Joseph E Haas

Military ROLL OF HONOUR
First Lieutenant Joe Haas of the 303rd Bomb Group, waves from the cockpit window of his B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-24458) nicknamed "Hunga Dunga". Passed as censored Jan 25 1943. Handwritten caption on reverse: '41-24458.' Printed caption on reverse: 'How The Boys Live And Work At Flying Fortress Station In England. Wide World Photo Shows:- 1st Lieut. Joe Haas, 1190 Meredith Avenue, San Jose, Cal., waves from pilot's cockpit of his Fortress, "Hunga Dunga", before taking off. WW/ALA. 26-1-43.' media-407625.jpg FRE 4239 First Lieutenant Joe Haas of the 303rd Bomb Group, waves from the cockpit window of his B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-24458) nicknamed "Hunga Dunga". Passed as censored Jan 25 1943. Handwritten caption on reverse: '41-24458.' Printed caption on reverse: 'How The Boys Live And Work At Flying Fortress Station In England. Wide World Photo Shows:- 1st Lieut. Joe Haas, 1190 Meredith Avenue, San Jose, Cal., waves from pilot's cockpit of his Fortress, "Hunga Dunga", before taking off. WW/ALA. 26-1-43.' On reverse: Ministry of Information, Associated Press, US Army Press Censor ETO and US Army General Section Press & Censorship Bureau [Stamps]. Roger Freeman Collection

IWM, Roger Freeman Collection

Object Number - FRE 4239 - First Lieutenant Joe Haas of the 303rd Bomb Group, waves from the cockpit window of his B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-24458) nicknamed...

1LT Joseph E. Haas was assigned as Pilot of B-17F 41-24558 [VJ:F] "Hunga Dunga", 303BG/358BS on 10-Sep-42 at Kellog Field, Battle Creek, Michigan. He arrived with the aircraft at Molesworth, UK on 16-Oct-42. He flew B-17F 41-24558 on 6 Operations - 1 Aborted. On 23-Jan-43 he was assigned to fly B-17F 41-24567 [PU:J] "Beats Me", 303BG/360BS, his seventh operation, and was Killed in Action (KIA). (See Biography events).



23 January 1943 - Killed in Action (KIA) in B-17F 41-24567 "Beats Me" while serving as Pilot. Aircraft was struck by a bomb dropped from above and crashed into the woods at Bois de Queronic, near Pluvinger, France.

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

Official emblem of the 303rd Bomb Group approved 7 November 1942.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Hunga Dunga
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 358th Bomb Squadron
Sergeant Peter Soria of the 303rd Bomb Group swings the propellor of a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-24567) nicknamed "Beats Me!?". Image stamped on reverse: ‘Copyright Current Affairs Ltd.’ [stamp], ‘Passed for Publication 16 Dec 1942. [stamp] and ‘238766.’ [Censor no.] Printed caption on reverse: 'Naturally most U.S. boys in Britain wish they were back home and Sergt. Peter Soria of the U.S. Air Corps is no exception. He sends a message to that effect to his home at 172 and Hoyne Aven
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Beats Me
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Other

Assigned to Unit

Battle Creek, MI, USA 10 September 1942 Assigned as Pilot of B-17F 41-24558 "Hunga Dunga", 303BG/358BS at Kellog Field, Battle Creek, Michigan.

Other

Arrived at Station

Molesworth, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28, UK 16 October 1942 Arrived at Molesworth, UK with B-17F 42-44558 " Hunga Dunga", 303BG/358BS.

Other

Mission #1 1LT Joseph E. Haas w/B-17F 41-24558, 303BG/358BS - Aborted

Saint-Nazaire, France 17 November 1942 Served as Pilot in B-17F 41-24558 "Hunga Dunga", 303BG/358BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France, but mechanical failures forced him to abort the mission (RTB OK).

Other

Mission #2 1LT Joseph E. Haas w/B17-F 41-24558, 303BG/358BS

18 November 1942 Served as Pilot in B-17F 41-24558 "Hunga Dunga", 303BG/358BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France (RTB OK).

Other

Mission #3 1LT Joseph E. Haas w/B-17F 41-24558, 303BG/358BS

Saint-Nazaire, France 23 November 1942 Served as Pilot in B-17F 41-24558 "Hunga Dunga", 303BG/358BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France (RTB OK).

Other

Mission #4 1LT Joseph E. Haas w/B-17F 41-24558, 303BG/358BS

Rouen, France 12 December 1942 Served as Co-Pilot in B-17F 41-24558 "Hunga Dunga", 303BG/358BS on a mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Roeun, France. MAJ Clemens K. Wurzbach, Commanding Officer, 358BS was the Command Pilot (RTB OK)

Other

Mission #5 1LT Joseph E. Haas w/B-17F 41-24558, 303BG/358BS

Romilly-sur-Seine, France 20 December 1942 Served as Pilot in B-17F 41-24558 "Hunga Dunga", 303BG/358BS on a mission to bomb the German air depot at Romilly-sur-Seine, France (RTB OK).

Other

Mission #6 1LT Joseph E. Haas w/B-17F 41-24558, 303BG/358BS

Lille, France 13 January 1943 Served as Pilot in B-17F 41-24558 "Hunga Dunga", 303BG/358BS on a mission to bomb the Fives Company Locomotive Works at Lille, France (RTB OK).

Other

Mission #7 1LT Joseph E. Haas w/B-17F 41-24567, 303BG/360BS KIA

Lorient, France 23 January 1943 Served as Pilot of B-17F 41-24567 "Beats Me", 303BG/360BS on a mission to bomb the port areas of Lorient, France. Aircraft was struck by bomb from above and crashed. He was Killed in Action (KIA)

Buried

Rock Island, IL, USA The remains of all 7 of the KIA crew members were recovered from their burial locations near the crashed site and were repatriated after the war for a Group Burial at the Rock Island National Cemetery, Rock Island, Illinois.

Other

Killed in Action (KIA)

Pluvigner, France 23 January 1943 Killed when aircraft was struck by a bomb dropped from above and crashed into the woods at Bois de Queronic, near Pluvinger, France.

Revisions

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 5-Dec-2015. Corrected last mission nuber to #7 and added burial location per "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces", Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE.

Date
Contributorjmchristel
Changes
Sources

added aircraft connection

Date
Contributorjmchristel
Changes
Sources

corrected awards

Date
Contributorjmchristel
Changes
Sources

removed one award

Date
Contributorjmchristel
Changes
Sources

added one additional award

Date
Contributorjmchristel
Changes
Sources

Together We Served profile

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 20-Aug-2015. Added Mission #7 event per 303BG website Mission Report of 23-Jan-43, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/011.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 20-Aug-2015. Added Mission #6 event per 303BG website Mission Report of 13-Jan-43, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/010.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 20-Aug-2015. Added Mission #5 event per 303BG website Mission Report of 20-Dec-42, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/007.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 20-Aug-2015. Added Mission #4 event per 303BG website Mission Report of 12-Dec-42, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/006.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 20-Aug-2015. Added Mission #3 event per 303BG website Mission Report of 23-Nov-42, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/004.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 20-Aug-2015. Added Mission 32 event per 303BG website Mission Report of 18-Nov-42, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/002.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 20-Aug-2015. Added Mission #1 event per 303BG website Mission Report of 17-Nov-42, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/001.pdf

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 20-Aug-2015. Added Operation participation information to Summary Biography per 3O3BG website crew page of 1LT Joseph E. Hass, Gary Moncur, Historian: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-358-haas.html; Added Assigned to Unit and Arrived at Station events per: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-358-haas.html.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 21-Jan-2015. Made connections to Place and Mission within existing website data; Added KIA description Burial description and Biography narrative per "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE, also reference MACR 15571.

Date
ContributorJenny
Changes
Sources

Info from RFC caption

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 15571 / MACR 15571,Losses of the 8th and 9th AFs by Bishop and Hey Vol. 1 p. 65 , Roster / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

Joseph E Haas: Gallery (1 items)