James A Hanlon Jr

James;  World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938 - 1946
ARMY SERIAL NUMBER 12010072  NAME HANLON JAMES A JR   RESIDENCE: STATE;  NEW JERSEY: COUNTY;  MONMOUTH  PLACE OF ENLISTMENT  NEWARK NEW JERSEY   DATE OF ENLISTMENT  25 Feb. 1941   PVT# Private  GRADE:  Private  BRANCH: AC# Air Corps   BRANCH;  Air Corps  SOURCE OF ARMY PERSONNEL  Civil Life  NATIVITY  NEW JERSEY  YEAR OF BIRTH 1919  RACE AND CITIZENSHIP  White, citizen  EDUCATION  4 years of high school  CIVILIAN OCCUPATION   Architects    MARITAL STATUS 6 Single, without dependents.

James flew most of (and first) his Combat Missions in the 310th Bomb Group, 380th BS........

JAMES was transferred FROM the 310th Bomb Group, 380th Bomb Squadron TO the 321st BG and 447th BS;

 FIRST mention;  Wednesday, 30 June 1943 (310,380)  Septenber, 1943
22. Back to work we went today. Our objective was the Road Bridge and Switchback just North of Grottaminarda, Italy. It was a highly successful Mission. Due to the intense flak over the target, Lt Hanlon's B-25 was hit with burst of flak. The 3 men in the rear of the ship bailed out. Lt Hanlon however, expertly piloted the stricken bomber to a friendly field. (Special Accounts)
310thBG_380thBS
 On 16 September 1943, 2Lt. James A. Hanlon, Jr.
was a witness to the CRASH of A/C: B-25J 41-13100
P: Charles R Brown; 2Lt., DOW
CP: Samuel M Wells; 1Lt., KIA
B: George W Ash; Sgt., DOW
R: Charlie W Cooper; S/Sgt., RMC
G: Milton H Miller; Sgt., KIA
 *** Shot Down By Enemy Anti-Aircraft Fire ***
16 Sept 1943 A/C Serial Number: 41-13100  MAC Report Number: 718
Location: 3 Miles N E Of Capua, Italy 41°08'; 14°05'   Point Of Departure: New Hall 
Two minutes before reaching the target, Lt. Brown's plane received a direct hit, (burst of flak), in the left inboard wing tank, which immediately caught fire. The plane left the formation under control and dropped about three or four thousand feet. In this time, three men bailed out, but one of the three parachutes failed to open. At an altitude of about six thousand feet, the plane was clearly out of control. An explosion, presumably in the gas tanks was observed. Below this altitude,a wing and the tail section came off the plane, and it spun into the ground. The first three parachutes were the only ones seen to leave the plane.  No one else was believed to have gotten out alive.
Listed Witnesses
1Lt. Joseph S. Weaver, Jr., O-358747
S/Sgt. Jack H. Bixby, 11072102
2Lt. James A. Hanlon, Jr., O-795735
+++++++++++++++

Tuesday, 9 November 1943     447th BS War Diary:No Mission---Today a General Order, Hq. 15th Air Force, dated Nov. 3 came through awarding the Silver Star to S/Sgt. Aage E. Jensen for gallantry in action during a raid July 5.Excerpts form the Order: “…although unprotected from the terrific slipstream and suffering from severe injuries, this non-commissioned officer insisted in remaining at his post. ----His unselfish devotion to duty and personal resourcefulness has upheld the highest traditions of the Army Air Force”.5 officers and 5 E/M were transferred here today from the 310th B.G. They are:Officers: ****1st Lt. J.A. Hanlon**** 2ndLts. R.G. Werner, R.A. Knodle, Lloyd Anderson, and P.I. Blumenfeld.*************************************************************

MISSION 1 in the 447th BS; A/C No.42-32450 “Lumber Wagon” on 14 Nov. 1943

Mission TWO A/C No.41-13175“The Saint Myrtle II” (returned early) 16 Nov. 1943

Mission THREE A/C No.42-32450 “Lumber Wagon” 18 Nov. 1943

FOUR; A/C No.42-64694 “Yankee Girl” 26 Nov. 1943

FIVE; (as 1st Pilot) A/C No.42-64695 27 Nov. 1943

SIX; A/C No.41-13181 “The Sophisticated Lady” 28 Nov. 1943

Hanlon, James A., Jr., 1Lt

Anderson, Lloyd G., 2Lt

Blumenfeld, Philip I., 2Lt

Mercer, William R., S/Sgt

Ennis, Edward Charles “Salvo”, S/Sgt MY DAD/Ed

Armstrong, Robert E., S/Sgt      

AND.......................................

Monday, 29 November 1943   447th BS Mission Summary: (Ops Order 161/mission 160) Group Mission # 162:   Mission to Sarajevo.12 of our ships participated.No e/a encountered.  Flak:heavy, inaccurate.Results:Fair.    A/C 41-13181 "The Sophisticated Lady"

Hanlon, James A., Jr., 1Lt

Drury, Alfred C., 2Lt

Brown, Charles O., Jr., S/Sgt My Dad/Ed's best friend (KIA 2 Dec.1943)

Godwin, Charles D., S/Sgt

Boza, Elmer V., S/Sgt

Kazar, William F., S/Sgt

****************************************************************

Sunday, 2 January 1944

A/C No. 42-32498

Hanlon, James A., Jr., 1Lt

Trevor, Graham J., 1Lt

Nowakowski, Joseph J., 1Lt

Jeffery, James H., PFC

Tracy, Boyd F., T/Sgt

Manning, Hillard J., S/Sgt

Lamoureau, Archille D., Sgt

447th BS War Diary: Sunday, 2 Jan. 1944; The following completed their fiftieth mission today: Capt. E.H. Beeson, Lt. Paiton, *** Lt Hanlon*** and S/Sgt. Funk. Our New Years Day turkey was served today which helped considerable to remove the gloom that had settled over the moral on New Years Day.

*** Hanlon, James A., Jr., Lt, pilot ***

Monday, 3 January 1944

A/C No. 42-64600 Hanlon, James A., Jr., 1Lt Trevor, Graham J., 1Lt None Deane, George J., 1Lt Czabaj, Matthew W., S/Sgt Kaufold, Adolf (NMI)., S/Sgt Schrader, Harold F., S/Sgt

A/C No. 42-64694 P Hanlon, James A., Jr., 1Lt   CP Davidson, James C., 2Lt   N None   B Adcock, Leonard E., 2Lt   E Czabaj, Matthew W., S/Sgt   R Wadlow, Verlin L., S/Sgt   G Crowell, James M., Jr., S/Sgt

****   Friday, 28 January 1944      447th BS War Diary: As per letter XII Hq. dated Jan. 27 the following officers and E/M were assigned for transshipment to the U.S.: 1st Lts. R.F. Halloran, J.P. Lanza, E.P. Mayben, D.W. Thomas, *** J.A. Hanlon*** H.W. Joiner, A.M. Holloway, T/Sgt. R.A. Lotitio, S/Sgts. M.J. Funk, G.P. Werner, E.F. Bartkus, W.R. Henry and F.X. Early.

*** Hanlon, James A., Jr., 1Lt, pilot ***

321st Bomb Group History Team; John T Fitzgerald, Patti Johnson and Barbi Ennis Connolly; (321st BG Historian) PRINCESSBARBI_B25@msn.com

War-story and pictures coming from the de-classified war-diary as well as facts and photo's, documents being supplied from his proud son JAMES

12th Air Force, 57thBombardment Wing
310th Bombardment Group
History: July 1943 
     I have enjoyed reading information about the 310th. My father
James A. Hanlon is listed multiple times as a co-pilot in missions
in July of 1943 and his name is highlighted in "yellow".
      I am in the possession of many of my fathers war records, including his promotion to 1st Lieutenant and the awarding of the Air Medal with multiple clusters.  He also rescued his crew in November, 1943 when he held his bombardier by his ankles to release bombs stuck in the bombay due to flack damage. They were successful and the plane subsequently crashed in Northern Africa.
   Jim Hanlon

********************************** 19 Jan. 2013

    The past several days have been extremely exciting for me as we have begun correspondence about my father

Lt. James Augustus Hanlon Jr.

    I would like to share some personal information with you. I had taken an interest in my father's past military history

when he was admitted to the VA Hospital in Lyons, New Jersey. He had become quite ill due to diabetes that had

grounded him as an American Airlines DC- 3 pilot after the war (note: he was good friends with Lt James Miller

who is listed in the 310ths records). Miller became an Eastern Airlines pilot and both men kept in touch after the war since they resided in the New York area - we actually vacationed together when I was a child).

     It was during that time when I would visit him in the VA, we talked about records I discovered when accumulating information for his admittance to the VA. He had never spoken about those days, but we spent hours together talking about things before it was too late, on my trips home.      I have been a "squirrel" in life carefully preserving family artifacts and information. It am currently creating a Hanlon Family History document which so far dates back to 1784.     Now, I mentioned in my last email that I planned to scan some information and send it to you. I have begun to appreciate the enormity of your effort to preserve material about the great men that fought for our country from the air during WWII. As a result, I would like to share all the records and articles I have about my father. This probably about fifty pages. .... at least fifty documents of my father's including the following: - Headquarters orders awarding the Air Medals at least fifty documents of my father's including the following: - Headquarters orders awarding the Air Medals with Oak leaf Clusters - By Command of Major General Doolittle - Orders from Maxwell Field rating Dad as a pilot - Orders calling him to active duty at Blytheville Army Air Field - Army Air Corp lists of 2nd Lieutenants that graduated with him- A certificate of Pilot Proficiency - Assignment order to the 378th BS, 309 BGr   - His assignments before going overseas. - Flight Check forms   - Squadron assignments of pilots and non-commissioned staff listed by names\  - Individual Flight record documents listing dates, flight duration, aircraft model an mission (combat, local, spare) - 1943 New York area newspaper articles with headlines that read "Madisonian Helped Bring Back Badly Damaged B-25 Bomber".    ***  And the most amazing thing of all *** While my father was in the Lyons VA Hospital, a woman named Ann Weber, took a special liking to my Dad. He was blind, but maintained a special charm, that Ann, who we met, said she could sit and listen to my father talk for hours at a time.    He spoke about his war days as a pilot. She somehow gathered that he was in the overall command of General James Doolittle at one point. She had the tenacity to somehow locate General Doolittle's address in Carmel, California and she wrote to him on behalf of my father.    General Doolittle responded with several letters that I will also share.     It will take me a week to assemble and copy this information. They are mostly xeroxed copies which are sometimes  faded and probably would not scan very well.    Jim Hanlon  - Orders from Maxwell Field rating Dad as a pilot - Orders calling him to active duty at Blytheville Army Air Field - Army Air Corp lists of 2nd Lieutenants that graduated with him - A certificate of Pilot Proficiency - Assignment order to the 378th BS, 309 BGr - His assignments before going overseas. - Flight Check forms - Squadron assignments of pilots and non-commissioned staff listed by names\ - Individual Flight record documents listing dates, flight duration, aircraft model an mission (combat, local, spare)   - 1943 New York area newspaper articles with headlines that read "Madisonian Helped Bring Back Badly Damaged B-25 Bomber".   And the most amazing thing of all -   While my father was in the Lyons VA Hospital, a woman named Ann Weber, took a special liking to my Dad. He was blind, but maintained a special charm, that Ann, who we met, said she could sit and listen to my father talk for hours at a time.   He spoke about his war days as a pilot. She somehow gathered that he was in the overall command of General James Doolittle at one point. She had the tenacity to somehow locate General Doolittle's address in Carmel, California and she wrote to him on behalf of my father.   General Doolittle responded with several letters that I will also share.     It will take me a week to assemble and copy this information. They are mostly xeroxed copies which are sometimes faded and probably would not scan very well.     Jim Hanlon

This is the latest great grandson of Lt. James A Hanlon Jr. PILOT

  The latest family addition arrived at 7:15 p.m. on January 31, 2013 !!

Joshua Andrew Hanlon ( Initials JAH after his grandfather, great grandfather PILOT, great, great grandfather)

8 lbs 4 oz - 19 inches

Particulars:

Labor started around mid-day. Father arrived home shortly after that.
Things started slowly, but by 5:30 p.m. they headed to Providence Hospital, Southfield, MI.

Things got a little crazy after that. It was determined this little guy
had shifted and wanted out feet first! (Former Paratrooper?) That was not in the playbook, so mother was rushed to the OR and he was delivered via C-Section.

He landed just fine, no damage. Mother and son are doing just fine!