Farwell, Joseph J.

Description

Joseph J. Farwell was born in Chicago, IL on September 3, 1920, the son of Edward B. Sr. and Lillian Brescha Farwell. He had a sister Mary and a brother Edward. In Rye his family lived at 15 Valley View Avenue. Joseph was a graduate of Iona Prep and the University of Norte Dame.

Joseph enlisted January 19, 1943 in U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II.

S/Sgt. Farwell In Bomber Group Cited

AN EIGHTH AIR FORCE LIBERATOR STATION, ENGLAND

The B-24 Liberator Four-engine Bomber Group in which S/Sgt. Joseph J. Farwell, 15 Valley View Avenue, Rye, is a cryptographer recently was cited by Major General William E. Kepner, commanding 2nd Bombardment Division, tor distinguished and outstanding performance of duty.

The citation in part reads: The devotion to duty, determination and tenacity of purpose exhibited by personnel of the Group reflect great credit upon themselves, their organization and the United States Army Air Forces.

The Group, which recently completed its 100th combat mission, is commanded by Colonel Luther J. Fairbanks of Burt, Iowa, and had previously been cited by Lt. Gen. James H. Doolittle, commanding Eighth Air Force, for low-level destruction of a bridge across the Loirs River, near Bloi-s, France.

Demolition of the span was ordered regardless of cost. To achieve visibility necessary for destruction of the bridge it was necessary to descend below clouds to 6500 feet, an altitude usually considered extremely hazardous for four-engine bombers. From this height the target was reduced to a heap of smoking rubble.

It was the first low-level bombing ever performed by four-engine bombers from England. Earlier the group had been officially commended by General Doolittle for combat achievement on its first mission, an attack on Berlin and the longest initial mission ever flown in the European Theater.

The attack was one of the heaviest daylight bombings of the German capital on record. During its first 100 missions, overcoming adverse weather conditions and fierce enemy fighter and antiaircraft opposition, the group attacked 41 targets in Germany and 59 targets in enemy-occupied Europe. Forty seven hundred 4700 tons of bombs were dropped on vital enemy installations.

PAGE EIGHT THE RYE CHRONICLE Friday, November 10, 1944

Joseph James Farwell died in 1996 in Alabama when he was 76 years old.