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| John Mayes was a B-17 co-pilot in the 97th Bombardment Group in England and North Africa. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39981640/john-bernard-mayes https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/97th-bombardment-group-heavy/ |
John Bernard Mayes, Jr. never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on September 2, 1918 in South Carolina. His parents John and Agnes were also both born in South Carolina. His father worked as a book store proprietor. He died in 1934. John had two younger sisters. He attended The Citadel before transferring to Emory University in Atlanta. By 1940 John was attending his final year of college.
He enlisted in the Army Air Forces on July 12, 1941. He became a first lieutenant and co-pilot in the 342nd Bombardment Squadron, 97th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force, which was equipped with B-17 Flying Fortresses. The 97th BG flew the first US missions to bomb Europe in August 1942. It was transferred to the Mediterranean Theater where it provided operational bombing support for the fighting in North Africa.
Lt. Mayes was killed on December 18, 1942 during a mission to Bizerte, Tunisia.
His grave is at Rosemont Cemetery in Newberry, South Carolina.
Last year on this date I profiled B-25 pilot Seymour Wesiberg. You can read about John here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
Ray Wells from the Facebook group WW2 Everything found the following to add:
ReplyDeleteRay Wells Piloted by 1st Lt John C. Nicholson on the 18 December 1942 mission to bomb the Bizerte, Tunisia docks, B-17 42-5715 was attacked by three enemy fighters minutes before their bombing run. After Flak hits over the target took out engines Nos 2 and 4, the Fortress couldn’t keep up with the rest of the Squadron and, falling behind, was attacked again by fighters. Engineer/Top Turret Gunner Clarence B. Nichols was killed instantly. A fire broke out in the cockpit and the plane rapidly lost altitude. The bail out signal was given, but the Fortress was too low for a safe evacuation. Only the Bombardier, Lt Paul A. Blaida, managed to jump at less than 800 feet, hit the ground hard and helped rescue some survivors when he reached the crash site near Bizerte where Lt Nichols had managed to crash-land the plane. Co-Pilot 1st Lt John B. Mayes, Navigator 1st Lt George E. Monda and Ball Turret Gunner Sgt William M. Ivanhoff were killed. Besides Lieutenants Nichols and Blaida, Radio Operator Sgt Thomas G. Burton, Right Waist Gunner S/Sgt Eugene H. Evans, Lef Waist Gunner S/Sgt Grover C. Williams and Tail Gunner S/Sgt Frederick M. Wilson survived.
https://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/8251
Thank you for this post. I never got to meet my Uncle John. His younger sister, Nancy Mayes joined the WASP, and got her pilot/flight wings in December 1944.
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