Joseph was born on 19 July 1915 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia to Russian born parents Max and Bertha née Shankrofsky. Joseph left Canada to join the RAF in 1936. He started in the armament section and later realised his ambition to be a pilot.

He married Irene Manning in Westminster, London in 1940 and their son Richard was born in 1942. After Joseph’s death his wife and child moved to Canada.

Joseph was the pilot of Wellington LP397 which departed RAF Castle Donington on a cross country exercise. About 25 minutes after it took off it entered a thunderstorm and shortly afterwards the aircraft was seen to dive near vertically out of the cloud and into the ground near the village of Mayfield near Ashbourne.

All the crew were killed.
Nav, George David Wills Buchanan, RCAF
B/A, William Corley Davis, RCAF
A/G, William George Paterson, RAFVR
A/G, James Joseph Urban Stevens, RCAF
A/G, Richard John Taylor, RCAF