AR banner
Search Tips Advanced Search
Back to Top

Info LogoAdd to or correct this story with a few clicks.
Archive Report: US Forces
1941 - 1945

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.

We seek additional information and photographs. Please contact us via Helpdesk
USAAF Crest
10.06.1944 No. 386th Fighter Sqd. P47D 42-76279 D5-H 2nd Lt. John A. Weese

Operation: Fighter Sweep over the Cherbourg peninsula Normandy

Date: 10th June 1944 (Saturday)

Unit: No. 365th Fighter-Bomber Group, 386th Fighter Squadron

Type: P47D Thunderbolt

Serial: 42-76279

Code: D5-H

Base: Beaulieu, Hants, England (USAAF Station 408)

Location: St Aubin sur Mer France

Pilot: 2nd Lt. John Alfred Weese O-815792 USAAF Age 24. Killed 

REASON FOR LOSS:  

Statement of 1st Lt. Valmore J. Beaudrault 0-6808339:

On the 10th June 1944, I led a flight of four on a patrol mission over the Cherbourg assault area. Lt. Weese was number four man in my flight. 

Left: 2nd Lt. John Alfred Weese USAAF (see credits)

Above left: Station 408, England, Right: Then and now crash site. (see credits)

He became separated from the rest of us in the clouds at 12:45 hrs at 6.000 ft. At 13:10 hrs he called over the R/T saying that he was hit and his prop was out and his oil pressure was gone. 

Said he was at 7.000 ft and could see the beach head and thought he could belly land behind our lines. He seemed very cool and I don’t think that he had been injured. Nothing more is known about him.

Burial details:  

Initially buried at Bernieres Sur-Mer Cemetery near St. Aubin-Sur Mer, Normandy, France. Grave 8. Body repatriated after war end.

2nd Lieutenant John Alfred Weese. Bethlehem Cemetery. Son of Mrs D.H. Reese of 515 sixth Street, Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, Michigan, USA. Born 26th January 1920.

Researched by Michel Beckers for Aircrew Remembered - June 2015. With thanks to Steven Warnick, Mrs. Sally Connors, Mike Cavity for photographs.

KTY 10.06.2015 (Anniversary of loss)

Pages of Outstanding Interest
History Airborne Forces •  Soviet Night Witches •  Bomber Command Memories •  Abbreviations •  Gardening Codenames
CWGC: Your Relative's Grave Explained •  USA Flygirls •  Axis Awards Descriptions •  'Lack Of Moral Fibre'
Concept of Colonial Discrimination  •  Unauthorised First Long Range Mustang Attack
RAAF Bomb Aimer Evades with Maquis •  SOE Heroine Nancy Wake •  Fane: Motor Racing PRU Legend
Acknowledgments: Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and MWO François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
Click any image to enlarge it
Click to add your info via ticket on Helpdesk •Click to let us know via ticket on Helpdesk• Click to buy research books from Amazon •Click to explore the entire site

Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them. Franklin Delano Roosevelt

All site material (except as noted elsewhere) is owned or managed by Aircrew Remembered and should not be used without prior permission.
© 2012 - 2024 Aircrew Remembered
Last Modified: 10 June 2015, 21:15

If you would like to comment on this page, please do so via our Helpdesk. Use the Submit a Ticket option to send your comments. After review, our Editors will publish your comment below with your first name, but not your email address.