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George Farrar, Lawrence Newbold, and Christmas 1944
During WWII, my dad, George Edwin Farrar, was a waist gunner on a B-17 crew of the 384th Bomb Group of the United States Army Air Forces’ (USAAF) 8th Air Force. The 384th was based in Grafton Underwood, England. Dad was “Ed” to family, but in the Army Air Forces, he was known as “George.”
During the war, Lawrence Newbold was a wireless operator on an Avro Lancaster crew of the 50 Squadron of the British Royal Air Force (RAF). The 50 Squadron was based in Skellingthorpe, England. He was also known as “Lawrie” and signed a letter to my father as such (although I originally read it as “Laurie.”)
While the British Royal Air Force flew night bombing missions over Germany during WWII, the US Army Air Forces flew daytime missions. The result was constant, continuous bombardment against the Nazis in the European Theater.
On the night of March 18, 1944, Lawrence Newbold’s 50 Squadron took part in a mission to Frankfurt, Germany. In the course of the mission, his Lancaster was shot down and Lawrence bailed out over Germany. After interrogation, he was likely first confined to the Stalag Luft VI prison camp near the town of Heydekrug, Memelland (now Šilutė in Lithuania), although I am not certain that was his original camp.
In July 1944, the POW’s of Stalag Luft VI were moved to the Stalag Luft IV prison camp in Gross Tychow, Pomerania (now Tychowo, Poland), which had opened in May. Whether Lawrence was one of the prisoners who endured the dreadful transfer from Stalag Luft VI to IV, via crammed railroad boxcars, the dismal hold of a ship, and the torturous “run up the road” (also known as the “Heydekrug Run” – more on this subject at a later date), I do not know, but I do know at the time he was captured, Stalag Luft IV was not yet open and he was transferred there sometime on or after the opening in May 1944.
On the morning of September 28, 1944, George Farrar’s 384th Bomb Group took part in a mission to Magdeburg, Germany. Coming off the target, another of the group’s B-17’s collided with George’s. George, who was luckily wearing his parachute, was thrown from the aircraft which had split in two in the collision. After interrogation and a lengthy hospital stay, he was confined to Stalag Luft IV in late November, around Thanksgiving.
Lawrence and George were assigned to Room 12 of an unknown barracks and lager of Stalag Luft IV. Within weeks the newfound roommates would spend Christmas 1944 together. Lawrence undoubtedly would like to have been home to spend Christmas with his wife Marjorie and their son Michael, and George was likely dreaming of Christmas with his parents and eight siblings.
In a Christmas POW postcard to his mother, George wrote,
Hope everyone had a nice Christmas. We had as good as can be expected here.
I often think of how alone and scared my dad must have been at Christmas 1944 in a prison camp with no family to comfort him. But this year I have a new perspective. This Christmas is the 75th anniversary of the Christmas Dad spent in Stalag Luft IV and I will think of it as the Christmas Dad spent with Lawrence Newbold and his POW family of “Room 12.”
This year is special because Stephen Newbold, the son of Lawrence Newbold, and I, the daughter of George Farrar, met for the first time. When I was in England for the 384th Bomb Group reunion in September, Steve and his son, Paul, and I met in the village of Grafton Underwood, where Dad’s 384th Bomb Group’s airbase was located.
Paul Newbold, Cindy Bryan, and Steve Newbold
Dad would never have believed that seventy-five years after he and Lawrence Newbold endured the horrors of imprisonment in Stalag Luft IV and the 86-day 500-mile march to liberation during WWII, their descendants would have the opportunity to meet. At our meeting, the connection was instantaneous. I predict our friendship will be long lasting and I look forward to a future visit to England which must include meeting more of Lawrence Newbold’s descendants.
Even though George and Lawrence are both gone now, our pride in the sacrifices they made for us seventy-five years ago will live on through their children, grandchildren, and many generations to come.
On this 75th anniversary of the Christmas George and Lawrence spent together in 1944, to my newfound friends, Steve and Paul Newbold, and the Newbold family members I have yet to meet, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2019
WWII Timeline – Spring 1942
I’m continuing my WWII Timeline series with a look at April – June 1942 in this post.
A Timeline of WWII, Spring 1942
April 1942
The first transports of Jews arrived at the Majdanek concentration and extermination camp, which was built and operated by the SS on the outskirts of the city of Lublin in German-occupied Poland.
April 1, 1942
The internment of Japanese Americans began.
April 3, 1942
The Japanese attacked American and Filipino troops at Bataan.
April 6, 1942
The first U.S. troops arrived in Australia.
April 9, 1942
U.S. forces on Bataan surrendered unconditionally to the Japanese.
April 10, 1942
The Bataan Death March of 60,000 to 80,000 Allied POWs (American and Filipino) began. They were forced to walk sixty to seventy miles under intense heat, with no food or water, and subjected to harsh treatment by the Japanese, to prison camps. They were divided into groups of one hundred and the march took each group about five days to complete. Many thousands perished.
April 18, 1942
Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle (later General of the United States Army Air Forces) led the first U.S. bombing attack on Japan off the aircraft carrier USS Hornet. The air raid became known as the Doolittle’s Tokyo Raid.
April 20, 1942
German Jews were banned from using public transportation.
April 23, 1942
German air raids began against cathedral cities in Britain.
April 26, 1942
The Reichstag unanimously passed a decree proclaiming Hitler “Supreme Judge of the German People.” The decree officially allowed Hitler to act outside the laws of the Reich, to override the judiciary and administration in all matters, making him the final decision-maker, with the power of life and death over every German citizen.
April 29, 1942
The Japanese took central Burma.
May 1942
The Sobibor extermination camp in German-occupied Poland became operational. It had three gas chambers initially using carbon monoxide piped in from engines, but later was switched over to Zyklon-B gas.
May 1, 1942
The Japanese occupied Mandalay in Burma.
May 3, 1942
The Japanese took Tulagi in the Solomon Islands.
May 4 – 8, 1942
A major naval battle called the “Battle of the Coral Sea” was fought between the Imperial Japanese Navy and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Japan claimed a tactical victory since they sunk the American aircraft carrier USS Lexington, but the Japanese were not able to seize New Guinea and isolate Australia.
The Allies won a strategic victory in the Battle of the Coral Sea. It was the first time in history that two opposing aircraft carrier forces fought only using aircraft without the opposing ships ever sighting each other.
The final resting place of the USS Lexington was found March 4, 2018, more than five hundred miles off the coast of Australia seventy-six years after it was sunk in the battle.
May 5, 1942
The Japanese prepared to invade Midway and the Aleutian Islands.
May 6, 1942
The Japanese took Corregidor Island, an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the Philippines, as General Jonathan M. Wainwright unconditionally surrendered all U.S. and Filipino forces in the Philippines to the Empire of Japan.
May 8, 1942
The German summer offensive began in the Crimea.
May 12, 1942
The last U.S. troop holdouts in the Philippines surrendered on Mindanao.
May 15, 1942
Gasoline rationing began in the U.S.
May 18, 1942
An article included on an inside page of the New York Times reported that Nazis had exterminated over 100,000 Jews in the Baltic states, 100,000 in Poland and twice as many in western Russia by machine gun.
May 20, 1942
The Japanese completed the capture of Burma and reached India.
May 26, 1942
German General Erwin Rommel began an offensive against the Gazala Line (west of the port of Tobruk in Libya).
May 27, 1942
Czech resistance underground agents shot Reich Protector/SS Leader Reinhard Heydrich in Prague. In retaliation, all 152 members of a student group that had displayed anti-Nazi posters in Berlin on May 18, were shot.
May 30, 1942
The British RAF (Royal Air Force) launched a thousand-bomber air raid against Cologne (Köln), Germany.
June 1942
Gas vans were used in Riga, Latvia’s capital on the Baltic Sea. Victims were sealed inside the vans and choked to death through carbon monoxide poisoning.
June 1, 1942
The Luftwaffe (German Air Force) inflicted heavy damage on Canterbury, England.
Jews in France, Holland, Belgium, Croatia, Slovakia, and Romania were ordered to wear the yellow Star of David badge.
The mass murder of Jews by gassing began at the Auschwitz extermination camp.
June 4, 1942
Reich Protector/SS Leader Reinhard Heydrich, shot May 27 by the Czech resistance in Prague, died of his wounds.
June 4-5, 1942
The British Navy and American Navy stopped the Japanese naval advance in the central Pacific at Midway. The Allied victory was the turning point in the war in the Pacific. Squadrons of U.S. torpedo planes and dive bombers from the USS Enterprise, USS Hornet, and USS Yorktown attacked and destroyed four Japanese aircraft carriers, a cruiser, and damaged another cruiser and two destroyers. The U.S. lost the Yorktown.
June 5, 1942
The Germans overwhelmed Sevastopol, a port in the Crimea on the Black Sea, in a campaign fought by the Axis powers of Germany and Romania against the Soviet Union for control of the port.
The Nazi SS reported 97,000 persons “processed” in mobile gas vans.
June 6-7, 1942
Japanese forces invaded the Aleutian Islands of Kiska and Attu.
June 9, 1942
The Japanese postponed further plans to take Midway.
June 10, 1942
The Nazis liquidated the Czech town of Lidice as a reprisal for Reinhard Heydrich’s killing in Prague. In addition to the Gestapo and SS killings of Czech agents, resistance members, and anyone suspected of being involved in Heydrich’s death (totaling over 1000 persons), the deportation of 3000 Jews from the ghetto at Theresienstadt for extermination, and the arrest in Berlin of 500 Jews, with 152 executed as a reprisal, Hitler ordered the small Czech mining village of Lidice to be liquidated on the fake charge that it had aided Heydrich’s assassins.
All 172 men and boys over age 16 in the village were shot. The women of Lidice were deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp where most died. Ninety young children were sent to the concentration camp at Gneisenau, although some deemed to be German-looking were later taken to Nazi orphanages.
The buildings in Lidice were destroyed by explosives until the village was completely leveled and not a trace remained. The soil was planted over and the village’s name removed from all German maps.
June 11, 1942
SS leader Adolf Eichmann met with representatives from France, Belgium and Holland to coordinate deportation plans for Jews.
June 21, 1942
German General Erwin Rommel captured Tobruk in Libya.
June 25, 1942
General Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived in London and took control of U.S. forces in Europe.
June 28, 1942–September 1942
German troops and Axis partners fought their way into Stalingrad (Volgograd) on the Volga River in the Soviet Union by mid-September. They secured the Crimean Peninsula and made their way deep into the Caucasus, an area situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.
June 30, 1942
German General Erwin Rommel reached El Alamein near Cairo, Egypt.
The second gas chamber at Auschwitz known as Bunker II (the white farmhouse) was made operational at Birkenau due to the arrival of a large number of Jews.
June 30 (and July 2), 1942
The New York Times reported via the London Daily Telegraph that over 1,000,000 Jews had been killed by the Nazis. The story may have been the result of information passed to London and Washington in the Summer of 1942 by Swiss representatives of the World Jewish Congress regarding information they received from a German industrialist of the Nazi plan to exterminate the Jews.
Sources:
This series of posts is based on a compilation of timelines from:
The History Place:
The National WWII Museum Interactive Timeline
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
World War II Chronicle by the Editors of Publications International, Ltd.
Most recent post from the series:
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2019
The Little Girl in the Photo
For the longest time I wondered why my dad, George Edwin Farrar, had this photo of two airmen and three children is his small collections of photographs from WWII. There were no names or any other identifying marks on the back.
544th Bomb Squad area with Air Raid Shelter in the background. The children in the picture are the Denney children, left to right: Bert, Roy, and June.
I assumed the photo was taken on the airbase where he served in WWII, the home of the 384th Bomb Group in Grafton Underwood, England. I wondered who the airmen were, why there were children on the base, and what was in the background.
After many years of puzzling over the photo, I posted a copy of it on the 384th Bomb Group’s Facebook page. I learned that an air raid shelter was in the background of the photo. The airmen still remain to be identified, but to my surprise, a member of the Facebook group, area resident Richard Denney recognized the children.
The boy standing on the left is Richard’s father, Bert Denney. The other two children are Bert’s siblings, brother Roy and sister June. Roy had passed away, but Bert and June still lived nearby. Richard showed the photo to his dad. Bert remembered being on the base that day, but didn’t realize the photo was taken.
During WWII, the Denney family lived in the Keeper’s Lodge, which was on the base, although separated by a gate, very near the 544th Bomb Squadron living area where my dad and the rest of his crew, the John Oliver “Jay” Buslee crew was quartered.
Grafton Underwood Airfield with 544th Squadron Living Area circled – note the proximity to the Keeper’s Lodge/Denney family home
Now I knew what the structure was in the background of the photo and I knew the identities of the children. But I still didn’t know why my dad had the photo in his collection. I didn’t believe my father would have owned a camera at the time. A portion of his military service pay was being sent to his mother to help support the family as his dad was bedridden due to illness and couldn’t work. A camera would have been a luxury my dad wouldn’t have owned. So the photo was still somewhat of a puzzle.
The 384th Bomb Group Historical Association decided it was time for another junket to England and a visit to the 384th’s airbase at Grafton Underwood. As soon as the plans were completed, I signed up to go. I would have a chance to see the airbase where my dad served and maybe I could learn a little bit more about the mysterious photo.
In the time since I posted the photo to Facebook, sadly Richard’s dad Bert Denney also passed away. But the little girl in the photo, June, still lived nearby and would be in Grafton Underwood on the day of our group’s visit.
Meeting Richard Denney and his Aunt June was one of the highlights not only of the day in Grafton Underwood, but of my entire trip to the UK. It felt surreal to meet the woman who was the little girl in the mystery photograph.
Richard Denney, Cindy Bryan, and June Denney Moatt
But I still didn’t know why my dad had the photo. While visiting with Richard and June, I pulled out some photos I had brought with me of my dad and his crew. I showed June a photo of my dad and some of his enlisted crew mates and she didn’t recognize Dad or his crew mates. (Dad’s the one on the left in the photo below).
Left to right: George Edwin Farrar, Lenard Leroy Bryant, Erwin V. Foster, and Sebastiano Joseph Peluso.
Then I showed June the Buslee crew photo.
The Buslee Crew
She pointed to John Oliver “Jay” Buslee and thought she recognized him. (He’s standing on the far left in the photo). I told her his name was John Buslee and the name didn’t ring a bell, but when I told her he went by the name “Jay,” she said, “Yes, the pilot Jay. He used to come to our house for tea or a nip of wine.”
Their house. The Keeper’s Lodge. The Denney home of more than fifty years which was so close to the 544th Bomb Squadron living area. It was becoming clear. Jay Buslee took the photo of the Denney children because he knew them from visiting their home.
Bert Denney at the Keeper’s Lodge in Grafton Park Woods, home of the Denney family for nearly 50 years. Photo courtesy of Richard Denney.
June and I spent as much time as possible together on my visit to Grafton Underwood, but of course time was too short that day with a tour of the airbase planned and other people to meet. But she did share a few wartime memories with me. The window on the second floor at the end of the house (on the right in the above photo) was her bedroom window. And she remembers the day a 384th Bomb Group airman from a B-17 crashed through the then thatched roof of the shed (on the left in the photo) and survived with only a broken leg.
Now the mystery of the photo was clearing even more. I believe the 1944 photo was taken by pilot John (Jay) Buslee and given to my father, George Edwin Farrar, who was the waist gunner on Buslee’s crew, by Jay’s father. Jay was killed in the September 28, 1944 mid-air collision in which my father, the only survivor, became a POW. My father lived with Jay’s family for almost 4 years after the war. Jay’s father must have wanted my dad to have some of the photos Jay had taken at Grafton Underwood and this was one of them.
I didn’t have this photo of Jay Buslee with me in England, but I’m sending June a copy so she can have a photo of the man who was a friend to her family.
John Oliver “Jay” Buslee. Photo courtesy of John Dale Kielhofer, nephew of Jay Buslee
In undoubtedly one of the highlights of my year, I was delighted to meet the little girl in the photo and learn its story while I was in the same village it was taken, where my dad was stationed seventy-five years before.
In fact, our meeting occurred on September 21, 2019, just one week short of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the day Jay Buslee lost his life in the mid-air collision, the day he left Grafton Underwood at the controls of a B-17, never to return. Though he’s been gone seventy-five years, that little girl from 1944, June Denney, still fondly remembers him.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2019
WWII Timeline – Winter 1942
I’m continuing my WWII Timeline series with a look at January – March 1942 in this post.
A Timeline of WWII, Winter 1942
January 1942
At Auschwitz-Birkenau, mass killings of Jews by Zyklon-B pellets began in Bunker I (the red farmhouse).
Zyklon-B pellets, made of hydrocyanic acid, vaporized when exposed to air. The Nazis had discovered that the gas produced, which was originally intended for commercial use as a disinfectant and an insecticide, could be used to kill humans.
In their killing process, the Nazis forced the prisoners into air-tight chambers disguised to look like showers. They then dumped the Zyklon-B pellets into the room through special air shafts or openings in the ceiling. Upon being exposed to air, the pellets would vaporize and gave off a bitter almond odor. The prisoners would breathe the tainted air and the vapors would combine with their red blood cells, which deprived their bodies of oxygen, leading to unconsciousness and death through oxygen starvation.
The bodies were buried in mass graves in a nearby meadow.
January 1, 1942
Twenty-six allied nations signed the Declaration of the United Nations.
January 2, 1942
The Japanese captured Manila and the U.S. Naval base at Cavite.
January 5, 1942
Tire rationing began in the U.S.
January 7, 1942
The Japanese attacked Bataan in the Philippines.
January 11, 1942
The Japanese invaded the Dutch East Indies and Dutch Borneo.
January 13, 1942
The Germans began a U-boat offensive along the U.S. east coast.
January 16, 1942
The Japanese invaded and began an advance into Burma.
January 18, 1942
The German, Japanese, and Italian militaries signed an agreement in Berlin.
January 19, 1942
The Japanese took North Borneo.
January 20, 1942
Heinrich Himmler’s second in command of the SS, Reinhard Heydrich, convened the Nazis’ Wannsee Conference (Wannsee was a suburb of Berlin) to coordinate the “Final Solution.” Fifteen top Nazi bureaucrats and members of the SS met to determine how the Nazis would exterminate the eleven million Jews of Europe and the Soviet Union.
Heydrich declared,
Europe would be combed of Jews from east to west.
The minutes of the meeting (read the full minutes via a link at the bottom of this post) were taken by Adolf Eichmann, but Heydrich edited them and substituted the Nazis’ coded language in reference to lethal actions against the Jews. For example,
“…eliminated by natural causes,” meant death by hard labor and starvation.
“…transported to the east,” referred to mass deportations to ghettos in occupied Poland, then on to the gas chamber.
“…treated accordingly,” referred to execution by SS firing squad or death by gas, also sometimes referred to as “special treatment” or “special actions.”
January 21, 1942
Erwin Rommel began a counter-offensive from El Agheila.
January 23, 1942
The Japanese took Rabaul on New Britain in the Solomon Islands and invaded Bougainville, the largest island.
January 26, 1942
The first American forces arrived in Great Britain.
January 27, 1942
The first Japanese warship to be destroyed by the US Navy, I-73, was sunk by a U.S. submarine, the USS Gudgeon.
January 30/31, 1942
The British withdrew into Singapore, beginning the siege of Singapore.
January 31, 1942
SS Einsatzgruppe A (a paramilitary death squad) reported a total of 229,052 Jews killed.
February 1, 1942
Mass deportations of Jews from Western Europe to Poland’s extermination camps began.
The first U.S. aircraft carrier offensive of the war occurred as the USS Yorktown and USS Enterprise conducted air raids on Japanese bases in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands.
February 2, 1942
The Japanese invaded Java in the Dutch East Indies.
February 8/9, 1942
The Japanese invaded Singapore.
February 14, 1942
The Japanese invaded Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies.
February 15, 1942
The British surrendered to the Japanese at Singapore which had one million civilian inhabitants. Winston Churchill called it the “worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history” with nine thousand British, Australian, and other British Empire troops killed and 130,000 captured by the Japanese.
February 19, 1942
Japan staged their largest air raid since Pearl Harbor against Darwin, Australia.
The Japanese invaded Bali.
U.S. President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which authorized the internment of Japanese and Japanese Americans along the West Coast.
February 20, 1942
Lt. Edward Henry “Butch” O’Hare, for whom Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport was later named, became the Navy’s first flying ace when he single-handedly attacked a wave of nine Japanese heavy bombers approaching his aircraft carrier, the USS Lexington off Rabaul. He managed to shoot down five of the enemy bombers.
[Two months later, on April 21, 1942, O’Hare became the first naval recipient of WWII’s Medal of Honor. On November 26, 1943, O’Hare was killed defending the USS Enterprise. See more about Edward O’Hare via the link below].
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered General MacArthur out of the Philippines.
February 23, 1942
The first Japanese attack on the U.S. mainland occurred near Santa Barbara, California when a Japanese submarine shelled an oil refinery.
February 24, 1942
The U.S. aircraft carrier USS Enterprise attacked the Japanese on Wake Island.
February 26, 1942
The U.S.’s first aircraft carrier, the USS Langley, was sunk by Japanese bombers.
February 27 – March 1, 1942
Allied naval forces were heavily damaged by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Battle of the Java Sea, including the sinking of America’s largest warship in the Far East, the USS Houston.
March 1942
The Belzec extermination camp became operational in occupied Poland. The permanent gas chambers first had engines placed outside the chamber and carbon monoxide was piped into the chambers. Later Zyklon-B gas was used in exterminations.
March 4, 1942
Two Japanese “flying boats” bombed Pearl Harbor.
The USS Enterprise attacked Marcus Island, only a thousand miles from Japan.
March 7, 1942
The British evacuated Rangoon in Burma.
The Japanese invaded Salamaua and Lae on New Guinea.
March 8, 1942
The Dutch on Java surrendered to the Japanese.
Japanese forces captured Rangoon, evacuated by the British just the day before.
March 9, 1942
The Dutch East Indies surrendered to the Japanese.
March 11, 1942
Under orders from U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur left Corregidor in the Philippines. Left behind were 90,000 American and Filipino troops who would soon fall to the Japanese. MacArthur and his family were flown to Australia. General Jonathan Wainwright became the new U.S. senior field commander of all U.S. and Filipino forces in the Philippine Islands.
March 13, 1942
U.S. Army Air Force airmen arrived in Karachi, India as America entered the China-Burma-India theater. [George Edwin Farrar’s older brother Carroll was stationed in Burma during the war as part of the 315th Air Service Squadron].
March 17, 1942
Jews were deported from Lublin, Poland to the Belzec extermination camp. Twenty-thousand were murdered in the camp by the end of the month.
March 18, 1942
U.S. President Roosevelt appointed General Douglas MacArthur commander of the Southwest Pacific Theater.
The U.S. War Relocation Authority was established. The Authority led to nearly 120,000 Japanese-Americans and resident Japanese to be forcefully transported to ten barb-wired internment camps. Despite this, over 17,000 Japanese-Americans signed up to fight for the U.S. in World War II in Europe, including the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which was the most decorated unit in U.S. history.
March 23, 1942
The Japanese invaded the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal.
March 24, 1942
U.S. Navy Admiral Chester Nimitz was appointed Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific theater.
March 24, 1942
The deportation of Slovak Jews to Auschwitz began.
March 27, 1942
The deportation of French Jews to Auschwitz began.
March 28, 1942
German Nazi politician Ernst Friedrich Christoph “Fritz” Sauckel was named Chief of Manpower to expedite recruitment of slave labor.
March 30, 1942
The first trainloads of Jews from Paris arrived at Auschwitz.
Sources:
This series of posts is based on a compilation of timelines from:
The History Place:
The National WWII Museum Interactive Timeline
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
World War II Chronicle by the Editors of Publications International, Ltd.
The History Place: Full meeting minutes of the Wannsee Conference
Wikipedia: 442nd Regimental Combat Team
Most recent post from the series:
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2019
Military Research – Part 3 of 3
Military Research, continued from Part 1 and Part 2
Alternate Sources of Military Information
Ok, so let’s say you either couldn’t find a copy of your relative’s separation documents, or you could, but still want to learn more. You may be able to piece together information from other sources. Other places to look are:
Genealogy websites like Ancestry
Ancestry.com and other genealogical sites often return military records like,
- Enlistment records (but will not include serial number)
- Draft registration cards
- Navy muster rolls
- Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS death file record, which includes branch of service, enlistment date, and release date
- Prisoner of War records
Fold3 military research website
Fold3.com is a paid site (on its own or with an Ancestry membership) for military information, but does offer a free basic membership so you can see what records are available before deciding whether to purchase a subscription or not. They also offer a 7-day free trial during which you can access everything. In my area, the local Mormon Church research library carries a subscription to Fold3, which I can use for free by visiting their location.
Fold3 does contain a lot of military records, even Missing Air Crew reports from the Army Air Forces, which you may not find on Ancestry.com.
The National Archives online search tool
The online electronic military records in the archival databases of NARA include,
- World War II Army and Army Air Forces enlistment records (including serial number – see Note below)
- World War II prisoner of war records
- Korean War casualties, records of dead and wounded
- Korean War prisoner of war records
- Vietnam Conflict records of dead, missing in action, and prisoners of war
- Vietnam Conflict records of awards and decorations of honor
- Vietnam Conflict Army ground combat operations records, air sorties, and records about hostile fire against US and Australian warships
- Civil War records
- Cold War records
For detail on how to get started with your NARA online search, review the Getting Started Guide.
For information about what you can find in the National Archives’ online military records by era, visit
https://www.archives.gov/research/military/veterans/online
The NARA online search screen basic search, accessed through https://aad.archives.gov/aad/
Results screens
Selection list for enlistment records
If too many records are returned, you may “Search within a field” to narrow down the results. You may narrow results by ASN, Name, Residence State, Residence County, Place of Enlistment, Date of Enlistment Year, Source of Army Personnel, and Year of Birth.
Enlistment record
POW record
American Air Museum in Britain
This site describes itself as
The American Air Museum website records the stories of the men and women of the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) who served their country from the UK in the Second World War. It also records the memories of the British people who befriended them. Browse, edit and upload your own photographs and memories to help us build an online memorial to their lives.
Scroll down the home page to the Getting Started article or further down to search the Archives of People, Aircraft, Places, Missions, Units, and Media (photographs). In the People category, you do not have to fill in any search information other than the name in the Keyword field to begin your search.
If you know your relative served in the 8th Air Force in England in WWII, you may find much more information like group and squadron assignments, base location, names of crew mates, and mission detail.
Individual Unit/Group websites
Once you have discovered the exact unit or group of the military in which your relative served, use Google to see if any of the group’s records are shared online. For example, my father’s group, the 384th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force in WWII, has a very detailed site dedicated to the group and the individuals who served in it. The site contains extensive records of personnel, missions, aircraft, etc., and a large photo gallery.
The 384th Bomb Group’s Web Site
The 384th Bomb Group’s Photo Gallery
Facebook groups
Many WWII groups of NexGens have Facebook groups to connect with others whose relatives served in the same group/unit. Group researchers will offer assistance with questions and help with research once you become a member of the group.
384th Bomber Group Facebook Group
Memorial websites
Headstones and obituaries sometimes include branch of service or even unit/group information.
- Legacy.com may have an obituary that includes the group or unit of a deceased serviceman or veteran.
- Findagrave.com may have a memorial or photo of the headstone that includes group or unit information.
Unit/Group Histories
If your military research takes you into researching unit histories, you may find information at:
- National Archives and Record Administration in College Park, Maryland for Army (and Army Air Force) unit information – textual records, maps, photographs, films, computer records on magnetic tape. Click here for researcher info.
- Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama
- The research center at the Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force near Savannah in Pooler, Georgia. Donald Miller did research here for his book Masters of the Air.
National WWII Memorial Registry
The online registry may provide some information.
Uniform and Insignia/Decoration Clues in Photos
You may be able to determine your relative’s unit or group or at least branch, rank, and specialty through uniforms worn in wartime photos.
Left to right: Erwin Foster (ball turret gunner) with Armament patch, Sebastiano Peluso (radioman), and Lenard Bryant (top turret gunner/engineer) with Engineering patch. Patch identifications courtesy of Keith Ellefson.
Patches top left to bottom: Communications, Armament, Photography, Engineering, and Weather from www.militaryspecialtiesinc.com:
Books and Articles
You can find old and new books with lots of military historical information. Of course, they likely won’t mention your relative specifically, but may fill you in on the history of the unit or group. Other than Amazon and eBay, search for used books on Abebooks and Alibris.
Military Times posted a good article on obtaining missing military records and awards here. And note the photo at the top of the article of a preservation technician restoring military personnel records damaged during the July 12, 1973 fire. More records are recovered every day.
Attend Military Historical Association Reunions, Connect with Veterans, and Connect with Other NexGens and Researchers
Many questions about a relative’s military history just can’t be answered through military records or information found online. Reach out to the historical association and attend one of their reunions. You will be able to talk face to face with veterans of the group. Their numbers are dwindling, so the sooner the better. By listening to the experiences of those who served in the same group as your relative, you will better understand the experiences of your relative.
You may even find yourself on the cover of the association’s magazine!
Start a Blog
If you can’t find enough information, let it find you. Start a blog – I suggest WordPress.com – and start writing about and posting all the information and names you have. Make sure to tag the information for which you think someone else might search. Include “Contact Me” information, specifically an e-mail address, and allow comments so it’s easy to be reached. I have had tremendous success connecting with relatives of airmen I write about in my blog. With every connection, my picture of my dad’s WWII service becomes a bit more complete.
Home page of TheArrowheadClub.com
Note
A note about the Army Serial Number (ASN). At the time of enlistment, an 8-digit ASN was assigned. However, if your relative became an officer, he/she would have been reassigned a new ASN beginning with O- and followed by 6 digits. The enlistment record will include only the original serial number, not the reassigned officer serial number.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2019
Military Research – Part 2 of 3
Military Research, continued from Part 1
Most of my military research experience is WWII-related, primarily Army Air Forces and secondarily Navy research, and therefore it will be the focus of my suggestions here. If you are researching a different timeframe or branch, hopefully you will be able to apply some of my methods to your own search.
Researching Military History – Where to Start
Who are you researching?
Gather copies of the information you have – documents, letters, and military photos – on the person you want to research. Write down the stories you remember hearing. Every bit of biographical data you can record – full name, parents’ names, birth date, birth place, state of residence when joining the service, military service/serial number (see note below regarding ASN), and branch and location of service, if known – will become helpful in finding out more.
What do you want to learn?
Are you looking for basic information like branch and dates of service, or do you want to dig deeper and learn about training and military occupations, the exact unit and location, battles, awards, and decorations?
What do you want to do with this knowledge?
Just something to think about, but your answer will probably determine just how much research you want to do…
- It’s personal? Maybe you just wanted to know and that’s enough.
- Do you want to record your family history for future generations?
- Do you want to connect with other next generation members (NexGens), share your knowledge, and learn more about your common family history?
Resources – Where to Look
There are several places to start that will likely just scratch the surface of the information you can find. If you already have an interest in genealogical research, once you get going, you may find yourself digging deeper and deeper for more knowledge.
First things first
If you have separation papers, you are way ahead of the game. Known today as the DD 214, the separation document before 1950 was form WD AGO, so if you’re looking for WWII Army or Army Air Forces records, look for an Honorable Discharge certificate and Enlisted Record and Report of Separation WD AGO Form 53-55. Accompanying this form for the Army and Army Air Force branch should be the Army of the United States Separation Qualification Record, indicated as WD AGO Form 100. Here’s the information I found on each form:
Honorable Discharge certificate
- Name
- Army Serial Number (ASN)
- Rank
- Group
- Branch of Service
- Place and Date of discharge
Enlisted Record and Report of Separation includes above and adds
- Home address
- Date of birth
- Identifying features
- Civilian occupation (prior to service)
- Military history including enlistment date and place
- Military occupational specialty
- Battles and campaigns
- Decorations and citations
- Wounds received in action (date)
- Dates of service outside the United States
- Service schools attended
The Separation Qualification Record offers more detail on
- Military occupational assignments
- Military education
- Civilian education
- Civilian occupation
I have never found these documents available online. If you don’t have this document for the relative you’re researching, it may be obtained two ways. Separation documents can be ordered through the National Archives or possibly through the county courthouse records of the home county of the veteran.
WWII Navy separation records were a bit different. A handwritten record may be found in the seaman’s Naval Reserve Service Record booklet. The Navy Notice of Separation from the U.S. Naval Service form is NAVPERS-553. WWII Navy separation papers listed rate and class, Navy service number, place and date of separation from active service, and length of foreign or sea service in WWII.
Keep in mind, though, if you are researching a relative killed in WWII, there won’t be a separation document, and all of its detailed information in one place, for that serviceman/woman.
What kind of information is available through the National Archives?
For an overview and answers to general questions regarding Research Using Military Records, visit https://www.archives.gov/veterans, or specifically,
Obtaining Military Service Records from the National Archives’ National Personnel Records Center (NPRC)
You can search for military personnel records stored at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri by mail or in person. I have done both.
Alternately, you could hire an independent researcher at the NPRC. A list of researchers is available on the website.
You may or may not find the records you seek at the St. Louis NPRC. A fire in 1973 destroyed the majority of Army and Air Force personnel records, so no or very few documents could still be available for your search. Navy records were not affected by the fire.
If you opt to visit the NPRC in St. Louis, you can make your own copies by photographing available records for free. You must schedule an appointment and request records well in advance, though, so records can be made ready for your visit.
Camera stands are available for your use and the research staff at the center is very helpful. The quality of photographic images can be much better than copy machine copies if you have a good camera to use for the task. Even cell phone cameras can record high quality images, but I found the cell phone stands the NPRC had available at the time not to work very well. I would take a cell phone camera tripod mount attachment if I were to return to gather more records, although it may not be allowed in the records room.
Other than a personal visit to the NPRC in St. Louis, records may be requested online, by mail, or by fax. Available records are separation documents, personnel records, replacement medals, and medical/health records.
The online process of requesting records is accomplished using the eVetRecs process and is not completely digital. Once you request records through eVetRecs, you must either mail or fax your written signature. From
https://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records
begin by clicking “Start Form Online (then Print and Mail).” If you prefer to completely fill out a paper form by hand to mail or fax, click “Mail or Fax Form.” The link will direct you to a page to print out the SF-180 Form. Or you can order the form through the mail by sending a request to National Personnel Records Center, 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO 63138.
Generally, archival records of military personnel are open to the public 62 years after the serviceperson has left the military, which includes most WWII veterans unless they pursued military careers after the war. But if the person you’re researching did have a long military career and/or separated from the military less than 62 years ago, their non-archival records are only open to the veteran and the veteran’s next-of-kin. See this further explanation from the NPRC.
While most requests from the NPRC are for only a copy of the separation documents, about ten percent request a copy of the entire file, as I did. Since the 1970’s the center’s standard procedure for requests for entire files has been to provide only copies of key documents and vital information. However, for files more than sixty-two years old – as are the archival files of WWII veterans – all documents are provided if requested.
Some of the information contained in a personnel file could include separation documents, military service dates, character of service, promotions and reductions, duty stations and assignments, foreign or sea service, military schooling and training, awards and letters of commendation, disciplinary actions, lost time, enlistment contract, entry and separation physical exams, immunizations, dental examinations, and clinical summaries.
I already had a copy of my dad’s separation documents. My interest in obtaining his entire file was mainly to see medical records and his physical condition after his liberation as a prisoner of war. I had read that the prisoners that were liberated on the Black March were not weighed or their deteriorated conditions recorded in their medical records. I had some unanswered questions and hoped to find some of those answers in his service record.
I started, like many others, with an online request through eVetRecs for my dad’s entire service file.
My Personal Experience Obtaining Military Records
I requested my dad’s records online through eVetRecs and mailed the signature verification on September 10, 2014. Maximum wait time was supposed to be ninety days, by December 9, 2014.
I received a letter on January 21, 2015 from an NPRC archives technician. Unfortunately,
The complete Official Military Personnel File for the veteran named above is not in our files. If the record were here on July 12, 1973, it would have been in the area that suffered the most damage in the fire on that date and may have been destroyed.
However, the letter stated that the NPRC had reconstructed some of my dad’s service record which I could obtain for $70. I only had thirty days to decide and opted to order the reconstructed records.
To read more detail about my personal experience obtaining military records, read this previous post.
Military Records Received
I received fifteen pages of copies from the NPRC shortly after they mailed them on February 18, 2015, in addition to a letter noting that “the copy quality is the best that can be obtained.”
The documents included copies of:
- Informal Information Reply (a reply for information requested by my mother, dated October 31, 1994)
- A copy of the envelope in which my mother mailed a request for records on September 28, 1994 (exactly 50 years after my dad’s mid-air collision).
- Request Pertaining to Military Records (filled out by my mother, her request for my father’s “Military history, where trained and where sent overseas, also record of being a Prisoner of War in Germany, dates and camps, and what battles.” She noted her purpose for the request was “Since he is deceased, we would like to have the Military history to include in our Family history and for the benefit of me and our children. Also what medals issued.”)
- Instructions
- Two National Archives and Records Administration MPR Finding Aid Reports (one noted NOT Found and the other noted some unexplained codes regarding an SGO Hospital List)
- Army of the United States Honorable Discharge certificate and Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, Honorable Discharge form (copies of Dad’s original separation documents provided by my mother)
- Army of the United States Separation Qualification Record (copies of Dad’s original separation documents provided by my mother)
- 2 Transmittal of and/or Entitlement to Awards forms (one noting approval of the Prisoner of War medal, the other unreadable)
- Veteran Identification Screen printout
- National Archives and Records Administration – National Personnel Records Center (Military Personnel Records), dated 8/23/88 (the same information as on the National Archives and Records Administration MPR Finding Aid Report)
- Prisoner of War (POW) Medal Application/Information form (my mother’s 1988 application for a posthumous POW medal for my dad)
To read more detail about the military records I received from the NPRC, read this previous post.
A Visit to the NPRC
In 2016, my husband and I attended the 8th Air Force Historical Society’s reunion in St. Louis. We arrived a couple of days early and I spent two days in the NPRC’s records room copying the service files of thirty-four WWII servicemen. In my dad’s file, I found a few documents that weren’t included in the records I received from my previous request by mail.
- Final Payment Worksheet (when my dad received his final pay at discharge)
- US Army SGO Hospitalization File Listing 1945
- Information from Hospitalization Admission Cards Created 8/30/2016 … Information for the Year 1945.
The last form (according to the document’s date, apparently created after I had requested records by mail) was a good find and told me that after Dad’s liberation (which was May 2, 1945), he was treated in a field hospital, and then was admitted on May 14, 1945 to an unidentified hospital for ten days. His type of case was classified as “Disease” and his initial diagnosis was “Acute Tonsillitis.” I consider this an incredible diagnosis for a man who had been forced to march over 500 miles in 86 days with very little food. And no, there was no mention of his weight or further description of his condition.
I would have liked to have found much, much more information on my dad’s years of service in the Army Air Forces, but this is all that is left of his official military personnel record.
Finding Separation Documents at the County Courthouse
If you do not have your relative’s separation documents and it is unavailable through the NPRC because of the 1973 fire, the only alternate method of obtaining it that I know of is to check with the county courthouse of the county in which he/she returned from WWII.
My dad followed orders and had his separation documents recorded at the courthouse of his county upon his return home. This stamp appears at the bottom of his Honorable Discharge certificate.
Note
A note about the Army Serial Number (ASN). At the time of enlistment, an 8-digit ASN was assigned. However, if your relative became an officer, he/she would have been reassigned a new ASN beginning with O- and followed by 6 digits.
To be continued with Military Research Part 3…
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2019
Military Research – Part 1 of 3
How did I get interested in military research?
When I was a child, my dad often told me a story at bedtime that I doubt many other kids growing up in America ever heard. Dad’s story was about a time when he was in the service in WWII that his plane was “knocked down.” He was a waist gunner aboard one of the Mighty Eighth Air Force’s B-17’s and on September 28, 1944, another B-17 in the formation collided with his over Germany.
My dad’s B-17 split in half. He was knocked unconscious and was thrown from the ship in the impact. There isn’t a lot of room on a B-17 and most of the airmen didn’t wear their chutes. They mostly used chest chutes rather than parachutes worn on the back and would generally wear only the harness, keeping the chute nearby so they could grab it quickly if they needed it. My dad was wearing his that day, but not completely hooked up to the harness.
Free-falling toward earth, he woke up when he heard his mother call his name, something he always included in his story, but never mentioned in official reports. He hooked up and opened his chute, and then passed out again. When he woke up again, he was on the ground and an old woman was beating him with a stick.
As I got older, the telling of the story stopped, but I would never forget it and the images it had burned into my mind.
In 2011, a cousin who had also heard the story growing up was living in the Netherlands and she and her husband were touring the American military cemeteries of Europe. She thought of my dad and his story and asked for the name of his unit and the date and location of his last mission.
I had a box of dad’s military documents and letters, and gave her the info. He was in the 384th Bomb Group based in Grafton Underwood, England and his last mission was to Magdeburg, Germany on September 28, 1944.
My cousin, Terry, performed an internet search and found dad’s record on the 384th Bomb Group’s website. I hadn’t thought about my dad’s WWII service in years – he had died in 1982 at the age of 61 – and I wasn’t even aware of the website. Not only did I find a list of all of his missions, I found the Missing Air Crew Report for the mid-air collision. Scrolling through the pages, I found Dad’s official statement in his own handwriting.
Dad’s story. It was so familiar. He continued with a question, a request, that led me into my research of Dad and his crew mates and the airmen on the B-17 that collided with his. What happened to the boys, and something he didn’t ask, why.
While this was a great find and gave me much more detail of the information I had on my dad’s military career, it was not the find that almost knocked me out of my chair.
Terry found a narrative of Dad’s story on the internet, too. Only it wasn’t told by my dad. It was told by a man named Wallace Storey, a WWII pilot who witnessed it happen right in front of him. I read and re-read Wallace Storey’s account, not believing it possible to hear Dad’s story twenty-nine years after he died.
Wallace Storey was flying co-pilot in the right-hand cockpit seat in his crew’s B-17 that day and had the controls at the time of the collision. In an excerpt from his book, A Pair of Silver Wings and the Eighth Air Force, which I read online, he wrote:
Flak was extremely heavy that day and the Wing had been somewhat disrupted by the heavy opposition. We found ourselves on a crossing course with another Group and just after “bombs away” the lead ship made a sharp descending right turn. Our high element, being on the inside of this steep turn, had to move quickly by reducing power while climbing slightly.
Glancing to my right, I saw that “Lazy Daisy” was sliding toward me. I pulled back on the control column to climb out of her path while keeping my eye on the #2 ship of the lead element, Lt. Buslee [the pilot of the plane my dad was on] … on whose wing our element was flying.
I yelled to Gross [the pilot of Storey’s plane in the cockpit’s left seat] to watch for him to come out on the other side and, sure enough, he slid under us and right into Buslee in the lead element.
I watched the two planes as they collided. It cut [Buslee’s plane] in half and the wings on [“Lazy Daisy”] folded up and both planes fell in a fireball. They were 18 men lost in those two ships. We didn’t see any chutes as we continued our turn to the right.
Copyright (C) 2002—Lt/Col. Wallace A. Storey
After reading his account, I found Wallace Storey and spoke to him on the phone. Then I visited him at his home and sat next to him as he told me the story.
Cindy Farrar Bryan and Wallace A. Storey, June 2011
He gave me contact information for a few relatives of the two crews, and I have since discovered more through Facebook. I started the blog to share transcripts of the letters I had from the families of the boys missing in action on my father’s plane. Relatives found the letters online and contacted me.
My interest in military research has grown, but mainly centers around the two crews involved in the September 28, 1944 mid-air collision, my dad’s bomb group, and other bomb groups of the Mighty Eighth Air Force based in England in WWII. I have been attending reunions in the US since 2014 and in September this year traveled to England to tour my dad’s base at Grafton Underwood.
I help other NexGens (next generation members) start their own research and have even had a hand in connecting British children and grandchildren to their American families. It seems some of the American airmen who served in England left more than their footprints behind.
For more information on Wallace Storey, see this December 11, 2013 post, this December 13, 2013 post and this December 16, 2013 post. Wallace Storey’s A Pair of Silver Wings and the Eighth Air Force may be downloaded from the 384th Bomb Group’s Stories page.
The excerpt from his book, A Pair of Silver Wings and the Eighth Air Force by Lt. Col. Wallace Storey, USAF (Ret.) and Mrs. Martha L. Storey, is provided for use on The Arrowhead Club website by the kind permission of the authors, who assert full ownership of copyright for the material. Use of this material is limited to the following provisions. This excerpt is intended for unrestricted private use. Please copy and use as needed to support your WWII research. If you wish to incorporate this information in a commercial product of any kind, request authorization from Lt. Col. Wallace Storey, USAF (Ret.) in advance.
To be continued with Military Research parts 2 and 3…
With the exception of material in this post copyrighted by Wallace A. Storey, © Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2019
384th Bomb Group Junket XI Cambridge England (2019)
The 384th Bomb Group’s Junket XI to England came to a close just over a month ago. I posted a little information and a few photos in a teaser post in early October. Today I’m adding a few more pictures, links to more photos in the 384th Bomb Group’s photo gallery, and more details about the itinerary.
The tour was planned by Frank and Carol Alfter (Frank’s dad was a waist and tail gunner with the 384th) and Arena Travel of England.
Most of the group arrived prior to the start of the junket, some touring London for a few days, and some coming much earlier and doing some extensive touring of Ireland and Scotland. My husband, Bill, and I arrived just the day before and toured Scotland on our own after the end of the junket.
Many of us gathered at the Doubletree by Hilton London Heathrow Airport on Wednesday, September 18. Bill and I needed the time to recover from the jet lag, catch up with old friends, meet our tour manager, Rick Hobson, and others attending the junket, and get acclimated to the UK.
Day 1 – Arrival in Cambridge
On Thursday, September 19, we boarded a coach to Cambridge, where we were based at the Doubletree by Hilton Cambridge Belfry for the duration of the junket. Some of the junkateers arrived in Cambridge on their own, and we all gathered that evening for a welcome dinner.
As we were getting to know one another, we took advantage of the first of many photo opportunities, snapping one of the daughters of the 384th and one of the sons (and other relatives – the group included sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, and grandchildren of the men who served in the 384th Bomb Group).
Arrival Day – Daughters of the 384th Bomb Group
Surprisingly, the group included more female relatives than male. When I first started attending the 384th Bomb Group reunions in 2014, I felt far outnumbered by male relatives of the 384th. I am happy to see that somewhere through the years, the women have gained more interest in their fathers’, grandfathers’, and uncles’ WWII service.
Arrival Day – Sons of the 384th Bomb Group
I was delighted to reconnect with 384th British friends I had met in the States at prior year reunions and to meet several in person that I had only corresponded with through Facebook and e-mail.
I met Neill and Bridget Howarth at last year’s 384th Bomb Group reunion in Dayton, Ohio. Neill, along with Matt Smith, was instrumental in coordinating the group’s upcoming visit to Grafton Underwood and they both joined the group for most of our visit. Neill is also the driving force behind the difficult work, i.e., physical labor, of uncovering the remains of the 384th’s airbase at Grafton Underwood, and is leading the effort to create a museum and visitor center at the site.
L to R: Kevin Flecknor, Jason Mann, Matt Smith, Neill Howarth, and Bridget Howarth. (Photo courtesy of Fred Preller)
I also caught up with the 384th’s British friend Rob Long, who I met at the 2017 8th Air Force Historical Society reunion in New Orleans. Rob and his son Daniel joined the group for the majority of the group’s visit to England.
Rob Long and son Daniel (Photo courtesy of Rob Long)
And I finally had the chance to meet 384th British friends Matt Smith and Jason Mann in person for the first time and reconnect with Kevin Flecknor, who I had also previously met at the New Orleans reunion.
The visit to Grafton Underwood also led to first-time face-to-face meetings of other 384th friends – Richard Denney, John “Snowy” Ellson, Tony Plowright, Graham Butlin, and Alan Dickens (who discovered we’re also related by marriage).
More Arrival Photos in the 384th Bomb Group Photo Gallery
Day 2 – Thorpe Abbotts Airfield and Lavenham
On Friday, September 20, we departed the hotel at 0900 by motor coach. The junkateers first traveled to the Thorpe Abbotts Airfield where the 100th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force was based during WWII. The group was well known as the Bloody Hundredth and was the main subject of Donald Miller’s book, Masters of the Air. The control tower and a few other buildings house an informative museum on the site.
Greeted by Glenn Miller and Neill Howarth atop Thorpe Abbott’s airfield museum control tower upon arriving at the home of the 100th Bomb Group (aka the Bloody Hundredth)
Home of the 100th Bomb Group (aka the Bloody Hundredth), Thorpe Abbott’s airfield museum seen from the top of the control tower
Neill Howarth, my favorite commanding officer, leader of the cleanup process and creation of a museum at the 384th Bomb Group’s Station 106 airbase in Grafton Underwood
The next stop was the charming market town of Lavenham, best known for its half-timbered medieval cottages and houses. The group enjoyed a traditional English afternoon tea at the Swan Hotel located in one of the town’s 15th century buildings.
The charming market town of Lavenham
The historic Swan at Lavenham
Dinner was served at the hotel restaurant.
More Day 2 Photos in the 384th Bomb Group Photo Gallery
Day 3 – Grafton Underwood and the Geddington Star
On Saturday, September 21, we departed the hotel at 0845 by motor coach. We traveled to the village of Grafton Underwood in Northamptonshire, home of the 384th Bomb Group’s airbase, Station 106. We were welcomed by area residents who treated us to a delightful homemade lunch in the village hall after a moving memorial service at the 384th Bomb Group Memorial Monument. We also had time to visit the parish church of St. James the Apostle and view the memorial stained glass window depicting one of the group’s B-17’s.
384th veterans, L to R, Henry Kolinek, Henry Sienkiewicz, and Len Estrin at the Grafton Underwood memorial
After lunch, everyone in the group was assigned to a WWII vehicle for a tour of the base. Bill and I rode in the back of a WWII Willys jeep for a trip back in time to see the remains of where my father served in WWII, his housing area of the 544th Bomb Squadron, common areas, and the airfield hardstands and runways.
Military vehicles being loaded with junkateers for the airbase tour
Today was the day I was able to meet in person the son and grandson of my father’s POW roommate, and the little girl, now in her 80’s, who was one of three children in a mystery photo in my dad’s WWII memorabilia. There will be more to come about these meetings, the highlight of my day at Grafton Underwood, soon.
Until I write more, you can see previously posted photos here.
Some of the junkateers took an optional tour of Boughton House, which is one of Britain’s grandest and best-preserved stately homes, and described in our Arena Travel itinerary as “renowned for its outstanding collection of fine arts, furniture, tapestries, porcelain and carpets. It is beautifully set in a country park with wide sculpted lawns, serene lakes, waterways, woods and avenues of trees.”
With the choice of touring Boughton House or spending more time touring the air base, I knew I had to see as much of the base as possible on our short visit.
Steps leading up to the base of Nissen hut (living quarters) at Grafton Underwood
Dinner for the evening was served at the Star Inn, a traditional English pub in the nearby village of Geddington, close enough to the air base at Grafton Underwood that we all imagined our fathers must have visited at least once.
The Star Inn pub in Geddington – Bill Bryan and Rick Hobson in the foreground with their attention on the Eleanor Cross
And I had another reason, a very personal one, to be excited about this stop before returning to the hotel for the night. Outside the Star Pub in Geddington stands one of the crosses that King Edward I had erected for his Queen Eleanor of Castile after her death.
The Geddington cross is the best-preserved of the original dozen crosses erected between 1291 and about 1295 in memory of Eleanor, who died in November 1290. The crosses marked the nightly resting places along the route followed when her body was transported to London for burial. The funeral bier was thought to stop in Geddington on December 6 or 7, 1290. Only three of the crosses remain today.
The Eleanor Cross in Geddington at dusk
Earlier this year, I discovered that Edward I and Eleanor were my 23rd-great-grandparents. That would have made them my father’s 22nd-great-grandparents. If my father did visit the Geddington Star pub while he served in the 384th, he couldn’t have helped but notice the Eleanor Cross standing outside. Did he realize that he was looking at a memorial for one of his English ancestors? My father’s parents named him Edwin, perhaps a version of a name carried forward through the generations.
Cindy Farrar Bryan practices her royal wave at the base of the Eleanor Cross in Geddington, erected to honor her 23rd great grandmother Queen Eleanor of Castile by her 23rd ggf King Edward I of England
More Day 3 Photos in the 384th Bomb Group Photo Gallery
Current Photos from Jason Mann of Station 106
Day 4 – Imperial War Museum and Battle of Britain Air Show
On Sunday, September 22, we departed the hotel at 0800 by motor coach. We traveled to the Imperial War Museum at the historic Duxford RAF airfield to see the largest aviation museum in Britain and attend the Battle of Britain Air Show. We enjoyed a full day at the show with Gold Experience tickets including seating in a covered enclosed area, an air show program, lunch, and access to the flight line.
Imperial War Museum at Duxford
Our group also enjoyed seeing Britain’s B-17 Sally B with a quick tour inside and excellent viewing to see her fly in the air show.
The UK’s B-17 Sally B
Battle of Britain air show at Duxford
After a long day, we retreated to the group hotel for dinner.
More Day 4 Photos in the 384th Bomb Group Photo Gallery
Day 5 – American Cemetery at Madingley and Cambridge
On Monday, September 23, we departed the hotel at 0915 by motor coach. We traveled a short distance to the American Cemetery at Madingley, the only American WWII burial site in England, where we attended a private Service of Remembrance to honor and pay our respects to the fallen US service men and women who died in the war and are buried there or inscribed on the Wall of the Missing. The cemetery contains 3,800 white crosses and the stone wall is inscribed with 5,000 names.
A view down the reflecting pool toward the chapel at American Cemetery at Madingley, Wall of the Missing on the right and graveyard on the left
American Cemetery at Madingley
The group laid a wreath at the Wall of the Missing and laid flowers at the graves of all of the men of the 384th Bomb Group buried there. I decorated the grave of Marvin Fryden, the original bombardier of my dad’s crew who was killed on his second mission on August 5, 1944, and read him messages I found that his wife, Marilyn, wrote before her death.
Cindy Farrar Bryan decorated the grave of Buslee crew bombardier Marvin Fryden at the American Cemetery at Madingley
Marvin Fryden and Marilyn Ash were married on October 8, 1942 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. At the time, he was a bombardier instructor at the Albuquerque Air Base.
On November 18, 2007, almost sixty-three years after Marvin died, Marilyn Ash Fryden, now Marilyn Samet, posted a request on the 384th Bomb Group’s web site Log Book. It is still there today in the Log Book archives. It reads, in part:
My husband, 1st Lt. Marvin Fryden was on his second mission as bombardier aboard the Tremblin Gremlin when he was fatally wounded, remaining conscious only to drop his bombs over Langenhagen..(544th) He had been commissioned and assigned as an instructor in the states. We had almost 2 years together as he constantly said he was not doing his part, He finally requested combat duty and was assigned to the Gremlin with John Buslee, Dick Albrecht and other crew members. He was gone from me less than six weeks when he was killed.
Another six years went by and on October 17, 2013, Marilyn again posted to the 384th’s Log Book. Marilyn must have had some difficulty typing her message, and I have edited it only to be easier to read. This original message, too, is still in the 384th’s Log Book archives .
My husband, 1st Lt Marvin Fryden, left his Bombardier Training in Deming, NM because he felt needed in combat. Left me to fly the Tremblin’ Gremlin over the pond at the end of July 1944. Fatally wounded on second mission. Buried in Maddingly in Cambridge. I am 88, still loving my first love. Ready to leave this world and reunite with my love in England.
Three days later, on October 20, 2013, Marilyn posted her final message to the 384th Log Book (again, I have edited). It reads, in part:
I am inspired by so many still remembering. My husband Lt Marvin Fryden was a Bombardier Trainer in Deming NM, but on D-Day he woke up and said, “I should be over there.” He requested combat duty, trained with crew on a B-17, and left me on June 23rd. I went home. He flew his first mission on 8/4/44. Next day he was fatally wounded and is buried at Maddingly.
Two and a half weeks later, on November 7, 2013 Marilyn Ash Fryden Samet passed away after a long illness. She was 88 years old. Marilyn willed her remains to the Duke Medical School and asked that no service be held, feeling that “good memories make enough of a memorial.”
I did not discover Marilyn’s posts until November 17, 2013. Not knowing that she had died ten days previously, I e-mailed her, but of course, I was too late. I was not to discover until early in 2014 that Marilyn had left this world.
On this day on the 384th’s visit to the American Cemetery at Maddingley, I was able to stand at Marvin Fryden’s grave and read the messages to him that Marilyn left in the 384th logbook. I could feel her enduring love for Marvin through her words, and felt that the most love and respect I could show for the two of them would be to read her words at Marvin’s final resting place.
After leaving the cemetery, we traveled by coach into Cambridge for lunch, shopping, and sightseeing. The highlight of the Cambridge visit was the Eagle Pub which is inscribed with the names of WWII servicemen on the ceiling. Our three 384th veterans added their names to the walls of the pub.
Some of the 384th Junkateers at the Eagle Pub in Cambridge
Corpus Christi College Cambridge
The group returned to the hotel for a Farewell dinner and goodbyes before heading back to London and flights back home, or to further travels.
More Day 5 Photos in the 384th Bomb Group Photo Gallery
Farewell Photos in the 384th Bomb Group Photo Gallery
Post-Junket
My husband, Bill, and I traveled by taxi to the Cambridge train station the next morning and armed with BritRail passes, took the cross country train to Edinburgh, Scotland. We spent several days seeing Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Stirling Castle, amazed at the ancient architecture all around us, and marveled at the beauty of the cathedrals, castles, and palaces, and, of course, enjoyed the food and drink of the local pubs.
View of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Castle from The Tower, the rooftop restaurant of the National Museum of Scotland
(Click on the above photo to enlarge and view Edinburgh Castle in the background looming over the city).
After another cross country train back to London, we flew back home with memories to last a lifetime, and thoughts of plans for a return.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2019
WWII Timeline – Fall 1941
I’m continuing my WWII Timeline series with a look at October – December 1941 in this post.
A Timeline of WWII, Fall 1941
October 1941
Thirty-five thousand Jews from Odessa, Ukraine were shot and killed.
October 2, 1941
The main German drive on Moscow, called Operation Typhoon, began.
October 16, 1941
German forces took Odessa, Ukraine.
October 23, 1941
The Nazis forbid further emigration of Jews from the Reich.
October 24, 1941
German forces took Kharkov, Ukraine.
October 30, 1941
German forces reached Sevastopol, Ukraine on the Crimean Peninsula.
November 1941
SS Einsatzgruppe (Action Group) B reported a tally of 45,476 Jews killed.
November 11, 1941
German forces capture Yalta, Ukraine on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula.
November 13, 1941
The British aircraft carrier Ark Royal was sunk off Gibraltar by a German U-boat.
November 17, 1941
Japan demanded that the U.S. lift its trade embargo.
November 20, 1941
German forces took Soviet Rostov.
November 24, 1941
German authorities established the camp-ghetto Theresienstadt in the garrison town of Terezin in the German-controlled Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Theresienstadt existed for three and a half years, until May 9, 1945. Neither exactly a ghetto nor strictly a concentration camp, Theresienstadt was an assembly camp and a concentration camp, and had recognizable features of both ghettos and concentration camps. It was a unique facility that served as a tool of deception for propaganda purposes for the Germans.
November 25, 1941
Adolf Hitler met Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, in Berlin. They agreed on the need for the destruction of the Jews.
November 27, 1941
Soviet troops took Rostov back.
November 30, 1941
A mass shooting of Latvian and German Jews occurred near Riga, Latvia.
December 4, 1941
The temperature fell to -30°F (-34°C) on the Russian Front.
December 5, 1941
The German attack on Moscow was abandoned.
December 6, 1941
The Soviet Army launched a major counter-offensive around Moscow and drove the German forces from the Moscow suburbs.
U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt made a final appeal to the Emperor of Japan for peace. There was no reply.
Later in the day, the U.S. code-breaking service in Washington, D.C. intercepted a fourteen-part Japanese message and deciphered the first thirteen parts. The deciphered messages were passed on to the President and Secretary of State. The Americans believed a Japanese attack was imminent, but believed it most likely to occur somewhere in Southeast Asia.
December 7, 1941
The attack on Pearl Harbor, the date which will live in infamy…
Japanese naval and air forces attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The Japanese also attacked the Philippines, Wake Island, Guam, Malaya, Thailand, Shanghai and Midway.
The last part of the fourteen-part Japanese message reached Washington in the morning and was decoded by 9 a.m. Washington time. It stated that diplomatic relations with the U.S. were to be broken off. About an hour later, another Japanese message was intercepted. It instructed the Japanese embassy to deliver the main message to the Americans at 1 p.m.
The Americans realized the stated time corresponded with early morning in Pearl Harbor, several hours behind Washington. The U.S. War Department issued an alert, but used commercial telegraph as radio contact with Hawaii was down. Delays prevented the alert from arriving at headquarters in Oahu until noon Hawaii time, four hours after the attack had already begun.
The Japanese attack force, under the command of Japanese Admiral Nagumo, consisted of six aircraft carriers with four hundred twenty three planes.
At 6 a.m., one hundred eighty-three planes took off from the Japanese carriers located two hundred thirty miles north of Oahu for their target, the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, in the first wave of the attack.
At 7:02 a.m., two Army operators at Oahu’s northern shore radar station detected the Japanese planes approaching. They contacted a junior officer who disregarded their reports, believing they were American B-17 planes which were expected in from the U.S. west coast.
A future airman of the 384th Bomb Group, Robert Thacker, was piloting one of those American B-17’s flying into Hickam Field that morning. His account may be viewed in this video.
At 7:15 a.m., a second Japanese attack wave of one hundred sixty-seven planes took off from the Japanese carriers and headed for Pearl Harbor.
At 7:53 a.m., the first Japanese assault wave arrived at Pearl Harbor.
The first attack wave targeted airfields and battleships. The second wave targeted other ships and shipyard facilities. The air raid lasted almost two hours, until 9:45 a.m.
American losses included:
- Two thousand three hundred thirty-five servicemen killed, including eleven hundred four men aboard the battleship USS Arizona.
- Sixty-eight civilians killed.
- Eleven hundred seventy-eight wounded.
- Eight battleships damaged, with five sunk.
- Three light cruisers lost.
- Three destroyers lost.
- Three smaller vessels lost.
- One hundred eighty-eight aircraft lost.
Japanese losses included:
- Twenty-seven planes.
- Five midget submarines.
The prime target of the Japanese, the three U.S. Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers Lexington, Enterprise, and Saratoga, escaped damage because they were not in port at the time of the attack. Base fuel tanks also escaped damage.
At 2:30 p.m. (Washington time), Japanese diplomats presented their war message to Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, at the same time Hull was reading the first reports of the air raid at Pearl Harbor.
Public radio bulletins interrupted Sunday afternoon radio programs to inform the American people of the attack.
Navy Admiral Husband E. Kimmel and Army Lt. General Walter C. Short, senior commanders at Pearl Harbor, were relieved of their duties following the attack. Subsequent investigations faulted both for failing to adopt adequate defense measures.
Note: The U.S. annexed Hawaii in 1898 and it became a U.S. Territory in 1900. Hawaii did not become a U.S. state until 1959.
Adolf Hitler’s Night and Fog decree
In Germany, on December 7, 1941, Adolf Hitler issued “Nacht und Nebel” – the Night and Fog Decree.
The previous Nazi policy meant to undermine Underground activities was to take hostages, but the method was unsuccessful. Now those suspected of underground activities would simply vanish without a trace, into the night and fog.
SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler issued the following instructions to the Gestapo,
After lengthy consideration, it is the will of the Führer that the measures taken against those who are guilty of offenses against the Reich or against the occupation forces in occupied areas should be altered. The Führer is of the opinion that in such cases penal servitude or even a hard labor sentence for life will be regarded as a sign of weakness. An effective and lasting deterrent can be achieved only by the death penalty or by taking measures which will leave the family and the population uncertain as to the fate of the offender. Deportation to Germany serves this purpose.
German Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel also issued a letter stating,
Efficient and enduring intimidation can only be achieved either by capital punishment or by measures by which the relatives of the criminals do not know the fate of the criminal…The prisoners are, in future, to be transported to Germany secretly, and further treatment of the offenders will take place here; these measures will have a deterrent effect because: A. The prisoners will vanish without a trace. B. No information may be given as to their whereabouts or their fate.
Victims were primarily from France, Belgium and Holland. Arrested in the middle of the night, they would be secreted away to far away prisons where they would be questioned and tortured. If they survived, they would be placed in the concentration camps of Natzweiler or Gross-Rosen.
December 8, 1941
The United States and Great Britain declared war on Japan.
The United States entered World War II and President Roosevelt delivered a speech to a joint session of the U.S. Congress in which he described the previous day as “a date which will live in infamy…”
Japanese troops landed in the Philippines, French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia), and British Singapore.
The Chelmno extermination camp became operational in occupied Poland near Lodz. Jews taken to Chelmno were placed in mobile gas vans and driven to a burial place. Carbon monoxide fed from the engine exhaust into the sealed rear compartment killed them. The first victims included 5,000 Roma (Gypsies) who had been deported from the Reich.
December 9, 1941
China declared war on Japan.
December 10, 1941
Japanese forces invaded the Philippines and seized Guam.
December 11, 1941
Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.
Hours later, President Roosevelt asked Congress for a declaration of war on Germany saying,
Never before has there been a greater challenge to life, liberty and civilization.
The U.S. entered the war in Europe.
Japanese forces invaded Burma.
December 12, 1941
The ship Struma, carrying 769 Jews, left Romania for Palestine. British authorities later denied permission for the passengers to disembark. (In February 1942, it sailed back into the Black Sea where it was intercepted by a Russian submarine and sunk as an “enemy target.”)
December 15, 1941
The first Japanese merchant ship was sunk by a U.S. submarine.
December 16, 1941
Japanese forces invaded British Borneo.
German General Erwin Rommel began a retreat to El Agheila in North Africa.
During a cabinet meeting, Hans Frank, Gauleiter (Governor General) of Poland, stated,
Gentlemen, I must ask you to rid yourselves of all feeling of pity. We must annihilate the Jews wherever we find them and wherever it is possible in order to maintain there the structure of the Reich as a whole…
December 17, 1941
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz became Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
December 18, 1941
Japanese forces invaded Hong Kong.
December 19, 1941
Adolf Hitler took complete control of the German Army.
December 22, 1941
Japanese forces invaded Luzon in the Philippines.
December 23, 1941
In the Philippines, General Douglas MacArthur began a withdrawal from Manila to Bataan.
Japanese forces took Wake Island.
December 25, 1941
The British surrendered at Hong Kong.
December 26, 1941
Manila was declared an open city.
December 27, 1941
The Japanese bombed Manila.
Sources:
This series of posts is based on a compilation of timelines from:
The History Place:
The National WWII Museum Interactive Timeline
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
World War II Chronicle by the Editors of Publications International, Ltd.
Most recent post from the series:
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2019
Potato Pete
As the Monty Python catchphrase goes, and now for something completely different! I ran across Potato Pete during some of my research and thought he deserved a moment in the spotlight.
I found in the excellent book, World War II Chronicle by the Editors of Publications International, Ltd., that in September 1941, the British Food Ministry created the character Potato Pete and launched the Dig for Victory campaign to promote the idea for British citizens, in a time of war and food rationing, to plant and eat plenty of un-rationed potatoes.
KIng’s College in London’s Internet Archives Exhibition features the Potato Pete Recipe book, which notes…
Doctors advise each of us to eat at least 12 ozs. and if possible 1lb. of potatoes each day.
…and reminds us to save the cooking water as a base for soup, in addition to instructions on the various ways to cook potatoes and a multitude of recipes. The book provides recipes for soups and salads, breakfast and dinner, and even tea – who knew one could make scones with potatoes?
I intend to try out a few of the recipes as soon as I purchase a new set of measuring spoons – ones that measure a saltspoonful and a dessertspoonful – and as soon as I discover the conversion factor for a “gill” of milk.
In 2017, Country Life Magazine featured an article about Potato Pete along with a couple of recipes and the news that a book called Victory in the Kitchen – Wartime Recipes, a collection of recipes from the Second World War, has been published and is available from the shop at the Imperial War Museum.
Now I just need to get out of my desk chair and into the kitchen…
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2019
The Arrowhead Club 