Lawrence W. Jensen World War II Collection

Collection — Box: One

Identifier: 2022-03-18

Content Description

The Lawrence W. Jensen World War II Collection documents the bombing missions Jensen completed in 1944-11945 over Germany during his service as a B-17 pilot during World War II. The collection consists of mission summaries for each of his bombing runs with the 95th bomb group, as well as London edition issues of the Stars and Stripes newspaper corresponding to the dates of the missions.

The mission summaries, known familiarly as "flimsies," are one-page documents that show diagrams of the flight formations with pilot name and aircraft tail number; times for readiness, stations, taxi, take-off and rendezvous; flying altitudes; call signs; colors; and other similar details. Some also include notes on fighter plane support. Missions documented in the collection were flown over Berlin, Bremen, Cassel, Darmstadt, Gütersloh, Hamburg, Hannover, Koblenz, Leipzig, Mainz, Münster, Nuremberg, Ulm, and Wesel and some unidentified locations. The folder with a mission over Leipzig also includes an annotaed map. A March 31, 1945 edition of Stars and Stripes also includes a Warweek supplement.

Dates

Creation: 1944 October 3 - 1945 April 6

Creator

Jensen, Lawrence W., 1921-2008 (Person)

Language of Materials

All materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research and is accessible in the Dahlberg Research Center by appointment. For more information contact us.

Conditions Governing Use

The Museum of Flight (TMOF) Archives is the owner of the physical materials in the archives and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from TMOF archives before any publication use. TMOF does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners. Consult repository for more details.

Biographical Note: Lawrence W. Jensen

Lawrence W. Jensen served as a B-17 pilot in the European Theater of Operations with the 95th Bomb Group, 412th Bomb Squadron during World War II.

Lawrence Warren Jensen was born on June 24, 1921 to Niels and Lena Jensen, in Franklin, Minnesota. He studied Agriculture at the University of Nebraska.

He enlisted with the Army Air Corps on January 6, 1941 in Fort Snelling, Minnesota. He first worked as a P-39 mechanic and later served as a B-17 pilot based out of Horham, England. He completed 30 combat missions over Germany with the 95th Bomb Group.

He was married to Margaret G. Jensen and they had four children. He was later married to Grace Wallbridge. He died on May 27, 2008.

Biographical sketch derived from donor information and records on Ancestry.com and the American Air Museum in Britain website.