Missing information?

Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?

Submit

Personal info

Full name
WELLS, Jay
Date of birth
5 November 1918
Age
25
Place of birth
Marshall, Harrison County, Texas
Hometown
San Benito, Cameron County, Texas

Military service

Service number
O-666388
Rank
First Lieutenant
Function
Pilot
Unit
735th Bombardment Squadron,
453rd Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
8 April 1944
Place of death
Salzwedel, 10 miles east of Henningen, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Ardennes
Plot Row Grave
C 8 2

Immediate family

Members
Jasper A. Wells (father)
Lucy Wells (mother)
Josia Wells (sister)
Lorania Wells (sister)
John Wells (brother)
Horace Wells (brother)
Ethel Wells (sister)
Elbert Wells (brother)
Velma Wells (sister)
Ruby Wells (sister)
Virginia B. (Kaufmann) Wells (wife)
Frances Kelly (daughter)

Plane data

Serial number
42-64453
Data
Type: B-24H
Destination: Brunswick, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the MIAG aviation industry
MACR: 3922

More information

Lt Wells received his wings at Lubbock Army Air Field on November 1942 and served as an instructor at Ellington Field, Houston and at Del Rio before going overseas.

He had almost completed 25 missions.

The airplane was attacked by enemy aircraft. The tail split off, close to the wing and the plane began to spin.

One crew member survived and was taken prisoner. The other nine crew members were killed and were initially buried at the cemetery of Henningen. After the war, when a grave registration unit tried to recover the remains at this cemetery, of those nine, the remains of two men were never found.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - 1930 Census, www.fold3.com - MACR,
www.8thafhs.com, WWII Draft Card

Photo source: www.fold3.com - Valley Morning Star 30 April 1944, Peter Schouteten, Arie-Jan van Hees, Pilot Class Book 42-J, Goodfellow Field, Texas.