Last Flight of Extra Joker B-24 s/n 42-95379 Photograph

[texasflyguy]

I found this gem of a photograph from the estate of Air Corps veteran. When I picked it up, I recognized immediately that it was a photograph of a B-24 Liberator being shot down, although at the time I didn't know what plane it was. After close examination with a magnifying glass I made out the text on the nose-art: Extra Joker. A quick google search led me to a treasure trove of information about the ill-fate of this B-24 and its crew. "The Liberator B-24H-30-FO «Extra Joker», Serial number 42-95379, was part of the 725th, Bomber Squadron 45th Bomber Group. The aircraft participated in the raid against the airfield of Markersdorf an der Pielach, west the Austrian capital of Vienna, and was attacked by German fighter Focke Wulf Fw 190A-8/R2 of IV.(Sturm)/JG 3 under the lead of Hpt. Wilhelm Moritz over the Austrian city of Türnitz. Within minutes the Focke Wulfe downed a few Liberators. Extra Joker receives several hits in engine #1 and probably the fuselage as well. All 10 crew members were killed in action."

"The photographer Sergeant Leo Stautsenberger usually flew with the crew of 'Extra Joker' as their cameraman. On that fateful day, they asked him to fly with another plane to take pictures of the 'Joker' in flight. Because of this coincidence, Leo was still alive, and made a series of pictures the loss."

 

 

The lost crew members were:

1st Lt. Kenneth A. Whiting - pilot (KIA) Salt Lake City, Utah

 

1st Lt. Alvin W. Moore - copilot (KIA) McMinnville, Oregon

2nd Lt. Francis J. Bednarek - navigator (KIA) Ashley, Pennsylvania

2nd Lt. Edward S. Waneski - bombardier (KIA) Brooklyn, New York

Sgt. Peter Breda - top turret gunner (KIA) Lima, Ohio

Sgt. Harry V. Bates - ball turret gunner (KIA) Reinholds, Pennsylvania

Sgt. Joseph Garbacz - right waist gunner (KIA) Detroit, Michigan

S/Sgt. Milton R. Nitsch - left waist gunner (KIA) Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Sgt. Elmer J. Anderson - nose turret gunner (KIA) Los Angeles, California

Sgt. Oscar W. Bateman - tail turret gunner (KIA) Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 

 

 

 

 

[Der Finn]

Re: the photographer - talk about fate!

[texasflyguy]

Re: the photographer - talk about fate!

 

I know, luck was on his side. I can only imagine how he felt watching his friends go down.

[MTracey]

Wow, that must have been very hard for the photographer but thank you for the back story and picture.

[dustin]

Here is Extra Joker moments before.

[dustin]

after it was struck by flak.

[dustin]

This image captures the Extra Joker, fatefully, plummeting downwards. Note the German fighter off to the right, the wolf watching the wounded prey.

 

[Garandomatic]

Hell of a thing. You can see that poor pilot in one of those shots. I can't imagine what was going through his head.

[bobgee]

A tragic moment recorded for history, reminding us of the instantaneous dangers these courageous airmen faced on every mission. May they all Rest in Peace!

[texasflyguy]

These men paid the ultimate price for freedom. Their sacrifice shall not be forgotten!

 

I found another interesting article about the Extra Joker and the crew. I will copy it into this message:

 

The young men photographed by a plane dubbed "Thunder Mug" are handsome enough to be the cast of a World War II movie, but they're the real thing: part of the 451st Bombardment Group, Fifteenth Air Force, U.S. Army Air Corps, on July 18, 1944.

 

The compact nose gunner, shortest of the group, is dubbed "The Ole Boy" in neat pen letters on the back of the print. But Elmer Anderson, Orlando High class of 1942, was only 19, the youngest of seven children.

 

In boyhood, he swam in Lake Como; at OHS, he played football and, after graduation, worked as a meat cutter at Publix before his military service began in April 1943. During training in the West, he had a studio photo taken for his mother, Rena Anderson.

 

"I hope by now you have my picture," he wrote her in May 1943. He couldn't say where he was. To make sure he hadn't inadvertently revealed too much, a censor neatly excised two words from the letter before his mom received it.

 

Elmer Anderson hadn't seen his studio portrait, he wrote. He would do that when he got back home. Sadly, he would be one of the 400,000 servicemen and women who didn't return from World War II. He and his crewmates had about a month to live when their "Thunder Mug" photo was taken.

 

Truth long delayed

 

It would take Anderson's family decades to learn how and when he had died. Only recently did Anderson's great-nephew, Larry Ertel of Orlando, piece together the story of what happened Aug. 23, 1944, in the skies above Austria.

 

Clues resided in a box of letters, photos and clippings that Ertel's grandmother Rena had saved. After her death, his Aunt Mabel kept the box, which passed to his mother, Viola Ertel, and then to him.

 

In it, he found the telegram his grandmother received Sept. 3, 1944, bearing the news that her son "has been reported missing in action since 23 August over Austria."

 

Elmer Anderson was considered "missing in action for almost a year," Ertel says, with a "Finding of Death" status eventually reported to the family. But Rena Anderson never gave up hope that her son "had survived and was a prisoner of war who had blended in with the people of Austria." She sought information about the crew of "Thunder Mug."

 

But that was not his great-uncle's plane, Ertel discovered through recent online research. The crewmates just had their picture taken with it. They died aboard the "Extra Joker," on a mission recorded in extraordinary photos of that B-24 bursting into flames after German fighters attacked it Aug. 23, 1944.

 

The Joker's destruction happened in seconds and was photographed by the Joker's cameraman, who that day was asked to fly in an other plane to capture images of the Joker in flight.

 

To compound the confusion, Sgt. Elmer Anderson and the others who died aboard the Extra Joker on Aug. 23, 1944, were not its regular crew. Their usual B-24 Liberator was the Sassy Lassy, but on Aug. 23, the pilots of that plane and the Joker had agreed to swap B-24s because of a difference in the bombsights.

 

Legacy of freedom

 

After the war, Elmer's brother, George Anderson, and George's brother-in-law Wilford "Bill" Ertel (Larry Ertel's dad) opened Royal Sundries, long a fixture in downtown Orlando.

 

Now, at least, family members knows exactly how Elmer Anderson, the handsome nose gunner, met his death in the service of his country.

 

In the box Larry Ertel inherited, he found an elegant certificate signed by President Harry Truman. "In grateful memory of Elmer Anderson," it reads. "He stands in the unbroken line of patriots who have dared to die that freedom might live, and grow, and increase its blessings. Freedom lives, and through it, he lives in a way that humbles the undertakings of most men."

 

Let us remember them on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, and all year long.

[KAJA]

According to the American Battle Monuments Commission, my uncle, Gordon G. Clausen, was:

 

Staff Sergeant, US Army Air Forces

725th Bomber Squadron

451st Bomber Group, Heavy.

 

He entered the Service from Wisconsin, died in 1944, and is buried in Lorraine American Cemetery in St. Avold, France.

 

This info suggests to me that he was a crew member on Extra Joker when it was shot down. So I am surprised to see that his name is not among the 10 who went down with this plane. Any help you can offer me is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[US82Bravo]

According to the American Battle Monuments Commission, my uncle, Gordon G. Clausen, was:

 

Staff Sergeant, US Army Air Forces

725th Bomber Squadron

451st Bomber Group, Heavy.

 

He entered the Service from Wisconsin, died in 1944, and is buried in Lorraine American Cemetery in St. Avold, France.

 

This info suggests to me that he was a crew member on Extra Joker when it was shot down. So I am surprised to see that his name is not among the 10 who went down with this plane. Any help you can offer me is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Extra Joker was lost on 23 August 1944. Missing Air Crew Report #7956 shows mission information and crew members names as indicated in the above posts.

Your Uncle, S/Sgt. Gordon G. Clausen, is shown on Missing Aircrew Report #10366 as a crew member of a B-24J, serial number 44-41114. No aircraft nickname is shown. Your Uncle's position is shown as Nose Gunner. This aircraft was lost to anti-aircraft fire on 11 December 1944 on a mission to Vienna, Austria. It was from the 725th Bomb Squadron, 451st Bomb Group as your information indicates.

Other members of the crew were:

Jensen, Lyle L. 2nd Lt Pilot

Blankenship, William S. 2nd Lt Co-Pilot

Corona, Horacio N. Flight Officer Navigator

Strippgen, Paul E. Jr Flight Officer Bombadier

Schaffer, Sterling E. S/Sgt Upper Turret

Weber, Wilmer J. Sgt Lower Turret

Markowitz, Jerome M Sgt Left Waist

Murray, Donald J. S/Sgt Right Waist

Bourne, James T. Sgt Tail Gunner

Wagner, LaVerne W. S/Sgt Photographer

MACR information indicates that only F/O Corona and F/O Strippgen survived the aircraft loss.

An internet search of "B-24 + 44-41114" provided several other sources of information related to the aircraft.

Hope this helps with your research.

Larry

[KAJA]

Thank you, Larry! I am so happy to receive your quick reply! Googling the keywords you provided, I was able to come up with additional info. If I'm reading this correct, my uncle's aircraft was nicknamed Sassy Lassie.

44-4114 SASSY LASSY (725th #58)

Left the USA on July 31, 1944, with Ken Whiting's crew. They

named her SASSY LASSIE, but never had the opportunity to paint

the name on her. This aircraft replaced 42-78227. On Mission #109

to Markersdorf, August 23, 1944, she was flown by George Tudor's

crew. Due to the difference in bombsights Tudor traded Liberators

with Ken Whiting's crew. The famous photos of George Tudor's

EXTRA JOKER were taken from this aircraft as fighters hammered

away at the luckless EXTRA JOKER. SASSY LASIE failed to re

turn

from Mission #165 to Vienna on December 11, 1944, with the

crew of Lyle Jensen (MACR #10366).

44-

[DoubleEnvelopment]

They have a really good account of the Extra Joker on the 451st BG site under the stories section titled "The Saga of the Extra Joker." I talked to the author's son while researching the 451st diary I have... His son maintains the 451st BG website. He said the actual Joker card was in his father's possession for many years, but was never found when he went through his father's estate.

[Vr1967]

Old post and tragic photo.

Oscar Watson Bateman is listed as Baton Rouge, but he was originally from Liberty, MS about 50 miles north of BR. His last (I believe) sibling passed in 2018. His son Oscar Jr about 15 years ago.

 I know several of his kin. 

 

May I save a copy of this photo to go on his page of the book I am putting together on Amite County’s War Memorial?

[stevea41]

Hello. I'm new to the group. My friend and I are having a discussion regarding the identity of the anomaly circled on the wing of Extra Joker. It shows up in other photographs so cannot be a camera issue. Any thoughts as to what this is?

[sundance]

In the pic of the plane "plummeting" fire is coming from that approximate location on the wing. I wonder if the anomaly is the flak damage.