Joseph Dillard Conwill, Jr. was born in Kansas on November 21, 1915. His parents were Joseph D. 'Joe' Conwill Sr (23 Dec 1887 – 26 Feb 1950), who was born at Paris, Lamar County, Texas; and Phyllis R. Conwill (9 Aug 1888 – 3 May 1967), who was born in Kansas. His parents married about 1915. He had a younger brother, Allan F. Conwill (abt 1922 – unk), who was born in Kansas. His father was a commercial salesman of wholesale groceries. In 1917 the family lived at 121 South Taylor in Pratt, Pratt County, Kansas. By 1920 the family lived at Hutchinson, Reno County, Kansas.
He completed three years of college, and worked as a bookkeeper in a bank. He was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Los Angeles, California on August 6, 1941.
He completed Army Air Forces pilot training, and was assigned a crew. His crew completed B-17 operational training at Biggs Field in El Paso, Texas, and deployed to England in early January 1945. They were assigned to the 837th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. They arrived at Station 137 by January 20, 1945, and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe. The crew was soon chosen to become a lead crew.
On March 15, 1945, the Conwill flew on the 487th Bomb Group mission to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Oranienburg, Germany. Lt Conwill's crew lead the Diamond Squadron (aka the Low, Low Squadron) of the formation. Air leader Captain Robert G. Reeder flew in the copilot seat. Copilot Lt Birtrum Lindquist moved to the tail as officer tail gunner and formation observer, as was the custom.
Lt Conwill and three of his crewmates were killed in action when their aircraft, B-17G 44-8746, was shot down by flak over Wittenberge, Germany in the Elbe River Valley. They had dropped their bombs on the marshalling yards at Oranienburg, and encountered intense, accurate flak over Wittenberge on the return. Direct flak hits blew off the nose of the aircraft and the forward underside of the fuselage, probably killing navigator Lt McNeish and bombardier Lt Moderski instantly. The engineer, S/Sgt Randall, was observed to be seriously wounded and unconscious, lying on the floor near the bottom of the top turret. The catwalk in the bomb bay was blown away and his crewmates could not reach him. He went down with the plane.
Lt Conwill survived the parachute jump, but was seriously wounded. He was captured and died of his wounds at a military hospital in Neuruppen, Germany on April 2, 1945. He was buried initially at the church cemetery of Evangelical Parish of Neuruppin. His remains were returned to the United States and reinterred at Memorial Park Cemetery in Hutchinson, Reno County, Kansas on June 15, 1949.
B-17G 44-8746 crew:
• Conwill Jr, Joseph D – 1/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Reeder, Robert G – Capt – Air Leader – POW
• McNeish, Cecil C – 2/Lt – Navigator – KIA
• Moderski, Jerome D – 1/Lt – Bombardier – KIA
• Dippo, Ramor W – 2/Lt – Radar Operator – POW
• Randall, Clarence W – S/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Polifka, George J – Sgt – Radio Operator – POW
• Copelin, Robert L – Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – POW
• Valentine, James A – Sgt – Waist Gunner – POW
• Lindquist, Birtrum – 2/Lt – Officer Tail Gunner – POW
Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com