WWII Timeline – Summer 1935
I’m continuing my WWII Timeline series with a look at July – September 1935 in this post.
A Timeline of WWII, Summer 1935
July 28, 1935
Boeing’s prototype B-17, known as the Model -299, made its first flight. It was piloted by Boeing’s chief test pilot, Leslie Tower. A reporter for the Seattle Times, Richard Williams, seeing the multiple machine guns, remarked, “Why, it’s a flying fortress!”
August 6, 1935
The Nazis forced Jewish performers/artists to join the Jewish Cultural Unions.
August 31, 1935
President Roosevelt signed the Neutrality Act of 1935. It prohibited trading in arms and other war materials with all parties in a war.
September 1935
Germany adopted the swastika for its national flag. The symbol originally stood for life, power, prosperity, and luck in ancient times. The Nazi party adopted the symbol in the 1920’s to stand for German nationalistic pride. But it became a symbol of antisemitism and terror to Jews and enemies of Nazi Germany.
September 15, 1935
The Nuremberg Race Laws, which imposed strict limits on citizenship and civil rights for German Jews, were adopted.
The Nuremberg Race laws were:
- The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor (regarding Jewish marriage)
- The Reich Citizenship Law (designating Jews as subjects)
- The Law for the Protection of the Genetic Health of the German People (requiring all persons wanting to marry to submit to a medical examination; a “Certificate of Fitness to Marry” – which was required to get a marriage license – would be issued if they were found to be disease free)
The Nuremberg Laws caused confusion over the definition of a “full Jew.” The Nazis even published charts to distinguish “full Jews” from Mischlinge (Germans of mixed race) and Aryans. The Nazis ultimately defined a “full Jew” as a person with three Jewish grandparents. A Mischlinge of the first degree was defined as with two Jewish grandparents and of the second degree as with one Jewish grandparent.
Later, supplemental Nazi decrees outlawed the Jews completely, depriving them of their rights as human beings.
Sources:
This series of posts is based on a compilation of timelines from:
The History Place:
The National WWII Museum Interactive Timeline
Wikipedia: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
World War II Chronicle by the Editors of Publications International, Ltd.
Most recent post from the series:
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2018
Laurie Newbold of Belton, Leicestershire, England
First, a recap…
In August, I wrote about an aspect of the WWII Black March of prisoners of war of Stalag Luft IV, the Combine. My father, George Edwin Farrar, who was a waist gunner in the 384th Bomb Group based in Grafton Underwood, England, was one of the prisoners on the March. Dad’s B-17 went down on September 28, 1944 and after a lengthy hospital stay, he was placed in Stalag Luft IV around Thanksgiving.
I have found that when the prisoners of Stalag Luft IV were marched out of the prison camp on February 6, 1945, Dad, RAF airman Laurie Newbold, and 351st Bomb Group waist gunner Cecil McWhorter likely made up a three-man combine. I learned of these men through a letter Laurie Newbold sent Dad on July 15, 1946.
I wanted to know more about the two men my dad spent his darkest days with in the prison camp and on the March. I have already researched and written about the man I learned was “Old Mac Whorter.” He was Cecil Carlton McWhorter and you can read more about him in these previous posts, Cecil Carlton McWhorter –
…End of recap
My search for Laurie Newbold began with his letter. I had his address, 6 Forest View Cottages, Belton, NR Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. Belton is a parish, or small village, in the district of North West Leicestershire in England. A Google Maps search today does not find “6 Forest View Cottages” in Belton.
I learned a few other things from the letter. Laurie was married and his wife’s father ran the local pub. Laurie had one son before his war service. And after he returned home from the war, he had a second son.
In an internet search, I recently found a pub in Belton called “The Queen’s Head Pub.”
Queen’s Head Pub in Belton
The Queen’s Head Pub in Belton, Leicestershire has been a village pub for over 200 years. The building is a historic coaching inn which was built in the 1700’s. It has been a pub since 1800. Now it is a restaurant with a bar and accommodations. The Queen’s Head is situated in the center of the village facing the square. The pub is located at 2 Long Street, Belton, Loughborough, LE12 9TP.
I e-mailed the pub and quickly received a response from Jo Newby, General Manager of the Queen’s Head. Jo did some checking and discovered that I had the correct Belton, England (there are two), but possibly not the right pub. Jo said that there were once two pubs in Belton. The other, the George Hotel, is no longer there, but she thinks it was the George which Laurie Newbold’s father-in-law ran.
Jo found a few folks who remember Lawrence (Laurie) Newbold. A couple of Jo Newby’s regulars at the Queen’s Head, Barry and Mary-Jean, know a lot about Laurie. He was Mary-Jean’s uncle and they lived next door to him. Laurie Newbold had three children, Michael, Stephen, and Janice. Laurie has passed away and so have Michael and Janice. But Stephen is still alive and lives in the adjacent village of Long Whatton.
Jo found an interesting photo hanging on a wall of the Queen’s Head Pub. It is a picture of Laurie Newbold and the Long Whatton and Belton Home Guard. In the photo, Laurie Newbold is standing second from left in the second from top row. I have circled him in the photo.
Lawrence Newbold, second from left in the second from top row
Long Whatton and Belton Home Guard
Photo courtesy of Jo Newby
More internet searches revealed that L.E. (Laurie) Newbold was a Sergeant in the RAF, in the No. 50 Squadron of Bomber Command. He became a POW on March 18, 1944 when his Avro Lancaster #ED-308 went down on a mission to Frankfurt.
The No. 50 Squadron flew out of RAF Skellingthorpe in Lincoln, England, from November 26,1941 to June 20, 1942 and October 17, 1942 to June 15, 1945. Skellingthorpe was about seventy miles north of Grafton Underwood (where my dad was stationed) and Polebrook (where Cecil McWhorter was stationed).
The Back to Normandy website has a photo of ED-308 and some information about the March 18/19 mission. The site’s publisher, Fred Vogels, wrote,
On Saturday, 18 March 1944, (a part of) the aircraft of the 50 squadron (RAF), took off for a mission to Frankfurt in Germany from a station (airfield) in or near Skellingthorpe.
One of the crew members was Flight Sergeant H J Rouse. He departed for his mission at 19:15.
He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type I, with serial ED308 and code VN-J). His mission and of the other crew members was planned for Sunday, 19 March 1944.
I found a list of the crew aboard ED-308 on March 18, 1944 on the UK’s National Archives website. Once the page opens, scroll down and click Preview an image of this record. Select Image 12 and then go to full screen. About halfway down the page, you will see 18/19 March 1944 in the left column. Zooming in helps immensely. You can view the crew listing and comments even though viewing is obstructed by a water mark. The pilot’s last name is Miller, and fourth line down on Miller’s crew is Sgt. L.E. Newbold.
The Sortie notes state: Bombing Attack on Frankfurt. Aircraft Missing – no signal received.
I’m happy to have learned more about Laurie Newbold and have a photo of him thanks to Jo Newby. Perhaps someday Stephen Newbold and I will be able to meet face to face. I think that if I can look directly into his eyes, I will be able to see the ghost of his father and he will be able to see the ghost of mine, how they appeared seventy-four years ago when they helped each other survive what was probably the most fearful time in their lives, and watched each other waste away from lack of food, illness, and other hardships of marching across Germany, not knowing if they would live to ever see their families again. Stephen Newbold, this is our shared history. The history of our fathers, two survivors of WWII.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2018
WWII Timeline – Spring 1935
I’m continuing my WWII Timeline series with a look at April – June 1935 in this post.
A Timeline of WWII, Spring 1935
May 2, 1935
France and Russia signed a mutual assistance treaty which forced Germany into a two-front war. Russia also signed a similar agreement with Czechoslovakia in the same time period.
May 21, 1935
The Nazis banned Jews from serving in the military.
June 26, 1935
The Nazis passed a law allowing forced abortions on women to prevent them from passing on hereditary diseases.
Sources:
This series of posts is based on a compilation of timelines from:
The History Place:
The National WWII Museum Interactive Timeline
Wikipedia – Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance
World War II Chronicle by the Editors of Publications International, Ltd.
Most recent post from the series:
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2018
Cataract Op by Edward Field
In last week’s post, I presented the video of Edward Field’s Veterans History Project interview. In his interview, Edward reads his poem World War II. Edward also mentions another WWII-related poem he wrote, Cataract Op, which he has yet to publish in one of his books. Edward has kindly given me permission to publish it here.
Cataract Op
by Edward Field
It felt so adult, at 83, going by myself to the hospital,
getting on the bus like others (all the young) headed for work
through the morning Manhattan streets
carrying umbrellas and newspapers, disappearing into subways,
lining up at carts for a (careless, cholesterol-rich) paper bag breakfast.
When the bus pulled up at the hospital stop,
I got out and walked in, calm,
like I remember in the war flying into combat
with maybe a touch of nerves, but no great anxiety,
more like excitement.
Then it all went efficiently, the procedures of pre-op,
as I was passed from station to station, each technician doing his job,
like once the squadrons of silver bombers
in wing to wing formation roared through the crystal sky,
each of the crew busy, me at my desk with my instruments
calculating our course and noting in the log
wind drift and speed and altitude,
courteously calling “navigator to crew…,”
to read out our position and estimated time of arrival.
Our goal of the mission that day was the Ruhr,
a land of mines and furnaces, with a cataract of thick black smoke
rising from the factories cranking out anti-aircraft guns
like the ones lobbing up the deadly black bursts at us.
Now I was being wheeled into the hall outside the operating room
where I joined a line of gurneys waiting their turn at the laser,
as the squadrons in stately procession wheeled
in a wide circle around the city, lined up for the bombing run,
the flak peppering the air thickly under us.
Finally, the moment, my moment —
and I was wheeled into the operating room under a spotlight,
my eye taped open, but my mind alert
as the surgeon went to work, the oh-so-delicate work, with his instruments…
and the earlier moment — our squadron’s turn —
we headed in tight formation right into the midst
of the bursting antiaircraft shells,
the bomb bay doors opening with a grinding whine.
Our wings were rocking perilously close to the neighboring planes,
while the pilot fought to keep the heaving plane on course
over the bulls eye of the target below,
and I too was busy, shards of flak rattling off the aluminum walls around me,
my hand jiggling as I recorded in my log
the burning buildings, planes going down, the exact time of…
bombs away —
now to get out of here!
It was over so fast. The nurse was already taping up my eye
and I was wheeled back into the corridor feeling happy,
as on that day of the mission, we turned on a wing
and wheeled west toward home
with the late sun lighting up the heavenly landscape of clouds,
brighter than I had ever seen before.
Published by permission of the author
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2018 (excluding Cataract Op by Edward Field)
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