THE AIR FFOORRCCEESS EESSGCAAPPhE, && EtsV,VAASTI'OIUNN ST'OUCUIIEE TI YY Fall COMMUNICATIONS 2OO2 3 voLUME 16, Number wlcHlTA FALLS, TEXAS 76307-2501 Aug. 29,2002 NlH-JNN-NN4/N4N4HN44NNN4NHNNHNHNHN-H-H-N-HNNHPHNNNNH/NNNNNH,aN-NH- Liberator recreated for movie Full-size model has key role tn'Resistance' F'rom British Aviation Magazine ELYPAST, June 2002 Issue By ROGERSOUPART By Courtesy of Claude Helias, Plomelin' France A full-size model Consolidat ed B'24D Liberator has been constructed in the The Liberator 'stage set' under construction Netherlands. It has been built to represent a crashed USAAF bomber in a new film called Resistance. A research team went to the RAF Museum, Cosford, Shropshire, to study and photograph its former Indian a-ir Force example. With this material, and original drawings, the model was built in just seven aviation archaeologl the Aviation Recovery GrouP from 4 '1234226' duringftlming of RESISTANCE Fort Velthuis and the Lisserbroek-based CRASH Air War Museum, helPed bY donating parts from crashed B-24s to the Mialiste'weatheredo' the aircraft, and applied nose art. It was then transported some 186 miles (300km) to Belgium forthe filming. After its job is done, theB-24 is to be given away. Three Dutch museums are currently looking at the possibility of salvaging the machine for preservation. 'The film is due to be released by the end of the year. Two actors from RESISTANCE who 'survived' page 2 Fall2M2 U.S. AIR FORCES ESCAPE & EVASION SOCIETY The Prez Sez COMMUNICATIONS (,htt p ://www. cb i3 I n lo. c o m/alees I t s. ht m> By Richard M. Smith Volume 16 -- Number August 29,2002 <a feeso n e(@ h otm a il. co m > PC HH A- I- RHM NA dN N:N H - NH PH HX NNN HHH PNH HPPH -X-HW&W *Ralph K. Patton, Apt. #r2o5, g100 connecticut Ave., chevy Chase, MD 20 August 02 20815; Phone: 3Ot-657 -M78; FAX: 30l_657 q7g I{ELLO from Minnesota! PRESIDENT: **Richard Our 2002 reunion in Tampa M. Smith, 36}l4Augustana Drive, Bartle L-ake, MN 56515 (Summer) phone: 2la-495_2to6 was a great success, from all the VICE PRESIDENT & PX MANAGER: reports I've had from those who **Thomas H. Brown Jr., lO4 L-ake Fairfield Drive, Greenvilre, sc 296lsr5o6 attended. Yvonne Daley, as Phone: W-24+8y';20; <tbrown I [email protected]> expected, did a fantastic job of TREASURER: **xPaul putting it together. E. Kenney, Apt. B, l04l North Jamestown Road, Decatur, GA 30033-3639; phone: 4ryL929_ggffi The hospitality room MEMBERSHIP & CORRESPONDING SECRETARY: contributed agreatdeal to the xClaytonP hCo.n De:a 5vid7, 3l9- 2OaZk tR-OidgUe plo nd, Hannibal, MO 63401_6539; .. success of the reunion with ScotW RECORDING SECRETARY: David's scrapbooks triggering a lot **xWarren E. [.oring, pO Box 2g4, Monument Beach, MA 02553; of memories of back when we Ph.508_759_3146 were all young and frisky. OTHER DIRECTORS: **Herbert Brill, 4SO0 Corrland Drive, Corona Del Mar, CA V26?S; . The editor of this rag tells me Phone: 949-7ffi-y2t7 that Yvonne has volunteered to **Yvonne Daley, 1962 Brae-Moor Drive, Dunedin, FL 34dg; 3; supervise the Hospitality Room at : .. Ph.:727-73L9573 the '03 meeting in Texas. How ***Francis 1. I ashinsky, 8or5 Gatehouse woods, po Box 125, comwail, pA lucky can we get! 17O16-0125: phone: 7 t7 -228_Wy2: <[email protected] *John C. Rucigay, 14 Ashley Drive, Ballston Lake, Ny l?_Ol9; Your Board of Directors has Phone: 518-877-8131 selected Philadelphia,pa., as the **David Shoss,5439 castrewo'd Rd., Dailas, Tx752294316; ph.: 21436r- site for the2004 reunion. yvonne 0536; olfice: 8l 15 preston Rd., suite 24o, Dalras, TX75225;2r+3T!-1670 is scoping out the,City of *Francene PhonWee: y8l1a5n-d3,8 5I -I 41377 W8. NE Shore Drive, McHenry, IL6005O; Brotherly Love to find us a hotel. 'After PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE IN FRANCE: the Tampa reunion, about l-eslie A.G. Arkinson, 29 rue des Trouvres,66000 perpignan, Fra{rce 40 persons made a flour-day Phone: 0l I 33 04 68 55 12 63;Fax:01 I 33 U A iSlZ n Caribbean cruise. We had a great LEGAL COUNSEL: ^- RET Smith Esq., pO Box 38, Wahpeton, ND 58074;ph.:,tO1642_2666 ship and great accommodations. COMMUNICATIONS EDITOR: Personally, I think four days was a larry Grauerholz, po Box 2501, wichita Fails, TX 763o7-2flr;gm4y2476 tad short. The week cruise to *Class of 2OO3 **Class of 2OO4 x,r*Class of 2005 Alaska last year was all-around better. AFEES COMMUNTEATToTS IS TEE OFFICTAI JOI'RI{AL OF TEE ATR FORCES ESC}PE & EVASION SOCIETY. AFEES IS A TN(-EXEI{PT For you museum afficionados, VETERAI.TS ORcAllrzATroN UNDER IRS CODE 501 (C) (19). IT nAS the Fargo (N.D.) Air Museum is FOUTNIDIEE DS OINC IE19T6Y4,S A NPDU RTPSo C'EH AIsRT ETRoE sDI cToNT] RTAHGEE S TIITAETMEB EORFS GBEEOI,RPGETDA B. Y TBE doing well. They have murals on RESTSTAIICE ORGA}IIZATIONS OR PAIR,IO|IIC NATIONAI,S TO COITTINT,E the wall, aircraft hanging frorn,the ExrsrrNc FRTENDSHTPS oR RENE* REr,arroNsHrps wrrH THosE rfHo rafters and a beautiful blue sky. .HELPED TITE|.T DT'RING TEEIR ESEAPE OR EI,ASION. ELIGIBILITY Amazing how many WWII REQUIRES THAT OD{E MUST ITAVE BEEN A U.S. ATRHAIf, HE MUST HAVE BEEN FORCED DOVIN BEEIND ENEilJ LINES AIID AVOIDED warbirds are still flying around an CAPTfVITY, OR ESCAPED ERO[.{ CAPTMTI TO REIURN TO AIJLIED agricultural arealike this. If you CODITROL" rN ADDrrroN TO REqTI"AR I,{EI.|BERSHIP. ooHER CATE@RIES OF . are ever Fargo way, the museum MEr.tBERSHrp', ARE HELPER MEMBERS, AlrD FR.rEtlD MEIIBERS. should be a must-stop. Page 3 FaII2A02 'Mighty 8th' flies first mission had the 8th Air Force commander, would be in England ready to begin By Tech. Sgt. Scott Elliott ability initial doubts as to his unit's operations. Air Force Print News to carry opt the mission. When Lt. Unfortunately for Spaatz, the WASHINGTON -- America's Gen. Hap Arnol4 the U'S..A*.V. 97th Bomb Group was diverted to Air Forbe provided the fireworks Air Forcis iommander, ordered the defend America's west coa{it in the over continental EuroPe 60 Years strike, he believed the first B-l7s event ofa Japan€se invasion. ago, as airmen from 8th Air Force ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ flew their first combat mission July 4, 1942. Yes, the PX is open! Though ultimately made famous for its use of B-17 Flying Fortress And ready to serve you! andB-24 Liberator heavy bombers in high-altitude precision daylight strikes, the Americans had to |0-piece Tool Klt with AFEES logo . . . . . . . . borrow six A-20 Boston light bombers from the Royal Air Force WINGED BOOT EMBLEMS for the mission. Capt. Charles C. Kegelman led his 15th Bomb Squadron (Light) and six other A-20s from the RAF's 226 Squadron, in a low-level attack against four German airfields in Holland. The mission achieved several "firsts," including the distinction as being the fust Amer.ican-led mission OFFICIAL AFEES MERCHANDISE Blue against western Europe; Kegelman Blazer Patch, Royal . . $t0.00 became the first 8th Air Force Automobile Licen-se Plate Frame $12.00 airman to earn the Distinguished Service (later renamed the Air Force) Cross, and Marshall Draper, bombardier aboard one of two aircraft shot down, became the first U.S. Army Air Corps prisoner of war in Europe. OFFICIAL AFEES CAPS Of the six aircraft involved in the rai4 two were shot down and a third was heavily damaged. One of the mission's most dramatic moments came whe,n anti- aircraft fire scored a direct hit on Kegelman's right engine, shearing Please add $3.00 per order for Pins, Wnged Boots, Emblems; offthe propeller, just as he dropped $3.50 for Caps his bomb load. Though the FOR LARGER ORDERS: $50-$100, $4.50;$100-$300, $9.00 aircraft's right wingtip and tail struck the ground, Kegelman managed to regain control of the Thornas H. BrownJt., P X Manager aircraft, knock out an anti-aircraft Faffidd llrive 104 La,ke emplaceme,nt with his machine guns C.neenvilleo SC 296f 5-f 506 and make his escape. Phone: 864-24+8420 Although his British counter- ([email protected]> parts ultimately considered the raid a suc,cess, Maj. Gen. Carl A. Spaatz, +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Page 4 Monument sulrounded by mystery F'rom Special Forces Club Newsletter, London, Spring 2002 The weekend of 12 NIay, 2001, was gloriously sunny in the Haute-Savoie iegion of tr'rance. It was a perfect setting for the unveiling and dedication of ncw monument at Les Daines in the commune of Chaumont, Major John Farmer reminded the audience of how working as Gerald Rix reports. together had paved theway lor victary. h_IocVtalnu o dw as.a ecarnNeh s teaee otcws h mchtseahe orpedoeue f pn tthlthatihaneareiea nt B c psahhrl aaiuastdnirttsee onbha peeD. pdceZi onnc mgeob rmafep smtouehniodeni,nttiyes fbislnluaehnth asmAebhdifiatnt aeyeinnor.t rstt hh oseefw oitnehpclelere endcaio nstrghinn emfg ocluyrrmn oewwa aladitrn iretdnhsa,t vtgdheteaoretub pTnmal'yhdle e omairnren b dweFw rrrtasahits net eocrnneefo ,si estobiv mmuaidt ee sei thnct ooidcrr eoctpae urogsoitne bss e etowhefeemre of Switzerland and Eastern France Jmoohnnu Fmaremnet.r Iutnsv ceoilemdm tehme onreawtive cdoonusbcliinougs ulyp othr euirn caocntisvcitioieuss,ly. and a suitable presence from text refers to three sepaxate covert There have been previous members of the Special Forces Club organisations. Those in the know examples of this when members of was soon assembled. believe there could actually have the same French family have unwit- Since a major speech would be been four! tingly served different covert orgar- ardlae ofqioy{uer imnrite efdwirg, a uSasrsO e ewE as eshaliollgy uea lsdnd et a cbw iBedh reoJidto i slhitvhnhe awFst rateihrnamether. mcirecmuTbithe eras n mdo ofttnhhueem I nSetnOetEr -c AoMlmlAiemRdeK mMSoiMsrastAieoNsn icsoanticBoenurstn,.e ads afat rt haes tthimeye ,w tehreey were Alliance, which had been led by Jean involved with the famed 'British BFrraanncceh aonfd T ish ep rResoidyeanl tB orift isthhe Swiss ValeTthtee dm'Oisssiioan b heafodr eb eheins mrest. sSteacnrdeitn Sg eorvf icthee' wwiathrt imnoe udnidffeerr-- Legion. responsible for running an escape entiations and tensions that existed mb5a0an jedoTx,rh - asee e vccrehveniircltdee, rm ceaoonnmn'sdyp cRlteuhetroesni iersw dtaai ntnohdcu etan etsoai lrbvlvee ra ttlhhinooess eef ohwre itladhi r mitnhe eSn wL, uiptczaieretrnilca unMldae rgalyen vdfa ofnordr mboerogtwnauenmeisnea' ntsitoo nisms,a . unSnyoi n dptieeffrnehtraioepnnsat tlhlyi.s anew Panpan group which ran the belated gesture of reconciliaiion for standards. parachute reception organisation in them all. There were representatives from the region, . This theme of all workins Resistance groups from as far afield Such were the compldxities of together'was the rnajor thrusi of as Alsace and Lorraine and the various secret organisations at John Farmer's speech. He reminded Perpignan as well as senators from the time that a fortnigh.t before the the audience that MARKSMAN. the French parliament, senior ceremony, as soon as the words on under Lt. Colonel Richard Heslop mrtoaheufeet tiSmr hAewobdrriems itrsgisee e dsrnoe epfaF rrnaoaedrllsslc e,eel ensvcvt,eua enltrelirsv eaae nd osdet f i rswmlsoc hercaeomane ldbht eagrdsro uopf wthachhcihseecti culomekrra sioct chnawyeul e m oresefeux tinbmsht-t eacew odndemece remwet a oiimttifthl e.at ehdtIh tee eo s Mknecn elItuo9mhbwes'ns t,hat hBA(inXemrcaiatleudivsrdqiiheceur ada)mn, r Ft iaelOrinretasS n.SrSc yOhT a hEsBnut daC'sF f cRfi 'it viA nSid,l ie raiCetcsnwta i onr aetnanog ddgaiioaegnnetha,nelt,r worked .rcross the border with the escape line was accepted the circuit local resistance groups ofall British, Americans and French. And an impressive crowd of local flame was one that was used bv,the backgrounds and political interests, SIS for one of their operations. including Poles, Spaniards, Fall20O2 page 5 Yugoslavs, and Russians throughout He also commented on the ashes of Richard Heslop and Denis the Jura, Haute-Savoie, Isere, Ain mutual trust between the aircrew of Johnson, his American radio oflicer, and part of Saone et Loire, into one the Special Duties squadrons and the are buried side by side in France. integrated and successful force. French on the ground, developed After this speech, the national He recalled the role of the MI9 through clandestine training courses anthems of both countries were escape lines from the time of in France and the UK. played and the traditional Binyon Dunkirk, Calais and St. Valery John concluded by telling the verse to the fallen was said in both onwards in helping evaders from the audience that such was the strength English and French. Then everyone British, Belgian, Polish and French of allied cooperation and headed for the post-ceremony party services to return to the UK to commitment in regaining the liberty to tell stories of past exploits to old rejoin the fight for freedom. of a democratic France that the friends well into the night. qre The Cavaliers of Pqris honored On June 27,Ken Woodhouse of Saskatoon, Canada and his grandaughter represented the RAFES (Canadian Branch), along with Frank Dell, chairman of the RAFES and his wife, at a ceremony at the Lycie St. Louis on the , Boulevard St. Michel in Paris, where a plaque was unveiled to honor M. Maurice Cavalier and his wife, Marguerite. Thanks to years of investigation by J. J. Piot, the RAFES representative in France, and by Mme. Olympe St. Leger of Paris, information was collected to prove that the Cavaliers had been members of the French Resistance and had worked right at the school. Around D-Day, Maurice was captured by the Gestapo in his apartment in the I-.,ycie St. Louis. His wife, being notified of his arrest, decided to go home and "share his captivity with her husband." Information is that Maurice was sent to the camp at Dora in southern Germany, where he was worked to death, along with some 11,000 Frenchmen, hollowing out a mountain for a factory making rocket parts. Nothing has been learned concerning Marguerite other than that she was sent to a con- Ken Woodhouse stands on the stairway at Lycie St Loais in Paris, centration camp. where a plaque now honors the memory of Maurice and Ken is pleased that the two brave Marguerite Cavalien French people have now been honored by having a plaque placed Ken Lussier, Russel Barnlund and 20, 1944, all with Ken's thumb in the Lycie St. Louis where present Ken of the RCAF, and Bill Spinning print on them. and future students will be reminded and Manny Rogoffof the USAAF, Ken suggests that any evader of what their present freedom had and probably many others. visiting Paris would find a welcome cost so many of the past Ken personally saw Maurice at the Lycie St. Louis on Boulevard generation. make up a dozen or more identity Michel, a few blocks up from Notre The Cavaliers were helpers for cards on the afternoon of March Dame. Page 6 Fall2002 Joe refurns rhcisg ipolna noef Twaros yheits b Tyh tehe B G_el?nmlonsst , ai nrn othtoer hthcedye kdn eowff itnh cd iCffecmrgnaatn ds irtencetiwon tshbccicrause to French "aWnde t hcco uolxdy gnoc nlo snygset.el mre wrransin d eins tfruovrenda_tion kpiollscitdion and that they could havc bccn with our group," remembers Joseph I Cagle, "and we had to continue al,one, t protecting ourselves from attacks." I crash site They anived ncar hris and were I followedby Gcrmnplanes. After a short battlc, they lost two motors, Reaching r| From LES ECHOS England withjust onc rrrctor was out of p Orgeval, France thc qucstion; however, ths airflane uas li Sqtember lgg4 flying too low for the crew to use their tcd, not et parachutes. rh s{ So the pilot told 0rern to prepare for OFn lSyinqgL F6o, r1tr9e4s3s, Ba-n1A7m crearsicha-n mntheea rrqanr afusaht. e "Tsh,e planc fell into a field,1f5 falissk cFtadin &tahqlel ymw, ghtoeu lnldeo dct omthmocv mgc ctour n taft i,sl. hrnrcingdh aat nwUdrhincen landed in aJield between the crew them to thc housc. lhe y Royals road and the woods of Abbecourl Luckily, none of the Mathieu Padel, 10 years old in lg43: I0 crew ncmberswas hurl "I will remernber that day for a long tirae to corne. One of them,Ioseph Cagle, one " During thc war, in l 943, an Arnerican airplane fell to thc gro.nd in orgeval. of the two bombardiers inthe one of the aviators, "Joe,' was taken in by som orgevalais, one of whom was thc craft, returrud 5I years later,ln ifrait htheer coef rGemraonnnyy aJnadn iIn reo.d -eIn i no rad Joer etpo. rcprescnt trre family I was invitcd to participate June 1994, to revisit the scene of "At the croisec, we waited for Joe in the conpany of the Mayor and some other his catastrophic landing and the guests, some of whorn wcre wcaring placeswhere hewas taken in "This day, which I will rcmember ty Hall where Joe was honored beforc a lwrch wi Itwas a day ofioy and deq ..We emotion Maxime Herodet Were Lucky" Maxbne Herodet v'as aight 7'sat5 ord in r g4r . witha passionfor aviationh4 noted airphne mowment s during thc ottire twr Ntd s cru7ul ously dtan ed on a map all tlu plancs that weu down in tlp qzi. "At a veryyoung age I leamed to distinguish the differencc betweeir an airplane fusrlage and an cmpeirnage. My father, who was a ncchanic Breguct Xlv in 1922, showcd me pictures and initiatedrre using bronzc or a'lnwdneinru mmodcls that he had cast at home. "Then the war came. one night searcrrlights lit up thc slry and cannons thundered" owneighbor drove us in a truck towards Rambouillet, then wc took otr on foot in ths direction of orlcans. A few weeks later, we werc back in Montarncts, 'The sky began to nll with airplanes whose engincs did not make the same sound as the planes we had heard before. Instead oi ot. blg roundels dcmrating thc wrngs, there were black and white crosses. "At the time I was between thc ages of g and 12. Ths truth of thsse events can be confirmed by some friends of the tims, some of whom are still in orgevar. "Thcrc was a gang of friends rvho got togethcr outside of school hours: Robcrt, Pierre, Francois and myself. we shared the aeronautical rnagazines of the time, "DerAdler," whichhelpcd us identity rhe planes flying overhkcl. IN 1943 "onc moming, thc 6th of Septembbr, between I I and l2 o'clock, I hcard aw a B-17 flying vcry low; it it who wcrc shooting at Thc oing down then disappeared The '-Th9rc was then a great silence which was interrpted by a hugc explosion which madc the house shake. Just in front of the kitchen window I sai a plu* of black PageT FaLl2U)2 smokerisetothesky. IlaterlearnedthattheB-17hadlandedatFlambertin,afew hundred meters from the German rzdar. 'In ths week that followed I saw a trailer-tnrck parked in tiont of City Ha[; it Air power history was ransporting the remains of the airplane. Of the debris, the ground waslittered -Aug.2,1909- with it; the Germans had only takeir the largest piecss. it was a windfall for our team We would go there often with huge bags to retrieve machine gun bulle ts, Plexiglass, nrbber aud so on Today I still have a 12.?bullet and scraps of Ple.xiglass which have their own story. "["ater lhe sdrnc ycar, another B-l? was shot down I was at school. When I retumed horne at noon, I went up Rue de la vente Bertine ; it was still buming. The place was ncar Ecquevilly, before the big t'am. whenRobert and I went there a little later only the form of ttre airptane reunined; everything was bumed except the The Signal Corps re- empennagc wittr rhe tail turret aud its two rnachine guns. The Germans were therc ceived its first military so we onlylooked. aircraft. The "Wright "One nrorning, still in 1943, a combat tookplace very high in rhe sky. The Model B" carried two airplanes were followed by long lines of vapor. All of a suddeir, there was black passengers and had atop srnoke; a plane hdd just beeir hit and I could see it rapidly coming down in a speed of 54 mph. Simi- tailspin It was a P-38 bi-fuselage. lar to the Model A, the "My mother and I were watching the srsne when, all of a sudden, I said to her, Wrights built this aircraft "Go in fast, torpedoes." we could ses two slender, spiniring eirtities falling to &re with smaller u'ings to ground, rnalcrrg a strangc noise; then lerhing, no expldsiorr. Later I leamed that pasg the Army's speed what I had taken for torpcdoes were nothing olher than ex6a reservoir tanks that the requirement of 40 mph. P-38 had jettisoned. One had tallen towar& the railroad tracks at the Moulin a Vent and the other had fallen behind the train station They were retrieved and stored tor a long time behind city hall." This 1990 photo of Dutch Helper Jan Dobber (left) and Member Claude'Murray was taken at the Fortress Island Pampas in the Zuider Zee, They are shou'n standing on the edge of the moat which guafded thefort in the 1870s. Fall2002 'Jolly Duck' I J ! parachute e n Z now adress tT th th The Summer issue of Communications included a re story (pages 20-21) involving a wedding dress made m from a parachute given Wilhelm Van Niekerk by a CI downedAmerican airman in early 1945 after his B-24 made a crash landing near The Hague. in The dress is now on display at the Aero Space ofl Museum inCalgary, Alb. las Information concerning the B-24 crew involved has firt comefrom a Friend Member of AFEES, Leo lhery of Savannah, Ga. He writes: an( rqa On Feb. 22,1945, The Jolly Duch aB-24 of the anc 392nd Bomb'Group, retuming from a raid.on reft Nordhausen, ciash landed just outside the Dutch For town of Zoeteroude, located between The Hague A parachutefrom The Jolly Duck was coverted Hol and Leiden. The pilot was Joe "Big Dog" Walker into a wedding dress by llilhemina van Niekerk Mar and the crew consisted of Ralph Casstevens (co- It now has a place on a mnnnequin in the Aero Hor pilot), John Donohue (navigator), Harold Shea Space Museumat Calgary, Alb. four (engineer), Francis Nagle (radio), and Allan Hicks, John McCormick, John Lingle and Elmer Duen Duerr and Donohue were helped and looked after Mor was (gunners.) I All survived the landing, although John Lingle and could hardly walk because of a leg injury. I Eigh Walker had instructed his crew to split up in smali groups and try to evade capture. Shea, Hicks, John McCormick left the site of crash alone. He Ir Nagle and Lingle soon ran into a German patrol and also was taken care of by the Dutch Underground givin were arnjsted. They were transfered to Moosburg and he was brought to the hiding place of an armed resid POW camp near Munich. group of the Resistance which carried out raids on Walker and Casstevens were assisted by the German and other targets in support of the Dutch Underground and spent the remaining months resistance work. The hiding place was a hunting I of the war hiding in the town ofZoetermeer. Duerr lodge on the banks of the river Rotter (after which Lance and Donohue also managed to evade capture and the city of Rotterdam is named.) John joined the here a were hidden in an abandoned house in Wassenaar. group and participated in several raids. Unfort- here Ta The house was located a few hundreds yards from unately, the Germans somehow became aware of the where V-2 launching sites, which were constantly attacked occupants of the lodge and attacked it on April29, operat by Allied planes. r94s. Thr A fierce fire fight between the Germans and the mor.el t I ) Fctll2002 Page 9 resistanee group resulted, in the course of which not been able to find anything to that effect. It is John McCormick and one of the resistance fighters not impossible thatElmer Duerr was the crew were killed. member who did so and I would like to believe that A monument has been erected on the site and it was him. Elmer, or Bud as he was known, was every April 29th this monument in the center for a the last crew member to die a few months ago and it memorial service held by residents of the town of will be virtually impossible to find an eye witness Zevenhuizen to commemorate the brave people of who can attest to the fact. the Resistance movement killed dring the war. John McC ormick' s father specifi cally requested A LOT OF MESSAGES that John's remains stay with the buddies he spent Suddenly, there are a lot of messages sent around the last months of his life with. John was laid to the world as a result of the article in the Calgary rest in a grave next to one in which five resistance Herald (March 7,2002) regarding Mrs. Van members were buried under the tower of Old Village Niekerk's wedding dress. I saw the article for the Church in Zoetermeer. first time in my copy of the Windmill, a Dutch It should be noted that the Germans surrendered language newspapel published in Canada with an in Holland on the evening of May 4,1945, andl insert in English. often wonder whether John McCormick was the I sent a copy of the article to a person in Holland last member of the 8th Air Force to die under enemy who lived on the farm where The Jolly Duckcameto fire in World War II. rest in February 1945. He was not at the farm at Much has been written about the crash landing the time, so he can't throw any light on who gave and events which followed, particularly in the the parachute to Wilhelm Van Niekerk. magazine of the Historic Society of Zoetenwoude Last April 27lreceived a phone call from the and in a book, The Day the Manna Fell. Thetitle president of the Zoetermeer Historical Society refers to April 29,1945, the day the Royal Air asking whether we could attend a memorial service Force dropped food over the western part of at the monument in Zevenhuizen on the 29th. Holland for the first time. (Their "Operation In Elmer (Bud) Duerr's own account of his Manna" was followed by "Operation Chow experiences after the crash he said: Hound" of the 8th AF. It was the same day that "Finally we hit; everything went black'for a four crew members were liberated in POW camp minute or two, and when I came to, I found myself Moosburgand the day on which John McCormick buried deep in mud. I tried in vain to dig myself was killed. loose but to no avail. Then I felt someone pulling I have extensive documentation in my possession me by the leg. It was our waist gunner. and have given a file with information to the Mighty "Finally after getting free,I found I was clear Eighth Heritage Museum. back in the bomb bay. I still had my chute on but it I cannot find any reference to a crew member was cut in two by one of the braces. Oxygen giving his parachute pack to one of the local bottles were everywhere. The only thing that saved residents who rushed to the crash site. But I have us was that we had no ball turret in our plane. B-l consolidation begins "I managed to reach the waist window and fall out. Joe took my chute off because my arm was DYESS AFB, Texas -- A year after the B-l hurt." Lancer consolidation plan was first announced, people Of course it quite possible that Duerr's torn here are seeing the first steps take shape. The plan calls for the B-l fleet to be consolidated chute was given to Mr. van Niekerk. here and at Ellsworth AFB, S.D. The other three bases where B-ls were assigned have already ceased bornber Ililliam Niekerk and his wtfe iow live in Canada. operations. \'heir address is 4217 - sth Street S.W. The plan also calls for the fleet to be reduced by more than 30 aircraft. Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2S 282 Page 10 Fall20O2 end ofl hisl suttl turn inv slee brol bacl Ten The Woodard famlly from St. Louis, Mo., during a rest period in the Alos Valley before tackling the stream leading to the "Col de Lartigue" in the 2002 Freedom Trail commemorative sot ( hike. Fromthe left, Lu"y, Nathan, steve, Anne, Debbie, chartey and JustirL ASallin' Une famille diffi amerrcaine all n Miss sur les traces du papa and I daug with (An American family follows the tracks of Dad) dowr X'rom a tr''rench newspaper, in the USAAF. and the Allied forces. made ll, 2002 Spair frly After his plane was shot down Sixty years later, four of his (A translation) over Normandy, he found his way seven children, (two boys and two wi.t h-T thheeirm f ain-t hS9tr., Ia,goeudis 8, 2M, wo.h, oin l itvhees mtoa tdhee ipt yarceronsese tih'ine Amroieugitea,i nwsh ewreit hhe ganirdls t)w, oon oe f oMf hr.i sW doaoudgahrtde'rss-in-law, odne fdinr follor United States, is a former navigator one goal in mind: to reach London grandsons wanted to relive the Subcr Danish writer's book goes to the publisher emotional pilgrimage once made by Satur their father. This consisted of Tein! Erik Dyreborg of copenhagen, Denmark reports that material for retracing steps' through the his book Tfte LuclE Ones -- Airmen of the Migity Eighth has been mountains separating France and Debbi sent to his u.S. publisher. It will contain stories from 24 airmen, plus Spain. compl st,o ries from local people in Denmark and Sweden. The Freedom Trail, in its eighth Charl The book will also include Erik's first book, The Escape from edition, made it possible. Sincelast going Bornholm 1944. The published book will have more than 4b0 pages Thursday until this coming Sunday ofus and 50 photographs. evening when the trail ends in I Stories in the collection, narrated by the airmen themselves, , recount the harrowing adventures airmen endured in their most trying missions over Europe. There are stories of encounters with enemv fghters, struggles to control flak-damaged planes, grueling crash landings, and desperate bail-outs from burning planis.