My father, Edward O James Jr, was the ball turret gunner on Edgar Hayes' B-17 crew. This picture of my father (2nd from left on front row) might be his crew. The first man on the left looks like Edgar Hayes from other pictures of him on this site. I don't know for sure if it's his crew, but it's possible. The photo was developed in 1945. Why there are only 9 men is unknown, as the crew did have 10 listed.
Cindy Bryan edit, May 21, 2021:
The personnel of the Edgar Hayes crew as assigned to the 384th Bomb Group were:
2nd Lt. Hayes, Edgar Jerome, Jr, Pilot
2nd Lt. Butler, John William, Jr, Co-pilot
1st Lt. Siewers, Richard Joseph, Jr, Navigator
2nd Lt. Burns, Robert Henry, Bombardier
S/SGT. Golas, Matthew Walter, Radio Operator / Gunner
PVT. Summers, Leonard Eugene, Engineer / Top Turret Gunner
PVT. James, Edward Oscar, Jr, Ball Turret Gunner
CPL. Hoechst, Joseph Frederick, Tail Gunner
SGT. Okert, Fred Harry, Jr, Flexible Gunner
CPL. Poore, Eugene F, Flexible Gunner
The photo might contain the entire crew minus one of these men, but without individual identifications, this is just a guess:
S/SGT. Matthew Golas transferred out of the 384th after 15 missions.
CPL. Eugene Poore completed his tour after 6 missions.
Photo contributed by Edward James' son Steve James, 2021.
- Author
- Steve James
- Created on
- Saturday 15 May 2021
- Posted on
- Thursday 20 May 2021
- Dimensions
- 435*279
- File
- Edward James WWII Crew Maybe.jpg
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- 17 KB
- Visits
- 1077
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