Joseph W. MAXWELL

Source : Arnaud Gaté

Source : F Lavernhe

B-26 Marauder - type C-10-MO - s/n 41-34879 RJ*Q "Little Lulu"

Macr:
Mission: training mission
Take off Ground A-40 Chartres (28)

Villeneuve-sur-Auvers N°3594

Map of St James American Cemetery

From the Rush High school yearbook, courtesy of Anna Labzentis Bolles

Source : Church Historian, Carol Brotzman

Joseph W. Maxwell was born on 1915.

He served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II as a Staff Sergeant in the 454th Bomber Squadron, 323rd Bomber Group, Medium.

He entered service in New York.

Crew member of the B-26 Marauder "Little Lulu" which took off from the A-40 Airfield in Chartres and crashed just 4 km away due to unknown reasons.

All five crewmembers perished in the crash.

He died on September 28, 1944, was initially buried at Villeneuve-sur-Auvers in France and is now buried at Brittany American Cemetery, St. James, France.

Roy R BOZYCH

“Little Lulu” serial # 41-34879 coded RJ-Q was lost on September 28, 1944 during a training mission with a new crew.

It crashed 2 ½ miles west of A-40 Chartres, France.

There were no survivors.

Lost that day were the pilot Burl LUNKENBILL, copilot Willard WATSON, Bombardier Frank HAWKINSON, Flight Engineer Gerald THEUBER, Flight Engineer Leonard HARDY, Radioman Charles BRUCKER and Tail Gunner Joseph MAXWELL.

There was an investigation afterward but since “Little Lulu” was completely consumed in the ensuing fire no cause of the accident was ever found. The pilot Burl Lunkenbill had almost 1,000 hrs in a B-26.

At the time of the crash “Little Lulu” had completed 108 combat missions and was becoming “War Weary” so this may have been a factor. 

 Saint Bonaventure Cemetery
Auburn Center, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania

Source : Gail James

Crew of B-26 Marauder - type C-10-MO - s/n 41-34879 RJ*Q

"Little Lulu"