Hartley A Westbrook
Military"Iowans of the Mighty Eighth", Chapter 22 "Biographies", by Charles D Taylor.
Shot down 14 May 1943 in B-24 41-24278 'Miss Delores. ' Prisoner of War (POW) imprisoned at Stalag Luft 3.
He graduated from primary training with the film star Jimmy Stewart and continued pilot training (he already held a pilot's license ). In August 1942 he joined the Group at Shipdham and flew his first mission on December 6th 1942 - almost the anniversary of Pearl Harbour. On his 14th mission - that of 14 May 1943 -target Krupp submarine works at Kiel, they were hit by FW 190's and shot down, bailing out into the North Sea. Hap lost consciousness and was later rescued by a Swedish fishing crew who fed him and dressed his wounds before turning him over to the Germans. In January 1945 as the Russians advanced the POWs were marched in freezing conditions for 6 days then loaded into rail cars -destination Nurnburg- before a further march of 80 miles to Moosburg where they were liberated by the advancing Americans.
He remained in the service until 1947 and was active in the Reserves while managing the municipal airport at Guthrie Centre, Iowa. Called back to active duty during the Korean War he afterwards returned to the airport for some 24 years. He also helped organise the Iowa National Guard becoming its chief Pilot. He eventually owned 22 planes and continued in aircraft sales for over fifty years. On June 24 2000 Hap was inducted into the Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame.
Air Medal 2 clusters
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: - Miss Delores
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group 67th Bomb Squadron
Places
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Coon Rapids, Iowa, USA | ||
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
14 May 1943 |
Revisions
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 16558 / MACR 16558 Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol 1 by Bishop & Hey p. 119, 44th BG Roll of Honor and Casualties by Lundy pp.65-67, NARA POW records / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database