Danish WW2 Pilots

Danes enlisting for USAAF service

A large number of especially young Danish born men entered air service via the United States. Many of these were sailors having left Denmark before the German occupation. Most of these men volunteered for the Norwegian forces training in Camp Little Norway in Canada, but some enlisted in the USAAF.

A rather large number of Danish young men enlist in the US Army during the Second World War. For the most part, these men serve the regular army, but some of them are in USAAF service according to my information.

Gunnar Christensen George Egebjerg (1917-1993). Volunteers for the Royal Air Force early in the war and is trained as bomber pilot. He is posted to No. 14 squadron in North Africa in 1943. He transfers to the USAAF in late 1943. He is the only Danish pilot to have served the British as well as the American air forces.

Berger Jepsen (1915-2003), US. 33344764. Enlists in the US Army in 1943. I have indications that he is in USAAF service. He becomes US Citizen in December 1943.

Erik Schegel (1917-1977). Enlists on the US Army in 1942. I have indications that he is in USAAF service. He becomes US Citizen in 1942.

Kaj Aage Gunnar Strand (1917-2000), US.33344764. Enlists on the US Army in 1942. At some point he transfers to the U.S. Army Air Force and flies as Captain and chief navigator on B-29 tests. He becomes head of the Navigational Department, Eglin Field, Florida, and is involved in the operational training of special air crews, including the first atomic bomb crew. He becomes US Citizen in during the war.

In total U.S. Army Enlistment Records lists more than 675 individuals born in Denmark and not yet US Citizen enlisting for the U.S. Army.