S/Sgt. James Alvin Wagner

25 Feb 1923 – 6 Jun 1944

36th Bombardment Squadron, 801st Bomber Group, Heavy, 8th Air Force

KIA as tail gunner on B-24D bomber downed on secret mission over Belgium on D-day

Staff Sargent James Alvin Wagner (Service Number 13091630) was born to Isaac and Eva Wagner of McClure, Pennsylvania, on 25 February 1923. He had at least four brothers and four sisters, of which he was the second born. He would die three months after his 21st birthday when his plane was hit by flak, exploded, and crashed in enemy territory near La Hulpe, Belgium.

James was born in Philipsburg, Clearfield Count, Pennsylvania. In fact, all of his siblings, parents, and grandparents were born in Pennsylvania. His parents settled in McClure and each had an elementary-level education. In 1930, James’ father Isaac worked as an engineer at a steel plant, but by 1940, he was a laborer doing WPA road construction. President Franklin Roosevelt began the Work Projects Administration to help the economy during the Great Depression. The WPA was an American New Deal agency, employing millions of job-seekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads.

When James enlisted in the military on 17 August 1942 in McClure, Snyder County, Pennsylvania, he was 19 years old and working at Standard Steel in Burnham. One record said he had attended McClure High School, although another record said he had an 8th grade education. He was white, with black hair, brown eyes, and a ruddy complexion. He weighed 165 pounds and stood 5 feet, 8 inches tall. On 20 March 1943, he married Janet Frances Lenhart of Beaver Springs, Pennsylvania. They would have no children.

James went through basic training in Miami, Florida, and would also be stationed at Buckingham Field, Florida, and Buckley Field, Colorado. He graduated from Bombardment Aircraft and Armament School at Lowry Field, Denver, Colorado, and Aerial Gunnery School at Tyndall Field, Florida, to become a tail gunner. A tail gunner or rear gunner is a crewman on a military aircraft who functions as a gunner defending against enemy fighter or inteceptor attacks from the rear, or "tail", of the plane. While at Tyndall Field, James became a gunnery instructor and had the honor of training movie star Clark Gable. This was just a couple of years after Gable’s most memorable role, that of Rhett Butler in “Gone with the Wind”. James said Gable was “an apt pupil”. Also during his time in Florida, James requested overseas duty in February. In March, he and Janet married in the Sunshine State. She would return to Beaver Springs and live with her father while her husband was away. James was in the Army Air Forces for about two and would spend the last four months of his life in England.

S/Sgt. Warner may have trained on B-17 “Flying Fortresses”, but he eventually would find a spot on a B-24D Liberator heavy bomber, known to crews as “The Flying Coffin.”

“The B-24 planes dropped more than 630,000 bombs in the Second World War. They were the most produced aircraft in America. The four-engine plane was notorious among its pilots and crews. Officially called ‘The liberator’, B-24 could easily turn into a death trap. The controls were heavy and rigid, which made it hard to handle so, unofficially, it was named ‘The Flying Coffin’. It had only one exit, through the plane’s tail, and the crew couldn’t reach the back of the flight deck wearing a parachute.” – warhistoryonline.com

However, Wagner’s Group would not drop bombs as most Groups did. Some planes of the 36th used Radio Counter Measures (RCMs) to confound the enemy’s radar and warning system, which helped in the success of the beachhead invasion on D-day. Their missions can be explained by a description of their insignia: “It depicts a winged radar gremlin whose body and nose consisted of radio tubes and from whose fingertips emitted the radio transmissions which fouled the enemy radar devices. Placed between the wings above the ‘Gremlin’ was the term RAFU meaning Radar All Fouled Up.” – heroesofourtime.co.uk

Wagner’s squadron was involved in what was perhaps an even more dangerous assignment. The 36th Bombardment Squadron was part of the 801st Bomb Group. “The 801st Bomb Group was established as part of the Eighth Air Force in late March 1944 to carry out 'Carpetbagger' missions. These were night missions over France and other parts of occupied Europe to support resistance forces by dropping in agents, supplies, and leaflets. The B-24 Liberators flown by the Group were painted black to help the crews evade detection by enemy anti-aircraft positions.” – americanairmuseum.com

In an effort to give them an idea of what they were in for, Lt. Col. Robert W. Fish briefed the men of the 788th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) by telling them they could forget their training in high-altitude strategic bombing. “You are going to learn to fly your airplane 400 feet above the ground—10 miles per hour above stalling. And in addition, you’re going to do this at night and you’re going to do it as a single ship mission. I’m going to give you five minutes to think about it. Now, if you don’t want to be a part of this all you have to do is to get up and walk out. You’ll go back to your group and nothing will be said and it won’t reflect against your record.” – historynet.com

The Office of Strategic Services – the precursor to the CIA – came up with and ordered the missions. The Carpetbaggers essentially became the air arm of the OSS. Supply containers with parachutes were loaded and dropped just like bombs. They dropped small arms, bazookas, mortar tubes, jerrycans of gasoline, bicycles (with French trademarks), ammunition, grenades, sabotage equipment, clothing, food, medical supplies, field dressings, radio sets, and eventually thousands of carrier pigeons. An on-base sewing factory labored around the clock to turn out enough silk parachutes and harnesses for everything. Stationed at RAF Harrington in Northamptonshire, England, 40 to 50 Liberators took off each night. – historynet.com

Supplies dropped by the Carpetbaggers to the Underground were essential for sabotage and spying in order to bring down the Germans.“By the end of the war in Europe, the 801st and 492nd Bomb Groups had dropped some 4,500 tons of supplies and hundreds of personnel over enemy territory. 25 Liberators were shot down and eight more so badly that they were scrapped.” – http://donhollway.com/carpetbaggers/

James had flown in 15 such missions over Belgium and France, and he had always made it back home to England. In fact, in his last letter, he told his wife not to worry about him, because he had already made it through the “unlucky” 13th mission. The night of June5/6, the OSS was sending them on a secret mission alone, in the dark, to connect with Underground forces behind enemy lines in the wee hours before the invasion of the Continent. The crew of eight loaded themselves into B-24D bomber #42-63784. They took off from RAF Harrington at 1:40 AM for Belgium on 6 June 1944. James Wagner was never to see England again.

The pilot, Lt. Kenneth Pratt, would later describe that night in his own words. “Our 16th mission was to a small target in Belgium near Luxembourg. Due to a low ceiling and bad visibility we were unable to locate target. Returning, slightly off course, we hit Namur, Belgium and was fired upon. We turned west, picked up our course and decided to climb above the overcast since pilotage was impossible even at such a low altitude [1,000 feet]. Reaching about 4,500 ft, we were supposedly directly on course to Hal, Belgium over next checkpoint. Bombardier and tail gunner [Wagner] both shouted flak over intercom. No. 4 engine lost power, No. 2 and 3 caught fire, then the ship exploded. This all took place so quickly no one had a chance to act.” -- https://catalog.archives.gov/id/90983136

The explosion from flak at 2:15 AM above La Hulpe, Belgium, blew a few of the men free from the rest of the plane, resulting in their survival (for one, only temporarily). It appears that four of the crew died either in the explosion from flak or in the blast when the remnants of the plane hit the ground. Nearby American crewmen saw flames erupt when James’ plane smashed into the earth. The plane was 100% damaged.

All of those who were alive were seriously injured. One or two taken prisoner by the Germans and lived to see the end of the war from a POW camp. The pilot managed to walk away and find members of the Belgian Underground. He hid and worked with them until the country was liberated by Americans several months later, -- http://www.801492.org/Air%20Crew/Parnell%20-%20Carpetbaggers%202ndEd.pdf, p. 52

S/Sgt Wagner was one of those who appeared to die immediately. He was last seen in his turret, and his last words were possibly a warning that flak was exploding beneath them. The dead crewmen were identified by their dog tags, which were recovered by the Germans and returned to the American government, along with possessions that were on their bodies at the time of death. James’ personal effects included identification tags, a chain with key, 9 passport photos, a pocket knife, and a dictionary. -- Missing Air Crew Report number 5393

James’ wife was told he was missing in action on June 20, 1944. It was announced in the “Daily Item” newspaper of Sunsbury, Pennsylvania, two days later. She was notified that he had been killed in action around July 11, 1945, six weeks after he died.

S/Sgt. Wagner was buried in a small, hedge-bordered plot in a temporary cemetery in Belgium. Seventeen other airmen were placed beside him. The area was taken care of by children from a nearby school. On May 7, 1950, James’ permanent resting place became the McClure Union Cemetery in Pennsylvania. He was survived by his parents, wife, four sisters, and four brothers. He was the first person in his area to died in service during World War II.

James Alvin Wagner died at the age of 21, and his wife was given his Purple Heart. Soon after he was listed as missing in action, he was awarded an Air Medal with oak leaf clusters. The Air Medal is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.

**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 Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story. This story was written by JodiBee, granddaughter of a World War II veteran and daughter of a Vietnam veteran.

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