2LT. Jack Julian Little (January 11, 1913 – August 12, 1943)
366th Bombardment Squadron, 305th Bombardment Group
by Kevin Dye
Early Life
Jack Julian Little was born on January 11, 1913, in Cordelle, GA, to Edward O. (1884) and Lilian S. Little (1890), to a family that had lived in Georgia for several generations.1 Around 1917, the Little family lived on East Church Street, in Jacksonville, FL where Jack grew up with his two sisters, Dorothy (1916) and Mary (1917).2 Edward Little worked as a home contractor, and he likely moved the family from Georgia to Jacksonville to take advantage of the Florida housing boom in the 1920s.3 While in Florida, Edward either owned or managed a home contracting business. While Edward kept the family financially afloat, Lillian Little kept the home and took care of their three young children.4
In 1927, the family endured a great tragedy when Edward O. Little passed away.5 Beyond the emotional strain, the family likely experienced significant economic hardship after losing their primary breadwinner. These stresses likely deepened as the world fell into the Great Depression in the early 1930s. Despite the increased strain on the Little family, Jack attended three years of college and later worked for James L.White Jr. at the Duval News Company as a salesman.6 By the late 1930s, he lived on his own, but stayed near his mother’s house on Rose Place in Neptune Beach.7 Presumably Dorothy and Mary stayed with Lilian when Jack moved out and until they finished with their schooling.8 In 1939, Dorothy married Harry Hoover in Flagler County, and by 1942 Mary married Barney Barfield and lived in Polk county, FL.9 With World War II raging in Europe, and the potential involvement of the U.S. in the conflict, Jack Little registered for the military draft on October 16, 1940, at the age of twenty-seven while employed with the Duval News Company.10
Military Service
In 1942, the military called Jack Little to service; he eventually received a Second Lieutenant officer’s commission in the United States Army Air Corps, likely as a result of his college education and potentially upon completion of his training.11 He received bombardier training for a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, potentially at Hendricks Army Airfield, located around two hours south of Orlando, FL, as this camp served as the primary training camp in Florida for B-17 crews.12
As part of the bombardier qualifications, Jack had to attend preflight school training.
It consisted of lessons in many areas, including forty-eight hours of code, twenty-eight hours of mathematics, twenty-four hours of maps and charts, thirty hours of aircraft recognition, twelve hours of aero physics, and nine hours of altitude equipment over eight weeks. Then, bombardier school took another twenty weeks and required 120 hours in AT-11 training planes on practice bombing runs, plus 718 hours in ground school. He may have also completed navigation school, another twenty weeks of training.13 For completing training, Jack Little received a Bombardier Badge, as shown by the medal below the lapel of his uniform.14
After training in the US, Jack deployed to Chelveston Airfield in England in January 1943, as part of the 366th Bomb Squadron, 305th Bomb Group “Can Do,” of the Eighth Air Force.15 On January 27, 1943, the US Air Force began its official daylight bombing of Germany, first targeting German submarine bases on the north-western coastline around Wilhelmshaven.16 Jack flew with the crew of the B-17 “Arkie II” as a bombardier, pictured here, and participated in the bombing of Germany, flying missions from February to August, 1943.17
As a bombardier, Jack ensured the success of an air mission, as they aimed and released payloads on ground targets. During the bombing run and when approaching the target, the bombardier essentially took complete control over the aircraft.18 When flying missions, Jack Little had one of the most crucial jobs within the B-17.
US bombing missions during WWII targeted both civilian and industrial centers. While exact figures vary, at least 400,000 German civilians lost their lives as a result of these missions; and while the US targeted war industries, there is no doubt it also sought to break German morale through heavy civilian casualties.19 The 305th Bombardment Group primarily targeted the heavy industrial areas during WWII, before being redesignated for photo-mapping missions in 1945.20
Overall, the 305th flew 337 missions and dropped 22,363 tons of bombs during the group’s designation as a bombardment group. The group itself is most well-known for the pioneering bombing formations that the Eighth Air Force absorbed into its flight maneuvers.21
On August 12, 1943, pilot Wright Gerke, co-pilot Thomas Read, and navigator Joseph Costa along with a crew of seven, including Jack Little, took the B-17 over Gelsenkirchen, Germany, to conduct a daylight bombing mission of the Ruhr, an industry and coal-rich area of western Germany.22 They targeted oil refineries, serving as one of three detachments to back up the primary aerial bombings of the industrial section of Recklinghausen, Germany, near Dortmund.23 During the mission, anti-aircraft fire knocked the “Arkie II” out of formation, and then five or six enemy fighters attacked it. The plane went down in Munchen-Gladbach, Germany.
A month after the crash, the Palm Beach Post reported Jack Little as missing in action (MIA).24 After the investigation of the crash, the Army compiled the Missing Air Crew Report which reported Jack and eight of the ten crew killed in action (KIA) in December.25 Prior to the publication of the report, the Army likely informed Jack Little’s family of his death and subsequently newspapers reported his death by November, 1943.26 Only turret gunner Harry Fullerton and radio operator Jim Chalker survived the crash; the German military took both men as prisoners of war.27
Legacy
Jack, the crew of Arkie II, and many other airmen gave their all in the early days of the US presence in Europe, before the land invasion in Normandy in June 1944. 2nd Lt. Jack Julian Little received the Air Medal for his heroic service and participation in no fewer than five bombing missions as well as a Purple Heart.28 He now rests in the Lorraine American Cemetery in Saint-Avold, France.29
The 305th Bomb Group Memorial Association helps preserve the legacy and memory of the airmen who lost their lives overseas. In 2007, the Association funded the construction of a memorial to the 305th in Chelveston, England, as RAF Chelveston served as the primary base of operations for the group. The monument received donations from British and American citizens, from Veterans and their families alike.30 In the US, a plaque commemorates the 305th Bomb Group at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado.31 The 305th Bomb Group Memorial Association also maintains a relatively active Facebook page to keep the memory of these soldiers alive.32 Alongside the Memorial Association, the American Air Museum in Britain offers exhibits on all facets of aviation and airplanes, from those flown in World War I to the present day. The Museum also possesses an extensive archive of photos and reports, among other sources, that pertain to the US Army Air Forces during World War II.33
Jack was survived by his mother Lillian, his sister Dorothy and her husband Harry, who all lived in the family home on Neptune Beach.34 As the Littles lived in a multigenerational, close knit family, Lillian likely saw her grandchildren grow up. Dorothy had two sons, Harry and Jack; her younger son named after their uncle, Jack J. Little, who died serving his country. Jack Little Hoover attended Duncan U. Fletcher High School, participating in the Latin club, National Junior Honor Society, and Track.35 Jack Little Hoover currently resides in Lakeland, FL.36 Jack’s sister, Mary, also married and had a long life with her husband in Polk, FL.37 Lillian passed away in 1973 at the age of eighty-five. Both sisters lived into the 2000s, Dorothy to eighty-six, and Mary to eighty-seven.38
1 “1920 U.S. Census,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed October 13, 2022), entry for Jack J. Little, Duval County, Florida.
2 “1920 U.S. Census”; “World War II Draft Cards,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed January 25, 2023), entry for Jack Julian Little.
3 Nick Wynne and Richard Moorhead, Florida in World War II: Floating Fortress (Charleston: History Press, 2010), 18
4 “1920 U.S. Census.”
5 “Jacksonville City Directory for 1930,” database, Ancestory.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed November 8, 2022), entry for Edward O. Little.
6 “1937 Jacksonville City Directory,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed January 26, 2023), entry for Jack J. Little; “WWII Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com, accessed January 26, 2023), entry for Jack J. Little. Based on the city directory, Jack worked for the Duval News company by 1937, it is assumed then that Jack attended college for three years prior starting in 1933, based on his enlistment record.
7 “World War II Draft Cards,” entry for Jack Julian Little.
8 For more on the sisters’ lives after losing their brother Jack, see the legacy section.
9 “Florida Marriage Indexes, 1927-2001,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed April 16, 2023), entry for Harry Hoover and Dorothy Little, Flagler County, Florida; “Jacksonville City Directory for 1942,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed February 1, 2023), entry for Mary Barfield; “1945 Florida State Census,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed April 16, 2023), entry for Mary Francis and Barney Barfield.
10 “World War II Draft Cards,” entry for Jack Julian Little.
11 “World War II Draft Cards.”; “World War II Army Enlistment Records,” entry for Jack J. Little; “Headstone Inscription and Internment Record,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: Accessed October 13, 2022), entry for Jack J. Little. The enlistment record lists that Jack completed “3 years of college.” The enlistment record notes that Jack Little entered training as a private, however at the time of his death he achieved the rank of Second Lieutenant. Therefore, it is likely that Jack, upon completion of his training, received an officer’s commission. We have not been able to find sources which mention Jack’s promotion or the time he received the officer’s commission.
12 “Hendricks Field History,” Sebring Multimodal Logistics Center, accessed February 1, 2023, https://sebring-airport.com/hendricks-field/#:~:text=On%20January%2014%2C%201942%20the,there%20to%20train%20RAF%20pilots. We could not find explicitly where Jack Little received B-17 training, but Hendricks Field is one of the potential training sites.
13 “Bombardier and Navigator Training Requirements,” website, AAF Collection (Army Air Forces Collection Historical Documents from World War II, accessed November 7, 2022).
14 Thank you to the American Air Museum for providing permission to publish the photo of Jack Julian Little in uniform.
15 Roger A. Freeman, The Mighty Eighth War Diary (Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International, 1981), 35; “Jack Julian Little,” American Air Museum in Britain (https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/person/jack-julian-little: accessed January 26, 2023). Thank you to the American Air Museum in Britain for providing the image of Jack J. Little.
16 Freeman, The Mighty Eight, 35.
17 “Jack Julian Little,” American Air Museum in Britain.
18 “B-17 Crew Requirements and Standard Operating Procedures,” 303rd Bomb Group Association, accessed March 22, 2023, http://www.303rdbg.com/crew-duties.html.
19 Center for Air Force History, Sunday Punch in Normandy: The Tactical Use of Heavy Bombardment in the Normandy Invasion (Headquarters, Army Air Forces, 1993), 4.
20 Maurer Maurer, Combat Squadrons of the Airforce in WWII (Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History, 1982), 453
21 “305th Bomb Group,” American Air Museum in Britain, accessed February 1, 2023, https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/unit/305th-bomb-group-can-do.
22 “Jack Julian Little,” American Air Museum in Britain.
23 “Missing Air Crew Report,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed February 2, 2023), entry for aircraft 42-29553.
24 “Belle Glade Youth Missing in Action,” Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, FL), September 10, 1943, Newspapers.com.
25 “Missing Air Crew Report.”
26 “Four Floridians Killed in Action,” St. Petersburg Times (St. Petersburg, FL), November 25, 1943; “Floridians Killed in European War,” Tallahassee Democrat (Tallahassee, FL), November 24, 1943.
27 “Missing Air Crew Report”; “Wright Ellis Gerke,” American Air Museum in Britain, accessed February 2, 2023, https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/person/wright-ellis-gerke.
28 “Headstone Inscription and Internment Record.”
29 “Headstone Inscription and Internment Record.”
30 “305th Bombardment Group Memorial,” Chelveston-cum-Caldecott Parish Council, accessed February 22, 2023, https://www.chelveston-pc.gov.uk/memorial-to-the-305th-bombardmen.htm.
31 “305th Bomb Group (H),” Historical Marker Database, accessed March 22, 2023, https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=167431.
32 “305th Bomb Group,” Facebook.com, accessed February 22, 2023, https://www.facebook.com/groups/54028564457/
33 The American Air Museum in Britain, accessed April 16, 2023, https://www.americanairmuseum.com/.
34 “1950 U.S. Census,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed April 16, 2023), entry for Dorothy Hoover, Harry Hoover, Jack Little Hoover, and Lillian S. Little, Neptune Beach, Duval, Florida.
35 “U.S. School Yearbooks, 1900-2016,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed March 22, 2023), entry for Jack Little Hoover, Duncan U. Fletcher High School.
36 “U.S. Public Record Index, 1950-1993,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed March 22, 2023), entry for Jack Little Hoover.
37 “Jacksonville City Directory for 1942,” entry for Mary Barfield.
38 “Florida Death Index, 1877-1998,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed December 6, 2022), entry for Dorothy Hoover and Mary Barfield; “U.S. Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014,” database, Ancestry.com (Ancestry.com: accessed December 6, 2022), entry for Lillian Sheppard.