Joseph W Jennings
MilitaryPyote Air Base, Texas - September 1943
Front Row (L-R)
1 John Daly, Pilot
2 Robert Koerber, Copilot
3 William Evans, Navigator
4 Joseph Jennings, Bombardier
Back Row (L-R) - Gunners
1 Omer "Lyle" Young
2 Frank Hearne
3 John MacCallum
4 Adriel "Wayne" Langendoerfer
5 Howard Polizzo
6 Harvey Tuber
This ten-man crew earned the Air Medal on their second mission -- Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, where they bombed a Messerschmidt airplane factory.
edited to correct proper spelling of Pyote and generated link to it in "places".
Joe Jennings served as a bombardier and navigator with the 525th Bomb Squadron of the 379th Bomb Group, flying missions out of Kimbolton, England. While Joe is at Alconbury receiving Radar training, he learns about the crash of April 11 that kills John Daly's crew. Only Bill Evans, the navigator, survives. Joe could never talk about the crash and the death of his friends. He completed 35 missions in 3 months, 18 days.
When he returned stateside, Joe served as a Bombardier Instructor at Big Spring, Texas for the remainder of the War.
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
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 379th Bomb Group 525th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-805776
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 379th Bomb Group 525th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-694353
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 379th Bomb Group 525th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 35579373
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 379th Bomb Group 525th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 15103734 / O-692968
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 379th Bomb Group 525th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 37406828
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Tenny Belle
- Unit: 379th Bomb Group 525th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 379th Bomb Group 525th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Just So, Patches
- Unit: 379th Bomb Group 526th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 4 July 1944
- Date: 29 June 1944
- Date: 25 June 1944
- Official Description:
- Date: 21 June 1944
- Official Description:
- Date: 20 June 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Rattlesnake Bomber Base
- Site type: Military site
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico | 6 January 1914 | 5'4" tall, 115 pounds, dark complexion. Joe was born to American citizens in Acapulco, Mexico. He grew up in San Francisco, California. |
Other Based |
Pyote, TX, USA | 23 September 1943 - 8 December 1943 | John Daly's crew trains at Pyote Air Base in Texas. The group pictures of the crew were taken here. They pose in front of a B-17 in their flight jackets. They sit on a wall, smiling at us. |
Based |
Kimbolton, UK | 20 February 1944 - 20 February 1944 | Daly's Crew is assigned to the 379th Bomb Group, 525th Squadron. |
Based |
Alconbury | 21 February 1944 - 30 April 1944 | Joe is transferred to Radar School with the Pathfinders 428 at Alconbury. At the end of the six weeks, the Pathfinders is dissolved, and the new Navigators will take a radar plane back to their unit.Joe learns about the crash of April 11, which kills Daly's crew. Only Bill, the navigator, survives. Joe could never talk about the crash and the death of his friends. |
Based |
Kimbolton | 1 May 1944 - 28 July 1944 | Joe returns to the 379th and flies as bombardier or navigator in May. He earns four decorations. In June he completes 17 missions. His last flight is on July 4, 1944. Joe completed 35 missions in 3 months, 18 days. |
Died |
5 August 2005 | Joe passed away in Roseville, California, at the age of 91. | |
Other Based |
Snettisham, King's Lynn PE31 7LS, UK | 19 February 1944 | AFB 172, Snettingsham, England. Daly's crew receives intensive gunnery training. The men become proficient in the .50-caliber from all positions on the plane. |
Revisions
Added locations to events and biography from information in events fields.
379th Bombardment Group (H) Anthology, 1942-45; p. 161. / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia