James A Soesbe

Military ROLL OF HONOUR
media-22112.jpeg UPL 22112 James Soesbe - Clinton, 458th BG, KIA Charles D Taylor collection

"Iowans of the Mighty Eighth", Chapter 19 "Killed in Action", by Charles D Taylor

Object Number - UPL 22112 - James Soesbe - Clinton, 458th BG, KIA

Killed in Action (KIA) Crashed at St Zizier in B-24 42-52348

Connections

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Units served with

Personnel of the 458th Bomb Group gather around a B-24 Liberator (serial number 41-29303) nicknamed "Liberty Lib" in order to transfer a casualty into a waiting ambulance. Image via Harry Holmes. Written on slide casing: '458th BG.'

458th Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

George J Koehn

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 458th Bomb Group 752nd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-699697
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

42-52348

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Lady Shamrock
  • Unit: 445th Bomb Group 703rd Bomb Squadron

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Enlisted

Rockford, IL, USA 26 November 1942 Camp Grant

Other

Killed in Action (KIA)

English Channel 24 September 1944 The crew departed from Horsham St. Faith and arrived safely at the assigned destination of St. Dizier, which was not too far from the front lines. After off-loading their cargo of gasoline it was too late to return to Horsham, so the crew stayed the night. On the morning of September 24th, the crew departed from St. Dizier and headed for their home base. They would have been flying low over the approximate route that they had used on the trip the previous day. According to Hudson’'s casualty report, he heard Soesbe say, “"The damn fools are shooting at us!" before the inter-phone was knocked out. The route back to Horsham should have crossed the coast line at the Belgian-Dutch border, but they may have drifted a little to the right of the direct route. Also, there may have been pockets of Germans that did not show up on any flak maps. No one will ever know for sure. Hudson could not contact the flight deck again and flames were apparently going through the fuselage. He bailed out of a waist window, but not before he was badly burned. After he bailed out the ship exploded. All of those empty drop tanks in the bomb bays made the returning planes flying bombs. His parachute apparently was not too badly burned and he landed in an area where he was taken prisoner. His burns were severe enough that he was treated at a German hospital

Born

Clinton, Iowa, USA

Buried

No Known Grave Tablets of the Missing Netherlands American Cemetery

Revisions

Date
Contributor466thHistorian
Changes
Sources

http://www.458bg.com/crewbj21koehn.htm

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 9574 / MACR 9574 & Page 412 in the book 2ND AIR DIVISIONby Turner Publishing Company, 1998 edition (D790.A2S45) & Page 282 of the book LIBERATORS OVER NORWICH by Mackay, Bailry & Scorza, 2010, D790G4582010 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

James A Soesbe: Gallery (1 items)

Object number: UPL 22112 - James Soesbe - Clinton, 458th BG, KIA