On January 23, 1943 in the town of Molesworth, England the flight crew of “Beats Me” , a B-17 F bomber in

the 303rd Bomb Group (Heavy), better known as the “Hells Angels”, were pre-flighting their aircraft.

Aircraft Commander 1st Lt. Joseph Haas, and his crew of nine were getting ready for their 11th combat mission. One of the crew members was a young Staff Sergeant by the name of Jerry Walters Dobbins from Stockton Springs, Maine. The mission for that day was the French ports in the Lorient area; specifically the Brest U- Boat Pens. Twenty- one B-17 bombers took off that morning.

As they approached the target area they received heavy ground flak and encountered 45 enemy fighters. By the end of the day, 12 enemy aircraft were destroyed or damaged. At approximately 1345 hours, as the bombers were fighting off the enemy fighters, the bombers released their bomb loads. In the confusion that sometimes happens in combat, the “Beats Me” was hit in the tail section by falling bombs from the plane immediately above that severely disabled the aircraft and caused it to turn upside down. Of the ten crew members on board seven were killed and three were able to parachute to safety where they were taken prisoners by the Germans.

 

 

In January 2014, a new park was dedicated in Pluvigner, France to the crew of the ‘Beats Me’. Please click here for pictures of this special ceremony.