Hahnert, Calvin G.

CALVIN GEORGE HAHNERT

STAFF SERGEANT
U.S. ARMY AIR CORPS

Calvin George Hahnert was born on July 22, 1921, in Monroe, Indiana. Calvin was the son to George A. Hahnert and Eliza M. Hahnert. His father worked in a mill whie his mother stayed at home with the children. He was one of six children, including his three brothers Herman, Don, and Howard, and two sisters Alta (Row) and Lee (Miller). He graduated from Monroe High School where he was a baseball player and helped the team to an undefeated season and a county championship. After graduating high school, Calvin went on to study at Purdue University for a year before joining the armed forces.

Calvin Hahnert enlisted in the United States military on September 26, 1942, in Toledo Ohio. Calvin signed on to be enlisted for the duration of the war, with an additional six months, subject to the discretion of the President. He volunteered for the Air Corps on October 2, 1942 and was assigned to the 8th Air Force. He received gunnery training at Lowry Field, Denver, Colorado; Bombardier training in Las Vegas, Nevada; and dive bombing training in Northern Field, Tullahoma, Tennessee. After training, Calvin was assigned to the 705th Bomb Squadron, 446th Bomber Group nicknamed the “Bungay Buckaroos,” which was named after their station in Suffolk county, Britain. SSgt. Hahnert was assigned as a waist gunner as part of a  B-24 Liberator crew. 

In March 1945, the 8th Air Force was focusing their efforts on the strategic bombing of industrial plants in Berlin. Three straight days of missions were planned dedicated to bombing factories. The first run (on the sixth of March) for the 446th Bomb Squadron was the first major attack in the area of Berlin by the Eighth Army Air Corps. This attack damaged the Zehlendorf district, setting it ablaze. However, flak took its toll on the squadron. One B-24, Major Hoopo, was forced to crash in the English Channel; an additional thirty-eight planes suffered damage, including Calvin Hahnert’s bomber. They would return to Bungay but repairs to the plane would not be finished in time for the next mission on the 8th. 

On March 8th, the primary target was the VKF Ball Bearing Works plant in Erkner, a suburb of Berlin, Germany. Hahnert, volunteered to fly with a different crew in order to get to the coveted 25 mission count that earned him a ticket home. On March 7, Calvin wrote to his mother stating that he had "about finished the quota of missions over enemy territory before being granted furlough home", he went on to say that he "expected to be home in about a month". 

Aboard B-24 #41-29292 under the command of Pilot Lt. James Merriman, Hahnert and crew flew as lead bomber in the third element of the squadron. During the raid, three planes were lost due to damage from intense flak. As the formation was on the withdrawal, flak lightened, but three Luftwaffe Messerschmitt 109’s pursued and fixated on the 446th. The ME-109's struck Hahnert's B-24 causing it to catch fire, spiral, and crash in the vicinity of Celle, Germany, or south east of Hannover, Germany. No parachutes were spotted or survivors found. Those killed were pilot James Merriman, co-pilot Jay Carr, navigator Leonard Baum, navigator Leonard Baxa, bombardier James Casey, radio operator Pearce Morrissey, top turret gunner Robert Myers, right turret gunner Glenn Grant, left turret gunner Calvin Hahnert, ball turret gunner Kenneth May, and tail gunner Robert Mickem. A second B-24 #42-100231 piloted by Lt. Clifton Helfer also crashed in the vicinity. Many of the crew from both aircraft were interred together in a group plot initially in Germany and later repatriated to Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery Lemay, Missouri. It is unknwon why both crews were interred together. In total, 65 aircraft were lost on this mission. 

The 446th would continue on without them for the duration of the war. Most notoriously providing the lead aircraft as part of Operation Neptune, where the squadron would bomb German fortifications in preparation for Operation Overlord on June 6, 1944 (D-Day). The 446th also dropped supplies to allied troops holding bridgeheads as part of Operation Market Garden.

Staff Sergeant Calvin Hahnert’s remains were initially not recovered but in October 1949, his mother received word that his remains had been recovered and interred in the U.S. Military Cemetery in Belgium. His remains were returned to the states in April 1950 and services were conducted on April 16th with burial at Ray Cemetery in Monroe Indiana.

For his service and sacrifice, SSgt. Hahnert earned the Purple Heart, Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters, American Theatre Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle East Campaign Medal, and the WWII Victory Medal. He was credited with 15 missions.

Information researched and collected by Jarrett Bailey, 2017. 

SOURCES

"S/Sgt Calvin George Hahnert." Adams County Indiana Genealogy, adamsingenweb.com/Cemeteries/MonroeTwnshp/Rayimages/HahnertCalvinGeorge.pdf. Accessed 19 Dec. 2017.

"Calvin G Hahnert." Fold 3, Ancestry, 18 Dec. 2012, www.fold3.com/record/88850963-calvin-g-hahnert. Accessed 19 Dec. 2017.

"446th Bomb Group." American Air Museum In Britain, Magnetic North, 7 Feb. 2015, www.americanairmuseum.com/unit/404. Accessed 19 Dec. 2017.

Clark, Charles S. "2nd Lt James E. Casey." Digital Exan Photos, www.digitaltexanphotos.com/Website/MissionSummary.htm. Accessed 21 Dec. 2017.

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