Eugene Francis McGurl

Eugene Francis McGurl was the first lieutenant of the 95th bombardment squadron in the United States Air Force during World War II.

McGurl was a 1934 graduate of Arlington High School (Arlington, Massachusetts). Lieutenant McGurl attended three years of college before enlisting on February 11, 1941 at Boston, Mass. McGurl Completed navigation training and was commissioned as Second Lieutenant, December 6, 1941.

Doolittle Raid

First Lieutenant McGurl was assigned to the 95th Bombardment Squadron of the 17th Bombardment Group. First Lieutenant McGurl participated in the Doolittle Raid, a military operation that was dramatized in the movie Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. McGurl flew in the Doolittle Raider Crew No. 5 piloted by Capt. David M. Jones.

Despite a leak in the bomb bay gas tank, Captain Jones took off safely off of the flight deck, the crew proceeded to Tokyo. On 8:37 a.m local time April 18, 1942 First Lieutenant McGurl and the rest of his crew flying in their North American Aviation B-25B Mitchell proceeded to Tokyo where bombing from 1200 feet, they made direct hits with three demolition bombs and one incendiary cluster on power stations, oil tanks, a large manufacturing plant and the congested area Southeast of the Imperial Palace. One factory bombed was a new building which covered approximately two city blocks.

Bad weather prevented the fliers from finding their prearranged landing fields in China. Capt. Jones flew on instruments until he estimated he was in the vicinity of Chuhsien. The crew bailed out near and just Southeast of Chuchow. All crew members were safe. Their crew was the first of the raiders to reach Chuhsien.

First Lieutenant McGurl Remained in the China-Burma-India Theater after the Tokyo Raid. First Lieutenant McGurl was killed in action on June 3, 1942 when his plane crashed into a mountain after bombing Lashio, Burma en route to Kunming, China.

Decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart (posthumous) and the Chinese Army, Navy, and Air Corps Medal, Class A, 1st Grade.

After McGurl went missing, his Distinguished Flying Cross was presented to his father Owen McGurl^[1] by Army Air Forces Colonel John I. Moore, in a February 1943 ceremony held at the Arlington Town Hall.^[2]

External links

• Biography from the Doolittle Raiders page. Includes McGurl's Navigation report on the Tokyo raid.

End notes

1. ^ Father Receives Cross Won By Missing Flyer, Baltimore, Md: The Baltimore Sun, February 8, 1943, p. 6. 
2. ^ Arlington Father Accepts Medal For Tokyo Bomber Now Missing, Boston, Mass.: The Boston Globe, February 8, 1943, p. 12.