Ol'Harry

B-17 NAVIGATOR NEVER FELT HE WAS FLYING ALONE

B-17 pathfinder navigator, 1^st Lieutenant Joseph L. “Joe” Jones, had reason to be upbeat the evening of October 5, 1944, even though he was deep in the heart of the war zone.

NATIVE ALABAMAN JOE JONES LOVES CALLING
ASHEBORO, NC HIS RETIREMENT HOME

First, he learned his wife had delivered their first child 10 days earlier, but neither name nor sex was mentioned. 

Secondly, he was scheduled to fly his 29th combat mission the next day – after 30 missions, he would rotate stateside.

Lastly, he was aware B-17 crews nearing the completion of their tours were often given less hostile targets.

Backtracking a bit, Jones and his freshly-trained crew picked up a new B-17 in Nebraska and flew it to England via the northern route in March, 1944, “We flew over lots of water – as the navigator, I received lots of attention!

It’s just as well that we gave up our new B-17 to a senior crew upon our arrival in England, because the aircraft we flew on our first mission was badly shot up and damaged.  Two or our gunners were wounded and did not fly again.

 

By D-Day, I had been designated as pathfinder navigator.  To insure complete secrecy of the mission, those of us briefed the day before were clustered and could not leave our ward.

On June 6, we bombed Omaha Beach at 6:59 a.m. and returned for a second mission inland that afternoon.

Those were the exceptions -- most of our missions were deep inside Germany – our average mission was over eight hours per run.”

 

Now back to the almost perfect scenario mentioned earlier.  “Actually, it turned into more like a perfect storm.  We were surprised when given Berlin as our target.  It was one of the most fiercely defended.  We had been there twice before, and shot up both times.

As the 11 B-17s in our squadron approached Berlin, we met heavy flak and 75 Luftwaffe fighters.  They made three passes at us and all 11 of our bombers went down.  Our aircraft caught on fire and the bail-out signal was given.  The hatch was jammed when I went to jump so I went back up front to help the bombardier who was yelling for help.

Suddenly, the aircraft exploded.  The bombardier and I were blown from the ship at 31,000 feet.  Even with head, shoulder and leg wounds I regained consciousness at about 12,000 feet.  Miraculously, the Lord had opened my parachute.

The bombardier’s chute had also opened and one gunner had parachuted safely.  The gunner was crying from shock and because his shoes had flown off during the jump.  I told him he could have my extra flight boots, but first we were going to get on our knees and thank the Lord that we survived the explosion – the other seven members of our crew perished.”

Jones was imprisoned with other Allied aviators in Stalag Luft III at Sagan, Poland for several months.  He was actually housed in the north compound, from which The Great Escape had been made earlier.

STALAG LUFT III PERSONAL RECORDS CARD FOR COL JONES

As the Nazis considered Allied aviators valuable for future negotiations, Jones and his peers were moved westward in January, 1945 as the Russians closed in, “At three a.m. we were told the camp would be evacuated in two hours.”

After four prisoner of war camps, three inhumane days on forty & eight rail cars, two forced marches and eight months later, Jones was liberated.  He credits Psalms 91 for surviving his POW experience.

JONES SERVED 33 YEARS DURING WW II, KOREA & VIETNAM

Jones wasn’t quite homeward bound yet, “They needed officers to help round up our enlisted men from forced labor camps scattered over the area.  We gutted a cheese factory and manufacturing plant to provide temporary housing – they deemed our food and hastily constructed bunk beds to be luxurious.”

On June 8, 1945 Jones arrived in Boston and called home.  He learned his first child was a daughter, and her name was Glenda, “My family wrote often about her and sent me packages but nothing got through.  I wrote them several cards and letters but they only received one postcard, notifying them I was a POW.”

Jones’ illustrious Army career spanned 33 years and three wars.  Among his personal awards are three Legions of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross and Purple Heart.  He retired in 1975 as a colonel, and now resides in Asheboro.

Saved at the age of 12, Jones remains a strong man of faith at 93.  He helped start Raleigh’s Providence Baptist Church in 1978 and Cary’s Colonial Baptist Church in 1987.

COL JONES' "BRAG BOARD" IS IMPRESSIVE -- THREE LEGIONS OF MERIT,
DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS, PURPLE HEART

Not that he needs help, but his wives may have helped him keep his faith.  After losing his first wife after 69 years of marriage, he married Betty McDowell.  Her father and grandfather were pastors, as are her son, grandson and brother-in-law.