Tribute to 2nd Lt. Charles A. Donnelly Jr.
The New Orleans Ringmaster flying club has been flying out of City Park in New Orleans for 50 years. We always knew the field had been dedicated to a WW2 pilot, but the name was long forgotten. In October 2022, the mystery of the missing name finally came to light. The field was allocated on 12/16/1962 for $ 12,000 dollars. It was dedicated on Sunday, May 9th, 1963, in the name of 2nd Lt. Charles A. Donnelly Jr., a pilot for the 459th BG, 15th AF out of Giulia, Italy. One of the VIPs in attendance was then-Mayor Victor Schiro. We Ringmaster club members are proud of keeping this man’s name alive, and recently, one of the members who fly Model B-24s flew a tribute flight to Lt. Donnelly. Here is Charles A. Donnelly Jr.s story
Biography:
Charles A. Donnelly, Jr.
Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Forces
In December 1944, Second Lieutenant Charles A. Donnelly, Jr. was serving as a co-pilot with the 757th Bomb Squadron, 459th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 304th Bombardment Wing, 15th Air Force, U.S. Army Air Forces, based at Giulia Airfield, Italy. The 459th Bombardment Group flew B-24 Liberator bombers on missions in Italy, France, the Balkans, Austria, and Germany.
On 20 December, 2LT Donnelly was the co-pilot of B-24J Liberator bomber Serial Number 42-51837 that was on a mission to bomb a target at Linz, Austria. [Missing Air Crew Record (MACR) 10691.] The aircraft had a crew of 10.
MACR 10691 says the aircraft was forced down by engine failure at 1538 hours over the Gulf of Manfredonia on 20 December.
The following statement came from 2LT Joseph A. Doyle, Jr., the pilot of the aircraft:
I was the pilot of U.S. Army Aircraft, type B-24-J, Number 42-51837, on a heavy bombardment mission over Linz, Austria on 20 December 1944. As we went in on the I.P. we lost the No.1 supercharger and as we went into the bomb ran the No. 3 prop ran away. We were unable to hold it back so we feathered No.3, We couldn’t stay with the formation, so we followed them in on the bomb run and bombed from approximately 16,000 feet.
As we started home, we took the amplifier out of No.3 and put it in the No.1, which fixed the No. 1 supercharger. We un-feathered No.3 and tried to bring the prop back under control but it wouldn’t work so we re-feathered it. We came back setting a course for Vis, Yugoslavia but when we hit the coast of the Adriatic, we still had ample gasoline left and only one engine out so we altered course for Base. We started descent through overcast somewhere between 30 & 40 miles off the Coast. As we started through the overcast, I called Big Fence for a heading back to base. Just after I called, we lost the No.1 supercharger, and we were unable to fix it. I then sent the crew to ditching positions as a precautionary measure, with the exception of the Navigator. I then called Coffee Tower for a straight-in approach to base. Then the No. 2 prop ran away and try as we did, we were unable to bring it back of feather it. In the meantime, the oil pressure in No. 1 went to nill so I attempted to feather No. 1 but it also refused to feather. The hydraulic pump was on and the Star valve open so we tried to put down the flaps, but they wouldn’t work. We were losing altitude too rapidly then to pump down the flaps.
I saw the Spur* coming up through a small hole in the overcast and right after I saw that we ran into a rain squall. Then through another small hole I saw the Spur directly below us. I ordered the crew to bail out and transmitted to Big Fence telling them to take a fix on me as I was bailing out over the Spur. I then left the controls to bail out. I followed the Navigator, Radio Operator, and Co-pilot out of the bomb bay as about a thousand feet. The five men in the waist must have gone in with the ship. According to a report from CPL Le Ham, he heard the order to bail out and opened the camera hatch and started to bail out. Someone stopped him and told him that we were.
ditching. The order to ditch never came from me. CPL Le Ham does not know who it was that stopped him from jumping or how many others were there with him in the waist. [On the ‘boot’ shape of Italy, the Gulf of Manfredonia is located at the ‘spur’ position.
I came to that night at about 2000 hours in an Italian fishing boat. CPL La Ham was in the boat with me, as was the body of CPL Bristow.
Seven of the crewmembers are listed as Missing in Action or Buried at Sea and Armorer / Gunner CPL Leroy M. Bristow was Killed in Action when he parachuted from the plane (his body was recovered). The remaining two men, Pilot 2LT Joseph A. Doyle, Jr. and Waist Gunner CPL Stanislaus Z. La Ham, sustained a Light Injury in Action (LIA) and were Returned to Duty (RTD).
Medals, Awards and Badges
Purple Heart
Air Medal
American Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
Army Air Forces Pilot Badge
The remains of Second Lieutenant Charles A. Donnelly, Jr. were recovered and in November 1948 were buried at Greenwood Cemetery in New Orleans, Orleans Parish, LA in Plot 56 Jessamine Metairie Venus.