We are currently working on a site-wide upgrade which will be completed in September 2022
You will not be able to search, add or edit information in the American Air Museum archive while this takes place.
You can find out more about our plans here
Military
A bomber crew of the 322nd Bomb Group with their B-26 Marauder (serial number 41-31773) nicknamed "Flak Bait" celebrate their aircraft's 200th mission. Image via Peter Dole From left to right, standing Col. John S Samuel (322nd BG CO) - co-pilot Capt. William G Fort - pilot T/Sgt. William J Hess - tail gunner sitting 1st Lt. William D Brearly - bombardier T/Sgt. Cecil Fisher - radio operator/gunner T/Sgt. Kenneth Locke - engineer/gunner 1st Lt. Arthur D Perkins
"Lt. Personeus and crew of the 305th Bomb Group based in England, shown beside their Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, "Nora 2nd". 28 May 1943." Rear L-R: 1st Lt. Lester Personeus Jr, F/O Charles J. Harpool, Lt Norbert A. Zwycke, Lt Wiiliam J. Byrd, T/Sgt William C. Reese Jr. Front L-R: Sgt Roger M. Link, Sgt James O. Gillespie, Sgt George W. James, Sgt William J. Hess, Sgt Euel Jenkins.
"Lt. Personeus and crew of the 305th Bomb Group, are shown beside a B-17 "Flying Fortress" 'Nora 2'. 20 August 1943. England." Rear L-R: 1st Lt. Lester Personeus Jr, F/O Charles J. Harpool, Lt Norbert A. Zwicke, Lt Wiiliam J. Byrd, T/Sgt William C. Reese Jr. Front L-R: Sgt Roger M. Link, Sgt James O. Gillespie, Unkn, Sgt George W. James, Sgt William J. Hess, Sgt Euel Jenkins.
"Crew of the 96th Bomb Group* pose beside their Boeing B-17 'Kipling's Error The III'** at an 8th Air Force base in England. 29 June 1943." *Actually 305th Bomb Group **Actually 'Nora 2nd' Crew are - 1st Lt. Lester Personeus Jr, F/O Charles J. Harpool, Lt Norbert A. Zwycke, Lt Wiiliam J. Byrd, T/Sgt William C. Reese Jr, Sgt Roger M. Link, Sgt James O. Gillespie, Sgt George W. James, Sgt William J. Hess, Sgt Euel Jenkins.
Assigned to 364BS, 305BG, 8AF USAAF. Completed tour of duty. Returned to ETO with the 449BS, 322BG, 9AF USAAF until July 1945 [Documents accompany database form]
Awards: DFC, AM (4OLC), GC, WWII Victory, EAME, DUC.
Military | Colonel | Pilot | 305th Bomb Group Can Do
Assigned to 422BS, 305BG, 8AF USAAF. 25 x combat missions ETO. Ended tour Duty (ETD). Went on to complete 23 x combat missions on B-29's in the pacific.
Awards: DFC (2OLC), AM (6OLC), WWII Victory, EAME.
Group
The 305th Bombardment Group (Heavy), nicknamed "Can Do" was activated 1-March-1942 at Salt Lake City Air Base, Utah which was their primary training base until 11-Jun-1942 when they relocated to Geiger Field, Washington until 29-Jun-1942, then on to...
Group
The 322nd Bombardment Squadron (Medium) was activated on 19-Jun-1942 at MacDill Field, Florida with B-26B Marauder aircraft. In late September 1942 the unit moved to Drane Field, Florida. The Ground echelon sailed for the UK aboard the Queen Elizabeth...
Squadron
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 31/12/42; Salina 10/1/43; Morrison 5/3/43; Brookley 8/3/43; Assigned 369BS/306BG Thurleigh 24/3/43; transferred 422BS/305BG [JJ-L] Chelveston 10/43; then to 545BS/384BG [JD-U] Grafton Underwood 6/11/43; returning from Bremen 13/12/43...
B-26 Marauder
Assigned to 449BS, 322BG, 9AF USAAF. During the course of its service life of 207 missions, with bombing runs over France, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany, it was perforated with over 1000 holes, twice returned with only one engine operating, once...
Military site : airfield
The base was known as Great Saling when construction – by US Army engineers – began in 1942 but was renamed Andrews Field in honour of the memory of Gen. Frank M. Andrews, who was killed when the B-24 he was travelling in crash-landed in Iceland on 3...
Military site : airfield
Chelveston was adapted and expanded in preparation for the arrival of American forces. Rather than heavy bombers, the first aircraft to fly from its runways were C-47 Skytrains that were flown by the 60th Troop Carrier Group in July 1942. The first...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Pittsfield, Massachusetts | 12 June 1920 |
|
Son Xavier Francis Hess and Louise A [Michel] Hess. |
||
| Enlisted | Springfield, MA | 7 January 1942 |
|
Springfield, Massachusetts |
||
| Based | Chelveston | 1944 – 1944 |
|
Assigned to 364BS, 305BG, 8AF USAAF. |
||
| Based | Andrews Field | 1945 – July 1945 |
|
Assigned to 449BS, 322BG, 9AF USAAF. |
||
| Died | Tuczon, AZ | 29 October 2013 |
| Buried | Evergreen Memorial Park, Tucson, Pima County, AZ | 31 October 2013 |
|
Evergreen Memorial Park |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 08 October 2019 19:16:42 | Al_Skiff | Changes to events and media associations |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/record/83363568-william-j-hess |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 08 October 2019 19:15:17 | Al_Skiff | Changes to middlename, nickname, biography, awards, events, person associations, unit associations, place associations and aircraft associations |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/record/83363568-william-j-hess |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:28:18 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / self |
||
