Cecil Harris

[knusel]

What an intresting piece of knowledge ! Thanks a lot.

Edward Sims (1972) lists 24 kills for Harris whereas Barrett Tillman (1996) lists 23 including 1 F4F kills. In the www it's a tie between 24 and 23.

I'll report to you as soon as I find a VF-27 victory list.

Have a nice weekend,

Michael

[Frank Olynyk]

I published my USN Victory List (#2) back in 1982. It covered all carrier based squadrons, and all land based squadrons except the multi-engine units. It has been out of print since the middle '90s. I am in the process of updating my database, and hope to publish a new edition someday (very nebulous, I know). The only hope for finding information on Cecil Harris' missing victory is either to locate his original flight log (for 1942-43), or to find documents on VF-27 outside of Record Group 38 in NARA II at College Park, Maryland. I have been through all the squadron and group records in RG 38.

Enjoy!

Frank.

[knusel]

Hello Frank,

your Stars&Bars is listed at the German amazon, however currently out of sale.
I wish you good success with the new edition and I really look forward to it.
If I come across the victory list in question, I'll give it to you.

All the best to you and your work,

Michael

[MikeFink]

Hey Guys,

I'm the author of the Cecil Harris Wiki page. I just saw this thread; I did not know about the assist credit changing in 1943 but it makes the numbers sensible to me, finally. I've made the appropriate changes to the info. box on the page.

Dr. Olynyk, I've seen one document from RG38 but it didn't break out Harris's credits. It's just a Marine Air Group 12 war diary listing the action on 1 April 1943. Do you happen to remember any more information about the documents from that record group? I previously contacted Mr. Tillman and he couldn't recall the specific item he looked at concerning Harris's one credited kill. I'd love to put eyes on these primary sources.

Thank you all for showing interest in Cecil Harris. I volunteer at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, and I've put a fair amount of time into Harris research. I even have in hand facsimiles of his Medal of Honor recommendation, though he was never ultimately given the award. And Frank, thank you for the wonderful work you've done.

Best,
-Mike

[knusel]

Hello Mike,

your wikipedia entry in excellent in its comprehensive content and choice of words.
However, I think the Chapter "Snapshot" needs slight adjustment to the kill list.

Keep up that good work !

Michael

[knusel]

Good afternoon Gentlemen,

currently, I'm working through Barrett Tillman's exellent "Hellcat Aces of World War 2". It specifies that Harris had one F4F kill and 22 F6F kills. I still wonder if the missing 24th kill is an hitherto unknown F4F kill or his assist on 21Oct44. I'll keep at it !

Cheers,

Michael

[Frank Olynyk]

Cecil Harris's first two kills were on the F4F with VF-27 while based at Guadalcanal, on April 1, 1943. The documentation is poor but convincing to me.

Enjoy!

Frank.