Jack Orcutt Luehrs

Military
media-20314.png UPL 20314 Jack O. Luehrs - 1943 (Photo courtesy Luehrs family)

Added photo

Object Number - UPL 20314 - Jack O. Luehrs - 1943 (Photo courtesy Luehrs family)

Jack Luehrs was a Radio Operator in the 305th Bomber Group / 364th Bomber Squadron. Shot down 4 April 1943 in B-17 #42-5232 'Available Jones'. Orginally believed to have been Killed in Action (KIA), as he was the last to jump from the plane and nothing was heard about him for weeks after the mission. Jack Luehrs landed in an apple tree near Pont-de-l'Arche (Eure Department) France. Bleeding from a wound under the left eye, Luehrs declined the offer of a French villager to have his wound tended by a doctor and went into hiding in a woods, seeing his aircraft burning about 1km away. Helped afterwards by French citizens who gave him civilian clothes, food and provided him with false ID papers, he was handed over to an evasion organization. Led to Paris by train, he stayed in an apartment there until 30 April, the date on which he was guided by train to Saint-Brieuc, Brittany, in the north of the country with the aim to evacuate him by boat to England. Led in a taxi to Etables-sur-Mer, Luehrs met his Right Waist gunner Allen Fitzgerald and other Allied airmen there. The plans to evacuate them by sea had to be changed due to the bad weather and the evaders were led to Tréveneuc where they stayed for two weeks in the house of Madame Cellarié. Finally, the plans to evacuate them by boat were abandoned and Luehrs and others were guided by train back to Paris on 31 May. The new plan was to send them to the South and neutral Spain. Luehrs and other evading Allied personnel then travelled by train to Bordeaux, and from there to Bayonne where they jumped on another train to Pau. From there, Luehrs and other evaders walked their way to Spain, crossing the border on 5 June around 06:00am. They reported to the Spanish Guardia Civil and were briefly detained, first in Isaba, then in Pampelona, arriving there by bus. After a few days, a delegate from the US Embassy arrived, gave them money and clothes and on the following day, they were released and spent 2 weeks in a local hotel. On 24 June, US Major Clark arrived to drive Luehrs and 4 other evaders to a place where they met 7 other evaders. Driven to Madrid on the 25th, they were ultimately led to Gibraltar. Jack Luehrs left Gibraltar in a C-47 on the 27th and landed in England on 28 June 1943. Put up in a London hotel, an American pub Dirty Dick's was nearby and he found 305th BG/ 364th BS crews there. He learned his parents had been notified he was killed in action. His Oregon homecoming a few months later was a happy one.

See the full story of Jack Luehrs' evasion at www.evasioncomete.be

Connections

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Units served with

Unofficial emblem, 305th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 305th Bomb Group 364th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 39303959
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: waist gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 305th Bomb Group 364th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 18026632 and O-726136
  • Highest Rank: Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Bombardier
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 305th Bomb Group 364th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 32310842
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Waist Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 305th Bomb Group 364th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 12044600
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Tail Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 305th Bomb Group 364th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 15071759
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Available Jones
  • Unit: 305th Bomb Group 364th Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Oregon, United States 12 December 1920 the son of Otto and Effie Luehrs

Enlisted

Portland, Oregon, United States 14 December 1941 as a Private in the Air Corps

Other

Evaded capture

France 4 April 1943 - 26 June 1943 Helped in his evasion by French patriots and Résistance members

Died

Salem, Oregon, United States 27 September 1991
Ontario, Malheur County, Oregon, United States

Buried

Willamette National Cemetery, Portland, Oregon, United States

Revisions

Date
ContributorED-BB
Changes
Sources

Updated link to the page at www.evasioncomete.be

Date
ContributorED-BB
Changes
Sources

Added death date and burial place

Date
ContributorED-BB
Changes
Sources

MACR 15592
NARA WWII Enlistment Records
Escape & Evasion report E&E # 40
Personal research on Luehrs and the crew for website www.evasioncomete.org

Date
ContributorED-BB
Changes
Sources

Corrected spelling of last name : Luehrs instead of Luhers

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 15592, , Losses of the 8th and 9th AFs Vol. I by Bishop and Hey p 99, 305th BG by Turner Publishing Company c. 1997 pp. 35-37 has evasion story., NARA

Jack Orcutt Luehrs: Gallery (2 items)