Description:
Lieutenant Colonel William R. Dunn, USAF (Retired) (1916–1995) was the first American ace of World War II. Joining the Canadian Army at the outbreak of war in September 1939, he was an infantryman until he transferred to the Royal Air Force (RAF) in late 1940. After service in an RAF Eagle Squadron, he joined the United States Army Air Forces in 1943. Transferring to the newly established U.S. Air Force in 1947, he also participated in the Chinese Civil War, Cold War and the Vietnam War.
Bill Dunn was born on November 16, 1916, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on March 19, 1934, and served as an infantryman until receiving an honorable discharge on November 22, 1935. Dunn enlisted in the Canadian Army on September 7, 1939, attaining the rank of Sergeant Major before joining the Royal Air Force on December 13, 1940. After completing RAF Flying School at Tern Hill, England, on April 16, 1941, Pilot Officer Dunn was assigned to the RAF's No. 71 Squadron, also known as the initial Eagle Squadron (so named because it was composed of expatriate American pilots in the RAF prior to the official entry of the United States into World War II) from May to August 1941, during which time he became the first American fighter ace of World War II by destroying 5 German fighters in aerial combat plus a shared probable; all while flying RAF Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire fighters. After being wounded in action on August 27, 1941, Dunn was hospitalized for 3 months and then spent another 3 months in the U.S. on leave before serving as an instructor pilot in Canada until he transferred to the U.S. Army Air Forces on June 15, 1943.
Lieutenant Dunn served as a gunnery officer with the 53rd Fighter Group and then joined the 513th Fighter Squadron of the 406th Fighter-Bomber Group, flying the P-47 Thunderbolt, in October 1943, and deployed with the group to England in April 1944. He was credited with the destruction of his 6th and final enemy aircraft in aerial combat in June 1944. Promoted to Captain and then Major, he later completed Command & General Staff College before transferring to China, where he served as commander of Luchien and Luchow Air Bases as a Lieutenant Colonel from May 1945 to 1947, participating in the Chinese Civil War on the side of the Nationalists. His next assignment was as an advisor to the Imperial Iranian Air Force from 1947 to 1949.
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