, 23, Baltimore, Maryland

· Radar, Sgt. James Greup, 19, Bucks County, Pennsylvania

· Central Fire Control Gunner, Sgt. George Wilbur III, 23, Iowa City, Iowa

· Left Gunner, Sgt. Harry Harz Jr., 19, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

· Right Gunner, Sgt. Donald Kissinger, 19, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin

. Tail Gunner, Sgt. Harvey Fitzpatrick, 18, Ridgefield Park, New Jersey

All of these 23 names were carved on the headstone at the Arlington National Cemetery.

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This story is part of the Stories

Behind the Stars project ( www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national

effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII here

on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a

smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery,

scan the fallen’s name and read his/her story.

Resources:

https://www.armyaircorpsmuseum.org/505th_Bombardment_Group.cfm

http://fromtheireyes.weebly.com/the-lessons/slicks-chicks-the-overview-of-a-b-29

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/usa/aircrafts-2-3/b-29/b-29-superfortress-nose-art-121-sea-bees-505th-bomb-group-42-24815/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-29_Superfortress#New_Mariana_Islands_air_bases

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62497147

http://genealogytrails.com/wis/rock/ww2honorlist.htm

1910 & 1920 U.S. Census

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/163393465:7884

U.S., World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas

U.S., National Cemetery Interment Control Forms

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=8823&h=4295324&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=60901

B-29 Hunters of the JAAF, Osprey Publishing, Aviation Elite Units 5, By Koji Takai & Henry Sakaida

Birrell Walsh (1907)