1Lt. Edwin Cornelius Booth, Jr. (Serial Number 0-767471) was born on 26 September 1923 in Seattle, Kings County, Washington. He was the only son of Edwin C. Booth, Sr. (1891-1973), who had been born in Washington, and Marie Louise Reames (1885-1975), originally from Minnesota. The elder Mr. Booth, a veteran of World War I, had served overseas from 11 December 1917 to 9 May 1919 and was wounded. He and Marie Louise married on 12 August 1921 at the First Presbyterian Church, Seattle.

In 1930, the Booth family lived at 4029 Burke Avenue. Edwin, Sr. was an electrician, Marie a housewife. Ten years later when the 1940 US Federal Census was conducted, the family still lived at the same address, but Edwin, Sr. was now employed as stage manager at the Civic Auditorium. Young Edwin, age 16, was a student at Lincoln High School.

After high school, Edwin, Jr. worked at Associated Shipyards. On June 30, 1942, he registered for the draft at Local Draft Board No. 4 on Harrison Street to register for the draft. According to his Draft Registration Card, he was 6 feet, 2 inches tall, and weighed 165 pounds; he had blue eyes, brown hair, and a light complexion.

By November 1942, he had enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was assigned to the 390th Bombardment Group (H), 571st Bombardment Squadron, which flew B-17s (Flying Fortresses) from the airfield at Framlingham, Suffolk, England, from July 1943 through the end of the war in Europe.

One of the major areas of focus for the Allies in 1944 was the area around Merseburg, Germany. The factories and oil refineries at this location were part of Germany’s synthetic fuel industry. Destruction of the refinery and subsequent loss of refined petroleum products were essential if the Nazis were to be defeated. But the heavily fortified area was one of the most protected in Germany.

On 30 November 1944, 1Lt. Edwin Booth, pilot of “Da Joker” (B-17 #4337519), along with eight crew members, took off on a mission to destroy the Leuna Oil Refinery near Merseburg. It was the 13th combat mission for the young lieutenant.

As “Da Joker” approached Merseburg, it was hit by anti-aircraft fire. According to the Individual Casualty Questionnaire included in Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) No. 111333, the last time anyone saw 1Lt. Booth was in “Da Joker” where he was struggling to extinguish the flames. Since the plane was still carrying its full load of bombs, when it crashed, it exploded. Twenty-one-year-old 1Lt. Booth was killed, as were 2nd Lt Quentin Lyle Davidson (co-pilot); Sergeant Joseph Jackson (ball turret gunner); and Staff Sergeant John Edward Walsh (top turret gunner).

Four other crew members – 2nd Lt. Herbert Gates (bombardier), Staff Sergeant William Long (radio operator), Sergeant Anthony Morreale (waist gunner), and Sergeant Bruce Greeno (tail gunner) – parachuted out, were captured, and held as prisoners of war. For some time, Flight Officer Abraham Elhai (navigator) was thought to have survived, but, sadly, his family received a Finding of Death determination in the late 1940s.

In December 1944, 1Lt. Edwin Booth’s body, along with the bodies of Quentin Davidson; Joseph Jackson; and John Walsh were buried in the cemetery at Zwickau, Saxony, Germany (main section IV/XI, Graves 15 -- 18). Four years later, Edwin Booth, Sr. applied for a bronze marker for his son’s grave. The body of 1Lt. Edwin C. Booth, Jr., was returned to the U.S.A. and re-interred in Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park, Seattle.

Booth’s parents went on to live long lives. His mother died on 14 May 1975 at age 90; his father, the WWI veteran, passed away on 22 June 1973, at age 82. They, too, are buried in Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park.

_This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see _www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold 3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen’s name and read his/her story.

SOURCES

https://390th.org. Information on the 390th Bomb Group.
www.airforcemag.com. “Twenty Missions in Hell,” by Rebecca Grant, published 1 April 2007.
www.ancestry.com. Application for Grave Marker; 1930 and 1940 US Federal Census; Casualty Roster Listing 1Lt. Edwin C. Booth; Draft Registration Card for Edwin C. Booth, Jr.; 1921 Marriage Certificate for Edwin C. Booth, Sr. and Marie Louise Reames; Possible high school photo of Edwin C. Booth (Lincoln High School).
www.findagrave.com. Photo of Grave Marker in Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park. Photo of Grave Marker and Transcription of Death Notice for Marie Louise Booth, originally published in The Seattle Times, 19 May 1975, page 36.
www.fold3.com. Individual Casualty Questionnaire for Booth, Edwin C., included in Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) No. 111333 (15 March 1946)
www.newspapers.com. Obituary for Edwin C. Booth, Sr. Published in the San Francisco Examiner, 24 June 1973.
www.warfarehistorynetwork.com. “390th Bomb Group’s Risky Run Over Merseburg – Warfare History Network,” by Milton J. Elliott III, published 11 August 2015.

STORIES ABOUT OTHER "DA JOKER" CREW MEMBERS:

**John E. Walsh, **https://www.fold3.com/page/653605487-john-e-walsh
**Quentin L. Davidson, **https://www.fold3.com/page/653605609-the-last-flight-of-da-joker
**Joseph D. Jackson, **https://www.fold3.com/page/653605608-sgt-joseph-d-jackson
**Abraham Elhai, **https://www.fold3.com/page/653605754-abraham-elhai/stories