John Henry Embach
Military10-Jul-42 Asssigned as Navaigator of B-17F 41-24567 [PU-J] "Beats Me", 303BG/360BS at Alamogordo Field, Alamogordo, New Mexico. 16-Oct-42 Arrived at Molesworth, UK aboard "Beats Me."
On 23-Jan-43 in B-17F 41-24567 "Beats Me" while serving as Navigator the aircraft was struck by a bomb dropped from above while attacking the port area of Lorient, France. 2Lt Embach was able to parachute safely from the stricken aircraft and was captured. Prisoner of War (POW).
Participated in 9 Operations (2 were aborted) with the 303BG/360BS. See Biography events.
Captain Embach served during the Korean War. He was the pilot of a B-26B Invader bomber with the 90th Bomber Squadron, 3rd Bomber Wing. On May 24, 1952, while on a night intruder mission at "Purple Four", there was an explosion aboard the aircraft, killing two crew members. His remains were recovered.
Captain Embach was awarded the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
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-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Ooold Soljer
- Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Beats Me
- Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Yardbird II
- Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
Missions
- Date: 23 January 1943
- Date: 13 January 1943
- Date: 3 January 1943
- Date: 30 December 1942
- Official Description:
- Date: 20 December 1942
- Official Description:
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Detroit, Michigan, USA | 28 March 1920 | |
Other Assigned to Aircraft |
Alamogordo, NM 88310, USA | 10 July 1942 | Assigned as Navigator on B-17F 41-24567 "Beats Me", 303BG/360BS at Alamogordo Field, Alamogordo, New Mexico. |
Other Arrived in UK |
Molesworth, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28, UK | 16 October 1942 | Arrived at Molesworth, UK as Navigator aboard B-17F 42-24567 "Beats Me", 303BG/360BS |
Other Mission #1, 2LT John H. Embach, w/B-17F 41-24559, 303BG/360BS |
Saint-Nazaire, France | 17 November 1942 | Served as Navigator of B-17F 41-24559 "Ooold Soljer", 303BG/360BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France. RTB OK. |
Other Mission #2, 2LT John H. Embach, w/B-17F 41-24559, 303BG/360BS |
Saint-Nazaire, France | 18 November 1942 | Served as Navigator of B-17F 41-24559 "Ooold Soljer", 303BG/360BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France. RTB OK. |
Other Mission #5, 2LT John H. Embach, w/B-17F 41-24567, 303BG/360BS |
Romilly-sur-Seine, France | 20 November 1942 | Served as Navigator of B-17F 41-24567 "Beats Me", 303BG/360BS on a mission to bomb the German air depot at Romilly-sur-Seine, France. RTB OK. |
Other Mission #3, 2LT John H. Embach, w/B-17F 41-24602, 303BG/360BS |
Lorient, France | 22 November 1942 | Served as Navigator of B-17F 41-24602 "Yardbird II", 303BG/360BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at Lorient, France, RTB OK. |
Other Mission #4, 2LT John H. Embach, w/B-17F 41-24567, 303BG/360BS - Aborted |
Lille, France | 6 December 1942 | Served as Navigator of B-17F 41-24567 "Beats Me", 303BG/360BS on a mission to bomb the carriage and wagon works at Lille, France, but mechanical failures forced the pilot to abort the sortie. RTB OK. |
Other Mission #5, 2LT John H. Embach, w/B-17F 41-24567, 303BG/360BS - Aborted |
Romilly-sur-Seine, France | 20 December 1942 | Served as Navigator of B-17F 41-24567 "Beats Me", 303BG/360BS on a mission to bomb the German air depot at Romilly-sur Seine, France. RTB OK. |
Other Mission #6, 2LT John H. Embach, w/B-17F 41-24567, 303BG/360BS - Aborted |
Lorient, France | 30 December 1942 | Served as Navigator of B-17F 41-24567 "Beats Me", 303BG/360BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at Lorient, France, but mechanical failures forced the pilot to abort the sortie. RTB OK. |
Other Mission #7, 2LT John H. Embach, w/B-17F 41-24567, 303BG/360BS |
Saint-Nazaire, France | 3 January 1943 | Served as Navigator of B-17F 41-24567 "Beats Me", 303BG/360BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at St Nazaire, France. RTB OK. |
Other Mission #8, 2LT John H. Embach, w/B-17F 41-24559, 303BG/360BS |
Lille, France | 13 January 1943 | Served as Navigator of B-17F 41-24559 "Ooold Soljer", 303BG/360BS on a mission to bomb the Lille Fives Locomotive Works at Lille, France. RTB OK. |
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Moosburg, Germany | 23 January 1943 - 10 August 1945 | Held at Stalag 7A, Moosburg, Bavaria. Last report date 10-Aug-45. (Discharged) |
Other Mission #9, 2LT John H. Embach, w/B-17F 41-24567, 303BG/360BS - POW |
Lorient, France | 23 January 1943 | Served as Navigator of B-17F 41-24567 "Beats Me", 303BG/360BS on a mission to bomb the U-Boat pens at Lorient, France. The aircraft was struck by a bomb from above but he managed to bale out and was captured as a Prisoner of War (POW) |
Other Killed in Action |
23 May 1952 | While on active service in Korea. | |
Tempe, AZ, USA | |||
Buried |
Golden Gate National Cemetery, 1300 Sneath Lane, San Bruno, CA 94006, USA | Plot: Section R, Site 288 |
Revisions
Lee Cunningham 14-Feb-2016. Added Mission #9 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 23-Jan-43: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/011.pdf
Lee Cunningham 14-Feb-2016. Added Mission #8 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 13-Jan-43: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/010.pdf
Lee Cunningham 14-Feb-2016. Added Mission #7 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 3-Jan-43: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/009.pdf
Lee Cunningham 14-Feb-2016. Added Mission #6 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 30-Dec-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/008.pdf
Lee Cunningham 14-Feb-2016. Added Mission #5 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 20-Dec-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/007.pdf
Lee Cunningham 14-Feb-2016. Added Mission #5 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 20-Dec-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/007.pdf
Lee Cunningham 14-Feb-2016. Added Mission #4 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 6-Dec-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/005.pdf
Lee Cunningham 14-Feb-2016. Added Mission #3 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 22-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/003.pdf
Lee Cunningham 14-Feb-2016. Added Mission #2 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 18-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/002.pdf
Lee Cunningham 14-Feb-2016. Added Mission #1 event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Mission Report of 17-Nov-42: http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/001.pdf
Lee Cunningham 14-Feb-2016. Added Arrived in UK event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Louis M. Schulstad crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-360-schulstad.html
Lee Cunningham 14-Feb-2016. Added Assigned to Aircraft event per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Louis M. Schulstad crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-360-schulstad.html
Lee Cunningham 14-Feb-2016. Added initial assigment and arrival in UK info to Summary Biography; Made connections to Aircraft and Missions per 303BG website, Gary Moncur, Historian, Louis M. Schulstad crew page: http://www.303rdbg.com/c-360-schulstad.html
Lee Cunningham 11-Feb-2015. Added Middle name of Henry to entry per MACR 15571 to resolve DUPLICATE Problem.
Lee Cunningham 21-Jan-2015 Includes data 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 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database during the original data ingest.
Lee Cunningham 21-Jan-2015. Corrected aircraft association from original data ingest per MACR 15571.
Lee Cunningham 21-Jan-2015. Made connections to Place and Mission within existing website data; Added POW event per National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database; crafted a new Biography per "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE, added SN, decoration and crew position per MACR 15571 and 303rd Bomb Group website crew list, Gary Moncur, historian.
381st Bomb Group Memorial Assoiciation, March 1999; MACR 1873, 8th AF Losses / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 1873 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database