In WWII Joseph Eldred Slattery Jr., the son of Joe Sr. and Margaret Slattery, flew B17s over Germany and was killed in action. In the early days of the European Campaign these bombing runs were carried out with no fighter protection past a certain point. He held his ship, which was on fire, steady to enable his crew to bail before he left the craft.

The following article about Joe Slattery Jr.’s service in WW II appeared in the Shreveport paper and was based on a letter a crewmate sent to Joe Slattery’s family in 1945, after the war.

Joseph E. Slattery Jr. was an 8th Air Force pilot killed when his plane was shot down over Germany on June 22, 1943. Joseph E. Slattery III forwarded the following letter to the paper that the family received from a crewmate in 1945.

“We had just reached the German coast when we were attacked by 15 German fighters. The eighth one hit us with cannon shells in the wing and in the nose behind me. The shell set the interior of the nose on fire. I went back between the pilot seats, told Joe that the ship was on fire and we had better bail out. I passed out from lack of oxygen before I could I could jettison the hatch. I fell forward on the door and fell through. My chute by chance caught on the door and was jerked open. I was unconscious most of the way down. I was taken to a Catholic hospital where a priest told me that Joe had landed in his parachute and that he was brought into the hospital and died from burns an hour after he entered. Joe stuck to his post in order to give his crew enough time to bail out. He was one of the bravest and most courageous pilots I have ever known.”

Detail that was sent to me by the 91st Bombardment Group of the 8th Air Force indicated that this was Joe’s 9th bombing run and his first as the pilot of his plane.

A report by the 8th Army Air Corps on the bombing run where he gave his life:

Remarks: - One of the most accurate attacks of the war. Target completely washed out. Photographs of bombs bursting on target and billowing smoke were one of the pictures of the war. Weather 5/10 to 8/10. Enemy air opposition was by far the worst yet experienced by this group, between 150 and 175 E/A (enemy aircraft) attacked. Nearly all were FW 190 with a few ME 109s and two JU 88s reported. Encounters lasted one hour fifteen minutes and some crews reported as many as fifty attacks. Attacks came from all sides. Flak at target was intense, accurate and a barrage type.



Shot down 22 June 1943 in B-17 #4229998. Killed in Action (KIA).

Buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery

Plot A Row 43 Grave 46

Neupré, Belgium