Naval History and Heritage Command

Finding aid (Word)

Biographical Note

Francis Daniel Gurll was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on 3 January 1908. He attended New Bedford High School, the Dean Academy in Franklin, Massachusetts, during 1926-1927, and received a Bachelor of Philosophy from Brown University in 1931. After graduating from Brown, Gurll taught English and mathematics at The Choate School until 1939 and the Newman School at Lakewood, New Jersey, from September 1941 to April 1942.

That month, he was commissioned a Lieutenant in the Naval Reserve and after indoctrination training became Senior Instructor in the Navigation and Seamanship Department at Quonset Point Naval Air Station, Rhode Island. Gurll held this post from June 1942 until January 1944, when he was reassigned to USS Essex as Administrative Officer for Carrier Air Group 4. While with Essex he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander, and in May 1945 became Administrative Officer of Bomber-Fighter Squadron 98.

By early 1946, Gurll had been promoted to Commander and in May of that year was detached from Bomber-Fighter Squadron 98 for duty as Welfare and Recreation Officer at Quonset Point Naval Air Station. In August 1946, Gurll was released from active duty and resumed his civilian teaching career.

Scope and Content Note

This collection contains personal papers of Commander Francis Gurll. Much of the material relates to his active duty service in the Naval Reserve during World War II. The collection is divided into two series.

Series I, Biographical Information, contains a brief biography of Gurll written by his wife, certificates related to his Navy service, and a small amount of official correspondence. Also in this series is a portion of Gurll's wartime diary, dating from 18 December 1944 to 26 January 1945. This series is arranged alphabetically.

In Series II, Air Group Four, is a brief history of the Group during 1944-1945 written by Gurll.

Restrictions Note

Researchers are to use reference copies of the diary and history of Air Group Four. The originals of these documents are available for use only by permission of the Processing Archivist or Archives Branch Head.

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as Papers of Commander Francis D. Gurll, Archives Branch, Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington, D.C.

Subject Headings (LCSH)

World War, 1939-1945--Naval Operations, American.
United States. Navy--Aviation.
United States. Navy. Air Group 4.
United States. Navy--History--Sources.