Warren M. Kofsky
Taylor Instrument Companies employee, University of Rochester alumnus, and B-24 Liberator pilot with the 90th Bombardment Group ("The Jolly Rogers"). Completed over 40 combat missions before being lost over the Makassar Strait following a strike on Balikpapan, Borneo on September 30, 1944.
Rank: First Lieutenant
Service: U.S. Army Air Forces
Unit: 319th Bomb Squadron, 90th Bombardment Group (Heavy) ("Jolly Rogers"), 5th Air Force
Aircraft: Consolidated B-24 Liberator
Combat Missions: 40+ completed
Born: June 4, 1918 (Rochester, NY)
Parents: Michael Kofsky & Lucy A. Farrell
Education: Benjamin Franklin High School; University of Rochester
Taylor Career: Ames Street Plant employee (enlisted July 1942)
Status: Missing in Action / Presumed Dead
Date of Loss: September 30, 1944 (Age 26)
Location: Makassar Strait, ~80 miles east of Balikpapan, Borneo
Memorial: Tablets of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Philippines
Early Life & Taylor Instrument Career
Warren Michael Kofsky was born in Rochester, New York on June 4, 1918, the son of Michael and Lucy A. (Farrell) Kofsky. Raised in Rochester, he graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School and went on to attend the University of Rochester.
Prior to entering military service, Kofsky was employed at the Ames Street plant of the Taylor Instrument Companies. When the United States mobilized for World War II, the Kofsky family answered the call in extraordinary fashion:
- Warren M. Kofsky volunteered for service in the U.S. Army Air Forces in July 1942 at Rochester.
- His brother, John J. Kofsky, volunteered the following month in August 1942.
- A third brother, Robert H. Kofsky, was drafted into service in February 1943.
Flight Training & The "Jolly Rogers"
In March 1943, Kofsky was assigned to Greenville, Mississippi for primary and advanced pilot flight training. Upon earning his silver aviator wings and officer's commission as a Second Lieutenant, he was qualified as a four-engine pilot on the Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber.
In December 1943, Lieutenant Kofsky deployed to the Pacific Theater. He was assigned to the 319th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), a component of the famed 90th Bombardment Group ("The Jolly Rogers"), 5th Air Force. The group was legendary throughout the Pacific for its distinctive skull-and-crossed-bombs tail insignia and its aggressive low- and high-altitude bombing missions across the South-West Pacific and New Guinea campaigns under General Douglas MacArthur and General George Kenney.
Promoted to First Lieutenant, Kofsky earned a reputation as an exceptionally steady and veteran bomber commander, successfully flying more than 40 combat missions over hostile Japanese targets.
The Final Strike: Balikpapan (September 30, 1944)
On September 30, 1944, First Lieutenant Kofsky and his ten-man crew departed their base in New Guinea as part of a major 5th Air Force raid targeting the heavily fortified Japanese oil refineries and petroleum depots at Balikpapan, on the eastern coast of Borneo. Because these refineries supplied vital aviation gasoline and fuel oil to the Japanese military, the target was defended by intense anti-aircraft fire and interceptor squadrons.
Approximately 25 minutes after completing the bombing run and beginning the long withdrawal back to base, Kofsky’s B-24 was observed losing altitude and struggling to maintain formation speed with the squadron. Falling behind the protective mutual firepower of the bomber formation, the lone aircraft was quickly attacked by several Japanese fighter planes.
Under heavy enemy fire, the crippled bomber caught fire and fell toward the water. Observers reported emergency parachutes deploying from the aircraft just before it exploded at low altitude. Japanese fighter aircraft then repeatedly strafed the waters where the parachutes descended. All ten crew members aboard were lost. The crash site was fixed approximately 80 miles east of Balikpapan in the Makassar Strait.
Remembrance & Legacy
Because his remains could not be recovered from the Makassar Strait, First Lieutenant Warren M. Kofsky is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Fort Bonifacio, Manila, Philippines, maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
GEWAME permanently preserves his service, his devotion to his family and country, and the ultimate sacrifice made by Taylor Instrument Companies workers during the global conflict.
Archival & Memorial Sources
- Fold3 Honor & Memorial Record: First Lieutenant Warren Michael Kofsky Memorial, documenting military loss, crew composition, and Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) details.
- American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC): Manila American Cemetery, Tablets of the Missing (Honors 1st Lt. Warren M. Kofsky).
- Rochester Public Library: Local World War II Service Index & Card Files, Local History & Genealogy Division, Rundel Memorial Building.
- Taylor Instrument Companies: Pre-war employment records and wartime employee service rolls.
