The Man Behind the Name
S/Sgt. Edward J. Haller served as top turret gunner and engineer aboard his aircraft during the August 1, 1943 Ploesti mission. Three sources document his fate: E&E Report No. 2444 (S/Sgt. Murray), E&E Report No. 2451 (S/Sgt. Koen), and MACR-462. He had completed 12 missions. His next of kin was his wife, Mrs. Joyce G. Keller, of 200 Hickory Street, Oakland, California.
Haller did not bail out with the three gunners who survived. Murray's report places the crash over Serbia, while Koen and the MACR record it over Bulgaria following a mid-air collision. Koen observed two men thrown from the plane without parachutes after it went down. The last contact with Haller was approximately one hour before the collision, shortly after leaving the target.
Haller was killed in the crash and was among the crew members confirmed as being in the aircraft when it struck the ground. His name appears as 'Muller' and 'Keller' in some OCR-corrupted pages of the MACR; his serial number 39090167 and position as engineer confirm his identity. He was killed in action on 1 August 1943.
Service record.
Missions flown.
The missions below are those we have been able to document for this airman, drawn from flight logs, mission records, and archival sources. It is not necessarily a complete account of every mission flown; gaps may reflect missing documentation, transferred assignments, or records lost to time.