SSgt Borge Olufsen Kellstrom
(1921 - 1944)
Profile
S/Sgt Borge O. Kellstrom was killed in action, when B-17G 43-38234 Easy Does It was shot down by flak on a mission to Berlin on 5 December 1944. He was born in Rønne, Denmark, but emigrated with his family to the USA in 1923. He was one of more than 30,000 Danish-Americans mobilized during Second World War.
Borge Olufsen Kellstrom was born as Børge Olufsen Kjellstrøm on 21 September 1921 in Rønne on the island of Bornholm, to Niels Vilhelm Olufsen Kjellstrøm and Johanne Margrethe Kjellstrøm (née Christensen). [1] His father worked as a porter at the local railway company, De Bornholmske Jernbaner.[2]
The family emigrated to the United States in 1923. His father arrived in New York on 1 March 1923 onboard SS Oscar II. His final destination was a cousin Alfred P. Anker in Modesto, California. [3] His mother and older brother arrived later that year. In 1930, the family lived in Modesto, California, where his father worked as a sausage maker. [4] Kelstrom’s father and with him the rest of the family was naturalized as US Citizens on 22 May 1929.[5]
Kellstrom attended the Washington School [6] and later graduated from the Modesto High School. [7] In May 1939, he drove to San Francisco with three friends to attend the Golden Gate International Exposition held at San Francisco's Treasure Island.[8]
Enlisting in the Army Air Force
Kellstrom enlisted in the national guard in March 1940. [9] A year later, on 3 March 1941, he enlisted as a private in the United States Army in Modesto, California, on 3 March 1941. [10] The is little information on his training before being stationed overseas. He is known to have graduated from the armament school at Lowry field in Denver, Colorado.[11]
Kellstrom was posted overseas and joined the 322nd Bomb Squadron as a waist gunner. This squadron had been constituted on 28 January 1942 and activated on 15 April the same year. It was assigned to the 91st Bombardment Group and stationed at Bassingbourn in Cambridgeshire from 14 October 1942.[12] He became the waist gunner of the original crew of B-17 G Miss Slipstream (43-38202). The pilot and captain of the crew was 1Lt Francis M. Towner.
It is not clear from the information available when Kellstrom was posted overseas to join the squadron. Furthermore, few information is available on the missions he flew.
On 2 November 1944, twelve aircraft of the squadron furnished the high squadron of the 91st Bomber Group in an attack on the oil refinery at Merseburg. Returning from the target, just beyond Hamburg, the group was attacked by 50-75 enemy aircraft, mostly Fw 190. The initial attacks were maid on 322nd Bomb Squadron. Of the thirteen B-17s lost by the Group, six of them were from 322nd. [13] This was a tremendous blow to the squadron, and when reinforcements arrived, a number of the more experienced crews split up and mixed with the new combers. 1st Lt Donald R. Freer (O-710914), who had flown as co-pilot got his own crew in this process. He joined up with crew members who had lost their pilots previously or who was not part of a regular crew. [14] Whatever the reason, Kellstrom became part of his crew.
The Last Mission
On 5 December 1944, Kellstrom’s crew was among thirteen crews from the squadron taking part in a raid on Berlin. It was the first time since 21 June 1944 that 91st Group took part in a raid on Berlin. The specific target of the day was the Borsig Steel Works in the north-western suburbs of the city. The factory produced guns, shells casings, tank parts and mines. Kellstrup’s squadron flew in the high squadron of the leading “A” group, which led the division.[15]
Easy Does It (LG-E, 43-38234) took off from Bassingbourn in Cambridgeshire at the hands 1st Lt Freer. As they approached the target accurate, moderate flak was experienced, and the aircraft received a direct hit. 1st Lt. Freer described the situation as follows:
As we neared Berlin, we could see some flak coming up through the clouds below. Ahead and slightly off to the side there was a small hole in the clouds. A cluster of very large flak bursts were coming up through that hole about every 30 seconds. The group lead turned, headed for the clearing and it looked to me that his heading was going to put the Squadron and particularly, Easy-Does-lt directly in line with the flask bursts. We passed the IP and were on the bomb run with the bomb-bay doors open so we couldn’t take any evasive action. The closer we got the more certain I was that only luck would keep us form getting it. We ran out of luck this time and suddenly all hell broke loose! There was a loud explosion and bright flash in the cockpit and the sound of breaking glass.[16]
Easy Does It had taken a direct hit, the right inboard engine had been blown away completely and further two engines were damaged. Freer quickly realised that only the left outboard engine was functioning. The navigator 1st Lt. Harold ‘Hal’ W. Lasch reported that he was wounded and the air bomber, S/Sgt Joe Sanchez was unconscious. All the other crew members reported to be OK. The aircraft lost speed and height, and soon they were far behind the formation. The flight engineer reported that the bombs were hung up and that he was not able to release them manually in spite of an impressive effort to do so. Freer realised at this point that it would be suicide to make an emergency landing.
I called the crew on the intercom and told them to prepare for bailing out. […] I ordered the crew to bail out and said that they had exactly one minute before I left the controls and jumped. I carefully timed that one minute with my GI wrist watch and saw them all leave. As an afterthought, I decided to make one more check, so I called on the intercom and asked if anyone was still there. Borge Kellstrom out waist gunner answered. I told him to get out of the A/C because I was leaving but would give him exactly one more minute before I jumped, again, I called on the intercom and this time I got no answer.[17]
Freer bailed out and was captured by the Germans soon after landing. He was taken to a local jail in Templin. Gradually, the other members of the crew were brought in until seven of them had been captured. Joe Sanchez and Kellstrom never appeared. Their bodies were recovered years later. The rest of the crew became prisoners of war.
Air Medal and two Oak Leaf Clusters
Kellstrom flew approximately 25 missions including several missions to Cologne and Ludvigshafen and missions to among other targets such as Rouen, Brandenburg, Merseburg, Essen and Hanau. [18] He was awarded the Air Medal on 2 September 1944 and awarded the Air Medal (an Oak Leaf Cluster) on 13 October 1944 and again (a second Oak Leaf Cluster) on 1 December 1944.[19]
Kellstrom was repatriated and re-interred in the Masonic Cemetery in Modesto, California, in 1949.[20]
Endnotes
[1] DNA: Parish register, Rønne sogn.
[2] Knudsen, A. V. (2007). DBJ: Historien om Jernbanerne på Bornholm.
[3] Ancestry: New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957.
[4] Ancestry: 1930 United States Federal Census.
[5] 30 Stanislaus Residents Pass Citizenship Test, The Modesto Bee, 23 May 1929, p. 3.
[6] Washington School’s Traffic Squad Honored, Modesto News-Herald, 31 Jan 1933, p. 8.
[7] Two are graduated, The Modesto Bee, 24 Aug 1943, p. 9.
[8] Personal, The Modesto Bee, 18 May 1939, p. 4.
[9] Four Enlist in the National Guard, The Modesto Bee, 27 Mar 1940, p. 2.
[10] Ancestry: U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946.
[11] Two are graduated, The Modesto Bee, 24 Aug 1943, p. 9.
[12] Maurer, M. (1982). Combat squadrons of the Air Force, World War II, p. 395.
[13] Dailies of the 322nd Squadron, 1944, http://www.91stbombgroup.com/Dailies/322nd1944.html (accessed on 29 February 2024).
[14] Donald R. Freer Collection, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.02358/.
[15] 322nd Squadron Daily Reports, http://www.91stbombgroup.com/Dailies/322nddailies.html (accessed on 28 January 2023).
[16] Don Freer’s Story: December 5, 1944, The Ragged Irregular, Vol. 38(4), October 2005, p. 8-9.
[17] Don Freer’s Story: December 5, 1944, The Ragged Irregular, Vol. 38(4), October 2005, p. 8-9.
[18] NARA: RG92: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Series, Missing Air Crew Reports (MACRs), 1942–1947, #11036.
[19] NA (US): RG 64, Award Cards 1942 – 1963, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/139484579?objectPage=107.
[20] Ancestry: U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963.