John T Cooper Jr | American Air Museum in Britain

"Lt Taub and crew of the 358th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group, beside a Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress". England, 1 February 1945." Rear L-R: 2Lt Francis R Taub, 2Lt John T Cooper Jr, 2Lt Charles Peckham Johnson Front R-L: S/Sgt Warren F Chrisman, Sgt James Paul Spencer, Sgt James L. Hollowell, S/Sgt Chester Stanley Maluchnik, S/Sgt Michael A Dugan Jr, Sgt Elmer D McWilliams

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Assigned to 358BS, 303BG, 8AF USAAF. 18 x combat missions. Failed to Return (FTR) Hamburg in B-17 43-39160; Shot down by ME262's, crashed near Westerade on 20-Mar-45 Held A/C level along with pilot for crew to bale out, last seen on catwalk to escape hatch. Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 13569

Awards: PH.

See more at : http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/341.pdf

Service

People

Francis Taub

Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 303rd Bomb Group
Assigned to 358BS, 303BG, 8AF USAAF. 19 x combat missions. Failed to Return (FTR) Hamburg in B-17 43-39160; Shot down by ME262's, crashed near Westerade on 20-Mar-45 Held A/C level for crew to bale out, last seen on catwalk to escape hatch before spin....

Units served with

8th Air Force

Eighth Air Force Bomber Command became the Eighth Air Force on February 1944, it oversaw bombardment of strategic targets in Europe until 1945. ...
303rd Bomb Group

Group
The 303rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated on 3-Feb-1942 at Pendleton Field, Oregon. They assembled at Gowen Field, Idaho on 11-February 1942 where it conducted flight training until 12-Jun-1942. The Group then moved to Alamogordo Field, New...
358th Bomb Squadron

Squadron

Aircraft

42-97557 "Mercy's Madhouse"

B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 20/12/43; 1SAG Langley 12/1/44; Mitchell 15/1/44; Assigned 482BG (H2X) Alconbury 5/2/44; transferred 422NLS/305BG [JJ-S] Chelveston 20/3/44; 544BS/384BG [SU-X] Grafton Underwood 4/8/44; 358BS/303BG [VK-X] Molesworth 8/44; landing...
43-39160

B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Lincoln 23/12/44; Grenier 3/1/44; Assigned 358BS/303BG [VK-G] Molesworth 4/2/45; Missing in Action Hamburg 20/3/45 with Francis Taub, John Cooper, Elmer McWilliams (3 Killed in Action); Chas Johnson, Mike Dugan, Warren Chrisman, Chester...

Missions

898

20 March 1945
Narrative - Official Air Force Mission Description ...

Associated Place

Molesworth

Military site : airfield
Molesworth was one of the early stations used by the Eighth Air Force in the UK, first occupied by the 15th Bomb Squadron’s Douglas Bostons in June 1942. Built in 1940 and extended and improved in 1942, Molesworth is most associated with the 303rd...

Events

Event	Location	Date
Born	Memphis, Tennessee, USA	23 September 1923
Son of John T Snr and Julia A Cooper.
Enlisted	Mempis, TN	5 December 1942
Based	Molesworth	1944 – 20 March 1945
Assigned to 358BS, 303BG, 8AF USAAF.
Died	Westerade, Germany	20 March 1945
Failed to Return (FTR) Hamburg in B-17 43-39160; Shot down by ME262's, crashed near Westerade on 20-Mar-45 KIA MACR 13569
Buried	Calvary Cemetery, Memphis, TN	1948
Re-Interred Calvary Cemetery Memphis, Shelby County, TN

Date	Contributor	Update
21 February 2019 12:48:06	Al_Skiff	Changes to service number, biography and events
Sources
https://www.fold3.com/image/41997331 https://www.fold3.com/record/90514212-john-t-cooper-jr https://www.fold3.com/image/310763347?rec=299396243 https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/157471053/john-t-cooper
Date	Contributor	Update
19 February 2019 21:38:41	Al_Skiff	Changes to service number, person associations, unit associations, place associations, aircraft associations and mission associations
Sources
Key Image ID.
Date	Contributor	Update
25 March 2015 15:52:21	general ira snapsorter	Changes to biography
Sources
Merged information from duplicate record to include details Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 13569 / MACR 6541
Date	Contributor	Update
25 March 2015 15:50:43	general ira snapsorter	Changes to surname, middlename, suffix, service number and events
Sources
Merged information from duplicate entry to include details from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 13569 / MACR 6541 Correction to surname and suffix. Updates to biography from details at : http://www.303rdbg.com
Date	Contributor	Update
27 September 2014 18:16:43	AAM	AAM ingest
Sources
MACR 13569 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database