Arthur Gerald Donahue, (29 January 1913 – 11 September 1942) was an American fighter pilot who volunteered to fly for the British

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was one of 11 American pilots who flew with RAF Fighter Command between 10 July and 31 October 1940, thereby qualifying for the Battle of Britain clasp to the 1939–45 campaign star. He was killed in action in September 1942.

Early life

Donahue was born to Frank and Ada Donahue on 29 January 1913 and was raised on a dairy farm near St. Charles, Minnesota. He learned to fly as a teenager at the Conrad Flying Service, operated by Max Conrad, an aviator known as the "Flying Grandfather" who had set numerous world records for distance and endurance. Becoming Minnesota's youngest commercially certificated pilot at the age of 19, Donahue helped Conrad run the flight school until he left to enlist in the

. He traveled to Canada, claimed to be Canadian, and was accepted.Battle of Britain pilots biographies
/ref>

Royal Air Force service

After training with No. 7 Operational Training Unit, Donahue was assigned to No. 64 Squadron at

RAF Kenley Royal Air Force Kenley, more commonly known as RAF Kenley, is a former List of former Royal Air Force stations, station of the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and the Royal Air Force, RAF in the Second World War. It played a significa ...

on 3 August 1940. Two days later, he saw combat against

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the Nazi Germany, German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt#History, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the ...

s off the French coast, and suffered serious damage to his aircraft, forcing him to land at RAF Hawkinge. Donahue thus became one of ten Americans to fly for the RAF in the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...

in 1940. A week later, on 12 August, Donahue was wounded in combat over England's south coast in his Supermarine Spitfire Mk. I. He was forced to bail out of his burning aircraft, and suffered burns and leg injuries. On 29 September 1940, Donahue was reassigned to No. 71 Squadron, one of three Eagle Squadrons, RAF units composed of American pilots, but did not see combat with that unit. Because of the lack of action, he requested to be reassigned to No. 64 Squadron, arriving back there on 23 October. In February 1941, Donahue served with No. 91 Squadron, although in March he went on leave back to the USA. In October 1941 he was posted to No. 258 Squadron in the Far East, and participated in the Battle of Singapore, also seeing action over

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

in February 1942, where he was wounded by ground fire. After returning to England in mid-1942, he rejoined No 91 Squadron as a flight commander. He became the first American in RAF history to lead an all-British squadron. He was credited with downing two enemy aircraft, with two more probables and one damaged. He was awarded four medals, including the Distinguished Flying Cross on 27 March 1942.Commonwealth War Graves Commission
/ref> The citation for the award read:London Gazette 27 March, 1942
/ref>

Death

Flight Lieutenant Donahue was killed in action on 11 September 1942, while a member of No. 91 Squadron. Attempting to intercept a Ju 88, his plane was hit by return fire and ditched in the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

. His body was never found."First hero: St. Charles man an early WWII hero" ''Winona Daily News'', 11 November 2006
/ref> Donahue once wrote in a letter to his parents, "My life may not be long, but it will be wide." He is commemorated on the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede in Surrey, England.

Author

Donahue wrote two books about his RAF service, ''Tally-Ho! Yankee in a Spitfire'' and ''Last Flight from Singapore''.

References

Bibliography

* Donahue, Arthur Gerald. (1944). ''Last Flight from Singapore''. London: Macmillan & Company. * * Kershaw, Alex. (2006). ''The Few''. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press.

External links

Art Donahue at Find a grave''4th Fighter Group WWII'' Official WWII Association Website
Referenced 4 March 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Donahue, Art 1913 births 1942 deaths American World War II flying aces Aviators from Minnesota Aviators killed by being shot down Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II People from St. Charles, Minnesota Military personnel from Minnesota Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force officers American Royal Air Force pilots of World War II American military personnel killed in World War II The Few 20th-century American memoirists American military writers Writers from Minnesota