Menu
First Lieutenant Joseph F. Nolan was killed in action on 25 April 1945, over Amstetten, Austria on return from Linz, Austria. Nolan was a navigator who flew on the B-17G “Anthony J” (Serial# 44-6327). The plane went missing in action while returning from a bombing mission to Linz, Austria. Reported to have crashed near Amstetten, Nolan successfully bailed out of the plane, but was shot and killed while descending in his parachute by SS guards from a nearby concentration camp. Several of the bomber’s crew safely landed and were all taken Prisoners of War and were repatriated at war’s end. Since no evidence of Nolan’s death could be gained while his aircrew were being held prisoner, his finding of death was proclaimed on 22 June 1946. The details surrounding his death were documented in Kevin A. Mahoney’s book, Bombing Europe: The Illustrated exploits of the Fifteenth Air Force. Nolan was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Purple Heart with one Oak Leaf Cluster (wounded 7 December 1944).
