Parents: Walter Messerly and Mamie Lang Messerly, both born in Iowa.

He enlisted Feb 17, 1943 at Camp Dodge, Herrold, Iowa

As Sergeant in the Army Air Corps during World War II, Julian flew in the Red Growler, a B-24H/J Liberator. His position was gunner. In 1943, the unit flew out of Station 137 Lavenham Base in Suffolk, England, an area that has now reverted to farm land. [1]

As part of the preparations for the D-Day invasion, the Red Growler went on a mission to bomb Munster, Germany on May 30, 1944. Flak damaged the Red Growler crashed into the North Sea, all but one crew member was saved.

Unit: 3rd Air Division, 487th Bomber Group Heavy, 838th Bomber Squadron, serving under 2nd Lt Walter W McCarty in the Red Growler

Status: Missing

US Awards: Purple Heart Medal, Air Medal

Memorial: His name appears on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial.

Source: Familypedia

Sergeant Julian Willis Messerly, Army serial number 37661921, was born at Washington Township, Webster County, Iowa on January 15, 1924. He was the tenth of eleven children of Walter Lonzo Messerly (4 Aug 1883 – 5 Sep 1956), who was born at Fort Dodge, Webster County, Iowa; and Anna Maria 'Mayme' (Lang) Messerly (7 May 1888 – 11 Jan 1973), who was born at Mendota, LaSalle County, Illinois. His parents married about 1906. By 1940 the family home was at 1432 Central Avenue, Fort Dodge, Iowa. His father was a farmer; in 1942 his father worked for the Works Progress Administration in Webster County, Iowa.

Julian Messerly completed four years of high school and worked as a shipping and receiving clerk in Webster County, Iowa. He was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Camp Dodge, Herrold, Iowa, on February 17, 1943.

He completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery and flight engineering training, and was assigned as a gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Walter W. McCarty. In December 1943 the McCarty crew began B-24 crew training at Davis-Monthan Field in Tucson, Arizona. In January 1944 the crew was assigned to the 838th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. There they completed B-24 crew training, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. There is a photo of the McCarty crew that was taken in March 1944 at Herington, Kansas, the first stop during the overseas deployment. They flew B-24H 42-52739 overseas via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived in England by mid-April 1944. The 487th Bomb Group was based at U.S. Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe. Here is Lt McCarty's crew roster on May 30, 1944:

B-24H 42-52739 – 838th Bomb Squadron
• McCarty, Walter W – 2/Lt – Pilot – Safe
• Atkins, Richard S – F/O – Copilot – Safe
• Spoerl, Raymond G – F/O – Navigator – Safe
• George, Willard J – 2/Lt – Bombardier – Safe
• Horton, John W – T/Sgt – Engineer – Safe
• Sweeney, Fred C – Sgt – Radio Operator – Safe
• Messerly, Julian W – Sgt – Top Turret Gunner – MIA
• Coles, Keith E – Sgt – Gunner – Safe
• Williams, Robert L – Sgt – Gunner – Safe
• Blaha, Henry W – S/Sgt – Gunner – Safe

On May 30, 1944, the 487th Bomb Group's primary target was the airfield at Handorf, a suburb of Munster, Germany. Lt McCarty's ship, B-24H 42-52739 'Red Growler', had two engines shot out by flak in the target area. On the return, another engine quit and Lt McCarty ditched the aircraft in the North Sea in the vicinity of some fishing vessels at about 52°20'N, 02°20'E, some 10 miles out from Lowestoft, England. All crew members except Sgt Messerly were able to board life rafts and were rescued. Sgt Messerly was last seen clinging to the tail of the aircraft. He may have been injured and unable to move. Before he could be reached, both he and the aircraft sank. His body was never recovered.

He is memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery near Madingley, England. He also has a cenotaph at North Lawn Cemetery in Fort Dodge, Iowa, where his parents are buried.

Sources:
1. 487th Bomb Group Association

2. 1940 US Census; Iowa, Webster County; Wahkonsa Township; Fort Dodge City; 1432 Central Ave. Messerly, Walter. 11 May 1940 (his father)

3. American Battle Monuments Commission

4. Blaha, Henry W. Personal letter to the mother of Julian Messerly. 16 Aug 1944

5. Coles, Mrs F. R. Personal letter to the mother of Julian Messerly. 31 May 1945

6. de Jong, Ivo. 'The History of the 487th Bomb Group (H)'. Paducah KY: Turner Publishing, Oct 2004

7. Enlistment Record of Julian W. Messerly

8. George, Willard J. Personal letter to the mother of Julian Messerly. 26 June 1944.

9. HQ, Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona. Special Orders Number 1. 1 Jan 1944 (transfer of fifty heavy bomber combat crews, less navigators, from Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona to the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico)

10. HQ, 359th Combat Crew Training School, Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. Special Orders Number 71. 11 Mar 1944 (487th Bomb Group flight echelon order to proceed from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Herington, Kansas during the deployment to England)

11. Iowa, Birth Records, 1921–1942: Julian Willis Messerly was born at Washington Township, Webster County, Iowa on 15 Jan 1924; parents: Walter L Messerly, Mamie Lang

12. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 15237

13. U.S. War Department. 'World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel'. Washington, D.C., June 1946

14. World War II Draft Registration of Walter L. Messerly (his father). 25 Apr 1942

Research by:
Paul Webber
Secretary, 487th Bomb Group Association
Find A Grave member ID 47577572
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Contributor: Paul Webber (47577572) • [email protected])