D-DAY & POW

By June 1944, the tempo of operations had intensified dramatically in preparation for Operation Overlord. On June 2, Hadjes flew aboard aircraft 2599-U during operations originally directed against Palaiseau but diverted to a target of opportunity near Braumont.²⁶ On June 5, 1944—the eve of D-Day—he flew in B-17 2391-B during attacks against Trouville, France.²⁷ The following day, June 6, 1944, Hadjes participated in the Normandy invasion air offensive itself. Formation charts place him flying aircraft 7080-S during attacks on German positions near Courseulles, France, as Allied forces landed on the beaches below.²⁸ Later accounts described him as participating in the first wave air strikes on Normandy during D-Day.²⁹ Combat operations continued almost without interruption. On June 7 he flew against Kerlin-Bastard, France, aboard aircraft 2516-H.³⁰ On June 12 he participated in attacks against Lille-Nord while flying once more in 2391-B.³¹ On June 13 he attacked Beauvais/Tille in the same aircraft.³² By then, Hadjes had completed fifteen combat missions.³³ On June 18, 1944, the crew took off aboard B-17G serial number 42-102391 for Mission No. 33 of the 398th Bomb Group: a daylight bombing raid against Hamburg, Germany.³⁴ The aircraft occupied a lead element position in the formation during one of the most dangerous phases of the bombing run.³⁵ Mission records show that flak over Hamburg was exceptionally intense. The 398th Bomb Group formation chart identifies Hadjes’ aircraft, 2391-B, in the lead group during the attack.³⁶ During the bombing run, the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and severely damaged. Witness statements preserved in Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) 5998 provide detailed testimony regarding the bomber’s final moments. Lieutenant Paul E. Foster reported:

"About four minutes after bombs away I saw Lt. Hadjes’ ship drop out of the leading formation to the right. The ship was going down and trailing smoke from No. 3 engine. It lost approximately 3,000 feet altitude on a heading of approximately 200 degrees and appeared under perfect control. Then the ship went into a gentle left bank of about 70 to 80 degrees still losing altitude and still under perfect control. All four engines were still running when the ship disappeared below the clouds."³⁷

Lieutenant Lewis D. Chase added another eyewitness account:

"I witnessed Lt. Hadjes’ ship going down during the bombing run over Hamburg. I was leading the high squadron and Lt. Hadjes was leading the second element of the lead squadron. The flak was intense and the worst part of it caught the lead squadron. Major Weibel’s ship caught fire and burned up. Lt. Hadjes’ ship was evidently hit badly, passed under the High Squadron, straightened out parallel to the course and was losing altitude rapidly."³⁸

Additional postwar summaries indicate that the aircraft force-landed near Bavendorf, east of Lüneburg, Germany, after sustaining heavy flak damage.³⁹ Remarkably, all nine crew members survived the descent and became prisoners of war.⁴⁰ Later recollections associated with Homer Kuck described the emergency landing in vivid personal detail:

"When their crew was shot down they made an emergency landing, and no one was injured. Homer told me that when they came down they crossed a roadway with ditches on both sides, and it was a pretty rough ride. After they came to a stop, one of the crew members remarked that it was the best landing they ever made."⁴¹

The same account stated that the crew separated after landing in an attempt to evade capture:

"They all came out of the plane uninjured. Homer told me he buried his service pistol under a tree because if they were captured it was better to be unarmed. The crew members paired off and departed on foot."⁴²

Kuck and ball turret gunner Floyd Jones reportedly evaded capture for more than a week:

"They went in a different direction and traveled on foot nine or ten days. When they were captured they were within one day of crossing a border into a friendly country, which I think was Holland. They stole civilian clothes from clotheslines so they could ditch their Army uniforms. They stole food when they could and even tried digging up seed potatoes. They milked cows in the field. They traveled at night and hid during the day."⁴³

Ultimately, all surviving members of the crew became German prisoners of war.⁴⁴ Hadjes himself remained a POW for approximately eleven months until liberation in the spring of 1945.⁴⁵ Newspaper accounts later specified that he was liberated on April 29, 1945.⁴⁶ During his wartime service, Hadjes received the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster under General Orders No. 92 dated June 11, 1944.⁴⁷ A later obituary additionally stated that he had been decorated with the Bronze Star for heroic achievement and had received other commendations, though full official confirmation of the Bronze Star award remains pending further archival verification.⁴⁸

AFTER WAR

 Following the war, Hadjes settled permanently in Houston, Texas with his wife Sophie where they raised 3 daughters and he built a successful business career in the hospitality and beverage industry. According to both family testimony and newspaper accounts, he operated several neighborhood bars and nightclubs during the 1950s and 1960s together with his brother and members of the Menutes family.⁴⁹ Later in life he had a second family with Rosa Evans. They raised 2 daughters Cathryn and Christine while running several clubs and a pizza restaurant together.⁵⁰ The Houston Post later credited Hadjes with helping establish the first Houston retail beverage dealer association known as F.A.B.A. and stated that he was instrumental in lobbying for liquor-law reform in Texas.⁵¹ He was also associated with the Houston Farm and Ranch Club and several business and fraternal organizations.⁵² Throughout his life he remained connected to Houston’s Greek Orthodox community and was a longtime member of Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral.⁵³ Captain Willard James Hadjes died on November 15, 1994.⁵4 His obituary described him as a man remembered for humor, generosity, warmth, and devotion to family.⁵5 Funeral services were held at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Houston.⁵6 Today, the surviving documentary trail of Willard Hadjes—including Eighth Air Force formation charts, Missing Air Crew Report 5998, wartime newspapers, Greek-American community records, and family testimony—preserves the story of a Greek-American combat aviator who flew through the climactic air battles of 1944, survived the destruction of his Flying Fortress over Hamburg, endured captivity in Nazi Germany, and later built a prominent postwar life within the Greek community of Houston, Texas.