Canadian Jewish Soldiers – Excursions in Jewish Military History and Jewish Genealogy

Soldiers from New York: Jewish Soldiers in The New York Times, in World War Two: March 8, 1944 (In the Air…) … Spitfire and Mustang, Goldberg and Rothenberg: The Forking Path of History

In 1941, the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges completed the short story “El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan”, known in English and later appearing in the August, 1948 issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine as “The Garden of Forking Paths“. His book, “uncannily foreshadows contemporary cosmological theories of the ‘multiverse’, in particular the ‘Many Worlds’ interpretation of quantum mechanics,” which has now become very much a staple feature and plot device of popular culture and fiction, let alone a field of study in the disciplines of quantum mechanics, theoretical physics, and philosophy. At the center of Borges’ short story, which may have been inspired by the works of science fiction writer Olaf Stapledon, is yet another novel – the multiple drafts of various chapters of which actually comprise a single work, in which infinitely forking futures are described. This novel-within-a-novel is thus “an enormous riddle, or parable, whose theme is time”.

Thus for fiction. As for fact? In 1944, three years after the publication of the original version of Borges’ story, on the eighth of March, two Jewish fighter pilots – one American and the other British – were shot down over Western Europe. For them, that date represented a very real forking path, one from which the trajectories of their lives irrevocably diverged: One survived; the other did not.

“May your fondest dreams comes true. – (signed) Danny”…
“…her pride is her fighter-pilot brother…”

Second Lieutenant Daniel S. Rothenberg (0-687399), born in Manhattan on September 25, 1923, was the son of Elliott (6/11/90-10/67) and Adelaide (1890-4/6/66) (Greenberg) Rothenberg, his family residing at 985 Teaneck Road in Teaneck, New Jersey. Their home – an apartment building – still stands in 2024, as seen in this Oogle street view….

…while this map shows Teaneck, relative to other locales in northern New Jersey, and, the New York Metropolitan area:

Daniel’s siblings were Hilda (10/16/14-2/22/00), Leon (4/10/09-2/67), Marian (11/8/10-10/20/99), Murray (6/23/13-4/3/85), and Ruth Eunice (3/16/26-11/27/22). His photograph, taken a few years before he became Lieutenant Daniel Rothenberg, can be found via Ancestry.com in Teaneck High School’s Class of 1940 yearbook. The specific copy of the yearbook in which his portrait is found includes the dedication, one of several penned for the book’s now-unknown and now-forgotten donor, “May your fondest dreams comes true. Danny”…

Here’s his portrait.

(“Then I reflected that all things happen to a man
in the precise instant of now.” – Hsi P’eng)

A member of the 357th Fighter Squadron of the 355th Fighter Group (8th Air Force), that day assigned to his squadron’s “Green Flight”, Lt. Rothenberg’s Mustang, P-51B 43-6989 otherwise known as OS * Q, was shot down while on a “Ramrod” mission over Germany. (Ramrod is a term loosely used to denote a fighter sweep over an area preceding the arrival of heavy bombers, in order to draw enemy aircraft into combat and cumulatively degrade enemy fighter effectiveness. See Mission4Today and CodeNamesInfo for more information.)

As described in Missing Air Crew Report 3056 by eyewitness and flight leader 1 Lt. Frederick W. Kelley:

As we made R/V with the bombers, Green flight jumped a bogie which turned out to be an FW-190. He dove for the ground and number three man overran him and number four man got in a burst which hit his left wing. The FW-190 turned into Lieutenant Rothenberg who was flying number two and evidently hit the pilot, as he rolled over on his back at about fifty feet and dove into the ground and exploded. I passed over the remains which were scattered over the field, and there is no doubt that he was instantly killed. Later on the 190 was destroyed by Lieutenant Norman.

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This image of P-51B Mustang 43-6886 OS * E, eventually known as Myrt / Kay, provides a good representative view of a 357th Fighter Squadron P-51 in early 1944. This particular aircraft, piloted by 2 Lt. Harwood M. Harrell, was one of six 355th Fighter Group P-51s lost on June 7, 1944. Its loss is covered in MACR 5507 and Luftgaukommando Reports J 1354 and J 1451. Lt. Harrell survived. (Photo UPL16547 from the American Air Museum in Britain.)

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USAF Credits for the Destruction of Enemy Aircraft reveals a little more information about “Norman” and Frederick W. Kelley. The former was 1 Lt. Robert Lee Norman (0-797697), the FW-190 he shot down being his sole confirmed victory. Alas, Lieutenant Norman in turn was shot down and killed on April 24, 1944, while flying P-51B 42-106433, OS * R; see MACR 4320. This article, from FindAGrave contributor TLHGraves, appeared in the Tallahassee Democrat on November 3, 1944.

First Lieutenant Kelley (0-795972), who eventually became Captain Kelley, survived the war with two aerial victories.

Here’s the supposed location map of Lt. Rothenberg’s loss, as reported in Missing Air Crew Report 3056.

Though the above map indicates that Lt. Rothenberg crashed in the vicinity of Dummer Lake, in actuality, his aircraft was shot down 2 kilometers west of Hagenburg, or, 9 kilometers west of Wunstorf, towns which are directly south and southeast (respectively) of Steinhuder Meer, as shown in the map below.

Identifying this crash location was a slightly involved process. This entailed correlating Missing Air Crew Reports for the four P-51s lost over Europe on March 8, to 1) Mustang losses which were reported in Luftgaukommando Reports reported in the “master” list (…as it were…) of these German documents … in NARA Records Group 242, and, 2) within relevant “Mustang-MACRs” for this date, any Luftgaukommando Reports referenced or included (of course, in translation). In terms of the latter, it turns out that MACRs for the following three pilots do include references to Luftgaukommando Reports, each such report having been filed under a different Luftgaukommando Report format (i.e., six-digit-number, AV Report, and, J Report).

Edner, Selden R., Lt. Col., 4th Fighter Group, Headquarters Squadron
P-51B 43-6442 – survived; MACR 2838; Report 120808-120809

Gambill, William W., 1 Lt., 357th Fighter Group, 363rd Fighter Squadron
P-51B 42-103041, B6 * F / Speedball Alice – survived, but died while POW at Stalag Luft III on March 23; MACR 2944; Report AV 969 / 44

Ullo, Neil F., 2 Lt., 363rd Fighter Group, 380th Fighter Squadron
P-51B 43-6932 – survived; MACR 2575; Report J 657

But… While MACR 3056 is absent of a reference to a Luftgaukommando report, the aforementioned “master” list of Luftgaukommando Reports contains an entry for Report J 683, which perfectly correlates to the time and location of Daniel Rothenberg’s loss. However, this report is not accessible via NARA … probably because the document no longer exists, for as discussed in my series of posts about Major Milton Joel (shot down on November 29, 1943) it seems that low-number “J” and “KU” Luftgaukommando Reports did not survive the war to eventually be incorporated into Records Group 242.

Anyway, the reason for the error in the reported location of P-51B 43-6989’s crash – in MACR 3056 – is evident from the map below: Dummer Lake and Steinhuder Meer, while separated by an east-west distance of over forty miles, lie at practically the same latitude, both are situated in or near rural or forested areas, both are elongated in a north-south direction, and finally, both are – sort of & kind of – roughly the same size.

This map shows the general geographic setting of Dummer Lake and Steinhuder Meer. They’re equidistant south from Bremen, and equidistant north from Bielefeld.

All the above information about the location of Lt. Rothenberg’s loss in Luftgaukommando Report J 683 precisely correlates back to an enemy pilot who – himself shot down and killed only seconds after shooting down Lt. Rothenberg, as recounted in MACR 3056 – turns out to have been a member of 9./JG 11, flying FW-190A-7 Werk # 340045: Feldwebel Herman Hoess. (See Aircrew Remembered.)

Over five years after his death, on May 16, 1949, Lt. Rothenberg was buried at Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, N.Y. (Specifically, at Section J, Grave 16094, as seen in this photo by FindAGrave contributor GLENN.) While his name appeared in Casualty Lists published in 1944 on April 23 (Missing in Action) and June 3 (Killed in Action), like so very (very) many other American Jewish military casualties (or decorated servicemen) of the Second World War, his name never appeared in the 1947 compilation American Jews in World War II.

The reason is suggested by his matzeva: It’s absent of absence of a religious symbol.

Though, according to the Roster of US WW II Dead (available via Ancestry) Daniel indicated his religious preference as Christian, his Interment Record features the word “none“ in the “Religious Emblem” section, which I suppose reflected this wishes of his parents, obviously his closest surviving next of kin.

The uncertainty about Daniel’s religious identification and affiliation is evident even earlier, as seen in the biographical information card filed for for him by the National Jewish Welfare Board (NJWB). This card was only one of many (many (many)) such cards generated as part of the NJWB’s wartime attempt to identify, record, and preserve historical information Jewish servicemen and military casualties.

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It’s my understanding and interpretation that families known or presumed to be Jewish were contacted (via phone? via mail? via personal visit?) by volunteer representatives of the NJWB to the above end, the names of such workers and the dates of contact attempts having been recorded in the “Worker Consulted” data field of the card. Going by the data on the card, the NJWB reached out to the Rothenberg family on three dates: June 2, July 26, and October 12 of 1944, based on the initial release of a War Department Casualty List on June 2.

The “blank” rectangle at the left of the card suggests that the Rothenberg family never responded to the NJWB, or, provided no definitive information about their son. The reason for this silence is not indicated. (You can read much more about the NJWB’s WW II biographical index cards at Ancestry.com.)

There’s most definitively information about volunteer worker listed on the card. He was Rabbi Samuel Geffen, concerning whom information is available at the Center for Jewish History (CJH) and New York Times. Born in 1907, he passed away in 2002. Here’s his bio from the CJH:

Rabbi Samuel Geffen, born Febuary 17, 1907 in New York, NY, was the rabbi for the Jewish Center of Forest Hills West for many years. Prior to his ordination in 1942, Geffen was a concert violinist and lawyer. He served most his career at the Jewish Center of Forest Hills, from 1948 until his retirement in 1993. Rabbi Geffen was married to Ruth Lenore Rosenfeld, with whom he had one son, Peter Geffen. During his time at Forest Hills West, Rabbi Geffen taught for many years at the Hebrew school in addition to his role as a congregational and spiritual leader. Rabbi Geffen died March 15, 2002 in New York, NY.

And from The New York Times, on March 19, 2002:

GEFFEN-Rabbi Samuel. The entire Abraham Joshua Heschel School community mourns the passing of our beloved founder Peter Geffen’s revered father, Rabbi Samuel Geffen. Rabbi Geffen was an exceptionally talented man, who was a concert violinist and lawyer before becoming a Rabbi. He was the devoted spiritual leader for over 40 years of the Jewish Center of Forest Hills West. We send our heartfelt sympathy to his wife Ruth (Rosenfield), son Peter, daughter-in-law Susie Kessler and grandchildren Jonah, David and Nessa who will greatly miss this kind, gentle, caring soul. Shira Nadich Levin President, Board of Trustees Roanna Shorofsky, Director Abraham Joshua Heschel School

GEFFEN-Rabbi Samuel. We mourn with profound sorrow the passing of our beloved colleague. Ordained in 1942, he served most of his career, from 1948 until his retirement, as rabbi of the Jewish Center of Forest Hills. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife, Ruth; son, Peter; brother, Dr. Abraham; sisters, Bessie Wilensky and Helen Ziff; and nephews, our collegues, Rabbi David Geffen and Ben Ravid and to all who were touched through his rabbinate. Rabbi Reuven Hammer, Pres. Rabbi Joel H. Meyers, Exec. VP The Rabbinical Assembly

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Why was Daniel’s matzeva “silent”? To answer this question, we have to delve into the history and genealogy of the Rothenberg family. The probable answer provides a window – in equal measures enlightening and disillusioning – upon the self-perception and “place” of the Jews of the United States in the mid-twentieth-century history, as reflected through the experiences of one family, among very many.

First, Daniel’s Draft Card identifies his mother as Adelaide.

Second, census records for 1910 reveal that Elliot and Adelaide were born in Russia and spoke English. Such records for 1920 are different: They indicate that Elliot was born in Russia and Adelaide in Rumania, both husband and wife speaking Yiddish. For 1940, census records once again differ: Adelaide is again recorded as having been born in Rumania, but, Elliot is now born in New York state.

Third, Elliott’s World War I Draft Card (dated 1917) lists his occupation as “Salesman” . This is sort-of consistent with census records. 1910 lists him as a druggist; 1920 as a wholesale drug salesman; 1940 as a retail store salesman.

Moving to the Cohoes American of October, 25, 1935, this notice concerns Elliot’s trade-marking of a product called “KISS-LAX”, whatever that was. (All kind of inferences come to mind, but there are no references to the product in Internet-land.) Perhaps a 1930s version of Chap-Stick?

There’s a solid degree of information about Daniel’s older bother, Murray. Here’s his name in a record of marriage to Bernice L. Glover, dated March 16, 1936, in the records of the Chelsea Presbyterian Church…

…and, here’s his draft card:

More about Murray, a most multifaceted man: He was a boxer and wrestler, and during the Second World War, taught self-defense to soldiers, as described in this article from The Bergen Evening Record on September 3, 1943 (via Classic Wrestling Articles).

Ex-Diamond Gloves Champ Will Meet Chief Bamba Tabu In Bout; He’s Now Head Of War Plant Guards

The amazing Murray Rothenberg, ex-Teaneck gridder, former Bergen Evening Record Diamond Gloves champ, judo teacher to soldiers, car salesman, chief of a defense plant police staff, and just about everything else you can think of, branches out into new fields to conquer tonight.

The amazing Murray makes his debut here as a professional wrestler on the card at Columbia Park, North Bergen.

Bergen County has never known another sports figure quite like the husky, scowling Murray Rothenberg. No matter what branch of sports – or in any other of the numerous things – which Murray tried, he always managed to make good.

WRESTLED BEFORE

Usually, in the process, he worked up a widespread dislike for himself among the fans, the sort of thing which helped pack followers of the Diamond Gloves into arenas in the hope that they’d see him get his block knocked off. He never did – he invariably won.

Actually, tonight’s go at Columbia Park won’t be Murray’s first taste of professional wrestling. About 8 or 9 years ago, he went on a tour of the South and had a half dozen or so bouts. Just like in everything else, he won.

Tonight’s mat engagement, however, is his first near home. He’s slated to oppose Chief Bamba Tabu on the card which Promoter Ralph Mondt presents at Columbia Park. The headline attraction is between Jack Wentworth, the Canadian Hercules, and Chief Thunderbird.

Murray, who played football with Teaneck High School early in his athletic career, later was a star in semi-professional football. He boxed a lot as an amateur and even had a few professional engagements.

Still as a high school student, he entered the Record’s Diamond Gloves. He was one of the original Bergen County amateur fistic champs, winning the 160-pound title in the first tournament staged by the Record. He broke his hand in the finals, back in September, 1933, but still came up with a win for the middleweight crown.

Of late, Rothenberg has been working in a defense plant. He is chief of the police guards. Just to keep in trim and to keep his hand in, he drills soldiers in a nearby barracks in the art of judo.

As mentioned in the above article, Murray was most definitely in the automotive business, as attested to by three newspaper items. First is a blurb from the Brooklyn Eagle of November 16, 1950, concerning an 11:00 (AM or PM?) radio program on WARD: “Why Worry – See Murray”…

… second, an advertisement for Murray’s Motors published in the Auburn Citizen-Advertiser on December 13, 1962.

…and third, a help-wanted advertisement for auto mechanics in The Journal News of May 14, 1973.

As for Ruth, here’s her portrait in the 1944 Teaneck High School yearbook. (Via Ancestry.com) Daniel was on her mind: “…her pride is her fighter-pilot brother…”

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Now we come to the Second World War, and after. Other than the appearance of Daniel’s name in the above-mentioned Casualty Lists, this article, from The Bergen Evening Record of March 26, 1944 (via the Johnson Public Library of Hackensack) is evidently the only news item that exists about his wartime service.

Missing

ROTHENBERG, Second Lieutenant Daniel, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. Elliot Rothenberg, 985 Teaneck Road, Teaneck. (European area.).

Second Lieutenant Daniel Rothenberg, 20, pilot of a P-47 Thunderbolt, has been reported missing in action, according to a War Department telegram received by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Elliott Rothenberg, 985 Teaneck Road, Teaneck.

The parents, who declared they refuse to believe any harm has come to their son, said the telegram listed a mission over Germany on February 24 as his last known flight. Rothenberg volunteered for the Air Force in September, 1942, after one year as an honor student at John Marshal School of Law in Jersey City. He has been overseas, based in England, with the Eighth Air Force, for the past 5 months.

“Daniel is resourceful and always was intelligent. We are sure he is safe,” his father said. The father now is employed by Saunders Jewelers on Main Street, Hackensack. Some years ago he operated Elliott’s Drug Store in Hackensack.

The missing pilot’s brother is Murray, once a middleweight champion fighter in the Bergen Evening Record diamond gloves contest. His younger brother, Daniel; only 5 feet tall never was athletically inclined, according to his parents.

XXX

Forty one years later, following Murray’s April 1985 passing, this letter – a tribute by his sister Ruth (Rothenberg) Eby – appeared the same month in the New Jersey newspaper The Record. The letter was found in the Cetola Family Tree at Ancestry.com. The text follows:

A tribute to Murray Rothenberg

Sports Editor, The Record,

There must be many Murray Rothenberg fans left in North Jersey. He was a legendary sports hero for three decades in the Thirties, was a football player for Teaneck High School, and he went on to a semipro team, the Red Devils. He was also a Diamond Glove boxing champ. In the Fifties, became famous to television fans as a pro wrestler. Dennis James, the TV sportscaster, used to love to use “Why worry, see Murray!” – the slogan for Rothenberg’s used-car lot in Little Ferry.

There are many sides to Murray that perhaps his sports fans might not know. He had to champion his birthright; anti-Semitism was rampant in his day as an athlete in Teaneck. He had to scrap his way up, often fighting neighborhood bullies.

Murray became a favorite of a Record sports columnist, the late Al Del Greco, who wrote often of Murray’s style and exploits. But during World War II, there was a block of time that remained secret until years later. Murray’s judo expertise was used to train special forces, and he was sent on several secret overseas missions to bring “someone” back. So ingrained was his commitment to secrecy that he never gave out details.

After the war there were some dark years for Murray, but he finally overcame a drinking problem by his complete involvement with Alcoholics Anonymous, and he devoted himself to helping others get what he called “Good, orderly direction”.

Murray passed away this month in Florida, but he left a legacy – a legacy of being a true champion. His sports fans might only remember the games, but there are many others who will cherish the memory of a man who left his mark on their lives.

RUTH EBY
(Murray’s kid sister)
Haworth

As for Elliot and Adelaide, they passed on some years earlier: Adelaide on April 6, 1966, and Elliot on October 13, 1967. Here are their obituaries, from The Bergen Record on (respectively) April 7, 1966, and October 13, 1967:

ROTHENBERG – Adelaide (nee Greenberg) at Hackensack, N.J., on Wednesday April 6, 1966 of 995 Teaneck Road, Teaneck. Beloved wife of Elliott. Devoted mother of Leon, Murray, Mrs. Marion Dintenfast, Mrs. Hilda Weltman and Mrs. Ruth Eby, also surviving 13 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren. Sister of Samuel Greenberg. Christian Science Memorial Service at the Eckert Funeral Home, corner of Main and Poplar Streets, Ridgefield Park, on Thursday, April 7 and _ P.M. Commitment at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers kindly make contributions to your favorite charity.

Elliot Rothenberg

Englewood – Elliot Rothenberg, 77, of 240 East Palisade Avenue, a retired jeweler, died this morning at the Tenafly Nursing Home.

He had lived in Teaneck for 45 years.

He is survived by a son Murray of Miami, Fla.; three daughters, Mrs. Marian Dintenfast of Philadelphia, Pa.; Mrs. Hilda Weltman of Englewood, and Mrs. Harold Eby of Haworth; 13 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Taking the history of the Rothenberg family as a whole, particularly in light of Ruth’s letter, and, the obituaries of Elliot and Adelaide, there is – to use a 2025-ish word – very much to “unpack” “between the lines” of these writings.

First, neither parents’ obituary makes any allusion to their youngest son, Daniel.

Second, Ruth’s tribute to Murray, though it mentions her brother’s wartime activity with great pride, is entirely absent of any reference to Daniel’s military service and death in combat, though she obviously felt identification with and admiration for him during her late adolescence.

Third, Ruth refers to Murray’s having participated in, “several secret overseas missions to bring “someone” back. So ingrained was his commitment to secrecy that he never gave out details.” In my opinion, this was a “bubbe meise” – a tall-tale; a grandiose biographical embellishment – invented by and heard from her brother in the context of his postwar struggles with alcoholism; a story she accepted and believed in good faith and good will. I seriously doubt he ever left the United States during the war years.

Fourth, it’s most interesting – and intellectually refreshing – that Ruth had the candor to mention antisemitism having been “rampant” in Teaneck during the twenties and thirties. One can’t understand the present unless one perceives the past as it really was, rather than through a mindset fogged by the comforting mists of hagiography, a central example of which is the highly over-rated cinematic oeuvre of Steven Spielberg. (But, that’s another topic…)

Fifth, the “elephant in the foyer” can be found in Adelaide’s obituary: She had a Christian Science Memorial Service upon her passing, her obituary suggesting that she was not interred in a Jewish cemetery. (As for Elliot? His place of burial is unknown.) Which fact leads much further: Adelaide’s involvement with Christian Science was long-lasting and very deep, beginning at least when she was in her early forties and lasting the rest of her life. She authored 29 articles pertaining to Christian Science in the three decades between August of 1933 and January of 1963 (oddly, none between December of 1941 and December of 1945), these having been published in The Christian Science Journal, Christian Science Sentinel, Der Herold der Christlichen Wissenschaft, Le Héraut de la Science Chrétienne, and, O Arauto da Ciência Cristã. Absolutely none of these articles (going by the titles, at least) make any reference or allusion – of even the vaguest and most tangential sort – to recent or ongoing events, let alone the situation and fate of the Jews of Europe during the 30s and 40s.

In light of this glimpse of the Rothenberg family’s history, Daniel’s religious preference as a Christian, the complete absence of any religious symbol on his matzeva, whether Jewish or Christian, was more inevitable than it was surprising. How could he have declared himself otherwise, given the constellation of factors surrounding his youth and upbringing? Which, in turn, leads to curiosity about how the course of his mother’s life led her to become an adherent of Christian Science, and, the implications of her decision for her family. A definitive answer to this will never be known – all the “dramatis personae” having since passed on – but one can speculate.

First, it’s notable that Daniel’s mother, having been born in Rumania in 1890; a woman whose native tongue was Yiddish, went by the very name of Adelaide, which is actually a, “…feminine given name from the English form of a Germanic given name, from the Old High German Adalheidis, meaning “noble natured”, rather than a female name of Yiddish or Hebrew derivation. (…such as, and, such as…) Though it’s impossible to trace her ancestry farther back than the 1910 Census, this suggests that “Adelaide” was actually a name she adopted coincident with or some time after her arrival and naturalization in the United States, her original name (perhaps it was Aidel, Adele, or Ada) being lost and now forever untraceable, as is the history of her family in Eastern Europe.

Second, the reason for her adoption of Christian Science could be attributable to any of the small myriad of factors that have not infrequently led more than a few Jews – ever since the advent of Jewish political emancipation a few short centuries ago and continuing undiminished now; even during the days of the Roman Empire; even during the pinnacle of Hellenism; to “fundamentally transform” their identity and persona in a direction assumed to be more acceptable – socially, intellectually, vocationally, and otherwise – to that of the prevailing culture. (Well, in their own eyes.) Given Ruth’s comment about the antisemitism experienced by her brother in Teaneck (which reflected an era and setting far wider than Teaneck, the state of New Jersey, or the Middle Atlantic States), perhaps Adelaide – regardless of her residence in that city or any other urban center, simply wanted to jettison an identity to conform to and become part of the larger society. Or, on a much simpler level, perhaps the social and political currents that relentlessly buffeted the lives of all men and women amidst the turbulence of the late 1800s through the early 1900s (but, is life not always turbulent?), the Jewish people particularly among them, left her unmoored from or even unacquainted with a solid sense of Jewish identity and “Yiddishkeit” – other than a vapid, vestigial and atrophying sense of ethnicity – the void in her soul being replenished by the mores and religion of the surrounding culture.

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In this story, I’m reminded of Stephen J. Dubner’s 1998 book, Turbulent Souls: A Catholic Son’s Return To His Jewish Family, here described at GoodReads:

Two years ago, Stephen J. Dubner wrote a cover story for The New York Times Magazine called Choosing My Religion. It became one of the most widely discussed articles in the magazine’s history. Turbulent Souls, the book that grew out of that article, is an intimate memoir of a man in search of a Jewish heritage he never knew he had. It is also a loving portrait of his parents.

Stephen Dubner’s family was as Catholic as they come. His devout parents attended mass at every opportunity and named their eight children after saints. Stephen, the youngest child, became an altar boy, studied the catechism, and learned the traditional rituals of the Church — never suspecting that the religion he embraced was not his by blood.

Turbulent Souls is Dubner’s personal account of his family; tumultuous journey from Judaism to Catholicism — and in his own case, back to Judaism — and the effects, some tragic, some comic, of those spiritual transformations. His parents were Jews, born in Brooklyn to immigrant parents, but — independent of each other and, indeed, before they met — each converted to Christianity, only to be shunned by their families. After their marriage, they closed the door on Judaism so firmly that their children had no inkling that their background was far different from what it seemed: They didn’t know, for instance, that their mother had a first cousin named Ethel Rosenberg, who was executed for treason in one of the most controversial cases of the cold war era.

Stephen Dubner’s is a story about discovery: of relatives he never knew existed, of family history he’d never learned, and of a faith he’d never thought of as his own and, in fact, knew nothing about. It’s a fascinating, thoughtful, and thought-provoking exploration of a subject of intense interest to spiritually minded men and women everywhere.

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One also thinks of Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak, whose early life is chronicled in Chapter 1 – “Once Upon a Time” – in Robert Coram’s biography Brute: The Life of Victor Krulak, U.S. Marine. In the same way that the Rothenberg family was contacted by the National Jewish Welfare Board (NJWB) as part of the organization’s effort to identity Jewish servicemen and record their accomplishments, so was then Lt. Col. Krulak (or his wife, Amy Chandler Krulak), after his actions at Choiseul Island, in the Solomon Islands, from late October through early November of 1943.

Was he a Jew? The answer, as documented in Brute and other sources, like his NJWB information card … below … was: No.

Perhaps – and perhaps as in the case of Daniel Rothenberg? – this facet of the future General’s life was prefigured for him by a small constellation of major decisions made by his family years before his birth; let alone before he entered the United States Naval Academy. For, as recounted in Brute, his father Morris, “…was a secular Jew, and his desire for assimilation was so strong that Victor never received any religious instruction, never attended synagogue, and, as far as can be determined, never had a bar mitzvah. In this way, Morris paved the way for his son later to minimize his Jewish background.” This chain of the unintended … or quietly intended? ,,, consequences of the actions of one generation upon another, is discussed at great depth in Todd M. Endelman’s Radical Assimilation in English Jewish History, 1656-1945, the conclusions of which are highly pertinent to the history of the Jews of the United States. In a different vein, the late Barry Rubin’s Assimilation and Its Discontents, which observes intergenerational acculturation, assimilation, and the loss of memory across a much wider time frame, is particularly focused on the Jews of the United States in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Continuing in 2007, after being shown his family genealogy, Krulak’s choice of words was revealing in that when he talked about his parents, he could not force himself to utter the words “Jew,” “Jewish”, or “Yiddish.” “My father never talked of his spirituality. It was always about hard work. My father was a very serious man. He was very quiet about his background, about everything, almost silent. I learned from him that life is serious, that sometimes you have only one choice. My father always talked of my future.”
He paused and added, “I would hope that this book not dwell on my father’s spirituality, but rather his lessons of hard work.”
If he and his father never discussed their religion, what of importance did they discuss?
“He told me, ‘You will be short, and you will be bald. But you don’t have to be fat.’ ”
There was but one addition: “He told me the way to get along with a new acquaintance is to express genuine interest in the day-to-day affairs of the other person.”
And that is all Victor Krulak would say about his parents.

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“As I saw some Germans in the neighborhood, I decided to lie in a ditch until dusk. I actually stayed till 2200 hrs.”

The path of Squadron Leader David Goldberg (J/4242) on March 8, 1944 led to an outcome infinitely different from that of Lieutenant Daniel Rothenberg. The son of Harry and Sophia L. Goldberg, who resided at 28 Kent Street in Hamilton, Ontario, David was born in that city on March 20, 1917.

A member of the Spitfire-equipped No. 403 Squadron (Royal Canadian Air Force), David was shot down during an afternoon Ranger mission. (Ranger: A “freelance flights over enemy territory by units of any size, to occupy and tire enemy fighters.”, from Wikipedia, based on John D.R. Rawlings’ Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft, published by Macdonald and Jane’s Publishers Ltd.). Struck by flak at St.-Andre-de-l’Eure, he crash landed his aircraft (Spitfire Mk IX MJ356) and evaded capture, returning to England on May 6.

(“I leave to the various futures (and not to all) my garden of forking paths.”
– Ts’ui Pen, Governor of Yunan)

As recounted in the ORB (Operations Record Book) of No. 403 Squadron, via the RCAF Association, “Two shows and 28 non-operational sorties were flown today. We were escort wing on the morning do and this afternoon we carried out an eight man Ranger. No enemy aircraft were seen. On the Ranger, we lost two pilots, F/O J.H. Ballantyne DFM and F/L D. Goldberg, our adjutant. F/O Preston’s aircraft was severely damaged by flak but he managed to land at Friston. F/O Ballantyne’s aircraft [Spitfire MJ876] was seen to hit the ground and explode and very little hope is held for him. He has been posted as missing believed to be killed. F/L Goldberg reported that he was going to attempt a crash landing. He has been posted as missing but we all are hoping that he will be walking back to see us one of these days. F/O Foster was posted to 53 OTU wef today.”

Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, S/L Goldberg’s name can be found on pages 35 and 124, of volumes I and II, respectively, of Canadian Jews in World War II. David passed away on September 17, 2006, and is buried at Woodland Cemetery in Hamilton. Other than these nominal genealogical and historical facts, I have no further information about his subsequent military service and postwar life. His portrait, below, is from Canadian Jews in World War II…

XXXX

…while this image (via canada.ca) shows the wolf’s head emblem of No. 403 Squadron…

…and this is a depiction of a Spitfire of No 403 Squadron from DCS (Digital Combat Simulator).

Here’s a transcript of S/L Goldberg’s succinct Escape and Evasion Report, M.I.9/S/P.G.(-)1910, obtained from the The National Archives. (You know, the one in Kew, not the one in College Park.)

Left: GIBRALTAR, 5 May 1944. Arrived: U.K., 6 May 1944.

I was pilot of a Spitfire aircraft which left FRISTON on 8 Mar 44 at 1600 hrs. to carry out a low-level sweep round PARIS. On the outward journey when somewhere South of EVREUX (N.W. EUROPE, 1:250,000, Sheet 7, R 16) I was hit by Flak and tried to crash land, but crashed about 3 kms. S.W. of CHAMPIGNY-la-FUTELAYE (R 2850) at about 1630 hrs.

I found myself in the aircraft upside-down. I managed to get out, but had to leave my parachute and harness in the machine, which was smouldering.

I immediately started to run towards a clearing, throwing off my mae west into the trees. I went in a Northerly direction, gradually heading West until I reached a forest. As I saw some Germans in the neighborhood, I decided to lie in a ditch until dusk. I actually stayed till 2200 hrs.

I then started to move West, and walked till 0530 hrs (9 Mar) when I again lay low in a forest, in which I stayed until 2130 hrs. I then continued for another hour, when I saw a farmhouse and, having looked into the window, decided to enter and make my identity known. I was given food and shelter for the night. My host went out and returned in a couple of hours looking pleased with himself, but told me nothing that night. I was kept here and given food and shelter all next day (10 Mar), and at about 1800 hrs. four men turned up.

From this point my journey was arranged for me.

More information about S/L Goldberg’s subsequent experience, involving a trek over the Pyrenees Mountains in the company of other Allied airmen, can be found at Aircrew Remembered, in the story of the Evasion and Escape of S/Sgt. Isaac Lowell Creason. A member of the 449th Bomb Squadron, 322nd Bomb Group and a crew member of 1 Lt. Samuel A. Walker, Creason’s B-26B (41-31948) was shot down by flak on January 14, 1944. You can read the original account of Creason’s experience in E&A Report 616. The MACR covering the plane’s loss (#1748) is, like many low-number MACRs (and not a few higher-numbered Reports in that set of records) essentially useless. (Thank you so much, Fold3!)

The following set of maps and air photos, at successively larger scales, show the likely location of S/L Goldberg’s crash.

First, this map sets S/L Goldberg’s crash in a regional context. The crash location, denoted by the red circle, is about 48 miles due west of the center of Paris.

This map shows the approximate location of S/L Goldberg’s crash, based on his E&A Report: southwest of Champigny-la-Futelaye.

Here’s an air photo view of the above map at the same scale. The probable crash site is in farmland just west of Lignerolles. This seems to be somewhat inconsistent with S/L Goldberg’s account of running towards a clearing (farmland is already pretty “clear”!), but still, this is the geographic “best fit” given his mention of coming to earth southwest of Champigny-la-Futelaye.

Here’s an even closer view of the above location. Does anything remain of his Spitfire eighty years later…?

Of David Goldberg’s life subsequent to the Second World War, I have no knowledge.

Books

Borges, Jorge Luis, “The Garden of Forking Paths”, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, August, 1948, pp. 101-110 (translated by Anthony Boucher)

Coram, Robert, Brute: The Life of Victor Krulak, U.S. Marine, Little, Brown and Co., New York, N.Y., 2010

Dublin, Louis I., and Kohs, Samuel C., American Jews in World War II – The Story of 550,000 Fighters for Freedom, The Dial Press, New York, N.Y., 1947

Endelman, Todd M., Radical Assimilation in English Jewish History 1656-1945, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, In., 1990

Franks, Norman L.R., Royal Air Force Fighter Command Losses of the Second World War – Volume 3: Operational Losses: Aircraft and Crews 1944-1945 (Incorporating Air Defence Great Britain and 2nd TAF), Midland Publishing, Leicester, Great Britain, 2000

Rubin, Barry, Assimilation and Its Discontents, Times Books (Random House), New York, N.Y., 1995

Canadian Jews in World War II – Part I: Decorations, Canadian Jewish Congress, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1947

Canadian Jews in World War II – Part II: Casualties, Canadian Jewish Congress, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1948

USAF Credits for the Destruction of Enemy Aircraft, World War II, Albert F. Simpson Historical Research Center, Air University, Office of Air Force History, Headquarters, USAF, 1978

One Article (just one)

Rothenberg, Adelaide, “The Cement of a Higher Humanity”, The Christian Science Journal, October 1, 1949, V 67, N 10

“There are times when I wonder…”: Flying Officer Kenneth McKellar White and the Crew of Hudson AE523 – Myanmar (Burma), September 9, 1942

“…I now know that my job in this world is not yet done…”

“As I said at the beginning of this somewhat long winded narrative
my object in writing this story is that you may be able to inform their people
and the story itself brings out how well they all did their job
even when faced with death and how they actually gave their lives doing their duty.”

____________________

Men write for different reasons. Some, to communicate the driest of information, whether vocationally or professionally. in the most nominal sense. Some, to express feelings and emotions that form a natural bond with friends, lovers, family, and even the larger world. Some, to accurately and minutely record their life experiences – whether mundane or unprecedented; to create compelling works of fiction; to describe the world in verse, all with the aim of placing their words before the public for recognition, and (if so favored by lady fortune…?) compensation.

And, there are some, for reasons perhaps arising from happenstance, who are compelled to write simply to place their memories – even of events brief and fleeting – before the world, not for themselves, but for the sake of human memory.

__________

The Canadian Jewish Congress’ 1948 two-volume compilation of biographies of Canadian Jewish soldiers (straightforward title! : Canadian Jews in World War II) is comprised of two volumes, one pertaining to servicemen who received decorations for military service, and the other for servicemen who died during the war, whether through action with enemy forces, in training, accidentally, or other circumstances. Generally, the biographical profiles of the many soldiers covered in these two volumes comprise nominal biographical information about a soldier and his family, his prewar war, and naturally, the events surrounding his military service. The majority of the biographies are accompanied by photographic portraits (half-tone, naturally – we’re talking late 1940s technology, after all!) which lend a sense of reality to these accounts and carry them beyond a dry and rote recitation of mere historical “data”. Overall, the Canadian Jewish Congress did magnificent work in the creation of these two works, taking them to a level of detail vastly beyond that from the nominal state-by-state lists of soldiers’ names in American Jews in World War Two. (Though in fairness, the body of documents the Canadian Jewish Congress had to work with was orders of magnitude less than the number of records held by the American National Jewish Welfare Board.)

Though I’ve extensively reviewed Canadian Jews in World War II in an ongoing effort to identify Jewish military casualties in WW II, recently (how recently? – I’ve no idea!) another source of information about Canadian WW II military casualties (specifically, servicemen who died during the war) has become available. These are Casualty Files for Canadian WW II personnel, which have been made available through Ancestry.com. These documents are of enormous value in terms of genealogy and military history. Though they have no exact analogue – “data-wise” – in terms of the design of American military records, they might be considered as being a composite of the information carried in Attestation Papers for soldiers in the armed forces of the British Commonwealth, plus – from the American perspective – Individual Deceased Personnel Files, and (in the case of aviators) Missing Air Crew Reports. Some of the Casualty files include photographic portraits; a few (for example, for Flying Officer Philip Bosloy, a ferry pilot missing over Nova Scotia on February 24, 1943) include newspaper articles; many include correspondence – whether handwritten original or transcribed – by family, friends, comrades, and others.

Which leads to the impetus for this post: My search for records concerning Flight Sergeant Albert Abraham Margolis (R/60404) of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Here’s his biographical profile from Volume II (page 48) of Canadian Jews in World War II. Though the information in his biography is nominally complete, additional details comprise his date of birth: July 29, 1914; his parents’ full names: “Benjamin Max” and “Tillie (Russuck) Margolis”; the report of his “Missing” status in The Jewish Chronicle: October 16, 1942; the memorialization of his name: on Column 420 of the Singapore Memorial, in Singapore.

This document’s from his Casualty File: It’s an Interview Report of the kind typically compiled for applicants seeking service as air crew members in the RCAF. Note the fields for “Sports” (first), followed by “Appearance”, “Dress”, “Intelligence”, and “Personality”; and especially, the “Summary” section at the bottom of the form. Albert A. Margolis is described therein in these terms: “Applicant is a heavy-built, muscular type, of satisfactory appearance. Slow manner and personality. Good average intelligence, limited flying experience but very keen.”

As suggested by Albert Margolis’ Interview Report, comments in the Summary Section are frank and direct. In terms of Jews who applied for service in the RCAF, Interview Reports are a window upon the perception of Jews in the Canadian military (and probably not just the Canadian military) in the social and cultural context of Canadian society the early 1940s. Of the comments in Interview Report Summary Sections in the seventy-odd Casualty Files (available via Ancestry.com) I’ve reviewed for Jewish members of the RCAF, most simply focus on those attributes – intelligence, personal rapport, attitude, bearing, enthusiasm, and participation in individual or team sports (that’s a big one) – that would reflect upon most any applicant’s suitability as an air crew (read: team) member, which in effect are pertinent to most any military leadership position. A few Interview Reports definitely allude to an applicant being Jewish, typically in a word or two that accompanies more extensive commentary – whether negative or positive (and sometimes, very positive) – about to an applicant’s suitability for service in the RCA. Other Interview Reports, like that of Albert Margolis’, do not, at all.

____________________

F/Sgt. Officer Margolis’ biographical profile in Volume II of Canadian Jews in World War Two is absent of specific information about the mission on which he was missing. However, though I don’t presently have access to Squadron Summaries or Squadron Records for No. 62 Squadron, this question is largely – albeit not completely – answered by information in Margolis’ Casualty File: He was the observer of an aircraft that was shot down during an attack against Japanese shipping in the harbor adjacent to Akyab, Burma, on September 9, 1942.

First, let’s start with a copy of a letter sent from the Royal Canadian Air Force Casualties Office to Abraham’s mother Tillie in mid-February of 1943:

2152

12th February 1943

C7/CAN/R.60404

Dear Madam,

With reference to the letter from this department dated 16th October 1942, I am directed to inform you, with deep regret, that all efforts to trace your son, No. CAN/R.60404 Flight Sergeant Albert Abraham MARGOLIS, Royal Canadian Air Force, have proved unavailing.

The aircraft of which your son was the Observer took off from base at 10.20 a.m. on 9th September 1942, in conjunction with other aircraft, to carry out an attack against enemy shipping in the harbour at Akyab, Burma. Enemy aircraft were encountered over the target area and your son’s aircraft was seen to break away from the formation, losing height. Your son’s aircraft failed to return to base and nothing further has been heard of him.

In view of the lapse of time, it is felt that there can now be little hope of his being alive, but action to presume that he has lost his life will not be taken until at least six months from the date on which he was reported missing. Such action will then be for official purposes only, and you will be duly informed.

Meanwhile I am to assure you, with the sincere sympathy of the department, that all possible enquiries will continue to be made.

I am,
Dear Madam,
Your obedient Servant,

for Royal Canadian Air Force Casualties Officer,
for Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief R.C.A.F. Overseas.

Mrs. H. Margolis,
604 Centre Street,
Calgary, Alberta,
CANADA.MH.

____________________

Here’s an Apple Map of the location of Akyab (now known as Sittwe), showing its position on the western coast of Myanmar. The city “…is the capital of Rakhine State, and located on an estuarial island created at the confluence of the Kaladan, Mayu, and Lay Mro rivers where they empty into the Bay of Bengal.” The Bay of Bengal lies to the west, while to the northwest and out of map view, is Bangladesh, which during the year in question – 1942 – would have been part of Colonial India.

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This 1:7500 scale map of Akyab, produced in December, 1944, shows the city’s location at the confluence of the three rivers, with its waterfront “facing” east. The map, “A town map of Akyab (Sittwe)”, from the National Library of Australia, can be found at COPP (Combined Operations Pilotage Parties) Survey. As stated in the legend, this map – a first edition of December, 1944 – was drafted based on aerial photographs taken in November of that year. Designated “HIND 1036 AKYAB”, the map was “compiled, draw and printed by Survey Directorate, Main Headquarters, ALFSEA.” (Australian Land Forces South East Asia?)

____________________

Further information about F/Sgt. Margolis’ fate would wait until August of 1945, when his sister, Miss E. Pearlman, of Regina, Saskatchewan, received a letter from the Royal Canadian Air Force Casualties Office. This revealed that a certain “Pilot Officer White” was the sole survivor of the mission, with Margolis and White’s fellow crewmen (P/O George O. Maughan and Sgt. Neil McNeil) having been killed, the three men’s casualty status now having been changed to “missing believed killed”. This revelation was based on an account of the mission clandestinely written by F/O White while he was a prisoner of war of the Japanese, in Rangoon. Tragically, he was killed in an Allied air raid on November 29, 1943. Miraculously, the document was preserved. Postwar, the document was sent to F/O White’s wife, who in turn forwarded it – I presume a copy and not the original – to the overseas headquarters of the Royal Canadian Air Force Casualties Office. A transcribed copy of the story was then sent to F/Sgt. Margolis’ family (as well as, I’m sure, the families of Maughan and McNeil). And so, almost four years after the fact, the crew’s fate was known.

Here’s the Casualty Office’s letter to Miss Pearlman…

OTTAWA, Canada, 14th August, 1945.

Miss E. Pearlman,
2330 Rose Street,
Regina Saskatchewan

Dear Miss Pearlman:

It is with deep regret that I must confirm our recent telegram informing you that Flight Sergeant Albert Abraham Margolis, previously reported missing on Active Service, is now reported “missing believed killed”.

A complete report which was written by Pilot Officer White, the captain of Flight Sergeant Margolis’s crew, prior to his death in a Rangoon jail as a result of an air raid, was received by his wife and forwarded to our Overseas Headquarters who passed it to us. This report states that Flight Sergeant Margolis, Pilot Officer Maugham [sic] and Sergeant McNeil, two members of the crew who were not of the Royal Canadian Air Force, lost their lives when their aircraft crashed. In view of this information Flight Sergeant Margolis is now reported “missing believed killed”.

I am deeply sorry that this information is so distressing and extend to you my deep and heartfelt sympathy.

Yours sincerely,
R.C.A.F. Casualty Officer,
for Chief of the Air Staff.

____________________

…and here’s a transcript of F/O White’s story. Interspersed between paragraphs are images of the Lockheed Hudson bomber, and, a video showing Hudsons on a training mission in England, in 1940.

White’s words:

Ever since I have been here I have had the desire to put some of my thoughts down on paper, and I am now going to endeavour to do this and the method I have decided on is to put it in the form of a letter.

Whether this letter will ever reach its destination or not has yet to be decided but as the writing of it will give me a lot of pleasure and help to pass away the seemingly endless days, I shall persevere. It will undoubtedly appear disjointed for I am often assailed with many and troublesome thoughts and in any case all thoughts when diagnosed are pretty disjointed, so I must ask you to bear with me and try to understand the ideas or expressions I am going to attempt to convey.

The first thing I wish to write about is quite apart from the rest of this letter and it is the circumstances in which I became a prisoner and the rest of my crew lost their lives. My reason for writing this is that in the event of my not surviving my present circumstances and this comes into your possession you may be able to trace their families and put their minds at rest as to their fate.

First I shall give you their names and addresses as I know them –

Observer – Canadian No. R.60404,
Flight Sergeant Albert Asher [Abraham] Margolis
Central Square,
Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Wireless Operator – R.A.F. No. 110880,
Sergeant Neil McNeil – Glasgow. [CWGC: Son of Daniel and Mary McNeil, of Croftfoot]

Air Gunner – Flight Sergeant George Oliver Maugham [sic – should be “Maughan”], D.F.M. [CWGC: Son of Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Maughan, of Darlington, Co. Durham.]

We were engaged on a bombing raid on Akyab a port on the western coast of Burma about 200 miles south of the Indian Border and flying in formations of three at a height of approximately 2000 ft. There was quite a lot of clouds about and unexpectedly we flew into one of these and I became separated from the other two machines in the formation and when we got out of the cloud I saw them a short distance ahead of me and it was then that our troubles began. I opened the engines to catch up with the other planes but the port motor instead of increasing its speed started coughing and cutting and no matter what I did it kept gradually dying away.

____________________

This illustration, “box art” for Classic Airframes Hudson Mk. III/IV/V/VI/PBO-1 1/48 plastic model (kit #449) is a very nice depiction of a Hudson in flight. The aircraft shown is Mk I Hudson A16-25 of No. 1 “Malaya” Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force. According to ADF Serials, this plane was lost at 2100 hours on May 7, 1941 over the Straights of Johore, during searchlight practice. The crew comprised F/Lt. A.R. Stevenson, F/O A.H. Brewin and F/O G.D. Robinson, Sgt. F.S. Gildea (403286) and Cpl. A.T. Thompson (2399).

____________________

In the midst of this Mac’s (McNeil) voice came through to me on the telephone saying that there were two fighters up above us and were closing into attack. Mac was in the rear gun turret and immediately following this I heard the crackle of Mac firing his guns. Mac never spoke again. I again opened the motors and the port engine by this time was more or less useless and started twisting and turning the plane in order to dodge the Jap fighters. One of them came belting down in a dive on my starboard side and pulled up underneath me and a burst of cannon fire from its guns rocked the plane from one side to the other. The starboard motor was hit and stopped dead and burst into flames. Other cannon shells burst inside the plane and in the matter of seconds the whole of the front of the plane was a mass of flames and a choking white smoke. The smoke was so dense and hard to breathe that in order to see where we were going and also to breath I was forced to hang out of the window and at the same time to try and keep control over the plane which was a pretty difficult job.

Even had I wanted to control the plane by the instruments I could not as they also had been hit and in any case the smoke was so thick that it was impossible to see them. All this had happened in a matter of a very few seconds and all the time I could hear Mac firing his guns, altho, as I said he never spoke again. As the Jap fighters continued to attack us and, by this time the plane was almost beyond control, and we were diving at the ground at a terrific speed. Immediately after we were first hit “Happy” (Margolis, the Observer) came rushing back from his position in the nose with blood streaming down his face, he had been hit by shrapnel and started combating the fire with extinguishers and kept fighting the flames in the terrific heat and choking smoke until we crashed and when I got his body out later he was still grasping a fire extinguisher In his hand. Simultaneously George (Maugham) who was operating the wireless immediately commenced a message to air base telling them of our plight and advising them of the rough position of where we would crash. One of the last things I remember was the sound of George transmitting continuous S.O.S. and then we crashed. My own part was a frantic endeavour to try and control the plane and as both motors had gone and the plane on fire I quickly realized that a crash was inevitable and my only chance was to try and make a crash landing. As I said the smoke in the plane was choking and blinding and all I could achieve was to poke my head out of the window, get a very rough idea where we were going. I could not see very much even so, as I was nearly blinded by the smoke and then come back in and try and get the plane out of a dive it had got into.

____________________

Digressing once more… From World War Photos, here’s a great in-flight view of Hudson Mk. I VX * C P5120 of No. 206 Squadron RAF.

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A third digression!… From British Pathé movie channel, this video – appropriately titled “Hudson Bombers (1940)” – coincidentally shows aircraft of No. 206 Squadron, identifiable as such because of the squadron code “VX” visible on an aircraft at 5:08, probably at Bircham Newton. Close-up views of the bulbous Boulton Paul Type C turret and aircraft interior clearly reveal the conditions in which Hudson crews “went to work”.

____________________

On the last occasion, I looked out I caught a sudden glimpse of the ground rushing up to meet us and I just had time to get my head inside and shout through the telephone to the others to hang on and to make a last attempt to get the plane out of the dive, which was successful and we then hit the ground with a terrific crash and I remember no more. Events after this I cannot bring myself to write about, the result was that “Happy” and George were killed instantly and Mac died in my arms a couple of hours later. That I did not lose my life is nothing short of a miracle and although I was pretty badly cracked up I do not think that I have any permanent disability and am firmly of the conviction that it was not God’s will for me to die then. Then and again later have I faced death and very narrowly escaped and I now know that my job in this world is not yet done and as I have in these times of peril and of course at other times resorted to prayers and these have been answered so whatever my ultimate fate is to be I know that it will be His will and that He is with me.

As I said at the beginning of this somewhat long winded narrative my object in writing this story is that you may be able to inform their people and the story itself brings out how well they all did their job even when faced with death and how they actually gave their lives doing their duty. The three of them were the best friends any man could ever have and the fact that I who was the only one who could even attempt to avoid this catastrophe, should have been the only one to survive makes me feel responsible for their lives and wonder whether I did my part as well as they. My conscience is quite clear but nevertheless, there are times when I wonder.

This is the transcript of F/O White’s story as found within in F/Sgt. Margolis’ Casualty File. Note the handwritten notation at the bottom of the first page: “Original sent to next-of-kin per S/L Westman [sic].” So, the original document remained in possession of F/O White’s widow.

____________________

Though I don’t have the Squadron Records or Squadron Summaries for No. 62 Squadron, it’s obvious from F/O White’s words that Hudson IV “T” AE523 was shot down by Japanese fighters. He doesn’t specify the type of Japanese aircraft involved, but I think, given the location and time-frame (Burma; late 1942) the enemy planes would have been Nakajima Ki.43 Hayabusa (“Peregrine Falcon”; Allied reporting name “Oscar”) aircraft, of the 1st, 11th, 50th, 64th, 77th … or … 204th Burma-based Sentais. For purposes of illustration, this image, from Richard M. Bueschel’s Nakajima Ki.43 Hayabusa I-III in Japanese Army Air Force * RTAF * CAF * IPSF Service shows the camouflage schemes worn by such aircraft in Burma and Thailand from 1941 through 1944.

___________________

Since we’re talking about military units, here’s the emblem of No. 62 Squadron RAF, from RAF Vector Badges…

“INSPERATO” (“UNEXPECTED”)

___________________

And then what happened?

By late 1947, the Research and Enquiry Service (of the Royal Canadian Air Force? – Royal Air Force?) had located the wreckage of Hudson AE523. The aircraft had crashed in hills on the opposite bank of the Kaladan River, near Tatmaw village, which by direction is northeast of Sittwe. However, the burial place of P/O Maughan, F/Sgt. Margolis, and Sgt. McNeil could not be located and remains unknown. This information was conveyed to Tillie Margolis, and I assume the families of Maughan and McNeil, in a letter dated December 10, close to six years after the crew’s last mission. Here it is:

R60404 (RO)

OTTAWA, Canada, December 10th, 1947.

Mrs. Tillie Margolis
604 Centre St.,
Calgary, Alta.

Dear Mrs. Margolis:

It is with regret that I must renew your grief by again referring to your son, Warrant Officer Class II Albert Abraham Margolis, but you will wish to know of a communication which was received from our missing Research and Enquiry Service.

The report states that the wreckage of your son’s aircraft was located near the snail village of Tatmaw, a few miles northeast of Akyab, Burma. The exact location of the crash as given on the report is 20° 13′ north, 93° 01′ east. Although the villagers believed that three of the crew had been buried, an intensive search failed to reveal any graves.

Pilot Officer White, who survived the crash only to lose his life later whilst a prisoner-of-war in Japanese hands, is buried in the British Military Cemetery at Rangoon.

Permanent commemoration to the memory of all the gallant airmen who lost their lives in our fight for freedom will be carried out as soon as details are complete and conditions permit. Unhappily, the task of preparing and erecting permanent memorials to our Fallen is a very great one and it will be some time before all of the work can be completed, but notification of your son’s permanent commemoration will be sent to you when the information becomes available.

I realise that this is an extremely distressing letter, and that it is quite impossible to convey this information to you in any manner which will not add to the heartaches of you and the members of your family, and I am keenly aware that nothing I may say will lessen your great sorrow, but I would like to express my deepest sympathy in the irreparable loss of your gallant son.

Yours sincerely,
R.C.A.F. Casualty Officer
for Chief of the Air Staff

FFF: JIF

____________________

This succession of a single (Apple) map and a few air photos, at larger and larger scales as you move “down” this post, shows what I believe is the approximate location of the crash of Hudson AE523.

First, the map below shows Sittwe (Akyab), at the confluence of the Kaladan, Mayu, and Lay Mro rivers. The Hudson’s crash location is designated by the red circle, which is centered upon latitude and longitude coordinates given in the letter of 10 December 1947. Given that coordinates are listed with figures for “degrees” and “minutes” but not “seconds”, one can conclude that the aircraft came to earth within an area no more precise than the length of the lowest unit of measurement: a minute. At the latitude and longitude specified in the letter, a minute of latitude is about 1.85 km, while a minute of latitude is about 1.75 km. (This is based on the “Length Of A Degree Of Latitude And Longitude Calculator” at CGSNetwork.com.) Given this level of uncertainty, if the center of the Hudson’s crash location is taken as 20° 13′ north, 93° 01′ east, then the aircraft came to earth somewhere – somewhere – within an area of 3.22 square kilometers around this point.

This air photo – at the scale as the above image – reveals that the bomber crashed within hilly terrain, rather than the flat terrain of the flood plain.

Even closer. The range of hills is very prominent at this scale. Tatmaw village lies within the western edge of the circle.

Here’s a much closer view. Tatmaw village immediately stands out as the array of five rows of evenly-spaced buildings (individual homes?), adjacent to cultivated land on the left. Most of the area where AE523 crashed is obviously hilly and uninhabited terrain to the east of the village.

The position of 20° 13′ north 93° 01′ east lies at the center of this image. The rugged nature of this terrain is suggested by the presence of only two man-made structures, which are in the middle of the image. Otherwise, ridges and stream channels are prominent across the landscape.

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Here are additional map and aerial photo views of contemporary Sittwe (Akyab), at successively smaller scales, as you move “down” this post.

This map reveals that the city is serviced by an airport with a single runway, though I don’t know if, in 1942, any airfield even existed in the area in the first place. Wharfs have unsurprisingly expanded since 1944, and extensive residential development has occurred to the west.

This air photo view, at the same scale as the above map, gives a clearer impression of the extent of the city’s growth.

Zooming out reveals the city’s setting within the Bay of Bengal…

…while this map shows the rather sparse interior of Myanmar (Burma) to the east. (Well, at least at this map scale!)

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This portrait of Flying Officer Kenneth McKellar White, at his FindAGrave biographical profile, is via researcher Digger.

As revealed in the letters of August, 1945, and December, 1947, F/O White survived the crash of AE523 and the loss of his crew, only to die a little over one year later, when the Rangoon POW camp was struck by bombs dropped by 10th Air Force B-24s during a raid against the Botataung docks at Rangoon. From a variety of internet sources, it’s revealed that White and seven other POWs (three Americans and four British) took shelter in a slit-trench which collapsed upon them, probably from the concussion of bombs which struck in or near the camp.

The seven other men were:

Americans

10th Air Force, 7th Bomb Group, 88th Bomb Squadron

Captured June 4, 1942
Aircraft: B-17E; Pilot: Capt. Frank D. Sharp; eight men in crew.

One crewman (Pvt. Francis J. Teehan) was killed aboard the aircraft. Five were captured, of whom (see below) three killed while POWs. Two others survived captivity, while the pilot and co-pilot evaded capture and returned to duty.

Cummings, Harold Benjamin, Sgt., 6970825
Gonsalves, Elias E., Sgt., 6570123
Malok (“Malock”), Albert L., S/Sgt. 6942456

British

No. 99 Squadron

Manser, William Albert James, Sgt., 915429, RAFVR
Captured Feb. 12, 1943, Wellington IC HD975; Six men in crew
Pilot F/O Richard E. Watson and four other crew members survived as POWs

No. 139 Squadron

Flower, Albert, Sgt., 919720, RAFVR
Jackson, Gordon Henry, W/O, 1284578, RAFVR
Captured April 18, 1942, Hudson III V9221; Four men in crew
One crew member (Sgt. John R. Frehner) killed in aircraft; one other (Sgt. Percy W.G. Hall) survived as a POW

Gloucester Commando

Martin, Alexander George, Pvt., 5182332
Captured in India, May 17, 1942

F/O White, Sergeants Manser and Flower, W/O Jackson, and Pvt. Martin are buried at Collective Grave 6,E,1-6 at the Rangoon War Cemetery in Myanmar. Though Flying Officer White’s Attestation Papers and Casualty file (at the National Archives of Australia) have not been scanned as of this post – June, 2023 – the CWGC reveals that his wife was Liliane Yvonne White, of Lindfield, New South Wales, and his parents, Stanley McKellar White and Florence Amy White, information which can also be found at his biographical profile at FindAGrave.

What’s also revealed at FindAGrave is that F/O White’s brother (and only sibling?) Captain Captain Stanley Boyd McKellar White, NX70920, also lost his life in the Second World War, but under circumstances – it they can so be described – horrifically worse than those of his younger brother. Captured on February 2, 1942 during the fall of Ambon, it was only discovered after the war’s end that he was among some 300 Australian and Dutch POWs who were executed (murdered) within that same month during what became known as the Laha Massacre. His grave is listed as plot 23,D,4 at the Ambon War Cemetery, in Indonesia. He was twenty-six years old.

His portrait below, via Peter Holm, can be found at his FindAGrave biographical profile.

Captain Stanley White was a physician before the war, having attained his medical degree at Sydney University. His biography can be found at Tasmanian War Casualties, which features this photograph – probably from May of 1940 – of the Captain with his (then) new wife, Christine (Dickey) White, at an immeasurably happier time.

____________________

Eighty-one years have transpired since the loss of Hudson AE523.

Though the precise location of the aircraft’s crash site is unknown, assuming any wreckage still exists (if so, probably by now limited to corroded remnants of engines and landing gear) and hasn’t been removed by the inhabitants of Tatmaw village for salvage or household use, these small fragments of the plane can probably only be located by consulting native lore (is there any?), or, through a helicopter-borne aerial magnetometer survey.

But, the point is moot. There is no incentive for this, and it will not happen.

Much more importantly, as for the burial location of Flying Sergeant Margolis, Pilot Officer Maughan, and Sergeant McNeil … taking into account the remote location of the crash; given the area’s subtropical to tropical geography and vegetation; in light of the Japanese attitude towards Allied military casualties; considering the probable absence, loss, or destruction of Japanese records about the crash (assuming records were even kept to begin with) … that, too, will probably never be known among men.

Time has moved on, and the men, or to be more specific, the memories of these men, and even those who knew and remembered them personally, have passed into history.

But, is the point moot?

I find it remarkable that Flight Officer White made the attempt at leaving a written record about his final mission; let alone that the record was preserved; let alone that the record survived to be returned to his wife, and in the course of time, made publicly available. But, there does seem to have been more to the original document: The typed transcript as found in F/Sgt. Margolis’ Casualty File very strongly suggests that this text was only part of a much lengthier document that may have only been intended for F/O White’s wife or family. Specifically note the statement, “The first thing I wish to write about is quite apart from the rest of this letter…” Thus, due to its private nature, the entire document never became incorporated into RAF or RCAF records, Casualty Files for F/Sgt. Margolis, P/O Maughan, and Sgt. McNeil, or eventually the “public record”.

Unfortunately, information about specifically how his account was created and preserved – in terms of writing materials, ink, the mechanics of how and where within the Rangoon POW camp the letter was hidden and concealed, and under whose auspices the document was preserved until the war’s end – is unknown.

In practical terms, the most impressive fact about the letter’s creation is simply the extraordinary risk F/O White was taking in the eventuality (which never came to pass) that the letter would be discovered by the Japanese. Though I’m unable to cite references corroborating this supposition, it’s my anecdotal understanding that the discovery by the Japanese of written information recorded by a POW, even about the most innocuous, mundane, entirely “un”-military topic, would eventuate in extraordinarily severe punishment. (Being euphemistic, there…) Considering the level of intelligence and sensitivity displayed in the letter, certainly F/O White was perceptive and realistic enough to appreciate the risk he was taking by making a written record of his experiences.

Finally, one cannot help but wonder if he had an intuition – whether from rational calculation, intuition, or otherwise – that he would not survive the war. Regardless, it is clear that for F/O White, remembering the past was of greater priority than the safety of the present.

Perhaps the point was not moot, after all. The past was remembered.

____________________

Sittwe today: Here’s a video from Oung Oo’s YouTube channel (“Oung Oo – Photography – Cinematography“), entitled ““Sittwe 4K, Rakhine, Myanmar” – August 10, 2020“.

Another contemporary view of Sittwe: From the “In Locum Mundo” YouTube channel, this video is entitled ““Sittwe, Myanmar” – April 16, 2019“.

Some Books

Abella, Irving, and Troper, Harold, None Is Too Many – Canada and the Jews of Europe 1933-1948, Random House, New York, N.Y., 1983

Bueschel, Richard M., Nakajima Ki.43 Hayabusa I-III in Japanese Army Air Force * RTAF * CAF * IPSF Service, Arco Publishing Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., 1970

Canadian Jews in World War II – Part II: Casualties, Canadian Jewish Congress, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1948

Some Websites

Canadian Jews in World War II

… Bill Gladstone Genealogy (“Canadian Jews in World War II, Part II — Casualties”)

… Ellen Bessner (“Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II”)

The Crew

F/Sgt. Albert Abraham Margolis

P/O George Oliver Maughan

Sgt. Neil McNeil

Sgt. Kenneth McKellar “Ken” White

Lockheed Hudson

… Wikipedia

… Lockheed Martin

… ADF Serials

… Royal Air Force Museum

… UBoat.net

… Grubby Fingers Shop (“Lockheed Hudson Walkaround Gallery”)

Soldiers from New York: Jewish Soldiers in The New York Times, in World War Two: February 25, 1945 (On the ground…)

As part of my ongoing series of posts about the military service of Jewish soldiers in the Second World War – based on news reports in The New York Times – this post covers February 25, 1945, its basis being articles about Second Lieutenant Alfred Kupferschmidt and Private First Class Herbert Joel Rosencrans, who were both killed in action on that date.

Given the relatively large number of military casualties that occurred on this date for whom I have information, historical accounts for this late-February-day will be presented as three posts: One for ground forces, one for the United States Marine Corps and Navy, and the last for the United States Army Air Force, the latter including information about two men who became prisoners of war.

And so, to begin ground forces: Here are records for Jewish military casualties in the United States Army, and a relative few soldiers from the armed forces of Canada, England, Poland (specifically, the Polish Army East) and the Soviet Union.

______________________________

Second Lieutenant Alfred Kupferschmidt

An appointment in America.
An appointment in Germany.
An appointment in Samarra?

_____ _____

If, as John Donne wrote…

“No man is an island,
Entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main,”

…so is every event:

Not an island in time,
Unto itself;
But a child of the past;
And father to a future.

_____ _____

Such was the life of United States Army Second Lieutenant Alfred Kupferschmidt (0-552513), whose death in combat was reported in The New York Times on May 6, 1945. An exploration of his past reached into an event eleven years before his birth, which has resonance even today.

Born in Berlin on September 29, 1922, he was the son of Clara Kupferschmidt (12/27/01-10/24/72), whose wartime address was 991 President Street in Brooklyn. Sadly, his father’s name has disappeared into the mists of the past. Having resided for a time in Philadelphia, Alfred Kupferschmidt’s secondary wartime “contact” was Harry M. Bass, who lived a 2745 North Front Street in that city.

Via Apartments.com, here’s a contemporary image of 991 President Street.

Assigned to the 116th Reconnaissance Squadron of the 101st Cavalry Group, he served in the Squadron’s IPW (Interrogation Prisoners of War) Team due to his fluency in German. It was in this capacity that he was killed in action on February 25, 1945. Though notice of his death appeared in three publications during that year – Aufbau, on March 30; The Jewish Exponent, on June 29; The New York Times, in a full obituary on May 6 – like many WW II American Jewish servicemen chronicled in this series of posts, his name never appeared in the 1947 compilation American Jews in World War Two.

His sole military award was the Purple Heart.

Here’s the account from the Times:

BERLIN-BORN SOLDIER CASUALTY IN GERMANY

Second Lieut. Alfred Kupferschmidt, 22-year-old paratrooper, who lived at 991 President Street, Brooklyn, before entering the Army in February, 1943, was killed in action in Germany Feb. 25. His mother, Clara, is a private nurse.

A native of Berlin and an only son, he was sent to this country six years ago, as an emigrant, and his mother followed a year later. Being a Pole, he had been taken from his home by the Gestapo one morning in 1938 and sent to Poland, but his American visa had been issued and his mother got him back and sent him to America with the aid of our consul. He went to school in Philadelphia, winning scholastic and sports honors, and after entering the Army studied languages in Boston University. He was promoted from private to second lieutenant last year.

Mrs. Kupferschmidt, whose husband died eighteen years ago, said her son had tried to enlist and was happy when he was drafted because, he said, “I remember the Gestapo.”

And, the obituary as published in the Times.

Aufbau‘s article inevitably parallels that of the Times, but presents details not revealed in the “paper of record”:

2nd Lt. Alfred Kupferschmidt died in Germany on February 25 at the age of 23. In 1938, when he was 16 years old, the Nazis deported him from his native Berlin to Poland because he was the son of Polish citizens. At the intervention of his mother, who in the meantime had received the immigration visas for America for herself and for him, he was brought back to Berlin after seven weeks. Since the outbreak of war, Lt. Kupferschmidt had no more ardent desire than to be accepted into the army and settle accounts with the Nazis. Before joining the army, he studied aerotechnical engineering. A cousin of his, also named Alfred Kupferschmidt, serves in the R.A.F.

2nd Lt. Alfred Kupferschmidt ist am 25. Februar im Alter von 23 Jahren in Deutschland gefallen. 1938, als er 16 Jahre alt war, haben ihn die Nazis aus seiner Geburtsstadt Berlin nach Polen abgeschoben, weil er der Sohn polnischer Staatsbürger war. Auf Intervention seiner Mutter, die inzwischen für sich und für ihn die Einwanderungsvisen nach Amerika erhalten hatte, wurde er jedoch nach Sieben Wochen wieder nach Berlin gebracht. Lt. Kupferschmidt hatte seit Ausbruch des Krieges keinen glühenderen Wunsch, als in die Armee aufgenommen zu warden und mit den Nazis abzurechnen. Vor seinem Eintritt in die Armee hare er “aerotechnical engineer” studiert. Ein Vetter vo ihm, der ebenfalls Alfred Kupferschmidt heist, dient in der R.A.F.

The actual, as it appeared in Aufbau.

Though inevitably – given their wartime publication – these brief articles reveal little to nothing about the events of February 25, Lt. Kupferschmidt’s military service is described and placed in a clearer context in Terry Trautman’s Clippings From A Cluttered Mind, and, Melaney Welch Moisan’s Tracking The 101st Cavalry, passages from which respectively follow:

From Clippings From A Cluttered Mind…

By this time [late 1944 to early 1945], the allied juggernaut was rolling across Europe after the D-Day invasion and German Prisoners of War (Prisoner of War) were being captured in increasing quantities. What the Allied Command soon learned was that the German-born soldiers were not only fluent in the German language, they also knew the culture and psyche of Germans better than anyone else, a deep intimate knowledge born from the small details of their lives growing up in Germany. As children they had gone to school and played sports with boys who were now soldiers in the German army. As interrogators of Prisoner of War they would be familiar with the workings of German minds, the habits of German life and the influences of Nazi doctrine upon German soldiers and civilians alike. They also knew regional dialects and accents, something that could not be taught to American soldiers who knew only school book German. The German-born soldiers used this innate knowledge to great advantage.

Their infiltration among American soldiers and officers in command was not without some difficulty. Surprised by the interrogators’ heavy accents and fearful of German spies in their midst, regional officers often debated among themselves whether to disarm them and assign them to permanent KP duty. It usually took the Officer in Charge of the IPW team … to assure the antsy regional officers that these guys were on our side. Before long it became apparent the German-born soldiers were performing admirably and once word got around, there were a lot of demands and requests for “Ritchie Boys.”

The IPW teams were initially ensconced behind the front lines and Prisoner of Wars were transported to them for interrogation. The information the interrogators sought included enemy locations, manpower size, troop movements, etc. They used maps and aerial photos in their interrogations. While this worked fine for a while, it became apparent that the intel the IPW teams was getting was too slow to be of immediate value. A recommendation from Major Leo J. Nawn changed that. He recommended to “…attach one member of the IPW team to each intelligence section (at the front) for prompt interrogation on matters pertaining to the unit’s immediate situation.” This meant that while the information was timely and extremely valuable, it also put the IPW soldiers in harm’s way. In one report, Uncle Fred (now Capt. Hellman) wrote that as their team advanced on the front, “…we kept moving ever onward, our travels spiced with the usual ingredients of war – bombing, strafing, sniping, artillery.” In fact, Uncle Fred reported that his second in command, Lt. Alfred Kupferschmidt “was killed in action 25 February 1945 in the vicinity of Lauterbach, Germany. Lt. Karl H. Schafer replaced Lt. Kupferschmidt on 4 March 1945.” Both of these soldiers were natives of Germany.

In Tracking The 101st Cavalry…

On the afternoon of February 25, 2nd Lt. Charles Pierce, Troop A, 116th Squadron, and 2nd Lt. Alfred Kupferschmidt, of the IPW team, were at Troop A’s outpost near Werbeln with a prisoner of war who had been captured earlier that day. The prisoner pointed out specific installations in Schaffhausen, and then he told Pierce and Kupferschmidt that he and the second prisoner had thrown away their weapons about fifty yards inside the wood, near the spot where they exited to surrender. Pierce and Kupferschmidt asked the prisoner to show them the location, and, at about 5:30 that evening, the group headed down the hill. At the bottom, they met up with other members of the 116th: 1st Lt. Robert Schafer, S/Sgt. Walter Mennel, and Pvt. Earl Geiger, all of Troop C; and S/Sgt. John Schnalzer, Troop A. At the base of the hill, the men, with the prisoner in the lead, walked cautiously in the dark of early evening along the edge of a marked mine field that followed the line of the woods. They moved slowly, as one false step would mean disaster. Instead, disaster fell out of the sky when, without warning, a concentration of mortar fire fell all around them.

The blast killed 2nd Lt. Pierce instantly, and S/Sgt. Schnalzer jumped or was thrown into a nearby ditch. Lt. Schafer jumped into the same ditch, falling on top of Schnalzer. No sooner had they landed than a second mortar shell flew through the air and landed almost directly on top of them, killing Schafer instantly and hurling his body from the ditch to the edge of the mine field.

Wounded in the hands and legs, Sgt. Schnalzer managed to jump up and run back the way they had come to take cover in a small brick building. While running, he noticed the panicked prisoner run directly into the mine field. There was nothing Schnalzer could do but watch as the fleeing prisoner tripped a land mine and flew into the air. Also killed were 2nd Lt. Kupferschmidt, who died within an hour of being wounded, and S/Sgt Mennel, who died later the day. Pvt. Geiger was seriously wounded. (pp. 29-30)

The full names of the soldiers who were killed in this incident were:

2 Lt. Charles New Pierce (born in 1923)
1 Lt. Robert Knox Schafer (born in 1922) (See also Cenotaph Memorial)

Though PFC Earl Geiger (10/18/22-12/16/67) survived the mortar attack, it sadly seems – based on information at FindAGrave – that he was permanently disabled, for he passed away not long after his 45th birthday.

Lt. Karl H. Schafer, mentioned in Clippings From A Cluttered Mind as Lt. Kupferschmidt’s replacement, arrived with his family in the United States in 1929 at the age of seven. He survived the war, and passed away in Illinois in 2013 at the age of 91.

But, there’s more, and this is where the past intersects the future, in a way best suited to fiction.

And so…

…while searching for information about Alfred Kupferschmidt via FultonHistory, I discovered this article, published in The Brooklyn Eagle on October 18, 1942.

Somber Rites Recall Triangle Fire Tragedy

A number of Brooklyn residents will participate late today at a somber ceremony reviving memories of an old tragedy. In Mount Richmond Cemetery, Staten Island, a headstone will be unveiled over the grave of a victim of the historic Triangle fire.

Reposing in the hitherto unmarked grave is the body of Tillie Kupferschmidt, who was 16 when in March of 1911 she and 147 other employees perished in the burning Triangle Waist Company factory, 23 Washington Place, Manhattan. An elder sister, Clara, a European refugee, is now living at 10 Saratoga Ave.

Friendless Immigrant

Tillie was a friendless immigrant, according to the story told by Mrs. Solomon Altenhaus of 686 E. 7th St. She had come to this country from a little town in Poland and, like so many other immigrants, was drawn into the then booming sweatshop needlework industry. After the fire her charred body, unclaimed by relatives or friends, was buried in Agudath Achim Chesed Shel Emeth, the Jewish Potter’s Field.

Several months ago, said Mrs. Altenhaus, Clara met Mr. Altenhaus, whom she had known as a leading citizen of their native town in Poland. Mr. Altenhaus provided her with details of the Triangle tragedy and Clara Kupferschmidt was shocked to learn that no marker had been placed on her sister’s grave.

Mrs. Altenhaus spoke to Mrs. Samuel Kramer of 1025 St. John’s Place, president of the Peczenyszyner Ladies Auxiliary, an organization named after the Polish town from which its member emigrated.

Through the efforts of the two, funds were raised for the purchase of the stone which will be unveiled today. Members of a number of organizations of former Peczenyszyner residents will be present.

The article itself…

… and, as it appeared in the newspaper. Specifically, page A3, lower left.

So, Clara Kupferschmidt had a sister.

So, Alfred Kupferschmidt had an aunt who, having been born in 1895, he would never know, though I assume he knew “of”.

This image of Tillie Kupferschmidt, at her FindAGrave biographical profile, is via Robert DiTolla, who from 2013 through 2014 contributed photographs and / or biographical information of 21 Triangle fire victims to FindAGrave. Three of these images, comprising those of Tillie Kupferschmidt, Julia “Yutta/Ita” Oberstein, and Bessie Viviano, appear to have been among a compilation of images published in a newspaper, but the title and date of that periodical are unknown.

A list of Triangle Fire victims at History on the Net lists information for Tillie as follows: “KUPFERSMITH, Tillie, 16, multiple injuries and burns. 750 E. Second Street. Identified by her uncle, Morris Schwartz. Name also given as Cupersmith/Kupersmith. Multiple newspapers, March 27.”

Information at the list of the 146 victims of the Triangle Fire, via Cornell University, differs from that at HistoryNet. Though Tillie’s age is identical, her full name is given as “Tillie Kupferschmidt”; her place of birth as Austria; her residence as 750 2nd Avenue in Manhattan. Her place of burial is listed as “Mount Richmond Cemetery”.

Though there doesn’t appear to be any “750 2nd Avenue” in Manhattan, within that borough there is a 750 East Second Street – where that street intersects with Essex Street – as indicated on the list of names at the HistoryNet article. This location is shown in the Oogle map below…

…while this map shows that address in a larger perspective.

Oddly, her death certificate lists her parents as “Golideo Borranai and Marris Schwartz”, which is impossible to square with the surname “Kupferschmidt”.

Curiously, neither source indicates that Tillie was married, which is evident via information at Ancestry.com. There, her husband is listed as Israel Teiksler. They were married on November 6, 1910, a mere month-and-a-half before the fire at 23-29 Washington Place in Manhattan.

_____ _____

Clara spent the remainder of her life as a private nurse, and passed away in 1972. She’s buried at Floral Park Cemetery, in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

And in the story of the Kupferschmidt family, I’m reminded of the ancient literary epigraph – known from both Judaism and Islam – as the “Appointment in Samarra”, which is the title and underlying theme – a sense of inevitability – of John O’Hara’s 1934 novel by that name.

As presented at the SubSubLibrarian, the tale goes as follows:

The Gemara relates with regard to these two Cushites who would stand before Solomon:
“Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha” (I Kings 4:3), and they were scribes of Solomon.
One day Solomon saw that the Angel of Death was sad.
He said to him: Why are you sad?
He said to him: They are asking me to take the lives of these two Cushites who are sitting here.
Solomon handed them to the demons in his service,
and sent them to the district of Luz, where the Angel of Death has no dominion.
When they arrived at the district of Luz, they died.

The following day, Solomon saw that the Angel of Death was happy.
He said to him: Why are you happy?
He replied: In the place that they asked me to take them, there you sent them.
The Angel of Death was instructed to take their lives in the district of Luz.
Since they resided in Solomon’s palace and never went to Luz, he was unable to complete his mission.
That saddened him.
Ultimately, Solomon dispatched them to Luz, enabling the angel to accomplish his mission.
That pleased him.
Immediately, Solomon began to speak and said:
The feet of a person are responsible for him; to the place where he is in demand, there they lead him.

The ultimate written source of the story is almost certainly the Babylonian Talmud, specifically, Sukkah 53a5-6, which you can read at Sefaria.org.

But, where is the justice – where is the fairness – in the tale?
Is there justice in the tale?
Is, there justice?

But, where is free will in the tale?
Is there free will in the tale?
Is, there free will?

_____ _____

This composite image shows the matzevot of Tillie, Clara, and Alfred. (Images by LeonC, Andy, and F Priam, respectively.) Information about Tillie Kupferschmidt also appears at the Wikipedia entry for the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

______________________________

As described in the Times’ account of October 20, 1945 (probably based on the original award citation), PFC Herbert Joel Rosencrans (16105945) was awarded the Silver Star (and inevitably, the Purple Heart) for his actions as an infantry squad leader. Here’s the article:

Pfc. Herbert J. Rosencrans, Company C, 415th Infantry, 104th Division, son of Mr. and Mrs. Alvin J. Rosencrans of Woodmere, L.I., who died of wounds last Feb. 25 in Arnoldsweiler, Germany, has received posthumously the Silver Star Medal, it was announced yesterday.

On Feb. 25 Private Rosencrans, leading his squad forward in a fight for an enemy town, met a large force of enemy troops preparing to launch a counter-attack the citation said. Exposing himself to enemy artillery fire to determine the location of the enemy, he the organized a strong defense. When the enemy attacked, he led his men in a furious fight, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy. He was fatally wounded.

Private Rosencrans was born in this city Oct. 13, 1923, was graduated with honors from Woodmere Academy in 1941 and completed two years work at the University of Michigan. He entered the Army in March, 1943, and went overseas in August, 1944. Besides his parents, he leaves a brother, Robert M. Rosencrans of the Army Air Forces.

The full article…

Private Rosencrans’ mother was Eva (Green) Rosencrans. His family resided at 7 Willow Road in Woodmere. His name appeared in a casualty list published in the Long Island Star Journal on March 12, 1945, a similar list in the Nassau Daily Review Star on April 6, and in the “In Memoriam” section of The New York Times on February 24, 1946. His name does appear in American Jews in World War II; specifically, on page 418. He’s buried at Plot A, Row 1, Grave 7, at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Belgium.

______________________________

____________________

______________________________

Here‘s biographical information about other Jewish soldiers who were casualties on the 25th of February 1945…

For those who lost their lives on this date…
Sunday, February 25, 1945 / Adar 13, 5705
– .ת.נ.צ.ב.ה. –
…Tehé Nafshó Tzrurá Bitzrór Haḥayím
May his soul be bound up in the bond of everlasting life.

8th Infantry Division

Cowen, Carl, Pvt., 39722606, Purple Heart
28th Infantry Regiment
Killed in Action
Born Brooklyn, N.Y. 10/12/11
Mrs. Thelma Tillie “Gigi” (Cowen) Rittenberg Flapan (wife) (6/4/17-12/26/13)
248 North Chicago, St, / 2737 1/2 Fairmont Ave., Los Angeles, Ca.
Mrs. Bessie Cohen (mother) (5/8/90-5/20/67), Los Angeles, Ca.
Home of Peace Memorial Park, Los Angeles, Ca. – Mausoleum, Corridor of Remembrance, Crypt 310 NW
American Jews in World War II – 41

Fidler, Louis, PFC, 42127210, Purple Heart (in Germany)
28th Infantry Regiment
Killed in Action
Born Brooklyn, N.Y. 11/16/12
Mrs. Vivian (Hoffman) Fidler (wife) (1920-?), 2081 Wallace Ave., Bronx, N.Y.
Mr. and Mrs. Frank (1870-?) and Mary (1883-?) Fidler (parents)
Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Henri-Chapelle, Belgium – Plot F, Row 9, Grave 51
American Jews in World War II – 308

10th Mountain Division

(This image is via Medals of America.)

Stern, Horst “Horace” Alexander, Sgt., 36735406, Purple Heart (near Firenze, Toscana, Italy)
86th Mountain Infantry Regiment, I Company
Killed in Action
Born Kassel, Germany 1/17/24
Mr. and Mrs. Julius Jacob (4/10/94-5/2/83) and Lenora “Nora” (Kosman) (4/2/01-10/21/82) Stern (parents); Peter Jacob (brother) (5/21/28-7/10/66)
3314 Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Il.
Student at Northwestern University
Florence American Cemetery, Florence, Italy – Plot F, Row 2, Grave 18
Chicago Tribune 3/21/45
American Jews in World War II – 118

83rd Infantry Division

(Image from Butler’s Military & Vintage.)

Ferber, John Hanns, Pvt., 33750697, Purple Heart, 1 Oak Leaf Cluster (in Germany)
330th Infantry Regiment
Killed in Action
Born Vienna, Austria 2/5/13
Mrs. Birdie (Ratner) Ferber (wife) (12/23/14-9/4/74), 1820 Clydesdale Place, Washington, D.C.
Mr. and Mrs. Jacques (12/25/87-11/30/45) and Jeanne (Dolivet) (11/25/88-11/73) Ferber (parents)
Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Holland – Plot G, Row 6, Grave 3
American Jews in World War II – 76

94th Infantry Division

Kramer, Jack (Yakov bar Zeruel), PFC, 42038488, Purple Heart (in Germany)
302nd Infantry Regiment
Killed in Action
Born 6/14/24
Mr. and Mrs. Sol (10/18/93-6/13/71) and Lena (?-7/25/83) Kramer (parents), 1372 Franklin Ave., Bronx, N.Y.
Mildred (Kramer) Fishman (sister)
City College of New York Class of 1944
Montefiore Cemetery, Springfield Gardens, N.Y. – Block 139/S –
First Independent Rishkaner Besserabier, Young Men’s & Young Ladies’ B.A., Row 011R, Grave 3
Casualty List 4/3/45
American Jews in World War II – 367

102nd Infantry Division

(Shoulder patch illustration from Prior Service.)

Wittenberg, Melvin Eugene, PFC, 31299189, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart
405th Infantry Regiment
Killed in Action
Born Boston, Ma. 4/24/23
Mr. and Mrs. Myer and Rose Wittenberg (parents), 16 Verrill St., Boston, Ma.
Tablets of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Holland
American Jews in World War II – 185

Weinstein, Sander Mayer, PFC, 42118028, Purple Heart (in Germany)
406th Infantry Regiment
Killed in Action
Born Caldwell, N.J. 4/15/25
Mr. and Mrs. Morris and Anna Weinstein (parents), 19 Sander St., Morris Plains, N.J.
Hannah Blum (sister), Samuel Hollander (brother); Robert A. Matthews (friend), Morristown, N.J.
Rutgers University Class of 1946
Beth Israel Cemetery, Cedar Knolls, N.J.
American Jews in World War II – 258

Edelman, Jack, Sgt., 33469528, BSM, Purple Heart (in Germany)
407th Infantry Regiment, D Company
Killed in Action
Born Philadelphia, Pa. 6/6/22
Mr. and Mrs. Morris (6/19/58-74) and Eva (10/2/69-83) Edelman (parents), 4837 Larchwood Ave., Philadelphia, Pa.
Benjamin, Isadore, Samuel, Mrs. Marion Forman and Mrs. Edythe Sacks (brothers and sisters)
Occupation: Worked at Edelman Company Wholesale Fruit Dealers
Mount Jacob Cemetery, Glenolden, Pa. – Section L, Lot 408, Grave 1; Buried 10/31/48
Jewish Exponent 4/6/45, 10/29/48
Philadelphia Inquirer 10/29/48
Philadelphia Record 3/29/45
American Jews in World War II – 518

Here’s Jack Edelman’s portrait from West Philadelphia High School’s class of 1940 yearbook.

His matzeva; my own photograph.

104th Infantry Division

(This 104th Division shoulder patch is from Paratrooper.fr.)

Blumenthal, Robert Lewis, PFC, 34787488, Purple Heart (at Ellen, Germany)
415th Infantry Regiment, I Company
Killed in Action (Wounded (in jaw) previously – on 12/1/44)
Born in New York 3/9/25
Mr. and Mrs. Nathan and Martha Blumenthal (parents); Edward (brother), 1045 Pennsylvania Ave., Miami Beach, Fl.
Mount Sinai Memorial Park, Miami, Fl.
American Jews in World War II – 82

Probably a portrait from his high school yearbook, this photo of PFC Blumenthal is via Robert Blumenthal.

This news article about PFC Blumenthal is via Jaap Vermeer, Netherlands-based WW II RAF and USAAF historian.

Blumenthal

Pfc. R.C. Blumenthal, 20, was killed in action in Germany Feb. 25, the War Department has informed his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Blumenthal, 1045 Pennsylvania Ave., Miami Beach.

Shortly before his death Pvt. Blumenthal wrote his parents: “I don’t want you to worry. I want you to force yourselves to be brave. I am coming home, and I’m coming home with two arms and two legs, but if anything should happen I want you to take it like soldiers.”

Pvt. Blumenthal was awarded the Purple Heart for a jaw wound last Dec. 1. His company also received the Presidential Unit Citation. He was returned to combat Dec. 21.

Graduate of Miami High School, where he was president of the senior class, he attended Georgia Tech for a year before entering service in June, 1943.

Surviving Pvt. Blumenthal besides his parents is a brother, Edward, 17, senior at Miami Beach High School.

This photo of PFC Blumenthal’s matzeva is also via Robert Blumenthal. Note that the insignia of the 104th Infantry Division has been engraved into the upper center of the stone.

1st Cavalry Division

(This example of the 1st Cavalry Division’s shoulder patch is also from Paratrooper.fr.)

Wertheim, Erich Seligman, PFC, 32908959, Purple Heart, 1 Oak Leaf Cluster
8th Infantry Regiment
Killed in Action
Born Burgeln bei Marburg, Germany 5/29/22
Mr. Albert Hess (uncle), 2211 Whitter Ave., Baltimore, Md.
Mr. Julius Katz (?), 279 Lincoln Road, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines – Plot D, Row 14, Grave 37
Aufbau 5/18/45
American Jews in World War II – 146

PFC Wertheim arrived in the United States in mid-November of 1938. Here’s the very brief new item about him that appeared in Aufbau in mid-1945…

Pfc. Eric Wertheim died on February 27th at the age of 22 during the liberation of Manila. He was born in Bürgeln near Marburg and lived in Baltimore, Md. until he enlisted in the army. His parents and sister are in London.

Pfc. Eric Wertheim ist am 27. Februar im Alter von 22 Jahren bei der Befreiung von Manila gefallen. Er wurde in Bürgeln bei Marburg geboren und hat bis zu seinem Einrücken in die Armee in Baltimore, Md., gelebt. Seine Eltern und seine Schwester sind in London.

…and, the news item itself…

… followed by an image of the full sheet while where the article (at center right) was published.

Americal Division

(An example of the Americal Division shoulder patch, from Dutch WW 2 Collector.)

Woliansky, Harry, 1 Lt., 0-1301399, DSC, SS, BSM, 1 Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart (at Bougainville, New Guinea)
182nd Infantry Regiment
Killed in Action
Born New York, N.Y. 3/15/15
Mrs. Elizabeth (Dobis) Woliansky (wife) (1918-?), 576 15th Ave., Newark, N.J.
Mr. and Mrs. Morris (1881-?) and Dora (1885-?) Woliansky (parents); Bertha (sister) (1918-6/13/00)
Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines – Plot N, Row 9, Grave 50
Casualty List 4/3/45
American Jews in World War II – 259

______________________________

740th Tank Battalion, C Company, First Platoon (attached to 121st Infantry Regiment of 8th Infantry Division)

(The emblem of the 740th Tank Battalion – a devil atop a WW I tank, hurling a thunderbolt – adorns the cover of Lt. Col. George Kenneth Rubel’s 1947 Daredevil Tankers – The Story of the 740th Tank Battalion, United States Army.)

“…one Infantry Officer even went so far as to state
that it took over twenty years to make a soldier
but only two months to make a tank;
that if a tank was knocked out, what the Hell of it —
all that would be required would be to have another tank and crew sent up.
When it was explained to him that there were no replacement tanks
and that tankers were regarded by most people as human beings,
it still failed to register.”

***

“Lieutenant Oglensky, the platoon leader,
had asked for smoke and artillery fire on these AT [anti-tank] positions
but this was refused and he was given a direct order to attack.
In order for him to take his objective
it was necessary for him to advance over a flat, open field some 3,000 yards long,
directly into this battery of 88 mm guns
that were firing from about the center of the field on a slight mound.”

During the Second World War the United States Army created 72 separate tank battalions, primarily for use in the European Theater. As described at Wikipedia, “These battalions were temporarily attached to infantry, armored, or airborne divisions according to need… They were also known as general headquarters (“GHQ”) tank battalions.”

“The Invasion of Normandy and the subsequent breakout confirmed the need for tanks to support infantry. Infantry units found that tank support was essential in defeating German formations entrenched in towns and amongst the bocage. From that moment on, until the end of the war in Europe, separate tank battalions were attached to as many infantry divisions as possible. While armored divisions were expected to perform the massed breakout thrusts that were increasingly commonplace in Europe, the smaller battalions were essential in supporting and maintaining smaller infantry advances. Armored and airborne divisions also received separate tank battalions when they were needed to successfully complete their objectives.”

“Separate tank battalions were rarely, if ever, used as a single formation in combat, and spent most of their time attached to infantry divisions. The U.S. infantry division of World War II contained three infantry regiments, and each medium tank company was usually assigned to a regiment for close support operations. This could be broken down even further when required, with each of the three tank platoons of a medium tank company being assigned to one of the regiment’s three infantry battalions.”

As described by Patrick J. Chaisson in his article “Daredevil Tankers Turn the Tide at the Bulge“, and secondarily at the 70th Infantry Division Association, one of these armored formations was the 740th Tank Battalion, which was activated on March 1, 1943, at Fort Knox, Kentucky, under the command of Major Harry C. Anderson. The battalion was reorganized on September 10 of that year as a special battalion to be issued CDL (Canal Defence Light) searchlight tanks, intended to illuminate battlefields at night. Constructed on the chassis of M3A1 medium tanks, these vehicles, “…used a high-intensity carbon arc lamp inside the turret to light up the night sky while blinding enemy defenders.” Despite intensive training, through a combination of issues involving leadership, performance, and morale, which coincided with a simple lack of CDL equipment, Major Anderson was relieved, and on November 12, the Battalion was placed under command of Lt. Col. George K. Rubel. Under his command the unit’s proficiency dramatically improved.

Here’s the Colonel’s portrait, from Daredevil Tankers…

Departing the United States in July of 1944, the 740th reached France in September, joining the First Army in November. Within one month, it was directly involved in halting the advance of Kampfgruppe Peiper, “the German spearhead at Stoumont during the Battle of the Bulge”.

As described in Chaisson’s article… On December 21, 1944, American forces captured the Belgian hamlet of Targnon, with some men occupying Saint Edouard’s Sanatorium – a large brick building situated on a steep hill on the eastern edge of the municipality of Stoumont – and thus dominating the battlefield.

“The enemy knew this and around 11 pm launched a fanatical counterattack. Between 50 and 100 SS panzergrenadiers, many screaming “Heil Hitler,” stormed St. Edouard’s and pushed the GIs out. Held up by a sharp cliff, the Daredevil tankers could do nothing to help. They had to wait for daylight to resume their attack.”

One of the 740th’s Shermans was commanded by 1 Lt. David Oglensky: “At 4 am on December 21, [his M-4] crawled cautiously forward into the murk. Suddenly, according to driver Technician 4th Grade Robert Russo, “All hell broke loose.” Shells from a hidden antitank gun pierced Oglensky’s tank, forcing his crew to bail out. As the lieutenant boarded the next Sherman in line a panzerfaust rocket hit that tank, causing it to burst into flames. German panzerfausts then blasted two more M4s. In an instant, four tanks were destroyed, three of them burning fiercely. With the road blocked and St. Edouard’s Sanatorium in Peiper’s hands, the American attack bogged down almost before it started.”

Or… As recorded by Lt. Col. Rubel in his book Daredevil Tankers:

On the 21st the attack was resumed at 0400 hours. It moved forward about 100 yards when an AT [anti-tank] gun knocked out the lead tank. Lt. Oglensky, who was riding the tank, found that his gun had been rendered useless, and fearing that Jerry was about to begin a tank attack he placed his own tank crosswise in the road to form a road block. As he was doing this another shot hit his tank. He ordered his crew to get out and go to the rear, while he took over the tank immediately in the rear. He had hardly got aboard when an enemy Panzerfaust hit the tank and the machine started to burn. He and his new crew dismounted and almost at the same instant two more tanks were hit by Panzerfausts. That left four tanks in the road — three of them afire.

The attack had now definitely bogged down. The three tanks that had been hit by bazookas were burning fiercely and made a perfect road block. Moreover, the heat was so intense that it was impossible to get close enough to them to fasten a towing cable.

During the day the enemy made several more fanatical counter-attacks but the Infantry stood their ground on each attack. Casualties were running high. We had lost five tanks and the Infantry battalion had lost nearly 200 men. The chateau was a source of great trouble to us. It had to be taken before we could take Stoumont. That night Captain Berry crawled through the enemy lines and made a circle of the chateau to find out if there was any possibility of getting tanks up off the road to attack the chateau from the northwest. He found a place where he thought he could build a corduroy road to lead from the main highway up over the embankment to this building.

Upon his return to friendly troops he asked for volunteers to help build the road. At about midnight he got four tanks up there and personally directed their fire by running from one tank to another. Before morning he had knocked out two enemy tanks, had captured the chateau, and had rescued 22 infantrymen who were trapped there. This feat cleared the way for the capture of Stoumont, which we then planned to take early on the morning of the 22nd.

During the day, while on reconnaissance, I found an excellent place at Targnon to use a self-propelled 155 mm gun. I sent my S-4 out to look for one and also made a request to Colonel Sutherland and General Harrison for one. During the same day I had picked up a slight wound when a high velocity round came in while I was standing on the road a few hundred yards east of Targnon. Just before sundown on the 21st the 155 gun came in. We fired about 50 rounds direct fire with it before darkness forced us to quit. We arranged for the gun to be back on the morning of the 22nd for the attack on the town of Stoumont.

Before the attack could be resumed, however, the four tanks that had been knocked out near the chateau had to be removed. We decided to lay a smoke screen and under cover of it send the recovery vehicle forward, attach a line, and tow the tanks off the road. Lt. Oglensky’s tank, which had not burned, was believed to be in running condition, and T/5 James E. Flowers volunteered to drive it off the road. It stuck out like a sore thumb and any movement toward it brought down all kinds of fire. Flowers somehow made it, entered through the escape hatch, and drove it back into our lines. In the meantime, Captain Walter Williams and his Battalion maintenance section with their recovery vehicles had removed the three burned out tanks, and before morning of the 22nd the way was cleared for the attack.

Lt. Oglensky received Silver Star for his actions on December 20. His citation reads: “Lt. Oglensky distinguished himself by leading a platoon of tanks in an attack against the enemy. His tank was hit to such an extent that his gun was put out of action. After evacuating the crew he reentered the tank and placed it across the road as a block. Taking over command of the tank immediately behind this roadblock, he continued to fire at the enemy until the second tank was also knocked out of action by enemy fire. The inspiring fortitude, courage and outstanding devotion to duty demonstrated by Lieutenant Oglensky reflect great credit to himself and are in keeping with the traditions of the armed forces.”

From Daredevil Tankers, this map shows the position of the 740th in late December 1944: Moving west to east, from the vicinity of Lorce (on 19 December) through Stavelot (on 25 December). The Battalion’s position on the 22nd, just west of Stoumont and the Chateau (“where 22 doughs were trapped”), is just left of the map’s center

____________________

Lieutenant Oglensky was killed in action a little over two months later. This occurred on February 25, in the context of an attack of the 8th Infantry Division’s 121st Infantry Regiment in the direction of the German towns of Binsfeld and Girbelsrath, which lie between Duren – just to the southwest – and the city of Koln, to the northeast. Against his advice, the five tanks under his command, comprising the 1st Platoon of C Company, were ordered to advance across an open field between Düren and Girbelsrath. As a result, three tanks were quickly destroyed by 88mm anti-tank guns, resulting not only in Oglensky’s death, but that of tank commander Sergeant Ira M. Case and five other 1st Platoon tank crewmen.

Lt Oglensky’s body was never recovered.

Something particularly notable about the historical record of this brief event is the way it is described in the 740th Tank Battalion’s After Action Report, versus Lt. Col. Rubel’s independent (and I think much more personal) account in Daredevil Tankers. The differences between the accounts, which I’ve italicized for emphasis, are striking and not at all subtle. Perhaps Daredevil Tankers – published by the Colonel in Germany on September 19, 1945, independently of the Army – allowed him to give vent to aspects of the historical record that are not at all laudatory, and would otherwise have remained forgotten.

Here’s the After Action Report:

C Company, attached to 121st Infantry, attacked towards towns of Binsfeld and Girbelsrath at 250200 [0200 hours; 2 A.M.] with 1st and 2nd Platoons. The towns were taken approximately by 251400 [1400 hours; 2 P.M.]. The 3rd Platoon remained in Regimental Reserve at Duren. The 2nd Platoon of C Co was split into 2 sections, 1st Section supporting A Co., 1st Battalion and 2nd Section supporting C Co, 1st Battalion. The 1st Platoon had three tanks destroyed by 88mm fire at 1310 [1:10 P.M.] as they were approaching Girbelsrath across an open field. The platoon had been ordered to advance across the field against the platoon leader’s advice. The 3 tanks were commanded by Lt. Oglensky, Sgt. Case, and Sgt. Keen. Lt. Oglensky was killed in addition to 8 other casualties in the 3 tanks. S/Sgt. Nemnich took command of the remaining two tanks and stayed under cover until darkness and then withdrew to Duren. Lt. Powers (3rd Platoon) was hit by mortar fire and evacuated at approximately 251100 February [1100 hours]. S/Sgt. Looper took command of the 3rd Platoon at this time.

This is from Daredevil Tankers:

“C” Company, attached to the 121st Infantry, attacked toward the towns of Binsfeld and Girbelsrath at 0200 hours, with the First and Second Platoon. The fight was rough but the towns were taken at about 1400 hours that afternoon. The Third Platoon remained in Regimental reserve at Duren. The Second Platoon had been split into two sections, the first section supporting “A” Company of the 121st Infantry, and the second section supporting “C” Company of the 121st Infantry. The First Platoon had three tanks destroyed by 88 mm AT fire at 1310 hours as they were approaching Girbelsrath across an open field. Lieutenant Oglensky, the platoon leader, had asked for smoke and artillery fire on these AT positions but this was refused and he was given a direct order to attack. In order for him to take his objective it was necessary for him to advance over a flat, open field some 3,000 yards [1.7 miles; 2.8 km] long, directly into this battery of 88 mm guns that were firing from about the center of the field on a slight mound. The platoon had advanced about 500 yards [0.28 miles; 0.47 km] when the AT guns opened up from the front and right flank. Three of Oglensky’s five tanks were hit and burned. Lieutenant Oglensky, Sergeant Case, and Sergeant Keen were killed and eight other men were wounded.

Given that the First Platoon was attached to (and under command of?) the 121st Infantry Regiment, the question arises as to why there was a refusal to provide smoke and artillery fire on the German anti-tank position. Assuming there even was a reason, to begin with.

From Daredevil Tankers, this map shows the main line of advance (MLA) of the 740th from February 23 (at Duren) through March 9, 1945 (south of Koln). Note that the MLA is specifically indicated for every day (except March 1?) of this 12-day time interval. The MLA for 25 February is oriented north to south from Merzenich to Stochheimm, ending that day a little more than halfway between Duren and Girbelsrath.

At roughly the same scale at the above map, this Apple map gives a contemporary view of the geography of this part of Germany.

The relative locations of Duren and Girbelsrath are readily visible in this map. (Note the scale at upper left.) Though I’ve no idea of the geographic extent of Duren in 1945 versus the city’s size now in 2023, what is apparent is the farmland separating that city and Girbelsrath.

At the same scale at the above map, this photo reveals the farmland situated between the two locales. Though I don’t have a topographic map of the area, one gets the general impression that the terrain is essentially, well… Like the book says: Flat.

____________________

1 Lt. David Oglensky (David bar Shmuel Shlema ha Levi) (0-1016415), also – well, inevitably, the recipient of the Purple Heart – was born in Colchester, Connecticut, on December 25, 1944 to Sam (3/15/79-1/6/44) and Rose (Seigal) (1885-8/4/56) Oglensky (parents). He was married, his wife, Helen (Ides) Oglensky, resided at 17 West Front Street in Red Bank, New Jersey. He had a brother, Bernard (3/26/20-9/16/95). His name appeared in articles in the Asbury Park Press on 3/1/45, 6/8/45, and, 5/5/85 (that’s ’85, not just ’45!), and on page 248 of American Jews in World War II. He is commemorated on the Tablets of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery, in Margraten, Holland.

This photo of Lt. Oglensky, the only one I’ve thus far discovered, appears in the Lieutenant’s biographical profile at FindAGrave, c/o lemaire.sergejean@gmail.com.

____________________

The 740th’s After Action Report and Daredevil Tankers are both vague or incorrect about the casualties incurred by the battalion on February 25, 1945. In reality, tank commander Sergeant Keen (J.D. Keen) survived the war unwounded. Of the eight casualties noted in both the After Action Report and Daredevil Tankers, two men were wounded and six killed. The men’s names are listed below:

Wounded

Pvt. Harold H. Wichmann, 36992951
T/4 Rex A. Wiley, 38400423

Killed

Sgt. Ira M. Case, 38431663

This image of tank commander Sgt. Case is via Nelda.

T/5 Herbert T. Howell, 38431608

Cpl. Ray T. Merritt, 38400458 (see also)

T/5 Grady Morris, Jr., 38474899

PFC Orland D. Myers, 39911710

Cpl. Herbert V. Sweeney, 31510625

____________________

A monument in honor of Lieutenant Oglensky, dedicated in 1966 by the Oglensky Jackson Post of the Jewish War Veterans, stands at the Freehold Hebrew Cemetery in New Jersey. The Post still existed as of 2018. (These three images are by wharfrat.)

Come the year 2066, will the monument still exist?

______________________________

208th Combat Engineer Battalion (Signal Corps)

Levinson, Moses, Pvt., 34648465, Purple Heart (in Germany)
Killed in Action
Born 1925
Mrs. Carmellia Levinson (wife), 8 Felson / Folsom Place / 38 Fountain Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Possibly from South Carolina
Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Holland – Plot J, Row 11, Grave 4
Casualty List 3/27/45
American Jews in World War II – Not Listed

Levitt, Paul David, T/5, 32296314, Purple Heart (at Iwo Jima)
Killed in Action
Born Brooklyn, N.Y. 12/29/11
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel and Maye (Mamie) Levitt (parents) , 227 Linden Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mortimer H. and Raymond I. Levitt (brothers)
Long Island National Cemetery, Farmingdale, N.Y. – Section J, Grave 16560
Casualty List 4/12/45
American Jews in World War II – 379

England

(This example of a Glamorgan Yeomanry cap badge is from The Quartermaster Store.)

Brown, Morris, Gunner, 3775495
Royal Artillery, 81st (The Glamorgan Yeomanry) Field Regiment
Born 1919
Mr. and Mrs. Wolf and Lena Brown (parents), Liverpool, England
Uden War Cemetery, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands – 6,E,13
We Will Remember Them Volume I – 68 (incorrectly lists unit as “The Welch Regiment”)

Poland
Polish People’s Army – Ludowe Wojsko Polskie
(During Operation Pomeranian Wall)

Judka, Albin, Pvt., at Wieloboki, Poland
18th Infantry Regiment
Born Nowosiolki (d. Zaleszczyki), Poland, 1907
Mr. Lejb Judka (father)
JMCPAWW2 I – 89

Lewkowicz, Grzegorz, Pvt., at Walcz, Zachodniopomorskie, Poland
23rd Light Artillery Regiment
Born Bedzin, Slaskie, Poland 1912
Mr. Jozef Lewkowicz (father)
JMCPAWW2 I – 45

Mizibrocki, Izydor, Pvt., at Wieloboki, Poland
18th Infantry Regiment
Born Szczytowce (Zaleszczyki), Poland 1900
Mr. Eliasz Mizibrocki (father)
JMCPAWW2 I – 93

Polish Army East

Kudysiewicz, Henryk, Capt. (Died in the Yishuv, at Tel-Aviv)
Physician
Born Radom, Poland 1/4/87
Buried somewhere in Israel
JMCPAWW2 II – 106

Soviet Union / U.S.S.R. (C.C.C.Р.)
Red Army [РККА (Рабоче-крестьянская Красная армия)]

Barman, Gennadiy Aleksandrovich (Барман, Геннадий Александрович), Junior Lieutenant (Младший Лейтенант)
Tank Commander
517th Autonomous Tank Regiment
Killed in Action
Born 1921 or 1923, city of Dzerzhinsk
Buried in Poland

Chapakh, Moisey Laarevich (Чапах, Моисей Лазаревич), Junior Lieutenant (Младший Лейтенант)
Sapper Platoon Commander (Командир Саперного Взвода)
9th Motorized Brigade
Born 1918

Davidson, Yakov Abramovich (Давидсон, Яков Абрамович), Lieutenant (Лейтенант)
Company Commander (Командир Роты) / Rifle Platoon Commander (Командир Стрелкового Взвода)
37th Rifle Regiment, 1st Shock Army
Born 1910 or 1911

Markovich, Aleksandr Yakovlevich (Маркович, Александр Яковлевич), Guards Sergeant (Гвардии Сержант)
Cannon Commander (Командир Орудия)
1st Tank Battalion, 3rd Guards Tank Brigade
Killed in Action
Born 1925, city of Stavropol
Buried in Poland

Rubinshteyn, Ioil Abramovich (Рубинштейн, Иоил Абрамович), Guards Lieutenant (Гвардий Лейтенант)
Platoon Commander (Командир Взвода)
219th Guards Light Artillery Regiment, 2nd Guards Artillery Division
Born 1923

Sandler, Ionya Gershkovich (Сандлер, Ионя Гершкович), Captain (Капитан)
Machine Gun Platoon Commander (Командир Пулеметного Взвода)
1235th Rifle Regiment, 373rd Rifle Division
Born 1923

Wounded in Action

Adler, Harry, PFC, Purple Heart (in Germany)
Wounded in Action (wounded by bomb, in left arm)
Born Kinsk (Swietokrzyskie), Poland 9/1/09 – Died 4/24/85
Mrs. Ruth (Schor) Adler (wife) (6/16/14-7/9/99); Barbara Carol Adler (daughter – YOB 1943)
68-27 75th St., Middle Village, Queens, N.Y.
Mr. and Mrs. Herschel “Harry” Szmedra-Adler (1879-5/14/09) and Ida Cyna (1882-6/18/54) Adler (parents)
Casualty List 3/27/45
Long Island Star Journal 3/27/45
American Jews in World War II – 264

Glazer, Morton Sawyer, Pvt., 33815157, Purple Heart (in Germany)
Wounded in Action
Born Philadelphia, Pa. 4/24/26 – Died 1/28/82
Mr. and Mrs. Eugene (10/12/93-5/1/78) and Irene (Lipsitz) (7/15/94-4/1/84) Glazer (parents), 5535 Pine St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Home of Peace Cemetery, Sacramento, Ca.
Jewish Exponent 4/13/45, 4/27/45
Philadelphia Record 4/3/45
American Jews in World War II – 523

Morton Glazer’s portrait from Temple University’s class of 1949 yearbook, via Ancestry.com.

29th Infantry Division

(This original example of the 29th Infantry Division yin-yang shoulder patch is via Topkick Militaria & Collectables.)

Nathan, Norvin, 2 Lt., 0-1315349, Silver Star, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, PUC, 1 Oak Leaf Cluster
116th Infantry Regiment, I Company
Wounded in Action (Wounded previously, approximately 8/1/44)
Born Bronx, N.Y. 12/6/22 – Died 4/25/06
Mrs. Janice (Fried) Nathan (wife) (2/2/28-6/22/98)
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Maurice (7/4/98-5/11/59) and Dorothy (Bushansky) (1/1/04-2004) Nathan (parents)
1625 S. 58th St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va. – Section 68, Grave 4883
War Department News Releases 9/30/44, 1/4/45
Jewish Exponent 10/13/44, 4/6/45
Philadelphia Inquirer 3/29/45
Philadelphia Record 10/1/44, 3/29/45
American Jews in World War II – 541

Nathan Norvin’s high school graduation portrait, from the 1940 Yonkers High School yearbook, via Ancestry.com.

Tannenbaum, Samuel E., PFC. 33470399, Purple Heart (in Germany)
Wounded in Action
Born Philadelphia, Pa. 9/21/16 – Died 6/20/03
Mrs. Esther (Fishman) Tannenbaum (wife) (12/25/23-9/8/18); Mark Harris Tannenbaum (son)
309 S. 4th St. / 818 Gainsboro Road, Philadelphia, Pa.
Mr. and Mrs. Max (1879-11/6/36) and Rebecca (Leahy) (Sudgalter) (5/8/82-9/9/73) Tannenbaum (parents)
2545 South Sixth St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Jewish Exponent 4/13/45
Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Record 4/5/45
American Jews in World War II – 556

Ackerman, Harry Sternberg, Sgt., 37605043, Purple Heart (in Germany)
Wounded in Action
Born St. Louis, Mo. 11/16/24 – Died 7/24/02
Mr. and Mrs. Lester Patrick, Sr. (3/17/91-11/23/66) and Helen (K. Sternberg) (6/14/95-2/20/59) Ackerman (parents); Emily and Lester (sister and brother)
7246 Wydown Blvd., Clayton, Mo.
New Mount Sinai Cemetery and Mausoleum, St. Louis, Mo.
Saint Louis Post Dispatch 3/9/45
American Jews in World War II – 207

Canada

(Emblem of the North Shore New Brunswick Regiment)

Blank, Harry, Pvt., D/141305
Wounded in Action
Royal Canadian Infantry Corps, North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment
Born May 14, 1915
Mr. U. Blank (father), 5358 Hutchison St., Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Canadian Jews in World War II – Part II: Casualties – 87

References

Books

Dublin, Louis I., and Kohs, Samuel C., American Jews in World War II – The Story of 550,000 Fighters for Freedom, The Dial Press, New York, N.Y., 1947

Meirtchak, Benjamin, Jewish Military Casualties in the Polish Armies in World War II: I – Jewish Soldiers and Officers of the Polish People’s Army Killed and Missing in Action 1943-1945 [“JMCPAWW2 I”], World Federation of Jewish Fighters Partisans and Camp Inmates: Association of Jewish War Veterans of the Polish Armies in Israel, Tel Aviv, Israel, 1994

Meirtchak, Benjamin, Jewish Military Casualties in the Polish Armies in World War II: II – Jewish Military Casualties in September 1939 Campaign – Jewish Military Casualties in the Polish Armed Forces in Exile Soldiers and Officers of the Polish People’s Army Killed and Missing in Action 1943-1945 [“JMCPAWW2 II”], World Federation of Jewish Fighters Partisans and Camp Inmates: Association of Jewish War Veterans of the Polish Armies in Israel, Tel Aviv, Israel, 1995

Moisan, Melaney Welch, Tracking the 101st Cavalry, Wheat Field Press, 2008 (via lulu.com; ISBN 0615250408)

Morris, Henry, Edited by Gerald Smith, We Will Remember Them – A Record of the Jews Who Died in the Armed Forces of the Crown 1939 – 1945, Brassey’s, United Kingdom, London, 1989

Rubel, George Kenneth, Lt. Col., Daredevil Tankers – The Story of the 740th Tank Battalion, United States Army, printed and bound at “Muster Schmidt”, Ltd., Werk Gottingen (Germany), 1945 (OCLC Number / Unique Identifier: 624759899)

Trautman, Terry, Clippings From A Cluttered Mind, AuthorHouse, 2022 (ISBN 9781665565608, 1665565608)

(No Specific Author)

Canadian Jews in World War II – Part II: Casualties, Canadian Jewish Congress, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1948

Sites on the Web

ETO Tank Battalion Histories, at yeide.net (Harry Yeide)

U.S. Army Separate Tank Battalions, at Wikipedia

740th Tank Battalion, at 70th Infantry Division Association

Canal Defence Light (CDL) Tanks, at Tank Encyclopedia

Chaisson, Patrick J., Daredevil Tankers Turn the Tide at the Bulge, Warfare History Network, December, 2013

After Action Report, 740th Tank Battalion, January thru April 45, at Ike Skelton Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library

Soldiers from New York: Jewish Soldiers in The New York Times, in World War Two: Captain Arthur H. Bijur – January 14, 1945 [Part I – “New and improved…!]

My blog posts visit the past with an eye upon the present, and, this post is no different.

Created in May of 2017 (six years ago … was it that long?!) as part of my ongoing series about Jewish military service and Jewish military casualties in the Second World War, based on articles in The New York Times, it’s now up for a “rewrite”.

The impetus for this post is the Times’ news item of February 11, 1945, about Captain Arthur Henry Bijur of Long Branch, New Jersey. A member of the 43rd Signal Company of the 43rd Infantry Division, he was killed in action on January 14, 1945, near Rosario, Luzon, in the Philippines. Awarded the Purple Heart and Silver Star, his citation for the latter medal was published in the Times on August 22 of the same year, while news about his death in combat appeared in the Daily Record (of Long Branch) on February 13.

Born in Manhattan on February 14, 1919, Captain Bijur’s parents were Nathan Isaac (7/2/75-12/7/69) and Eugenie (Blum) Bijur (4/1/86-2/80); his brothers were Herbert and Lt. William Bijur; his sister was Mrs. Jean Weiss. The National World War Two Memorial Registry includes entries in his honor by Dr. John Wolf (his friend), and, classmate John Liebmann.

This portrait of Captain Bijur is via FindAGrave contributor and Vietnam veteran THR.

Captain Bijur is buried at the Manila American Cemetery, in the Philippines (Plot A, Row 9, Grave 104).

As you can read in the transcript of his obituary, Captain Bijur seems not to have had any direct residential or vocational connection to either Manhattan in particular or the New York Metropolitan area in general. As such, the impetus for the Times news coverage of his death may have been his association with Brown University, and, the Horace Mann School. Well…just an idea.

So, here’s the article of February 11…

Word Received of Death in Action in Philippines

Capt. Arthur Henry Bijur, who served in the Army Signal Corps, was killed in action on Luzon in the Philippines on Jan. 14, according to word from the War Department received Friday by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Nathan I. Bijur of Long Branch, N.J. He would have been 26 years old on Feb. 14.

Born in New York City, Captain Bijur was an outstanding athlete at the Horace Mann School, winning four major letters. He later attended Brown University, where he was captain of the soccer team. He was graduated from the university in 1941 and enlisted in the Army shortly afterwards.

In March, 1942, he was appointed a second lieutenant and in August was shipped to the Pacific, where he took part in the Munda campaign, and the invasion of New Guinea and the Philippines. Captain Bijur was the recipient of two citations.

In addition to his parents, he is survived by two brothers, Herbert Bijur and Lieut. William Bijur; and a sister, Mrs. Joseph D. Weiss.

This image shows page 30 of The New York Times of February 11, 1945, with Captain Bijur’s obituary at the upper left, set within that day’s War Department (Army, only) Casualty List, which was limited to coverage of the New York Metropolitan area, northern New Jersey, and Connecticut.

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And, here’s his award citation…

POSTHUMOUS AWARD

Silver Star for Captain Bijur of Army Signal Corps

The Silver Star Medal has been awarded posthumously to Capt. Arthur H. Bijur, 242 Bath Avenue, Long Branch, N.J., of the Army Signal Corps for gallantry in action against the Japanese on Luzon. He lost his life when he crawled out of his foxhole to warn his men that enemy fire would soon run through their area. He was killed by an enemy shell shortly after his last warning was given.

Captain Bijur’s citation praises his “keen devotion to duty, loyal consideration for his men and great courage.” He was overseas for thirty-four months with the Forty-Third Division and was in action at Guadalcanal, in the Northern Solomons, in New Guinea and on Luzon.

A memorial plaque honoring Captain Bijur – seen in this image by FindAGrave contributor RPark – can be found at Beth Olom Cemetery, in Ridgewood, Queens, New York.

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Paralleling my other posts about Jewish servicemen who were the subject of news coverage by The New York Times, here’s biographical information about some (not all…) other Jewish servicemen who were casualties on the same January day in 1945. Actually, there’s such a massive amount of information available about the events of this day that another post will cover Jewish aviators in the Eighth Air Force, particularly focusing on the 390th Bomb Group, the entirety of one squadron of which was shot down during the Group’s mission to Derben, Germany.

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For those who lost their lives on this date…
Sunday, January 14, 1945 / Tevet 29, 5705
– .ת.נ.צ.ב.ה. –
…Tehé Nafshó Tzrurá Bitzrór Haḥayím
May his soul be bound up in the bond of everlasting life.

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United States Army

Killed in Action

Benenson, Irving, T/5, 32195917, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Casualty at Vielsalm, Belgium
3rd Armored Division, 32nd Armored Regiment
Casualty List 3/14/45
Born Brantville, Ma., 2/1/17
Mrs. Lillian Benenson (wife), 1659 President St., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mr. and Mrs. Reuben / Ruben J. (2/1/87-1963) and Ray (4/14/90-7/68) Benenson [Witkoff] (parents)), 1767 Union St., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Oscar Benenson (brother)
Zachary Taylor National Cemetery, Louisville, Ky. – E, 268 (Collective grave with T/5 Dee E. Hobbs)
American Jews in World War II – 273

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Chernoff, Alvin S., PFC, 32408380, Purple Heart; Casualty in Belgium (Died of wounds)
11th Armored Division, 55th Armored Infantry Battalion
Born New York, N.Y., 1/14/14
Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Louis (5/2/83-7/63) and Florence Rosalind (Danielovich) (4/15/95-9/28/35) Chernoff (parents), 115 W. 86th St., New York, N.Y.
Luxembourg American Cemetery, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg – Plot G, Row 11, Grave 19
Casualty List 3/12/45
American Jews in World War II – Not listed

This photo of PFC Chernoff is via FindAGrave contributor pjammetje.

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Coslite, Milton G., S/Sgt., 31051962, Purple Heart
11th Armored Division, 55th Armored Infantry Battalion; Casualty in Belgium
Born New York, N.Y., 12/17/18
Mrs. Eva Ginsberg (mother), 2168 63rd St., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Luxembourg American Cemetery, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg – Plot C, Row 2, Grave 18
Casualty List 3/13/45
American Jews in World War II – 294

This photo of S/Sgt. Coslite is via FindAGrave contributor Andrew.

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Elpern, Ivan Isadore, 1 Lt., 0-385676, Purple Heart; Casualty in Belgium
6th Armored Division, 50th Armored Infantry Battalion
Born Uniontown, Pa., 3/8/17
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Herman (3/3/86-1/4/41) and Margaret (Goldstone) (4/2/93-6/20/64) Elpern (parents), 101 Central Square, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Melvin H. Elpern (brother); Marvin Fortman (cousin)
Enlisted 1935
The official Casualty List of the 6th Armored Division (NARA Records Group 407), and Lt. Elpern’s 293 File list his military organization as “6th Armored Division, 50th Armored Infantry Battalion”, but his matzeva displays organization as “28th Infantry Division, 110th Infantry Regiment – 2/17/41-7/19/42”
Temple Emanuel Cemetery, Greensburg, Pa. – Section B, Row 25, Lot 2; Buried 12/20/48
Jewish Criterion (Pittsburgh) 9/7/45
The Pittsburgh Press 12/19/48
American Jews in World War II – 518

Ivan’s Elpern’s portrait – below – was published in Pittsburgh’s Jewish Criterion on September 7, 1945, in an extremely detailed – and quite accurate – article commemorating Jewish servicemen from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area who were killed or died during the just-ended war. The article carries brief biographical profiles, and photographs, of 83 servicemen, and lists the names of 32 other servicemen for whom information and images – at the time of publication – were missing. In terms of individual attention, communal memory, and foresight, the Criterion’s effort was as admirable as it was remarkable, for not all Jewish periodicals published such retrospectives.

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Haberer, Martin, Pvt., 32962210, Purple Heart
101st Airborne Division, 327th Glider Infantry Regiment
Born Heidelberg, Germany, 2/5/25
Mr. and Mrs. Max and Laura (Wertheimer) Haberer (parents), 3810 Broadway, Apt. 4-A, / 550 West 158th St., New York, N.Y.
Long Island National Cemetery, Farmingdale, N.Y. – Section J, Grave 15963
Casualty List 3/13/45
Aufbau 2/16/45
American Jews in World War II – 339

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Levine, Alfred, Pvt., 39015817, Purple Heart
26th Infantry Division, 101st Infantry Regiment
Born Los Angeles, Ca., 9/3/16
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob (Zusmanovich) (11/15/80-5/1/71) and Ida S. (5/15/82-7/8/67) Levine (parents), 1427 Levonia Ave., Los Angeles, Ca.
Luxembourg American Cemetery, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg – Plot H, Row 5, Grave 12
Casualty List 3/1/45
American Jews in World War II – 48

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Rindsberg, Walter Josef, Pvt., 42071539, Purple Heart
84th Infantry Division, 335th Infantry Regiment
Born Germany, 9/20/25
Mr. and Mrs. Harry (Heinreich) (6/22/87-8/39) and Irma (Himmelreich) (12/12/99-2/94) Rindsberg (parents), 44 Bennett Ave., New York, N.Y.
Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Henri-Chapelle, Belgium – Plot D, Row 7, Grave 8
Casualty List 3/8/45
Aufbau 2/2/45, 2/16/45
American Jews in World War II – 413

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Yusin, Irving, Pvt., 13153939, Purple Heart
11th Armored Division, 21st Armored Infantry Battalion
Born New York, N.Y., 4/1/22
Mrs. Celia Yusin (mother), 2853 Barker Ave., New York, N.Y.
Wellwood Cemetery, East Farmingdale, N.Y.
Casualty List 3/14/45
American Jews in World War II – 476

This image of Private Yusin’s Purple Heart is via FindAGrave contributor John Mercurio.

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On September 20, 1946, the Jewish Criterion published a moving and affecting article by Helen Kantzler entitled “Double Gold Stars”, which reported upon families of American Jewish soldiers who had lost two (and in one case, all three) sons in military service during the Second World War. Aside from the completion and existence of such a story so shortly after the war’s end, was Ms. Kanlster’s level of detail and accuracy, her story probably having been based on information acquired by the National Jewish Welfare Board, and, her own dogged research.

Among the numerous families discussed in her article was that of Max (1873-1/2/29) and Rose (Sankofsky) (1878-9/10/55) Zion, of 3738 East 139th St., in Cleveland, Ohio. Their sons, PFC Morris Jack Zion (35289875) and Aviation Radio Technician 1st Class Joseph Manuel Zion (6153983), both born in Cleveland, were lost within the space of the same January week in 1945. The family also included twin brothers Harry and Robert, and sisters Tillie, Mrs. Mildred Hershman, and Mrs. Sara (Zion) Oriti. Morris and Joseph were members of the approximately fifty American Jewish families who lost both sons during the Second World War. (The Liebfeld family of Milwaukee lost all three sons: Morris (USMC), Samuel (Army Air Force), and Sigmund (also Army Air Force), the latter on a domestic non-combat flight in October of 1945. The brothers are buried at Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery, in Saint Paul.)

Along with Helen Kantzler’s Jewish Criterion article, the brothers’ names appeared in the Cleveland Press & Plain Dealer on February 2, and can be found on page 504 of American Jews in World War II.

PFC Zion, a member of the 330th Infantry Regiment, 83rd Infantry Division, was born in Cleveland on January 30, 1912. He died of wounds on January 14, 1945, at the age of 33. (Yes, 33.) He’s buried at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, at Henri-Chapelle, Belgium, at Plot D, Row 13, Grave 12.

This portrait of Morris is via FindAGrave contributor Patti Johnson, a Volunteer Researcher studying the WW II Army Air Force’s Mediterranean-based 57th Bomb Wing.

Joseph’s picture, displayed below, is also via Patti Johnson.

Born in Cleveland on August 15, 1908, Joseph Manuel was serving in the Navy when he hitched a ride on a JM-1 Marauder (the Navy and Marine Corps version of the Martin B-26 Marauder) of Naval Squadron VJ-16, the tow target and utility services for the Atlantic Fleet in the Florida and Caribbean areas, in January 1945 based at Miami. The bomber, Bureau Number 66724, piloted by Lt. Raymond Paul Mara, Jr. and carrying seven other crew and passengers, crashed at sea 15 miles west of San Juan, Puerto Rico, not long after take-off, from what was suggested to have been engine failure. However, the definitive cause of the bomber’s loss – given the absence of survivors, lack of recovered debris, and nature of 1940s technology – probably could never have been definitively established.

Here are two images of JMs, whose simple overall chrome yellow paint schemes lend them the appearance of winged bananas. It’s my understanding that all JMs were finished similarly, or at least those serving as target tugs.

These two image of JM-1 Marauders are from the flickriver photo collection of torinodave72.

While Joseph Manuel Zion has no grave, his name does appear in the Tablets of the Missing at the East Coast Memorial, in Manhattan.

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Prisoners of War

Private Jack Bornkind (Yakov bar Nachum) (16150444), a member of 1st Battalion, B Company, 274th Infantry Regiment, 70th Infantry Division, was captured on January 14, 1945 and interned as a POW at Stalag 9B, in Bad Orb, Germany. He was one of the 350 American POWs sent from that POW camp to the Berga am Elster slave labor camp as part of Arbeitskommando [labor detail] 625.

The image below, scanned from a paper photocopy, shows the last of the 44 pages comprising the “master” list of the 350 POWs sent to Berga, with six names comprising the final entries. From top to bottom, this page carries the names of Pvt. Alexander Weisberg (survived), Pvt. David Goldin (also survived), PFC Morton D. Brimberg (survived as well; surname changed to “Brooks” partially due to postwar experiences with antisemitism in academia), followed by the names of PFC Stanley Rubenstein, Sgt. Seymour Millstone, and finally Jack Bornkind.

Data fields include the soldier’s German-assigned POW number, surname, first name, date of birth, parent’s surnames, residential address and name of “contact”, Army serial number, and place/date of capture. Ironically, neither the soldier’s religion nor ethnicity are present.

Private Bornkind himself was one of the 76 soldiers who died as a result of their imprisonment at Berga. Of this number, twenty-six men died from the appalling conditions at the camp (one of whom – Pvt. Morton Goldstein – was murdered by camp commander Erwin Metz on March 20, 1945, after an escape attempt), while the remaining fifty succumbed to the forced march of POWs away from the camp, which commenced on April 6. Of these fifty, Jack Bornkind died on the morning of April 23 in the company of a few fellow POWs (among whom was PFC Gerald M. Daub) literally minutes before the group was liberated by either the 11th Armored Division or 90th Infantry Division. Pvt. Bornkind was the very last fatality “of” Berga while the war was still ongoing. Private Aaron Teddy Rosenberg, who survived the ordeal and seemed to have returned to health, took ill not long after his return to the United States, and passed away in his home state of Florida on June 27, 1945, a little over two months after his liberation.

Born in Flint Michigan, on January 31, 1924, Jack Bornkind’s parents were Nathan N. (12/25/79-9/17/52) and Rachel (Handelsman) (1888-7/17/61) Bornkind of 731 East Dartmouth Road, Flint, Michigan, while his sisters and brothers were Bessie, Celia, Hildah, Josephine, Llecca, Louis, and Sarah. He was buried at Beth Olem Cemetery in Hamtramack (Section 3, Plot 344-5) on January 9, 1949, an event mentioned in the Detroit Jewish Chronicle on January 14 of that year. His name can be found on page 188 of American Jews in World War II.

Information about what befell the 350 men assigned to Arbetiskommando [labor detail] 625 is readily available, both in book format and, at numerous websites. (See the 2005 books Soldiers and Slaves : American POWs Trapped by the Nazis’ Final Gamble, by Roger Cohen and Michael Prichard, and, Given Up For Dead : American GIs in the Nazi Concentration Camp at Berga, by Flint Whitlock, and, Charles Guggenheim’s documentary, Berga: Soldiers of Another War.) What’s especially appalling about the story, aside from the brutal treatment of the POWs per se, was how bureaucratic apathy in combination with rapidly changing political alliances in the context of the (first) Cold War rapidly and directly affected, hindered, and ultimately negated efforts to secure justice for the POWs and their families.

The following two images of Jack Bornkind are from the Leibowitz Family Tree at Ancestry.com.

The academic setting of this colorized picture – looks like a college campus, doesn’t it? – together with Private Bornkind’s uniform, suggests that the picture was taken while he was serving in ROTC, or, assigned to the ASTP (Army Specialized Training Program).

This picture is a little more straightforward: In the Army, Private Bornkind is wearing the shoulder sleeve insignia of the Army Service Forces.

This image of Jack Bornkind’s matzeva is via FindAGrave contributor TraceyS.

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Lippin, Robert, PFC, 32974463
26th Infantry Division, 328th Infantry Regiment
Stalag 12A (Limburg an der Lahn)
Born Boston, Ma., 6/7/23; Died 6/17/84
Mr. Bernard B. and Lillian (Scholl) Lippin (parents), Joseph (brother), 8020 Bay Parkway, Brooklyn, 14, N.Y.
NARA RG 242, 190/16/01/01, Entry 279, Box 41. # 96673
American Jews in World War II – Not listed

Though I don’t have a photographic portrait of Robert Lippin, this image of his German Personalkarte, from Records Group 242 in the United States National Archives, will suffice. Though Personalkarte forms include a specific “field” for a prisoner of war’s photograph on the sheet’s left center, the majority of such cards in RG 242 are absent of such images. I think this is reflective of the very large number of American POWs captured during the Ardennes Offensive, and the consequent challenge in “processing” – informationally, that is – such a large number of men. As I recall from examining the original document, the reverse was absent of any notations. Otherwise, I would’ve scanned it.

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Wounded in Action

Alper, Eugene, Pvt., 37642240, Purple Heart; Wounded in Germany
Born St. Louis, Mo., 9/7/25; Died 2/19/17
Mr. and Mrs. Nathan (1/12/88-9/67) and Annie (Shoenfeld) (1880-2/58) Alper (parents), 738 Interdrive, University City, St. Louis, Mo.
Saint Louis Post Dispatch 2/21/45
American Jews in World War II – 207

Hershfield, Jesse Louis, PFC, 33810667, Purple Heart; Wounded in France
Born Albany, N.Y., 3/12/20; Died 4/26/09
Mrs. Lillian (Mantz) Hershfield (wife) Rachelle (daughter), / / 3320 W. Cumberland St. / Philadelphia, Pa.
Philadelphia addresses also 2323 North 33rd St. and 3345 Indian Queen Lane,
Mrs. Anna Hershfield (mother), 3112 Ridge Ave., Philadelphia, Pa.
NJWB card incorrectly gives surname as “Hershfeld”
The Jewish Exponent 2/23/45, 3/9/45
Philadelphia Inquirer 2/13/45
Philadelphia Record 2/13/45
American Jews in World War II – 528

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Another Incident…

Schrag, Emil, PFC, 31336965, Medical Corps, Bronze Star Medal
30th Infantry Division, 120th Infantry Regiment
Born Baden, Germany, 11/9/24; Died 10/9/03
Mrs. Hilde Dorothee (Schrag) Heimann (sister), New York, N.Y.
Mr. and Mrs. Siegfried (5/19/82-?) and Lena Friedericks (Kahn) (7/27/97-6/74) Schrag (parents), 510 W. 184th St., Bridgeport, Ct.
Mr. Eugene Kahn (friend), 260 Maplewood Ave., Bridgeport, Ct.
Aufbau 2/9/45, 5/4/45
American Jews in World War II – Not Listed

According to Aufbau, Private Schrag was involved in some kind of incident in Germany on January 14, but the details are unknown. He returned to Military Control by April 12.

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United States Army Air Force

Captain Sanford Saul Fineman

2115th Army Air Force Base Unit (Continental United States)

The loss of an RB-24E liberator (the “R” prefix indicating an aircraft utilized for aerial gunnery training) in Alabama on the evening of January 14, 1945, is representative of the near-daily loss of aircraft and airmen on missions – training and otherwise – that did not involve contact with the enemy.

Piloted by Captain Sanford Saul Fineman (Shmuel bar Yaacov Faynman; ASN 0-796353), the aircraft – assigned to the 2115th Army Air Force Base Unit – took off from Courtland Army Airfield, Courtland, Alabama, at 2100 on a routine night training mission. The aircraft, 42-7113, entered the traffic pattern and Captain Fineman radioed the tower for permission to make a touch-and-go landing. He was told to stay in the pattern because of numerous aircraft on end of runway waiting for takeoff, Captain Fineman acknowledging and going around. There were no further communications between the pilot and the tower, and a few moments later, the bomber stalled and crashed in a turn to the left, one mile east of Town Creek, Alabama. There were no survivors.

The Liberator’s other three crewmen were:

Co-Pilot: 2 Lt. William Walter “Billy” Miller, Jr.
Co-Pilot: 2 Lt. Theophil Charles Polakiewicz
Flight Engineer: Cpl. Irvin Earl Barrington

A veteran of service in the 66th Bomb Squadron of the 44th Bomb Group, Captain Fineman previously received the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, and five Oak Leaf Clusters. While serving in the 66th, he’s documented as having been a witness to the loss of B-24J 42-99996 (QK * I), piloted by 2 Lt. William M. Richardson (from which there were no survivors) during the 44th Bomb Group’s mission to Langenhagen Airdrome, Germany on April 8, 1944, during which the 44th Bomb Group lost eleven B-24s. The plane’s loss is covered by Missing Air Crew Report 3763, which, due to the chaotic and intense nature of the air battle, simply states, “…that aircraft #996 apparently was hit by enemy aircraft at 1345 hours in the vicinity of Salzwedel and was seen to go down. No chutes were observed. At least five airplanes were lost within the three minutes near 1345 hours from one pass by enemy planes, as described by survivors from the other crews lost.”

The son of Jacob (1/1/84-5/21/29) and Annie (Garfinkle) Fineman (later Harriet) (4/15/85-1/24/50) of 77 Camp Street, Providence, Rhode Island, Sanford Fineman was born on March 25, 1921. He’s buried at Lincoln Park Cemetery, Warwick, R.I. (Section 5C, Lot 1, Left side of Newman Avenue). His name appears on page 562 of American Jews in World War II.

These images of Captain Fineman’s two matzevot are from FindAGrave contributor ddjohnsonri. This image shows Sanford’s simple individual matzeva….

…while in this group matzeva for the Fineman family Captain Fineman’s Hebrew name appears as the first four words on the second line of text. The full English language translation is:

A sweet flower of a boy plucked as a half open bloom.
Shmuel bar Yaacov Feinman died 1st of Shvat 5705 – May his soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life.
His dear mother, daughter of good people, Hannah Feinman bat Itshak Isaak died 6th of Shvat 5710 – May her soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life.

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1 Lt. Mitchell Earl Nussman

9th Air Force, 323rd Bomb Group, 453rd Bomb Squadron

This image of the 453rd Bomb Squadron insignia is via Flying Tiger Antiques.

During a mission to a communication center southeast of St. Vith, Belgium, B-26C Marauder 42-107588, the un-nicknamed VT * R, of the 453rd Bomb Squadron, 323rd Bomb Group, 9th Air Force, was lost due to anti-aircraft fire near St. Vith, as reported in Missing Air Crew Report 11926. The entire crew of seven parachuted from their bomber, but only four men survived: Three were captured and sent to POW camps, the pilot managed to return to Allied military control, and three others (navigator, flight engineer Smith, and aerial gunner) never returned. The Missing Air Crew Report contains no definitive information about the circumstances of their deaths.

This in-flight image of VT * R is via the American Air Museum in Britain.

The crew comprised:

Pilot: Adams, Robert H., Capt. – Survived (Killed in a flying accident in Germany on 8/16/45)
Co-Pilot / Gee Navigator: Yosick, Jerome S., 1 Lt. – KIA (probably last seen by radio operator Pippin as they were descending in parachutes)
Navigator: Burnett, George P., Jr., Capt. – Survived (POW)
Bombardier: Anderson, Warren W., Capt. – Survived (POW)
Flight Engineer: Smith, Virgil, T/Sgt. – KIA (last seen attempting to reach American lines in vicinity of Bovigny or Houffalize, Belgium, on 1/18/45)
Radio Operator: Pippin, Jack W., T/Sgt. – Survived (POW)
Gunner: Prejean, Louis H., S/Sgt. – KIA (last seen attempting to reach American lines in vicinity of Bovigny or Houffalize, Belgium, on 1/18/45)

Anderson, Prejean, and Smith were captured immediately after landing, upon which they were stripped of personal possessions and identification. Taken by their captors in an easterly direction, they managed to escape at 2200 hours the same day: 1/14/45. They then traveled by foot for three days and nights in a westerly direction in attempt to reach American lines. On the evening of 1/17, after reaching a point about 1 ½ miles from American lines, the little group stopped to rest in a foxhole. (By this time, they’d had no food for three days.) At 0430 hours morning of 1/18, shelling by Americans or Germans commenced. Anderson was wounded in the right thigh by artillery fire and could travel no further, and was left to remain in care of a Belgian farmer. Prejean and Smith went on in an attempt to reach American lines. They were never seen again.

Anderson was recaptured by the Germans on 1/19/45 and taken to Germany, where he survived as a POW. The names of all crew members except for Smith and Prejean – even including Capt. Adams – can be found in Luftgaukommando Report KU1268A. (I believe the “A” suffix in Luftgaukommando Reports designates reports covering crews known to have been incompletely accounted for at the time the document was filed, or, for which men were confirmed to have evaded capture.)

A witness to the loss of VT * R was 1 Lt. Mitchel Earl Nussman (0-755398), a bomber pilot, whose name appears on page 248 of American Jews in World War II, which indicates that he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, and 12 Oak Leaf Clusters. (His surname is incorrectly listed as “Mussman” at the American Air Museum in Britain’s photo of 42-107588.) He was the husband of Phyllis J. (Tirk) Nussman, of 203 Park Drive, Brookline, Massachusetts, and the son of Jacob (5/21/84-1951) and Minnie (Wolpert) (3/13/94-11/10/56) Nussman, of 389 Bates St., Phillipsburg, New Jersey. Born in Warren (Alpha), New Jersey on September 29, 1921, he passed away on December 7, 1989.

An image of Lt. Nussman’s eyewitness account of the loss of VT * R in MACR 11926 appears below, followed by a transcript of the document:

16 January 1945

C E R T I F I C A T E

The following is a statement by 1st Lt. Mitchell E. Nussman, 0-755398, concerning action taking place on 14 January 1945.

I was flying number three position on the lead ship, number 42-107588, flown by Captain Robert H. Adams. We were proceeding as scheduled to the target at approximately thirteen thousand (13,000) feet when we were encountered by flak. Evasive action was taken by the lead ship, and as his bombay doors opened, we settled down for our bombing run.

Approximately two minutes before time over target, the lead ship released its bomb load. At this time, I saw no outward damage on lead ship. It appeared to be under control and intact. Immediately after the bombs left the ship, I saw three figures bail out and pass from view. These three figures appeared from the rear of the bombay.

Note: Staff Sergeant Michael Dobra, flying as Tail Gunner on my crew, saw those figures pass him, and saw four parachutes open and float earthward.

The lead ship then veered off to the right and dove. At first it appeared out of control, but it then leveled out and flew straight. I followed the snip as it continued out of the flak area, and noticed my compass beading which read zero degrees North. The ship took a definite course for some time and seemed to be well under control. During this time we remained about a quarter of a mile from the distressed ship. I attempted to contact the aircraft by radio, but received no reply.

About six to seven minutes after bombs away, another figure left the ship.

Note: Technical Sergeant C.J. Schmitt noted the time as being 1326 hours and altitude as seven thousand one hundred (7,100) feet.

His parachute opened and the ship started a diving turn to the right.

Note: Both Technical Sergeant Schmitt and Staff Sergeant Dobra saw the ship complete a one hundred eighty (180) degree turn and crash. It exploded and flame burst from the wreckage.

After taking approximate location, we flew back to Base.

Mitchell E. Nussman
MITCHELL E. NUSSMAN,
1st Lt., Air Corps,
Pilot.

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Staff Sergeant Harold Schwartz

13th Air Force, 5th Bomb Group, 72nd Bomb Squadron

This image of the 72nd Bomb Squadron insignia is via US Wars Patches.

A casualty in the 72nd Bomb Squadron of the 13th Air Force’s 5th Bomb Group (the “Bomber Barons”) was Staff Sergeant Harold Schwartz (33190448), who was killed during a combat mission over North Maluku, Indonesia. However, being that a Missing Air Crew Report was not actually filed for him (the MACR name index card simply carries the enigmatic notation “No MACR”), the circumstances are – for the moment – unknown, though it can be assumed that he was a radio operator or aerial gunner.

The son of Dr. Martin Schwartz (2/2/93-12/8/41) and Mollie (Spigel) Schwartz (1899-4/18/25), and step-son of Rebecca B. Schwartz, his wartime address was 5420 Connecticut Ave., NW, in Washington, D.C. Born in D.C. on July 12, 1919, he is buried at the Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines (Plot D, Row 8, Grave 162). His name appears on page 80 of American Jews in World War II, with the notation that he was awarded the Air Medal, one Oak Leaf Cluster and Purple Heart, suggesting that he completed between five and ten combat missions.

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Private Edwin G. Elefant

S/Sgt. Morris Backer

20th Air Force, 40th Bomb Group, 44th Bomb Squadron

This image shows a reproduction of the 44th Bomb Squadron’s insignia, via CHMetalcrafts’ ebay store.

The names of Aviation Radio Technician 1st Class Joseph Manuel Zion and Captain Sanford Saul Fineman – lost in rather routine, non-combat circumstances – have been mentioned above. Testifying to the inherently dangerous nature of military activity unrelated to enemy action are two more names: Private Edwin G. Elefant and S/Sgt. Morris Backer, both members of the 44th Bomb Squadron, the former among the nine men killed and the latter among eighteen men injured during an accident that befell the 40th Bomb Group on January 14. Detailed and comprehensive information about this incident, which involved repetitively loading, unloading, and reloading bombs from B-29 bombers at Chakulia, India, can be found in two issues of the 40th Bomb Group Association’s publication Memories: issue 4, and, issue 18.

Rather than “copy and paste” the content of these publications here (there’s a lot there), this introduction and one account will suffice:

Perhaps no event in the history of the 40th Bomb Group is more widely remembered by our members than the tragic bomb-unloading accident in Chakulia, India, on January 14, 1945. Many of us lost friends; we knew a few who laid their lives on the line to help others. The event is seared into our memories as one that shows the best and the worst of war. The accident occurred about noon when a weary armament crew was unloading dangerous M-47 cluster bombs from B-29 42-24582 [“Little Clambert” / “S”] in the 44th Bomb Squadron.

Neil W. Wemple was appointed Commander of the 44th Squadron on January 11, 1945, three days before the tragic accident. His observations (written 1982):

My beginning as a new Squadron Commander was highly ignominious and inglorious to say the least. Within three days of my appointment as Commander, the squadron had suffered what was to be the worst one-day disaster of its history from the standpoint of B-29s destroyed, and worse yet it was self inflicted.

It happened like this: We had been ordered to prepare for a bombing mission, possibly the one that was to take place January 17 against Formosa, first staging through our forward base near Chengtu, China, known as A-1. An operations order from higher HQ called for 500-pound fragmentation bombs. The operations officer, Major Eigenmann, directed this loading and it was done. Then we received an operations order amendment to change the bomb loading to 500-pound general purpose demolition bombs; we did this. Soon afterward we received another amendment to down load the demos and reload the frags again.

By now we were definitely wearing out the bombs and, worse than that, the men. After we reloaded the frags, guess what. You guessed it. We were ordered to down load the frags and reload the demos! At this point the Armament Officer, Capt. Redler, came in to see me. He protested, saying his men were very tired. Much conversation ensued with the Operations Officer also present. In the end Capt. Redler was ordered to make the fourth change in bomb loading. Otherwise the planes would not be ready in time for the forthcoming mission. He departed disappointed, tired, exasperated. The downloading of the frag bombs began. All of this uploading and downloading of bombs brings to light the incompetence and inefficiency of higher HQ. Unfortunately this was recognized only belatedly and a limitation was eventually placed upon the number of load changes within a given period of time.

That same day I was attending to squadron administrative duties at the squadron headquarters and orderly room when I heard what I knew to be a muffled, but large and ominous, explosion. It seemed to come from the B-29 parking area. I ran to my jeep, jumped in and drove fast to the flight line. As I arrived it seemed that a major conflagration of several B-29s was in progress, and it was in my squadron area! Additional explosions had occurred as I was driving to the area. Everything was in total disorder. B-29s were on fire, and some explosions occurred after my arrival. People were running around in all directions. I did not arrive in time to see or assist in the rescue of the first victims. Fire trucks were fighting the fires, but as I remember there were not many ambulances remaining on the scene. From there on it was a matter of fighting fires, mopping up and, the sad and worst part, the hospital visits and writing those letters of condolence to next of kin.

These images of the bomb loading accident at Chakulia are from 40th Bombardment Group: A Pictorial Record.

From the Al Schutte collection at the 40th Bomb Group Association, this image shows the wrecked tail section of B-29 42-24582 “Little Clambert”, the only recognizable portion of the aircraft remaining after the explosions. In the background is the still intact B-29 42-63394 “Last Resort” / “R”, so badly damaged as to have been written off after the accident.

Two more images from 40th Bombardment Group: A Pictorial Record: The upper photo shows an unexploded fragmentation bomb, while the lower image shows a funeral for one of the nine fatalities of January 14.

The names of the personnel killed in the incident, via the 40th Bomb Group Association website, are listed below:

25th Bomb Squadron

Cpl. Elliott W. Beidler, Jr.

44th Bomb Squadron

Pvt. Edwin G. Elefant
Sgt. Edward J. Donnelly
Cpl. Theodore E. Houck
Pvt. John A. Scharli
Cpl. Aloysius M. Schumacher (died of injuries 1/22/45)

This portrait of Cp. Schumacher is via FindAGrave contributor DB6654.

(Fr. Bartholomew Adler, chaplain of the 40th Group, was on the line immediately after the explosion. His account (written 1982): “Cpl. Aloysius M. Schumacher was quite a man. Later that dreadful Sunday afternoon I found him at the Base Hospital, clutching his stomach where he had been struck by shrapnel, telling the medics to take care of another buddy of his, Pvt. Edwin Elefant, whom he considered was more seriously wounded than he. Pvt. Elefant died later that night. Cpl. Schumacher died the next day.” [Actually, 1/22/45])

Sgt. Robert “Tiny” Gunns

28th Air Service Group

Pvt. Paul W. Heard
Cpl. Charles C. Fulton

Though Pvt. Elefant (32785359) survived the initial explosion, he died of injuries the evening of the 14th, two days before his 21st birthday. The son of Nathan (12/25/88-10/21/67) and Anna (4/8/99-2/14/82) Elefant, his family resided at 1516 Carroll St., in Brooklyn. Born on January 16, 1924, he is buried at Mount Hebron Cemetery, in Flushing, N.Y. (Block 4, Reference 1, Section A-C, Line 11L, Grave 3). His name can be found on page 302 of American Jews in World War II.

Among the wounded survivors of the explosion was Staff Sergeant Morris Backer (11050380), who received the Soldier’s Medal, among the nine men awarded for their actions that day. His citation reads: “When a bomb explosion occurred in the aircraft on which he was working, [42-24582] S/Sgt. Backer, with no thought for his personal safety, immediately attempted to rescue those who had been seriously injured. He was successful in removing a seriously injured man who was lying alongside the rear bomb bay, where the explosion took place. He removed the injured man beyond the tail of the aircraft and remained with him until a stretcher bearer arrived and helped carry him to an adjacent ambulance. During this time a series of explosions of gas tanks, bombs and ammunition occurred and S/Sgt. Backer was wounded in the left thigh.”

The only son of Jacob (1888-5/6/59) and Ida (1890-10/18/45) Backer (his sisters were Anne, Celia, Pauline, and Tilly) of 141 Homestead Street, Roxbury, Massachusetts, Sgt. Backer was born in that state on December 28, 1919. He passed away on May 4, 2011, and is buried at the Independent Pride of Boston Cemetery, in West Roxbury. His name is absent from American Jews in World War II.

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1 Lt. Jack Robert Ehrenberg

20th Air Force, 497th Bomb Group, 869th Bomb Squadron

This image of the 869th Bomb Squadron insignia was found at Pinterest.

Several (many?!) of my posts include information about airmen who served as crew members of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber, typically in the case of men who were lost of combat missions.

However, among these men are a tiny few who survived the loss of their aircraft, whether as POWs of the Japanese (2 Lt. Irving S. Newman), or, over the vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean, the latter by parachuting from mortally damaged aircraft (such as F/O Aldywn W. Fields), or, after their bombers were ditched (such as Capt. Bertram G. Lynch). Another man who survived the ditching of his B-29 was Jack Ehrenberg, a crew member of the B-29 Pacific Union. Of the eleven men aboard this aircraft, only four survived; of the four, one man was captured on a subsequent combat mission, and murdered while a prisoner of war, less than one month before the war’s end.

A navigator, 1 Lt. Jack Robert Ehrenberg (0-793992) and his crew were members of the 869th Bomb Squadron of the 497th Bomb Group. His wife was Norma Constance (Loeb) Ehrenberg, who resided at 250 Passaic Ave., in Passaic, New Jersey. Jack’s parents were Michael (1886-?) and Anna (Saltz) (9/20/87-1976) Ehrenberg, at 462 Brook Ave.; also Passaic. Born in a place called Brooklyn on November 30, 1917, Jack passed away on May 12, 2005. Listed on page 231 of American Jews in World War II, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters (suggesting that he completed between 15 and 20 combat missions), and, Purple Heart. His name also appeared in War Department news releases on September 10, 1943, and March 22, 1945.

The incident in question – the loss of Pacific Union (42-24595, “A square 2”) – is covered in Missing Air Crew Report 11221, which, like some other MACRs pertaining to B-29 ditchings (at least, those of the 73rd Bomb Wing) and eventuated in the survival and rescue of crew members, incorporates a detailed report about the events behind and circumstances of the plane’s ditching, the escape of survivors from the plane, aspects of their survival and rescue, their suggestions for other crews faced with such situations in the future, and, comments and criticisms specifically pertaining to the loss of their plane, and, their crew’s actions. The report concludes with a really (really!) lengthy distribution list.

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Before 42-24595 became the Pacific Union – notice the absence of nose art in this image? – the aircraft was photographed while flying near Mount Fuji, in the company of other 497th Bomb Group B-29s. This photo is from the 869th Bomb Squadron Scrapbook, via the 497th Bomb Group B-29 Memorial website, which contains histories of all 869th BS B-29s. There, the image appears on page 35, where it’s appropriately titled “A-2 Over Fujiyama”.

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This image of December 5, 1944, showing the Pacific Union’s nose art, is from WorldWarPhotos.

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What happened?

The bomber, en-route with the 497th Bomb Group to Nagoya, experienced heavy smoke of unknown origin coming from its #3 engine. When it became apparent that the aircraft couldn’t continue the mission, Captain Leonard Cox dropped out of the 497th’s formation and began a return to Saipan. After it was decided that it would be necessary to ditch the bomber, the aircraft’s bombs were toggled out individually, exploding as they struck the sea. The bomber by this time having descended to 900 feet, its wings and fuselage were struck by fragments from the bombs, and, a fire developed in the #3 engine and right wheel well. The fire could not be extinguished, and spread rapidly.

But at this point, there was insufficient time for the crew to prepare for ditching.

All emergency exits were jettisoned from the front crew compartment, and, the men in that section of the fuselage braced themselves for the impending impact with the sea – some as best they could; some not well enough. Lt. Erenberg remained at his crew position, and leaning over his desk, padded his abdomen with his parachute, at the same time giving the plane’s course, position, and ground speed to the radio operator, though he never knew if this information was actually transmitted. The men in the rear fuselage received no communication concerning the planned ditching and so were not braced properly for impact. In any event, they were forced to crowd against the port side of the fuselage, since the starboard side was too hot as a result of the fire, with the right gunner’s sighting blister becoming enveloped in flames, and flames also present in the rear unpressurized section of the fuselage.

The aircraft struck the sea at an estimated speed of 140 mph, impacting tail first. Afterwards, Lt. Erenberg stated that he believed an explosion occurred in the mid-wing section at about the moment Pacific Union hit the water. He then lost consciousness and – subsequently unaware of how he actually escaped – had no memory of any event until he found himself floating in the sea, still strapped to his seat.

These three Oogle Maps show the approximate location of the Pacific Union’s Central Pacific ditching (17-58 N, 144-03E) at successively larger scales. The Northern Marianas were approximately 216 miles to the southeast, while Agrihan Island (unlabeled, best visible in the lowermost map) is about 108 miles to the east. Very much water, very little land.

Moving closer…

…and closer.

After the bomber’s motion stopped, it was realized that the ditched aircraft had broken in two, and what remained of the front fuselage was engulfed in flames. The four crewmen in the rear fuselage exited through the escape hatch in what remained of the rear unpressurized section, bringing with them two one-man life rafts. This action was both miraculous and very smartly planned, for the bomber’s two multi-place life rafts (stored in compartments in the upper section of the mid-fuselage), with full provisions and survival gear, were lost or destroyed in the ditching.

All survivors were burned as they swam away from the wreckage, with S/Sgt. George E. Wright and Lt. Erenberg suffering multiple lacerations, and the Lieutenant also having multiple fractures in both hands. The radar operator, S/Sgt. William W. Roberts, also escaped from the tail section, but was seen only once and could not be rescued in time. S/Sgt. William P. Stovall (probably the least severely injured, based on his 1996 obituary) secured the two one-man life rafts, placing Sgt. Lawrence W. Beecroft in one and S/Sgt. Wright in another, eventually – with very great difficulty – lashing the two rafts together. Though the MACR is ambiguous on this point, it seems (?) that S/Sgt. Stovall and the other crewmen somehow placed Lt. Erenberg in (or upon?) the two rafts, with Stovall and Beecroft administering first aid as best they could to the navigator and right gunner, with the limited medical supplies on hand.

The two rafts were first spotted by Lt. Colonel Douglas C. Northrop (killed in action April 27, 1945, upon bailing out over Agrihan Island), Squadron Commander of the 877th Bomb Squadron, who circled the rafts until the arrival of a “Dumbo” air-sea rescue B-17G. The Dumbo dropped a raft and emergency equipment, but the raft was faulty and could not be inflated (? – !) and as a result, the survivors couldn’t retrieve most of the survival gear. Nevertheless, the Dumbo circled the men until about 1830K, when a destroyer arrived and rescued the four men. They had been in the water for over twelve hours.

Further information about the loss of Pacific Union can be found in the essay The Ditching of Lt. McGregor’s B-29 Crew – 23 January 1945, where it’s stated, “… Capt. L.L. Cox and crew of A Square 2, 869 Squadron had to abort the mission less than an hour out of Saipan, due to a malfunctioning engine. As Cox left the loose formation to return to base, he dropped down about 300 feet and salvoed his bombs. It was established later that the bombardier had apparently pulled the pins on the bombs before takeoff; consequently they went off when they hit the water. Since Cox’s ship was directly above the explosions, the bomb blasts caused the aircraft to crash. All but 4 members were killed and when those four were rescued, two were so badly injured and burned that they were returned to the U.S. immediately. This incident was included as part of the 73rd Bomb Wing debriefing after that mission, and directive was published warning all bombardiers not to pull the pins on the bombs until an altitude of at least 5000 feet had been reached.”

Notably, the MACR gives the B-29s altitude at the moment when it was struck by fragments from its own bombs as 900 feet, versus 300 feet in McGregor’s account. Similarly, the MACR doesn’t make any reference to the bombs having been armed prior to being jettisoned. The crewmen returned to the United States for medical treatment were Jack Ehrenberg and almost certainly George E. Wright.

You can download and read a verbatim transcript of the report about the crew’s ditching here.

A photo of the Cox crew can be found at the FindAGrave biographical profile of William P. Stovall, one of the Pacific Union’s four survivors. The image was uploaded by Sam Pennartz, who has contributed much biographical information about veterans and military casualties to FindAGrave, and, the National WW II Memorial. The men’s names are listed below the photo.

Rear, left to right

1 Airplane Commander: Cox, Leonard Leronza, Capt., 0-422385, Duncan, Ok.
2 Unknown
3 Co-Pilot: Donham, Charles Comer, Jr., 2 Lt., 0-683665, Houston, Tx.
4 Navigator: Ehrenberg, Jack R., 1 Lt., 0-793992, Passaic, N.J. – Survived
5 Flight Engineer: Contos, Charles C., 2 Lt., 0-868100, Chicago, Il.

Front, left to right

1 Gunner (CFC): Crane, Frank Joseph, S/Sgt., 16007692, Oshkosh, Wi.
2 Gunner (RBG): Beecroft, Lawrence William, Sgt., 32069587, Newark, N.J. – Survived [Shot down and captured 6/1/45; Murdered 7/21/45]
3 Gunner (LBG): (Wright, George E., S/Sgt., 38043673) – Survived
4 Radio Operator: Griffith, Melvin L., S/Sgt., 15342793, University City, Mo.
5 Radar Operator: Roberts, Willard Wayne, S/Sgt., 37245181, Kirksville, Mo.
6 Gunner (Tail): Stovall, William Peter, S/Sgt., 6563342, Kansas City, Mo. – Survived

Here’s the same photo, as printed in a halftone format in The Long Haul: The Story of the 497th Bomb Group (VH). Like all crew photos in that book, the only text associated with the image is the crew commander’s name, all other crewmen being anonymous. Then again, even the identity of the crew commander (front row? back row? far left? kneeling? far right?) isn’t actually specified for any image.

Prior to being assigned to the 497th Bomb Group, Captain Cox was a First Lieutenant in the 324th Bomb Squadron of the 91st Bomb Group (8th Air Force), in which he piloted B-17F 42-29921, Oklahoma Okie. The picture showing Lt. Cox and Okie is Army Air Force photograph 79288AC / A12688, and was taken at Bassingbourne, England, on June 16, 1943.

William P. Stovall, born in 1918, died in 1996 at the age of 77. According to his obituary in The Independent-Record (of Helena, Montana) of March 3 1996, he was the only crew member of the Pacific Union who was uninjured in the plane’s ditching; he ultimately completed approximately 25 missions.

Sgt. Beecroft was infinitely less fortunate. Eventually having recovered from his injuries, he resumed combat flying. Almost six months later, he was shot down during the Osaka mission of June 1, 1945, while flying in the crew of 1 Lt. Franklin W. Crowe aboard B-29 42-65348 (A square 16). Seven of the plane’s eleven crew members were killed in the bomber’s crash (at the foot of Mount Sanjogadake, in the Omine Mountains, Tenkawa-mura, Yoshino-gun, Nara-ken), and four were captured. The latter were Sgt. Beecroft, Central Fire Control Gunner M/Sgt. Alvin R. Hart, Bombardier 1 Lt. Harrison K. Wittee, and Radar Operator S/Sgt. Russell W. Strong. As immediately evident from biographical information at FindAGrave, as well as Doug’s extensive research and documentation concerning the 497th Bomb Group, and, 73rd Bomb Wing aviators who were captured by the Japanese, none of the four survived: They were murdered before the war’s end.

Though not the immediate subject of this post, the awful fate of those four survivors of A square 16 pertains to the larger topic of the fate of Allied POWs of the Japanese in general, and the that of Allied aviators in Japanese captivity, in particular. There’s an enormous (perhaps incalculably large?) body of historical information and literature on this topic, in print, on the Internet, in historical repositories such as the United States National Archives, and certainly in unpublished format among the personal records and memorabilia of the descendants of WW II servicemen. Suffice to say that while several hundred Allied aviator POWs did survive Japanese captivity, a very significant proportion of men who were initially captured and could have survived, did not.

This portrait of Sgt. Beecroft – as a Corporal – is by FindAGrave contributor William Duffy.

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Lieutenant (JG) Milton Harold Thuna

United States Navy, Patrol Bomber Squadron VPB-110

Paralleling the loss of Captain Fineman and Private Elefant in incidents unrelated to enemy activity, Navy Lieutenant (JG) Milton Harold Thuna (0-145553), a co-pilot, was killed in yet another non-combat aviation accident. The incident involved a PB4Y-1 Liberator (Bureau Number 63944) of Patrol Bomber Squadron 110 (VPB-110) in North Africa.

This image (via pinterest) is a very good representative view of a PB4Y-1.

As described at VPNavy.com (from on November 22, 2001) the aircraft , “…took off from Marrakech, French Morocco, on a ferry flight to Dakar, Senegal. No radio contact was made by plane after leaving vicinity of Marrakech Airport. At about 0900 GMT, Arab natives saw the plane break through the overcast at 2000 ft, in a shallow normal glide in vicinity of Tazmint, French Morocco. Witnesses reported the engines were not functioning properly. Shortly after becoming visible, the plane was seen to catch fire and explode, detaching pieces of the aircraft. It was seen to go out of control immediately following the explosion. Examination of the wreckage at the scene of the crash showed that the portion of the port wing outboard of the aileron became detached in the air, landing three-hundred yards from the main body of the wreck. It was also found that the plane’s rudders and vertical tail surfaces became detached in the air, being found in an area approximately three-hundred yards from the main body of the wreck.”

Besides Lt. Thuna, the bomber’s crew comprised:

Pilot: Lt Ralph David Spalding, Jr.
Ensign Milo Junior Jones
AOM 2C James Thomas Hagedorn
ARM 2C Norman H. Lowrey
ARM 1C F.W. Riffe
AOM 3C Robert W. Baker
AMMF 3C Frank Andrew Lutz
AMM 2C Milford Dewitt Merritt
ARM 3C E.M. Lingar
AOM(T) 3C William E. Burns

Born in Brooklyn, New York on March 22, 1918, Lt. Thuna was the son of Helena Mendelsohn (11/9/88-11/13/74), who resided a 106-24 97th Street in Ozone Park. The origin of his surname is unknown. Perhaps it was that of his father, who I’ve thus far been unable to identify. The lieutenant is buried with six of his fellow crew members at Arlington National Cemetery, in Grave 16, Section 15.

News articles about Lt. Thuna appeared in The Leader-Observer on 5/21/42, 3/11/43, 3/25/43, The New York Sun on 2/19/45, and The Record 2/22/45, while his name can be found on page 461 of American Jews in World War II.

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Soviet Union / U.S.S.R. (C.C.C.Р.)
Red Army [РККА (Рабоче-крестьянская Красная армия)]

Bargman, Solomon Semenovich (Баргман, Соломон Семенович), Guards Junior Lieutenant (Гвардии Младший Лейтенант)
Machine Gun Platoon Commander (Командир Пулеметного Взвода)
16th Guards Mechanized Brigade
Born 1924
Killed in Action

Gofman, Aleksandr Volfovich (Гофман, Александр Вольфович), Sergeant (Сержант)
Armor (Radio Operator – Gunner) (Радист-Пулеметчик) – T-34
68th Tank Brigade
Born 1924, city of Korets, Rovenskiy Raion
Killed in Action
Buried in Poland

Kofman, Shalim Shavelevich (Кофман, Шальим Шавельевич), Lieutenant (Лейтенант)
Rifle Company Commander (Командир Стрелковой Роты)
449th Rifle Regiment, 144th Rifle Division
Killed in Action
Born 1909

Layzer, Peresh Yakovlevich (Лайзер, Переш Яковлевич), Private (Рядовой)
Armor (Miner) (Минер)
32nd Tank Brigade
Born 1914, Struzhenskiy Raion
Died of wounds (умер от ран) at Mobile Surgical Field Hospital 492 (Хирурический Полевой Подвижной Госпиталь 492)
Buried in Hungary

Lev, Naum Aronovich (Лев, Наум Аронович), Captain (Капитан)
Chief, 1st Headquarters Staff (Начальник 1 Отделения Штаба)
5th Mountain Rifle Brigade
Born 1918
Killed in Action

Matskin, Volf Abramovich (Мацкин, Вольф Абрамович) Senior Lieutenant (Старший Лейтенант)
Rifle Platoon Commander (Командир Стрелкового Взвода)
314th Rifle Regiment, 46th Rifle Division
Born 1912
Killed in Action

Mikheylis, Yooriy Aleksandrovich (Михейлис, Юрий Александрович), Senior Lieutenant (Старший Лейтенант)
Machine Gun Company Commander (Командир Роты Автоматчиков)
216th Guards Rifle Regiment, 79th Guards Rifle Division
Killed in Action
Born 1924

Nirkis, Meer Ayzikovich (Ниркис, Меер Айзикович) Lieutenant (Лейтенант)
Rifle Platoon Commander (Командир Стрелкового Взвода)
1210th Rifle Regiment, 362nd Rifle Division
Born 1916
Killed in Action

Presman, Semen Alekseevich (Пресман, Семен Алексеевич) Junior Lieutenant (Младший Лейтенант)
Rifle Platoon Commander (Командир Стрелкового Взвода)
717th Rifle Regiment, 170th Rifle Division
Born 1922
Killed in Action

Segelman, Moisey Abramovich (Сегельман, Моисей Абрамович), Guards Major (Гвардии Майор)
Deputy Chief of Staff, also, Chief of Headquarters Operational Intelligence
(Заместитель Начальника Штаба он-же Начальник Оперативного Разведывательного Отдела Штаба)
2nd Guards Motorized Assault Engineer-Sapper Brigade
Born 1917, city of Tomsk
Killed in Action
Buried in Lithuania

Shlafman, Girgoriy Khaskelevich (Шлафман, Григорий Хаскелевич), Guards Lieutenant (Гвардии Лейтенант)
Machine Gun Platoon Commander (Командир Пулеметного Взвода)
265th Guards Rifle Regiment, 86th Guards Rifle Division
Killed in Action
Born 1924

Shmidberg, Arkadiy Nikolaevich (Шмидберг, Аркадий Николаевич), Guards Senior Sergeant (Гвардии Старший Сержант)
Armor (Gun Charger) (Заряжающий) – T-34
213th Autonomous Tank Brigade
Born 1910, city of Tulya
Killed in Action
Buried in East Prussia

Slutsker, Abram Lazarevich (Слуцкер, Абрам Лазаревич), Lieutenant (Лейтенант)
Machine Gun Platoon Commander (Командир Пулеметного Взвода)
187th Guards Rifle Regiment, 47th Guards Rifle Division
Died of Wounds
Born 1925

Tsap, Abram Lvovich (Цап, Абрам Львович), Captain (Капитан)
Political Agitator (Агитатор)
216th Guards Rifle Regiment, 79th Guards Rifle Division, 8th Guards Army
Killed in Action
Born 1902

Vanshteyn / Vaynshteyn, Veniamin Abramovich (Ванштейн/ Вайнштейн, Вениамин Абрамович), Lieutenant (Лейтенант)
Rifle Platoon Commander (Командир Стрелкового Взвода)
291st Rifle Regiment, 63rd Rifle Division
Born 1904
Killed in Action

Yakuboshvili, Lev Mototeevich (Якубошвили, Лев Мототеевич), Senior Sergeant (Старший Сержант)
Armor (Gun Commander) (Командир Орудия) – T-34
213th Autonomous Tank Brigade
Born 1925, city of Baku
Killed in Action
Buried in East Prussia

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Canada

Flight Officer Joseph Klatman

Royal Canadian Air Force, Number 1666 Heavy Conversion Unit

Flight Officer Joseph Klatman (J/39890), a navigator serving in No. 1666 Heavy Conversion Unit, Royal Air Force, was lost with his six fellow crewmen (all members of the RCAF) when their bomber, Lancaster I HK756, piloted by eighteen year old Flight Officer Victor Robert Adams, vanished during a “Sweepstake” mission on the evening of January 14-15, 1945. As described on page 156 of W.R. Chorley’s Bomber Command Losses (covering Heavy Conversion Units, and, Miscellaneous Units), the aircraft, took off, “…from Wombleton as part of a force of one hundred and twenty-six aircraft, drawn from the training units, ordered to sweep across the North Sea in the hope of luring the Luftwaffe into the air. Lost without trace.”

This document, from F/O Klatman’s Service File, found in “World War II Records and Service Files of War Dead (Canada), 1939-1947”, at Ancestry.com (not a plug; just stating the source), dated September 30, 1947, summarizes the extent of information available concerning the loss of Lancaster HK756: In effect and reality, none … whether in 1947 or 2023.

Bomber Command Losses notes that, “…F/O Adams RCAF was amongst the youngest bomber pilots to lose his life in the Second World War.” His RCAF Service File reveals that he was born in England on May 23, 1925.

Akin to all crew members of HK756, a letter verifying their son’s missing in action status was sent to F/O Klatman’s next of kin – in this case, his parents – by Squadron Leader Lewington at RCAF Station Wombleton. (Spelling uncertain.)

Born in Blati, Romania, on August 13, 1923, Joseph was the son of Samuel (1892-9/8/70) and Tuba “Toby” (Tipleatsky / Teplitzky) (1895-5/8/33) Klatman, and brother of Pearl, the family residing at 23 Brunswick Ave. in Toronto, Ontario. His civilian occupation prior to entering the RCAF was “shipper”.

These two photographic portraits of F/O Klatman are also present in his Service File. A review of Service Files shows that such images are typically – but not always! – found in Service Files for aviators, but rarely in Files for non-commissioned officers.

The upper photo was taken on February 17, 1943, but the lower photo is undated.

F/O Klatman’s name is commemorated on Panel 279 of the Runnymede Memorial, in Surrey, England, while his biography is found on page 40 of Part II of Canadian Jews in World War Two.

On the ground…

Private Leo Smith (Shomomenko)

Loyal Edmonton Regiment

Born in Gomel, Belarus, on September 21, 1918; a cleaner and presser in civilian life, Private Leo Smith (original surname Shomomenko), M/11468, died of wounds in Italy while serving in the Loyal Edmonton Regiment. He and his wife, Columba Gallina Smith (7/20/18-9/09), resided at 1117-5th Ave., in Calgary, Alberta, with their daughter Sylvia Susan, who was born on January 28, 1940. His parents were Abraham (12/10/98-5/8/91) and Rose (Kagansky) (7/17/99-9/21/82) Smith, his brother Allan, and his sisters Mary Gofsky and Pauline (a.k.a. “Polly”).

Pvt. Smith is buried at the Argenta Gap War Cemetery, at Ferrara, Italy (IV,E,12). His very brief biography appears on page 73 of Part II of Canadian Jews in World War Two.

Private Smith’s biographical profile at FindAGrave.com includes a transcript of a news article from The Calgary Herald of January 25, 1945, which concludes upon the statement, “A short time ago, Pte. Smith had cabled home that he was due to receive leave and expected to be home for the first time in nearly five years,” paralleling Canadian Jews in World War Two, which states, “A veteran of four and one-half years overseas, he was killed a few days before he was scheduled to return home on leave.” Neither the newspaper article nor Canadian Jews in World War Two could have elaborated upon the impetus for Pvt. Smith’s anticipated return to Canada, for this information was unknown to the public. However, with the passage of time, the advent of the internet, and the accessibility of World War II Records and Service Files of Canadian War Dead at Ancestry.com, more – much more, about a family during wartime – is revealed.

It turns out that Private Smith requested leave to visit his family, the result of a letter from his sister Polly of November 7, 1944. The original letter – probably having been returned to Pvt. Smith – is absent from the File, a verbatim transcript taking its place. Therein, Polly succinctly, frankly, and compellingly describes the effects of Leo’s absence upon his mother, daughter, and wife, notably (this is as revealing as it’s unsurprising, given the passage of almost five years of military service) intimating that her brother’s long absence had affected his marriage to Columba, suggesting that their marriage may have been under strain prior to his enlistment in the army. The letter is persuasive, poignant (very poignant), and powerful, and seems to have been compelling enough for the Canadian military to grant leave to Private Smith.

In a war of innumerable tragedies and countless ironies (but is that not so of all wars?), his return to his wife and family – to have taken place in early in 1945 – would never happen.

Time has passed. Private Smith’s parents, Abraham and Rose, passed away in 1991 and 1982, respectively; his wife Columba Smith in 2009. His daughter Sylvia Susan, four years old when her aunt Polly composed the letter to her father, would now in the year 2023 be eighty-three years old.

Here’s an image of the letter, from his Service File, followed by a transcript:

Nov 7/44
1610 – Scotland St.
Calgary

Dear Leo:

We received your air-mail letter to-day and I was sure happy to hear from you.

Leo dear, you must come home, there’s so much you must know. Mother is very ill and many a morning she can’t get out of bed. The doctor’s in the city don’t know what is wrong with her. She has been to every doctor and there is no cure, so we do not know how long she will hold out. The only thing she wants now is to see you home again and if you were to try to come home, she would have something to live for. But now she has nothing. She says for you to try to come home as soon as you can.

Sylvia does not quit talking about you every day and is waiting for the day her daddy is coming home. Edna’s husband is coming home this week and Betty Anne doesn’t quit talking about him and Sylvia wants to know when her daddy is coming home.

It is true of course that Columba has gone through very much but the only thing stopping her from telling you to come back is her pride. But she’s told me she still loves you. Leo, you just have to come back home and as soon as possible. Mother won’t last much longer if she hasn’t get to see you soon. For Mother’s and Dad’s and Sylvia’s sake you must come home. Leo dear, please try your hardest.

You may think these are big words for a little girl but I’m more grown up than Mary.

I am leaving for New York to the University June the end of June and hope to see you before I leave because I hardly know you. Please try to come home soon as I can’t stand seeing Mother going to pieces.

Love,
Polly

Mother sends all her love to you

Certified this is a true copy of a letter
dated 7 Nov 44 received by the petitioner
from his sister, Polly, 1610 Scotland St.,
Calgary Alta.

(R.R. Brown) Capt
Legal Officer
4 Cdn Rft Bn 1 CBRG

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References

Books

Burkett, Prentice “Mick”, The Unofficial History of the 499th Bomb Group (VH), Historical Aviation Album, Temple City, Ca., 1981

Chorley, W.R., Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses – Heavy Conversion Units and Miscellaneous Units, 1939-1947 (Volume 8), Midland Publishing, Hinckley, England, 2003

Dublin, Louis I., and Kohs, Samuel C., American Jews in World War II – The Story of 550,000 Fighters for Freedom, The Dial Press, New York, N.Y., 1947

Lundy, Will, 44th Bomb Group Roll of Honor and Casualties, 1987, 2004 (via Green Harbor Publications)

Mireles, Anthony J., Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945 – Volume 3: August 1944 – December 1945, McFarland & Company Inc., Publishers, Jefferson, N.C., 2006

Morris, Henry, Edited by Gerald Smith, We Will Remember Them – A Record of the Jews Who Died in the Armed Forces of the Crown 1939 – 1945, Brassey’s, United Kingdom, London, 1989

Swanborough, Gordon, and Bowers, Peter M., United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911, Funk & Wagnals, New York, N.Y., 1968

Canadian Jews in World War II – Part II: Casualties, Canadian Jewish Congress, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1948

The Long Haul : The Story of the 497th Bomb Group (VH), Newsfoto Pub. Co., San Angelo, Tx., 1947

40th Bombardment Group: A pictorial record of events, places, and people in India, China and Tinian from April 1944 through October 1945. Included are a few aerial views of Nippon, Singapore, Formosa and other exotic, far-off places, Newsfoto Pub. Co., San Angelo, Tx., 1945 (via Bangor Public Library)

Acknowledgment

Special thanks to Ari Dale for her translation of the inscription on Captain Sanford S. Fineman’s matzeva: “Thanks, Ari!”

Websites

The B-26 Marauder in US Navy and Marine Corps Service, at B26.com

May 13, 2017 459

Soldiers from New York: Jewish Soldiers in The New York Times, in World War Two: 1 Lt. Norman F. Hirsch (November 26, 1944) – I [Updated post… “New and Improved!”]

[Created “way back when” – in August of 2018 – this post – focusing on November 26, 1944 – has now been updated, with additional information primarily pertaining to the 8th Air Force’s mission to the Deurag-Neurag oil refinery at Misburg, Germany. New material comprises the following: 1) Crew lists for 8th Air Force B-24 losses, including airmen’s names, crew positions, serial numbers, home towns of residence, and indications about an airman’s ultimate fate (those who survived are denoted by a boldface surname), 2) Extracts from Luftgaukommando Reports pertaining to the location where an aircraft crashed, 3) ~~Mapple Apps~~ Apple Maps showing the locations of these crash sites, with the crash site denoted by a red oval, and – for reference – the target location at Misburg Nord denoted in blue, 4) For two lost B-24s – THE FIREBIRD and ARK ANGEL – images of pages from relevant Luftgaukommando Reports, from NARA, 5) Also from NARA, a few images of personal documents from B-24 crewmen who were casualties on the mission, 6) A few Army Air Force photographs from Fold3, 7) New images of B-24s Problem Child, and, ARK ANGEL. Plus, a small amount of commentary.

I’m aware, that in the world of 2021; an age dominated by the civilizationally corrosive oxymoron otherwise known as “social media” (Gee, thanks, Jack! Golly, thanks, Mark!), this post will appear to be extraordinarily long (hmmm… most of my posts are that way) but, well, so be it.

After all, the past is worthy of contemplation, and cannot be captured in a “Tweet”.

Then again, neither can nor should the present.

So, back to the post…!]

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There is more to “the news” than mere news.

Like a Matryoshka doll, the events of every age – whether of “man” in the abstract, or “men” as individuals – contain within themselves tales, within stories, within memories. Often, stories can be understood only long after they occurred: when participants and witnesses are few, or longer exist.

Such was the case on the 24th of February in the year 1945, when an obituary for Army Air Force aerial navigator 1 Lt. Norman F. Hirsch, killed in action over Germany on November 26, 1944, appeared in The New York Times.

As situated within a list of names of wounded servicemen from the New York Metropolitan area and northern New Jersey (the Times’ list having been derived from combined Army and Navy nationwide casualty lists comprising over 4,300 names), the reader could not – then – have known what occurred over Germany three months before: On November 26, during Eighth Air Force mission number 725, over 1,100 B-17s and B-24s, escorted by over 730 P-47s and P-51s, were dispatched to attack rail viaducts, marshaling yards and oil installations in western Germany, the latter target being the Deurag-Nerag Synthetic Oil Refinery, in Misburg, a district of Hannover.

Targets allocated to the heavy bombers on Mission 725 were as follows:

Altenbeken – Railroad viaduct: 118 B-17s
Bielefeld – Railroad marshalling yard: 36 B-17s
Bielefeld – Railroad viaduct: 240 B-24s
Gutersloh – Railroad marshalling yard: 37 B-17s
Hamm – Railroad marshalling yard: 266 B-17s
Hannover – Railroad marshalling yard: 26 B-24s
Herford – Railroad marshalling yard: 24 B-17s
Misburg – Deurag Industry oil refinery: 243 B-17s and 57 B-24s

…and…

Oosterhout, Netherlands – Leaflet drop: 8 B-17s and 6 B-24s

That day, American bombers were intercepted by approximately 500 Luftwaffe fighters. The 8th Air Force lost over 30 B-17s and B-24s, and 9 fighters, in turn claiming the destruction of over 130 German aircraft.

While Missing Air Crew Reports (MACRs) record the loss of 9 fighters (among the 55th, 78th, 339th, 355th, and 364th Fighter Groups), 1 F-5E reconnaissance Lightning (43-28619, of the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group), and 14 B-17 Flying Fortresses (among the 91st, 303rd, 305th, 351st, 381st, 388th, 390th, 398th, and 487th Bomb Groups), strikingly, the loss of 21 B-24 Liberators occurred only among three Bomb Groups – the 389th “Sky Scorpions” (1 aircraft), 445th (5 aircraft), and 491st “Ringmasters”, which lost 15 Liberators. Additionally, the 8th AF Historical Society notes the loss – for which there are no MACRs – of an additional three B-24s (among the 445th, 453rd, and 491st Bomb Groups) respectively through crash-landing, crashing, and abandonment by the bomber’s crew over Belgium.

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The emblem of the Ringmasters, from the US Militaria forum. The three-banded horizontal green-white-green pattern reflects the 491st’s group markings as displayed on their B-24s’ outer tails and rudders, following the Bomb Group marking system of the 8th Air Force’s 2nd Air Division.

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This toll of men and planes represented one of the heaviest losses incurred by an Army Air Force Combat Group during the Second World War, with the worst such event – resulting in the loss of 26 Liberators – befalling the 445th Bomb Group during a mission to Kassel, Germany, on September 27, 1944. (The initial cause of the 445th’s losses of September 27 was an error in radar navigation in the 445th’s lead Liberator, B-24J 42-51541, RN * H, piloted by Captain John H. Chilton, with Major Don W. McCoy as command pilot; neither man survived.) Another such incident, perhaps less widely known, was the 483rd Bomb Group’s loss of 14 B-17s during a mission to Memmingen, Germany on July 18, 1944, which included seven B-17s of the 816th Bomb Squadron.

The commonality of these incidents was that they were situations in which the German air defense network was able to detect, recognize, and exploit the absence of American escort fighters, directing its fighters to strike the temporarily undefended American Bombardment Groups, overwhelming the bombers’ combined defensive firepower through a succession of coordinated, tightly concentrated, and close attacks by multiple aircraft.

Thus, the loss of the Ringmaster’s 15 Liberators within the space of fifteen minutes, on November 26, 1944.

As part of the 8th Air Force’s B-24-equipped 2nd Bombardment Wing, the Ringmasters were sequentially the “last” combat group (preceded by the 389th and 445th Bomb Groups) allocated to bomb the Deurag-Neurag oil refinery.

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This map gives a sense of the the location of Hannover relative to other cities in northern Germany, as well as the Netherlands, Belgium, and France…

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…while this map shows the locations of Hannover and Misburg Nord relative to one another.

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Before the Misburg mission. (Well, long before the Misburg mission.) This photo – presumably taken by the Royal Air Force – shows the Deurag-Nerag Synthetic Oil Refinery as it appeared in 1942. The channel running parallel to the bottom of the image is the Stichkanal Misburg. For the purposes of this post, I’ve digitally “rotated” the photo (you can view the original at Fold3) such that its orientation is consistent with the refinery’s actual geography: Thus, “up”, or the “top” of your screen, is north, and “down”, or the bottom of your screen, is south.

Caption: “Synthetic plant at Misburg, Germany with monthly pre-attack capacity of 25,000 tons looked like this in 1942.” Print received January 1945 from Pub. Sec., AC/AS Intel. Used in January, 1945 issue of Impact. (Photo 55774AC – A22022 (1942)

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By the time the Group approached the target, the horizontal distance between the Ringmasters and the two preceding Groups had notably increased, diminishing the potential effectiveness of escort fighter coverage for all three Groups, as well as placing the 491st in a relatively isolated position relative to the remainder of the 2nd Bomb Wing as a whole.

At 1226 hours, the 491st had just turned at the I.P. (the “Initial Point”, an identifiable land mark about 20 miles more of less from a target, from which location a Group’s bomb-run would typically commence); in this case the Lower Saxon town of Wittingen, approximately 46 miles northeast of Hannover. Just prior to reaching this location, a large number of Luftwaffe fighters – approximately 150 to 200 aircraft – was seen southeast of the 491st’s formation. As stated in Ringmasters, “They [Luftwaffe fighters] made no move toward the Liberators but were “just playing around in the clouds” as if daring the Mustangs and Thunderbolts to come over and mix it up. The chance seemed too good to miss and the entire close fighter escort, consisting of 197 P-51s and 48 P-47s, went storming after the Germans, estimated at from 150 to 200 strong. In a matter of minutes they were fully engaged, leaving the B-24s on their own. Area coverage fighters, as noted above, had already been diverted to meet an earlier appearance of the enemy.”

The Group’s Air Commander (and Commanding Officer of the 854th Bomb Squadron) Lt. Col. Parmele – about whom possibly more in a future post – was immediately faced with the decision of whether to: “…uncover his three squadrons in the face of imminent enemy attack or to preserve the Group formation and meet the enemy with a united front. Realizing that superior bombing results could only be achieved by uncovering, he unhesitatingly ordered this maneuver.” The 491st thus commenced its bomb run. Then, a mishap occurred in the lead B-24 of the “low” – 854th – Bomb Squadron (Lt. Haney’s plane, #735, 6X * Z –): Within the already crowded nose of the plane, the nose gunner accidentally tripped the bomb toggle switch, which caused the B-24 to release its bombs. The rest of the 854th Bomb Squadron immediately followed suit, that entire squadron’s bomb load falling into open fields 15 miles from Misburg.

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After “a” Misburg mission. (But which mission?!) Dated as having been received on October 6, 1944 from the BPR (Bureau of Public Relations?) this reconnaissance photo shows the level of destruction incurred from aerial bombardment. While damage is readily apparent across the facility, particularly among the storage tanks, it seems that other parts of the plant are still relatively intact. Also, note the degree to which bombs have impacted on nearby farmland.

Akin to the previous image, this image has been rotated to conform to geographic north. As such, the very long southwest to northeast oriented shadows, particularly those projecting from infrastructure near the Stichkanal, suggest that the image was taken very late in the afternoon. Well, an afternoon.

Caption: “HITLER’S OIL PLANT AT MISBURG HIT HARD – Gutted installations and burned out storage tanks set the stage at the German synthetic oil plant at Misburg, near Hannover, after U.S. Army 8th Air Force heavy bombers had attacked it several times in the past few months. It was last attacked on 12 September 1944.” Negative received 10/6/44 from BPR, to accompany Press Release: “HITLER’S OIL PLANT AT MISBURG (Photo +54123AC – A22017)

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The image below, from Ringmasters, is captioned “The COs – Golf, Miller, Parmele”, but doesn’t specify “who” commanded “what”. While I can’t identify “Golf” and am uncertain of “Miller’s” identity (could he be Group CO Colonel Frederic H. Miller, Jr.?), “Parmele” is definitely Lt. Col. Charles C. Parmele of the the 854th. (In 2007, Edward Kamarainen, one of the six survivors of 853rd Bomb Squadron’s DORTY TREEK, wrote and published (via lulu.com) This Is War and We Are Prisoners of the Enemy, in which he states that the commander of the 853rd was Lt. Col. Harry Stephy.)

The German air defense network recognized the status and disposition of the 2nd Bomb Wing’s three trailing B-24 Groups, particularly the sudden vulnerability of the 491st. Thus, flak stopped, a prelude to attack by Luftwaffe fighters. As noted by Sal Leotta, Dead-Reckoning navigator in Lt. Haney’s crew (in a description and tone consistent with the above quote pertaining to the Group’s fighter escort), “After passing the Dummer Lake area we received many reports of enemy fighters. The mission continued until about 20 minutes before the IP when a large force of enemy fighters was sighted. Our fighter escort peeled off to intercept and stave off any attack on the bombers. I recall the subsequent air battle drifting off in the distance. Looking back later, it became obvious that this engagement was a ruse to strip us of our fighter escort.”

The impression arising from these accounts is that the 491st was – in effect and reality – left on its own, the escort fighters having been drawn away off in the pursuit and attack of nearby concentrations of Luftwaffe interceptors. Doubtless events could genuinely and sincerely have been perceived as such by the crews of the Ringmasters. (This comes across in Edwin Kamarainen‘s book.) However, it could be ventured that – given the sheer number of aircraft (American (732) and German) operating in a geographically limited airspace; the near-inevitable fluidity and complexity of aerial combat; the simple unpredictability inherent to any military engagement – a difference in perspective and priority vis-a-vis bomber crews and fighter pilots might well have been, and be, sadly inevitable. So… If you’re interested in more information about the 8th Air Force fighter engagements of November 26, 1944, you can find 38 combat reports for this mission (and 790 reports for other dates) at WW II Aircraft Performance.

In any event… As described in the Group’s mission report, “At 1240 hours approximately 100 E/A attacked the formation just south of Hannover. The attack was made by FW 190s in line astern formation mostly from 6 o’clock high and pressing attack to within 100 yards — Peeling off and coming in again from any angle — This attack lasted until 12:55 hrs. The squadrons were in trail when the attack started and the last squadron [853rd] was attacked first — Then the middle [854th] and finally the lead [855th] — The attack on the lead squadron was not intense and no A/C were lost from the squadron.” Again, Sal Leotta: “In what appeared to be seconds, the sky filled with enemy fighters and the high squadron (853rd BS) was literally blown out of the skies. Without a pause, we (854th BS) were the next target. They came at us about 10 to 20 abreast firing their cannons. During the attack I felt useless with no gun to fire. All I could do was to call out the positions of incoming bandits. In retrospect, I am amazed at the intensity, speed and success of the attack. It may have felt like an eternity but it actually was very swift, a matter of a few minutes. It happened so quickly that there was not time to pray or be frightened.”

In an indirect and sad way, the nature of the tactic employed by Jagdgeschwader 301 against the 491st is verified by a review of Missing Air Crew Reports for Ringmaster B-24 losses that day: These documents reveal that a slight preponderance (well, in a general sense) of aircrew casualties occurred among those airmen whose crew positions were situated in the rear of their aircraft – tail, waist, and ball turret gunners, while those situated in the front – pilots, navigators, bombardiers, and flight engineers – seem to have had a somewhat better chance of survival. Of the 16 491st B-24s that were lost, there were no survivors on three planes (Problem Child, ARK ANGEL, and Blue Circle) while in the B-24s piloted by Lieutenants Ecklund (853rd) and Lanning (854th), all crewmen but one survived the mission. In no case did a shot-down Ringmaster crew survive intact, though all crew members in two of the five 445th Bomb Group’s losses (both of the 703rd Bomb Squadron) survived the mission.

The bombers were attacked by Jagdgeschwader 301, a Luftwaffe fighter wing based at Stendal (110 miles east of Hannover), at the time equipped with FW-190A-8 and A-9 fighters. After the Wing’s three Gruppen downed 15 Ringmaster and then 5 445th B-24s (389th Bomb Group B-24J 44-10579 Pugnacious Princess Pat was shot down by flak), P-51s of the 2nd Scouting Force, followed by P-51s of the 339th, 355th, and 361st Fighter Groups, responding to radio calls, came to the defense of the Liberators, pilots of the three Fighter Groups respectively claiming 28, 21, and 23 enemy planes, these 72 aerial victories comprising FW-190s from JG 301, and, fighters from other Luftwaffe fighter wings.

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Combat in real time: This image, probably captured by a B-24’s automatic downward-facing camera, has photographically “captured” an FW-190 flying over Hannover. Paralleling the two above images of the Deurag-Nerag Synthetic Oil Refinery, I’ve photoshopifically “rotated” this image such that geographic north is “up” towards the top of your screen. This orientation was determined by comparing the layout of streets and other features in the photo (the original image at Fold3 has a typical horizontal format) to Apple Map views of Hannover.

The FW-190, flying south-southeast, is situated almost exactly halfway between the two puffy clouds in the left half of the image.

Caption: “A Nazi FW-190 wings over the Misburg area as U.S. 8th Air Force heavies, high overhead drop their lethal load on the oil refinery there 26 Nov 44.” Passed for publication 22 December 1944. Negative received 12/29/44 from BPR. (Photo 55593AC – A22019)

This’ll make it easier to see the FW-190: It’s a cropped view of the above photo, with the FW-190 in the very center of the image. Nothing on camouflage and markings, but hey, it’s an interesting and relevant picture.

So, where exactly is – more accurately, where was – the plane in relation to Hannover? This 2021 view reveals that the plane’s location – shown by the red circle – was directly over what appears to be the Stadtfriedhof (State Cemetery) Lindener Burg…

…as shown in the map below.

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The diagram below, from Ringmasters, illustrates the arrangement of the 491st’s formation as if viewed from above, with each aircraft identified by the pilot’s surname, the last three digits of its serial number, and its individual squadron code letter. (Edward Kamarainen noted that one 853rd Liberator – #341 (T8 * – W) – turned back because of radio failure.) Red boxes indicate aircraft shot down, with 1 Lt. Harold E. Lanning’s plane (blue box: Reluctant Dragon, 6X * I –, probably 42-95610) surviving the attack. Mortally damaged and with one waist gunner (S/Sgt. Lee A. Taylor) dead, its nine survivors safely parachuted near Brussels. Note that the lead (855th) squadron survived the mission intact.

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Lieutenant Hirsch was the navigator of an aircraft ironically named THE FIREBIRD (B-24J 42-110167; a camouflaged plane with squadron code T8 * – O), piloted by 1 Lt. Daniel C. Budd. There were two survivors from the plane’s crew of ten: right waist gunner S/Sgt. Frank Verbosky and left waist gunner S/Sgt. Thaddeus C. Jarosz, for whom postwar Casualty Questionnaires are conspicuously absent from the Missing Air Crew Report (MACR 10768) covering their plane’s loss.

Perhaps there was little for them to say.

Crash location as listed Luftgaukommando Report KU 3452:
Bredenbeck near Bennigsen; 20 km northwest of Hildesheim.

Budd, Daniel C., 1 Lt. – (0-797459), Falls Church, Va. – Pilot
Oury, Noel A., 2 Lt. – (0-1998532), Richmond, Va. – Co-Pilot
Hirsch, Norman F., 1 Lt. – (0-709375), Brooklyn, N.Y. – Navigator
Walker, Floyd A., Jr., 2 Lt. – (0-2058592), Des Moines, Ia. – Navigator (Nose)
Phelps, William F., 1 Lt. – (0-706899), New London County, Ct. – Bombardier
Brock, Vernon R., T/Sgt. – (36458670), Albion, Mi. – Flight Engineer
Bemis, Elmer H., T/Sgt. – (31261913), Marlboro, Ma. – Radio Operator
Verbovsky, Frank, S/Sgt. – (32911685), North Bergen, N.J. – Gunner (Right Waist) (Survived)
Jarosz, Thaddeus C., S/Sgt. – (31362327), Laurence, Ma. – Gunner (Left Waist) (Survived)
Crane, Thomas R., S/Sgt. – (32757283), Salem, N.J. – Gunner (Tail)

As reported in the Luftgaukommando Report, the bomber crashed 20 kilometers northwest of the town of Hildehseim, at “Bradenback near Bemimgsen”. (The correct spellings should be “Bredenbeck” and “Bennigsen”.) Curiously, MACR 10768 lists aircraft as being assigned to the 853rd BS, as does “Ringmasters”, but B-24BestWeb designates plane as belonging to the 852nd BS. (Perhaps the plane was assigned to 853rd BS prior to the mission of November 26.)

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Here are pages from Luftgaukommando Report KU 3452. The degree of destruction of the plane is indicated by the near-complete absence of technical information about the wreckage, with the exception of one entry about radio equipment. Apparently, there was very little left.

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Lt. Hirsch, serial 0-709375, received the Air Medal and Purple Heart, and is buried in Section 24 of Arlington National Cemetery, in a collective burial with Lt. Budd, co-pilot 2 Lt. Noel A. Oury, flight engineer T/Sgt. Vernon R. Brock, and radio operator T/Sgt. Elmer H. Bemis. They presumably had flown all their prior missions together, as mentioned in Ringmasters by 853rd Squadron bombardier Vince Cahill: “It was a quiet hut that night. Pilots Budd and Orley, Navigator Hirsh [sic] and Bombardier “Shorty” were gone. I wondered if we would ever be lucky enough to complete our 35 missions. This was Budd’s crew’s 26th mission, four more to go for 30 and a complete tour.”

This photo of the mens’ collective grave is by FindAGrave contributor John Evans.

This photograph of THE FIREBIRD’s nose art is from B-24 Best Web…

…while this image is from the 491st Bomb Group website, now available through Archive.org’s “Wayback Machine”.

…and this image, taken on May 13, 1944, is from the Flickr photostream of the San Diego Air and Space Museum.

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Lt. Hirsch’s obituary, as published in The New York Times on February 24 (and in the Brooklyn Eagle on February 21, 1945), follows:

Killed While in Action In Battle of Germany

First Lieut. Norman F. Hirsch of the Army Air Forces was killed in action over Germany on Nov. 26, the War Department informed his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Reuben [and Esther] Hirsch of 416 Ocean Avenue, Brooklyn, on Jan. 26, it was announced yesterday. Twenty-three years old, Lieutenant Hirsch held the Air Medal, was a Liberator navigator with the Eighth Army Air Force in England and had flown thirty-five missions.

Born in Elizabeth, N.J., Lieutenant Hirsch attended Brooklyn College and City College and was a senior in the latter institution when he enlisted in 1942. He began his air training in 1943 and received his wings in 1944.

His father is a lawyer. Besides his parents, he leaves a brother, Second Lieut. William J. Hirsch of the Fifteenth Army Air Force in Italy.

The New York Times 2/24/45 (obituary), Casualty List 3/14/45
Brooklyn Eagle 2/21/45 (obituary), 5/16/46, 5/17/46, 6/6/46, 6/10/46
American Jews in World War II – 345

Here’s a contemporary view of 416 Ocean Parkway, from Jeff Reuben’s Flickr photostream.

Over a year later, the Brooklyn Eagle would carry two brief news items mentioning Lt. Hirsch, both mentioning a Jewish War Veterans Post named in his honor, which met at Congregation Ahavath Israel and Talmud Torah of East Midwood, at 2818 Avenue K in Brooklyn.

May 16, 1946

Three years ago a certain Brooklyn College student left behind classroom and books to enlist in the army and did not return. Tonight one of his former instructors, Prof. Louis A. Warsoff, will speak at an open meeting to be held by the Jewish War Veterans post named for the student, Norman F. Hirsch. Professor Warsoff will speak on “The World of Tomorrow” at the session of the Lt. Norman F. Hirsch Post, Congregation Ahavath Israel, 2818 Avenue K.

June 6, 1946

Annual memorial services will be held at 8:30 p.m. Sunday in Congregation Ahavath Israel, 2818 Avenue K. Participating will be members of Flatlands Post, American Legion, and Lt. Norman F. Hirsch Post, Jewish War Veterans.

This Flickr image, by Matthew X. Kiernan, is a 2012 view of the schul, now the home of Young Israel of Avenue K.

Some other Jewish military casualties on Sunday, November 26, 1944 (10 Kislev 5705), include…

Killed in Action
– .ת.נ.צ.ב.ה. –

United States Army Air Force

8th Air Force

445th Bomb Group, 701st Bomb Squadron

Bailey, Herbert Edward, 2 Lt., 0-712477, Navigator, Air Medal, Purple Heart
Mr. and Mrs. Meyer E. [7/22/97-10/10/65] and Marion T. [1902-2/12/60] Bailey (parents), Alan P. Bailey (brother), 100 Laurel Road, New Haven, 13, Ct.
Born Hartford, N.Y., 6/17/23
MACR 10754, Luftgaukommando Report KU 3366, Aircraft B-24H 42-94940 (The Green Hornet), Pilot 2 Lt. William K. Boykin, 9 crew – 3 survivors
Ardennes American Cemetery, Neupre, Belgium – Plot D, Row 24, Grave 21
American Jews in World War II – 61

Statement in MACR: “Ship #940 was jumped by fighters after bombs away and started going down. Four (4) chutes were observed. Plane was not on fire and seemed under control.”

Crash location:
In MACR: 15 miles southeast of Hannover
In Luftgaukommando Report: Sorsun, 10 km southwest of Hildesheim

Boykin, William L., Jr., 2 Lt. – (0-772784), Philadelphia, Pa. – Pilot
Tubergen, Gary V., Jr., 2 Lt. – (0-821812), Plymouth, Mi. – Co-Pilot
Bailey, Herbert E., 2 Lt. – (0-712477), New Haven, Ct. – Navigator
Price, Junius C., T/Sgt. – (34644499), Florence, S.C. – Flight Engineer (Survived)
Welch, Donald N., T/Sgt. – (35549094), Lima, Oh. – Radio Operator (Survived)
Gutowsky, Joe A., S/Sgt. – (36262079), Racine, Wi. – Gunner (Nose)
McFadden, Walter C., S/Sgt. – (33679986), Grove City, Pa. – Gunner (Waist) (Survived)
Crespolini, Americo A., S/Sgt. – (33609563), Old Forge, Pa. – Gunner (Waist)
Craig, Otis D., S/Sgt. – (32956491), Wilmington, De. – Gunner (Tail)

____________________

This is an image of Herbert Bailey before he became “Lieutenant” Bailey: It’s his graduation portrait from the Milford, Connecticut, (junior?) high school class yearbook of 1939, via Ancestry.com.

Here’s Lt. Bailey’s Officer’s Identification Card. Note that the card is designed to be twice folded, enabling it to fit inside a wallet.

While certainly hardly every Luftgaukommando Report includes this type of document, in terms of the materials that can be found in these Reports, Officer’s Identification Cards tend to be among the more common items. Note that information is limited to name, serial number, date of birth, height, weight, hair and eye color, and a set of fingerprints, and the card’s serial number – the latter not identical to the officer’s military serial number. No information is present concerning next of kin or place-of-residence.

Herbert Bailey’s Army and Navy Officer’s Club (of Beverly Hills, California) dated March 25, 1944.

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And, a newspaper clipping, undated. Crumpled and torn, but still intact.

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T/Sgt. Junius C. Price was one of the three survivors of The Green Hornet. This is his Individual Issue Record of flying equipment, which appears to have been assigned to him on May 27, 1944. Some of these items are described and illustrated in Gordon Rottman’s 1993 book (published by Osprey) US Army Air Force: 1.

____________________

Sgt. Price’s Merit Award, dated May 20, 1944.

____________________

And, his Class “A” Pass from Biggs Field, Texas, dated June 30 of that year.

__________

Levy, Robert D., 2 Lt., 0-825915, Co-Pilot
Mrs. Gertrude Levy (mother), 4917 B Street, Philadelphia, Pa.
MACR 11214, Luftgaukommando Report KU 3386, Aircraft B-24J 42-50467, Pilot 1 Lt. John D. Barringer, 9 crew – no survivors
Possibly from Hamilton County, Tennessee
Nashville National Cemetery, South Madison, Tn. – Section MM, Graves 64-64A-65; Buried 4/24/50
American Jews in World War II – Not listed

Statement in MACR: “Ship #467 was jumped by fighters and two (2) chutes were seen coming out of the plane. This ship was under control at the time.”

Crash location:
In MACR: 15 miles southeast of Hannover
In Luftgaukommando Report: “Hammerswald” (probably Hämelerwald) near Peine / 6 km east of Lehrte

Barringer, John D., Jr., 1 Lt. – (0-763904), Nashville, Tn. – Pilot
Levy, Robert D., 2 Lt. – (0-825915), Philadelphia, Pa. – Co-Pilot
Juliano, Paul J., F/O – (T-126230), Niagara Falls, N.Y. – Navigator
Brunswig, Norman F., 2 Lt. – (0-722691), Rock Island, Il. – Bombardier
Black, Joseph F., S/Sgt. – (39414426), Fort Smith, Ar. – Flight Engineer
Sullivan, Eugene J., S/Sgt. – (11069588), North Cambridge, Ma. – Radio Operator
Lyons, Roland C., Jr., Sgt. – (33543987), Portsmouth, Va. – Gunner (Waist)
Personette, Eldon R., Sgt. – (37568985), Minneapolis, Mn. – Gunner (Waist)
Vance, William J., Jr., Sgt. – (34778642), Asheville, N.C. – Gunner (Tail)

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491st Bomb Group, 853rd Bomb Squadron

Negrin, Carl, Sgt., 32823090, Right Waist Gunner, Purple Heart
MACR 10762, Aircraft B-24H 41-28884 (T8 * – X / Problem Child), Pilot 2 Lt. John P. Hite, 9 crew – no survivors
Born 7/17/24, Rochester, N.Y.
Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Joseph [1895-?] and Esther [12/4/97-10/63] Negrin (parents)
Mrs. Sarah M. Lindenfeld (sister), 509 Hegeman Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mr. Michael Negrin (brother) [5/5/34-12/22/00]
Labety and Zacharia Negrin (half-brothers)
Place of Burial unknown
American Jews in World War II – 398

Aircraft crash location unknown.

Hite, John P., 2 Lt. – (0-448833), Christiansburg, Va. – Pilot
Volden, Morris J., 2 Lt. – (0-689416), Cottonwood, Mn. – Co-Pilot
O’Brien, Thomas R., 2 Lt. – (0-2062692), Maspeth, N.Y. – Navigator
Sutton, Bill H., Jr., 2 Lt. – (0-780446), Little Rock, Ak. – Bombardier
Tykarsky, Edward B., Sgt. – (13108280), West Alliquippa, Pa. – Flight Engineer
Weible, Kenneth F., Sgt. – (37356037), Chappell, Ne. – Radio Operator
Negrin, Carl, Sgt. – (32823090), Brooklyn, N.Y. – Gunner (Right Waist)
Marko, Andrew, Sgt. – (31409763), Bridgeport, Ct. – Gunner (Left Waist)
Wagers, Harold R., Sgt. – (35872381), College Corner, Oh. – Gunner (Tail)

Two in-flight views of Problem Child (images UPL 17514 and UPL 17515, respectively) from the McCool collection, via the American Air Museum in England…

…and the nose art of Problem Child, from the FindAGrave biography of S/Sgt. Harold R. Wagers, contributed by Jap Veermeer.

______________________________

Starr, Irving B., S/Sgt., 32995257, Nose Gunner, Air Medal, Purple Heart
MACR 10764, Luftgaukommando Report KU 3385, Aircraft B-24J 44-40073 (T8 * – B / ARK ANGEL), Pilot 1 Lt. David N. Bennett, Jr.; 9 crew – no survivors
Mrs. Dora E. Starr (mother), 54 Lott Ave., Brooklyn, 12, N.Y.
Place of Burial unknown
American Jews in World War II – 453

Statement in MACR: “Aircraft came up from High Squadron and joined Lead Squadron after attack by enemy aircraft. Martin turret was missing and there was large hole in right wing. Last seen at 1258 hrs losing altitude. No chutes were seen.”

Crash location:
In Luftgaukommando Report:
1) 3 km south of Oerrie
2) 15 km northwest of Hildesheim
Or, Between Jeinsen and Oerie, 5 km west of Sarstedt

Bennett, David N., Jr., 1 Lt. – (0-686214), Norwood, N.C. – Pilot
Blount, Jessie F., 2 Lt. – (0-710548), Gainesville, Tx. – Co-Pilot
Engel, George B., 2 Lt. – (0-723332), Pittsburgh, Pa. – Navigator
Warford, Norman G., T/Sgt. – (35703424), Frankfort, Ky. – Flight Engineer
Patrick, Peter, Jr., T/Sgt. – (33741746), East Point, Ky. – Radio Operator
Starr, Irving B., S/Sgt. – (32995257), Brooklyn, N.Y. – Gunner (Nose)
Hixson, Charles E., S/Sgt. – (34505462), Cleveland, Tn. – Gunner (Right Waist)
McKee, Raymond O., S/Sgt. – (38199681), East Baton Rouge, La. – Gunner (Left Waist)
Stovall, Henry P., S/Sgt. – (35869219), Beckley, W.V. – Gunner (Tail)

____________________

Here’s Luftgaukommano Report KU 3385. It closely parallels that for THE FIREBIRD, in that virtually nothing remained of ARK ANGEL for evaluation and salvage.

____________________

__________

1 Lt. David N. Bennett, Jr. and his crew, in an image from Ringmasters. The crewmen are unidentified, but Lt. Bennett, co-pilot Lt. Jessie Blount, navigator Lt. George Engel, and flight engineer T/Sgt. Norman Warford, are probably standing at rear. (The crew did not fly with a bombardier during the Misburg mission.) This B-24 bears nose-art inspired by an Albert Vargas pin-up from Esquire.

__________

The Ark Angel, as depicted by artist Mark Rolfe, in Robert F. Dorr’s B-24 Liberator Units of the Eighth Air Force…

A color image of ARK ANGEL (via the American Air Museum in England) taken in the summer of 1944…

__________

The nose art of ARK ANGEL, from Ringmasters…

__________

An in-flight view of ARK ANGEL, also from the 491st Bomb Group website, now accessible via Archive.org’s “Wayback Machine”. (On this aircraft, oddly, the 491st Bomb Group identification letter – a white “Z” within a black circle, atop the outer right wing – has been painted in reverse.)

__________

The story of the ARK ANGEL presents a mystery…

As is typical for MACRs covering aircraft lost in the European and Mediterranean Theatres of War (those for aircraft and airmen known to have been accounted for and identified by German investigators, which entailed the compilation of Luftgaukommando Reports), ARK ANGEL’s MACR (10764) includes the English-language translation of the above-illustrated Luftgaukommando Report (KU 3385). This includes documentation for every airman determined or believed to have been aboard the plane.

As such (see above) KU 3385 lists the names of:

Blount, Jessie F., 2 Lt.
Engel, George B., 2 Lt.
Warford, Norman G., T/Sgt.
Patrick, Peter, Jr., T/Sgt.
Starr, Irving B., S/Sgt.
McKee, Raymond O., S/Sgt.

While the names of…

Bennett, David N., Jr., 1 Lt.
Hixson, Charles E., S/Sgt.
Stovall, Henry P., S/Sgt.

…are absent.

But, one of the “Report of Capture of Member of Enemy Air Forces” forms in KU 3385 lists the name and serial number of a member of the United States Woman’s Army Corps: Her name: Ida Rosenfield, serial A-202639.

Here’s a translation of the above document, from MACR 10764.

However!… A check of all relevant historical databases reveals that while an Ida Rosenfield definitely existed and served in the Army (she was born in New York in 1924, and enlisted at Caspar, Wyoming in 1943), she probably never left the continental United States to begin with.

According to records at Ancestry.com, she seems (?) to have been the daughter of Fred and Elizabeth (Di Pillo) Rosenfield (and sister of Estelle, Leon, Nathaniel, Pearl, and Theresa), who owned a store at 2875 Butler Ave., in the Bronx.

Who was Ida Rosenfield? How did German investigators discover her name? Was she the girlfriend or fiancée of a member of ARK ANGEL’s crew – perhaps S/Sgt. Starr, as he was from Brooklyn? Might he have carried her dog-tag as a sign of friendship, affection, or much more? I don’t know. The answer has assuredly been lost to time.

______________________________

Steinman, Elmer, S/Sgt., 32775794, Tail Gunner, Air Medal, 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart, 32 missions
MACR 10763, Luftgaukommando Report KU 3390, Aircraft B-24H 41-29464 (The Unlimited), Pilot 1 Lt. Charles W. Stevens, 9 crew – 5 survivors
Born 6/7/22, Bayonne, N.J.
Mr. and Mrs. Abraham / Abram (Yudel) [8/8/86-11/8/62] and Anna / “Annie” (Kronitz) [11/18/86-2/28/79] Steinman (parents), 18 Linden Ave., Bayonne, N.J.
Edith and Meyer (brother and sister)
Mount Moriah Cemetery, Fairview, N.J. – Section D03, Section D; Buried 5/29/49
American Jews in World War II – 256

Crash location in Luftgaukommando Report:
1) Hannover / near Huepede
2) 3 km southwest of Pattensen

Stevens, Charles W., Jr., 1 Lt. – (0-811461), Charlotte, N.C. – Pilot (Survived)
Thornburg, Brice E., 1 Lt. – (0-813609), Davidson, N.C. – Co-Pilot (Survived)
McCarty, David W., 1 Lt. – (0-702065), New York, N.Y. – Navigator (Survived)
Boyer, Joseph L., T/Sgt. – (37261239), Mullen, Ne. – Flight Engineer
Dechaine, Joseph P., T/Sgt. – (31215932), Waterville, Me. – Radio Operator (Survived)
Ryan, Troy L., S/Sgt. – (34622806), Balwyn, Ms. – Gunner (Nose)
Shepherd, Elmore W., S/Sgt. – (32755264), Virgilina, Va. – Gunner (Right Waist)
McJimsey, John D., Jr., S/Sgt. – (38387667), Bethany, La. – Gunner (Left Waist) (Survived)
Steinman, Elmer, S/Sgt. – (32775794), Bayonne, N.J. – Gunner (Tail)

Infantry

Brodsky, Milton, Cpl., 32707024, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart
United States Army, 821st Tank Destroyer Battalion, B Company
Born 1916
Mrs. Norma Brodsky (wife), 495 Vermont St., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Holland – Plot C, Row 6, Grave 12
Casualty List 4/3/45
American Jews in World War II – 284

____________________

Feldblum, Charles V., Pvt., 31373724, Purple Heart (Germany)
United States Army, 104th Infantry Division, 414th Infantry Regiment, C Company
Born April 14, 1925
Mr. Harry J. Feldblum (father), #9 Pleasant St., Hillsboro, N.H.
Beth Jacob Cemetery, Concord, N.H.
American Jews in World War II – 224

A photo by FindAGrave contributor bhd, of Pvt. Goldblum’s matzeva, at Beth Jacob Cemetery…

____________________

Gollender, Warren, Pvt., 19132367, Purple Heart (Germany)
United States Army
Mr. and Mrs. Albert and Rae Gollender (parents), Morton (brother), 63-109 Saunders St., Forest Hills, N.Y.
Mount Ararat Cemetery, Farmingdale, N.Y. – Section 25, Range I, Lot 22 (?); Buried 11/23/47
Casualty List 2/17/45
The New York Times (Obituary Section) 11/22/47
American Jews in World War II – 329

Greenblatt, Morris, PFC, 39715208, Purple Heart
United States Army, 35th Infantry Division, 134th Infantry Regiment
Born August 29, 1925
Mrs. Annie Greenblatt (mother), 1467 Canfield Ave., Los Angeles, Ca.
Beth Olam Cemetery of Hollywood, Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery, Los Angeles, Ca. – Section 14, Row J, Grave 41
Casualty List 2/14/45
American Jews in World War II – 45

Lewis, Leonard Sidney, PFC, 35927001, Purple Heart (France)
United States Army
Born 1919
Mr. and Mrs. Hyman and Sarah Lewis (parents), 290 Parkwood Drive, NE, Cleveland, Oh.
Martin, Sam, Mrs. Lillian L. Jacober, Mrs. Dorothy Rothman, Mrs. Adele Bass, and Mrs. Shirley Friedlander (brothers and sisters)
Mount Olive Cemetery, Cleveland, Oh.
Cleveland Press & Plain Dealer, 1/7/45, 1/8/45, 9/10/48
American Jews in World War II – 493

Merrill, Edwin J., T/4, 35608805, Radio Operator, Purple Heart
United States Army
DNB (“…as a result of injuries incurred in a vehicle accident.”)
Born April 11, 1924
Mr. Ralph Merrill (father), 1368 W. 64th St., Cleveland, Oh.
Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va. – Section 12, Grave 5906
Cleveland Press 1/12/45
American Jews in World War II – 495

______________________________

Sadowsky, Louis M. (Ari bar Moshe Yakov), Pvt., 33847832, Purple Heart (Germany)
United States Army, 5th Armored Division, 47th Armored Infantry Battalion
Born 6/20/14
Mrs. Marian Sadowsky (wife), 249 Atwood St., Pittsburgh, Pa.
Beth Abraham Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Matzeva unveiled 9/18/49
Casualty List 3/11/45
Jewish Criterion 9/7/45
American Jewish Outlook 9/9/49, 9/16/49
American Jews in World War II – 548

A photo by FindAGrave contributor Bill Bodkin, of Pvt. Sadowsky’s matzeva, at Beth Abraham Cemetery…

______________________________

Weiler, Arthur, 1 Lt., 0-1054299, Purple Heart
United States Army, 1st Infantry Division, 18th Infantry Regiment
Mrs. Caroline H. Weiler (wife), 1506 West 4th St., Wilmington, De.
Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Henri-Chapelle, Belgium – Plot H, Row 6, Grave 49
Jewish Criterion 2/14/45
American Jews in World War II – 74

______________________________

England

Sonenthal, Alfred, WO, 1814140, Wireless Operator
England, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, No. 131 Operational Training Unit
Aircraft: Catalina IVA (PBY-5A) JX252, Pilot Sgt. John Rew, 9 crew – no survivors
As described at Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives, “The crew was scheduled to land on the Lough Erne but due to a visibility reduced by foggy conditions, he misjudged Lake Navar with the Lough Erne. On approach, the seaplane hit a mountain and disintegrated. All nine crew members were killed.” (Data from BAAA.)
Crashed near Ely Lodge, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland (For additional information, see JoeLoughlin.com)

Crew: (All Royal Air Force)
Sgt. John Rew
F/Sgt. Noel George Edward Ladbrook
Sgt. Bernard Alfred Rosentreter
Sgt. Alfred Sonenthal
W/O Reginald William Shallis
Sgt. David Henry Pidgeon
Sgt. Kenneth Percy West
Sgt. Edmond Thomas Crow
Sgt. James Pringle
Mrs. H. Sonenthal (mother), 37 Garden Road, Dunstable, Beds., England
Enfield (Adath Yisroel) Cemetery, Middlesex, England – Section D, Row 1, Grave 30
The Jewish Chronicle 12/1/44
We Will Remember Them – A Record of the Jews Who Died in the Armed Forces of the Crown 1939 – 1945 – 228

In 2006, a memorial for the crew was visited by Joyce Hotson, fiancée of W/O Shallis, as reported in The Mirror (London). “CLOSURE: 62 YEARS LATER; EXCLUSIVE Joyce finally gets to grieve WWII airman who crashed on Ulster” (May 31, 2006)

A photo by FindAGrave contributor DerealJolo, of W/O Sonenthal’s matzeva, at Enfield Cemetery…

______________________________

France

Hertz, Andre (AC-21P-48961) (France, Haut-Rhin, Riesen)
France, Armée de Terre, 152eme Regiment d’Infanterie
Born 1/19/12
Benfeld, Bas-Rhin, France

Mochet, Marcel Louis, Soldat (AC 21 P 93870), Croix de Guerre (France, Territoire de Belfort, Bretagne / Montreaux-Chateau)
France, 21eme Regiment d’Infanterie Coloniale
Born France, Haute-Marne, Charmoy; 6/8/21
“On November 26, 1944, during a reconnaissance patrol on Montreux-Chateau, he was the first to search for a passage. He crossed a region flooded with water up to his belt. _____ on the opposite bank, where the enemy was not revealed, he went with a comrade to the first houses of the locality. He fell gloriously, avoiding by his sacrifice that his group would be caught in an ambush.”
[Le 26 novembre 1944, lors d’une patrouille de reconnaissance sur Montreux-Chateau, s’est mis le premier à l’eau pour rechercher un passage. A traversé une région inondée avec de l’eau jusqu’à la ceinture. Parve-un sur la rive opposée où l’ennemi ne se dévoilait pas, s’est porté avec un camarade aux premières maisons de la localité. Est tombé glorieusement, évitant par son sacrifice que son groupe ne soit pris dans une embuscade.]
Livre d’Or et de Sang – Les Juifs au Combat: Citations 1939-1945 de Bir-Hakeim au Rhin et Danube – 169
Information also at Memorial Gen Web

Mosseri, Nessim Lionel (AC 21 P 102408) (France, Haut-Rhin, Masevaux)
France , 1ere Groupe de C.D.O.S Legers de France
Born Sannen, Switzerland, 8/31/21

Slomsky, Armand, Second-Maitre, CC8 62 K 12505, Char (Fusilier), Croix de Guerre
France, Régiment Blindé de Fusiliers Marins
Born Moselle, France, 11/15/14
“Disappeared after having commanded his tank; burnt by the enemy’s fire to the last extremity.”
[Disparu aprés avoir commandé jusqu’à la derniére extrémité son char mis en flammes par le feu d l’ennemi.]
Livre d’Or et de Sang – Les Juifs au Combat: Citations 1939-1945 de Bir-Hakeim au Rhin et Danube – 169
Information also at Memorial Gen Web, and, 2ème Division Blindée de Leclerc

______________________________

Soviet Union

Red Army
РККА (Рабоче-крестьянская Красная армия)

Amelkin, Ilya Samoylovich – Lieutenant [Амелькин, Илья Самойлович – Лейтенант]
Infantry (Company Commander)
337th Rifle Division, 1127th Rifle Regiment
Died of wounds
Born 1919, in Saint Petersburg (Leningrad)
Mr. Solomon Mikhaylovich Amelkin (father)
Buried Arad, Rumania

Abramovich, Pavel Fedorovich – Guards Senior Lieutenant [Абрамович, Павел Федорович – Гвардии Старший Лейтенант]
Infantry (Rifle Company Commander)
Lightly wounded in action 6/14/42 (Southern Front, 353rd Rifle Division, 1145th Rifle Regiment)
Killed in action 11/26/44 (4th Guards Army, 41st Guards Rifle Division, 124th Guards Rifle Regiment)
Born 1921, in Dnepopetrovsk
Mrs. Mariya Moiseevna Abramovich (wife)
Buried Lanchok, Hungary

Dumay, Isay Borisovich – Junior Lieutenant [Думай, Исай Борисович – Младший Лейтенант]
Infantry (Mortar Platoon Commander)
113th Rifle Division, 1290th Rifle Regiment, Headquarters
Died of wounds
Born 1925, in Pervomansk, Odessa Oblast
Mrs. Esfir Izrailovna Dumay (wife)
Buried in Yugoslavia (Osevskaya region, Batinsky district)

Grishpun, Shaul Moiseevich – Guards Senior Lieutenant [Гришпун, Шаул Моисеевич – Гвардии Старший Лейтенант]
Infantry (Rifle Platoon Commander)
Wounded 8/25/41 (Southern Front)
Killed in action 11/26/44 (3rd Ukrainian Front, 20th Guards Rifle Division, 6th Autonomous Army Penal Company)
Born 1907, in Mogilev-Podolsk
Mrs. Anna Adolfovna Grinshpun (wife)
Buried in Hungary

Menster, Matvey Efimovich – Guards Lieutenant [Менстер, Матвей Ефимович – Гвардии Лейтенант]
Infantry (Platoon Commander)
228th Rifle Division, 767th Rifle Regiment
Died of wounds at Evacuation Hospital 3332
Born 1918
Mrs. P.P. Menster (wife)
Buried Lithuania (Kaunas district, Upper Shantsy, military cemetery, Grave No. 24A)

Morchik, Ruvik Davidovich – Senior Lieutenant [Морчик, Рувик Давыдович – Старший Лейтенант]
Infantry (Platoon Commander)
43rd Engineer-Sapper Brigade
Killed in action / Died of wounds
Born 1915, in Moscow
Relative – Ekaterina Mikhaylovna Derevyankina
Buried Hungary

Military Air Forces
VVS [Военно-воздушные cилы России – ВВС]

Kleyman (Клейман), Mordko Volfovich (Мордко Вольфович), Technician-Lieutenant [Техник-Лейтенант]
13th Air Army, 203rd Autonomous Corrective Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment [203 ОКРАП [Отдельный Корректировочно-Разведывательный Авиационный Полк]]
Two other crewmen – also killed – were…
Pilot: Lieutenant Vasiliy Pavlovich Kuznetsov (Лейтенант Василий Павлович Кузнецов)
Pilot-Observer: Junior Lieutenant Viktor Vasilevich Sovenko (Младшии Лейтенант Виктор Васильевич Совенко)
Aircraft lost (in accident?) in vicinity of Kirimäe, Estonia
Year and Place of Birth: 1920; city of Odessa
Mr. Volf Mordko Kleyman (father), Vostochnaya Street, city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Place of Burial: Estonia

This document is a “List of Irrecoverable Losses” for the 13th Air Army, dated 10 December 1944. Mordko Kleyman’s crew are listed as #4 (Kuznetsov), #5 (Kleyman), and #6 (Sovenko)…

Prisoners of War

United States Army Air Force

Aschendorf, Irving, F/O, T-127406, Navigator, Air Medal, 1 Oak Leaf Cluster, 12 missions
United States Army Air Force, 8th Air Force, 390th Bomb Group, 568th Bomb Squadron
MACR 11209, Luftgaukommando Reports KU 1160A and KU 3474, Aircraft B-17G 44-6491 (BI * Y / I’ll Be Around), Pilot 2 Lt. Gilbert A. Meyer, 10 crew – all survived
Prisoner of war at Stalag Luft I (Barth, Germany), North Compound 3
Mrs. Joan E. Aschendorf (wife), 1916 Robinson Ave. (or) 1818 Kendall St., Apt. E, Portsmouth, Oh.
Mrs. Francis (Marder) Aschendorf (mother), 1938 Green St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Casualty List (Liberated POW) 6/11/45
The Story of the 390th Bombardment Group (H) – 448
American Jews in World War II – Not listed

Some years ago, Mr. Aschendorf kindly shared with me memories of his experiences as a navigator and prisoner of war, as well as documents and photographs. Some of the latter are shown below…

Irving Aschendorf’s crew, during training in the United States. The plane is probably B-17G 42-102462, a Flying Fortress assigned throughout the war to various Army Air Force Base Units, which never left the continental United States and finally passed on to Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, in December of 1945.

Unfortunately, the image does not carry any names (albeit Irving is designated by the “x”), but the men, based on the crew list in MACR 11209 (the plane was lost with a crew of 9, as opposed to the ten men in the photo!), probably were:

Front (L-R)

2 Lt. Gilbert A. Meyer, Pilot
2 Lt. Alfred W. Burkhart, Co-Pilot
2 Lt. Dan W. Finlayson, Bombardier

Rear (L-R)

S/Sgt. Dale T. Westell, Radio Operator
S/Sgt. John L. Bartram, Flight Engineer
Sgt. Raymond W. Maul, Gunner (Ball Turret)
Sgt. Richard W. Kuerten, Gunner (Tail)
Sgt. Aaron E. Mickelson, Gunner (Waist)

__________

Irving. The chalked “6364” might represent a crew number.

__________

From KU 3474, here’s the document’s header sheet, listing seven of I’ll be Around’s ten crew members.

Here’s the English-language translation of KU 3474’s “Report on Captured Aircraft”, covering equipment in I’ll Be Around. While the data in this report is typical of technical information about American aircraft appearing in Luftgaukommando Reports, some Luftgaukommando Reports are very perfunctory in this regard, while others are vastly more detailed.

__________

This is the English-language translation of the Luftgaukommando Report (KU 1160A) listing Irving’s possessions at the time of his capture. Note that the information stamped on Irving’s dog-tag (serial number, and symbols for blood-type and religion) has also been recorded.

Here’s the original document, with Irving’s dog-tag still attached.

__________

Irving’s German Prisoner of War Kriegsgefangenenkartel – Prisoner of War [information] card. Though the card has numerous data entry fields, information in this example is relatively limited. Significantly, however, it includes two images of Irving (front and profile) taken shortly after his capture – with his German POW number (“6375”) – and thumbprint.

__________

A front photo…

__________

…and an (almost) side photo. It looks as if Irving has a half-smile: Humor? Defiance? Irony?

__________

Kuptsow, Aaron, 2 Lt., 0-710276, Radar Navigator, Air Medal
United States Army Air Force, 8th Air Force, 398th Bomb Group, 600th Bomb Squadron
MACR 11146, Luftgaukommando Report KU 3375, Aircraft B-17G 42-97740 (“N8 * Q”), Pilot Capt. Gene L. Douglas, 10 crew – all survived
Solitary confinement at Oberursel between 11/28 and 12/24/44. “To this day [2000], I don’t know if the length of my stay in solitary was because he [interrogator] really wanted that information [about frequency of H2X radar navigation system] or if it was because I was Jewish.”
POW at Stalag Luft I, Barth, Germany
Born 1922
Mrs. Anita L. Kuptsow (wife)
Mr. David Kuptsow (father), 3000 S. Sydenham St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Jewish Exponent 3/23/45
Philadelphia Record 3/9/45
Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Record 3/12/45, 6/1/45
American Jews in World War II – 534

____________________

Here the crew list in the header sheet for Luftgaukommando Report KU 3375.

____________________

And, something odd. A map of Lager Nürnberg Buchenbühl [Nuremberg Buchenbühl Camp] (prison camp?), which somehow became part of KU 3375. Buildings outlined in dark blue are correlated to the map key “geschäftszimmer” – translating as “business room”. How, and why, this map was incorporated into KU 3375 (it certainly wasn’t carried aboard N8 * Q!) is a matter of conjecture.

____________________

But, though the following paper may be surprising, there is no surprise as to why it’s found in KU 3385: This paper, text almost entirely in Yiddish, is a protective amulet or talisman which was carried by Lt. Kuptsow … perhaps on all his missions?

The “rear” of the paper (the “bottom” sheet, below) bears Aaron’s Hebrew name: אהרן בן דוד בן יהודת, which phonetically is pronounced “Aharon ben Dovid ben Yehúdes”, translating as “Aaron, son of David [his father] son of Yehuda“, Yehuda having been Aaron’s grandfather.

As to the front of the paper (the “top” sheet, above) which bears text arranged in boxes? An explanation follows, care of scholar and translator Avi Gold:

The contents are described in the following manner:

1. Above the large rectangle
2. Under the large rectangle
3. Three compartments on the right (a, b, c) with vertical writing
4. Three compartments on the left (a, b, c), also with vertical writing.
5. Three middle compartments (a, b, c) (with horizontal writing)
6. The one remaining thin compartment on the bottom with horizontal writing)

Hebrew Transcription

1. שמירה ; עזרי מעם ד’ עושה שמים וארץ
2. מהרב הצדיק המקובל ר’ משה טייטלבוים אב”ד אוהעל זצוק”ל ע”י נכדו הרה”צ ר’ משה ליפשיץ שליט”א
3a. ד’ ישמר צאתך ובואך
3b. ויעמד פנחס ויפלל ותעצר המגיפה
3c. ושם בת אשר שרח
4a. ד’ ישמרך מכל רע
4b. אבינו מלכנו מנע מגפה מנחלתך
4c. אימא דאברהם אמתלאי בת כרנבו
5a. בזה השער לא יבא צער, בזה הדלת לא יבא בהלת, בזה הפתח לא יבא רצח
5b. רבש”ע כשם שפסחת על בתי בני ישראל במצרים ולא נתת המשחית לבא אל בתיהם, כן תעצור המגפה מעלינו ומעל כל בני ישראל אמן.
5c. דא האט מען שוין געפאקט, געמוזעלט און געשרלכט
6. וישב אהרן אל משה אל פתח אהל מועד ומגפה נעצרה

English Translation

1. Protection (underlined); [under that word] My help is from God, Creator of Heaven and Earth

2. From the Righteous Mystical Rabbi, Rabbi Moshe Teitelboim, [otherwise known as the Yismach Moshe] Chief Judge of the Rabbinical Court of the town of Oyhel by his grandson, the Righteous Rabbi, Rabbi Moshe Lifshitz, Shlita [abbreviation meaning “May he live a long and good life, Amen”] [Thus, the talisman was presumably transcribed from a talisman authored by Rabbi Teitelboim, the original talisman dating to some time within the late 18th and early 19th centuries.]

3a. May God protect your going out and your coming in

3b. And Phineas stood and prayed, and the plague stopped [a verse from Psalms which refers to an event in the Torah, in the Book of Numbers, where Phineas is credited with stopping a plague which afflicted the Israelites in the desert]

3c. And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah [Serah, the daughter of Asher, appears in some midrashim as the female parallel to Elijah, and according to midrashic tradition she lived a very long life indeed: She was a young girl when Jacob and his family went down to Egypt, and she was an elderly woman when the Exodus took place centuries later! Several midrashim say that she was the one who helped Moses find the tomb of Joseph, because she remembered where his sarcophagus had been placed centuries earlier!]

4a. May God protect you from all evil

4b. O our Father, O our King, prevent plague from afflicting Your Land

4c. The mother of Abraham, Amtelai, daughter of Karnevo

5a. Through this gate, no sorrow will enter, through this door no terror will enter, through this entrance no murder will come. [In Hebrew, the three lines are meant to rhyme.]

5b. Master of the Universe, just as You protected the homes of the Israelites in Egypt and did not allow the destroyer to enter their homes, so too may the plague cease to afflict us and all of Bne Yisrael, Amen!

5c. Here one had already caught / packed (This is Yiddish, rather than Hebrew)

6. And Aaron returned to Moses to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and (the) plague ceased

According to Avi, “Interestingly enough, this protective amulet/talisman speaks of protection against a plague, and causing the plague to cease, and it even has a Pesach connection.”

Avi’s final comment, from early 2021:

May we all see better days soon, and may the plague of authoritarian politicians as well as the plague of the Chinese virus both cease soon!

P.S. Thanks very much, Avi!

____________________

The experiences of Aaron Kuptsow – who was among the Jewish POWs segregated at Stalag Luft I in early 1945 – are recounted in detail at:

Stalag Luft I (“World War II – Prisoners of War – Stalag Luft I ) – A collection of stories, photos, art and information on Stalag Luft I”) incldues Aaron’s story, in his own words.

You can read Robert W. Martin’s interview of Aaron Kuptsow at the website of Clyde D. Willis, radio operator / gunner in the 451st Bomb Squadron, 322nd Bomb Group, 9th Air Force. (Clyde Willis was shot down and captured during the disastrous mission of the 450th and 452nd Bomb Squadrons to Ijmuiden, Holland, on May 17, 1943; he was one of the 26 survivors of that mission.)

It’s interesting none of these accounts make mention of the presence of this document, particularly in light speculation about the motivation for his month-long solitary confinement before being released to Stalag Luft I.

The Library of Congress Veterans History project’s biographical profile of Aaron Kuptsow includes a half-hour duration audio interview.

Men who were Aaron’s barrack-mates after the segregation of the Jewish POWs at Stalag Luft I were:

Bauman, Mort (2 Lt. Morton Bauman, Bombardier; 506th Bomb Squadron, 44th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force)

Edgar, Richard (2 Lt. Richard Edgar, Navigator; 861st Bomb Squadron, 493rd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force)

Davis, “Bwana” (2 Lt. David Davis, Navigator; 725th Bomb Squadron, 451st Bomb Group, 15th Air Force)

Eskenazi, “Esky” (1 Lt. Jack Eskenazi, Bombardier; 553rd Bomb Squadron, 386th Bomb Group, 9th Air Force)

Finklestein, “Fink” (1 Lt. Frederick G. Finkelstein, Co-Pilot; 331st Bomb Squadron, 94th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force)

Galfunt, “Hap” (2 Lt. Abraham Galfunt, Co-Pilot; 861st Bomb Squadron, 493rd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force)

Kattef, Max (2 Lt. Maxwell Samuel Kateff, Navigator; 863rd Bomb Squadron, 493rd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force)

Labowitz, Jack (2 Lt. Jack Oscar Labovitz, Pilot; 743rd Bomb Squadron, 455th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force)

Oppenheimer, “Oppy” (2 Lt. Alfred Martin Oppenheimer, Bombardier; 578th Bomb Squadron, 392nd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force)

Rubin, Melvin (2 Lt. Melvin Rubin, Co-Pilot; 824th Bomb Squadron, 485th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force)

Safer, Henry (1 Lt. Henry Safer, Bombardier; 429th Bomb Squadron, 2nd Bomb Group, 15th Air Force)

Scheer, Harold (2 Lt. Harold Scheer, Navigator; 359th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force)

Stovroff, “Russian” (2 Lt. Irwin Joseph Stovroff, Bombardier; 506th Bomb Squadron, 44th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force)

______________________________

8th Air Force, 491st Bomb Group, 853rd Bomb Squadron

Pollak, Harry Hamilton, T/Sgt., 12093803, Radio Operator, Air Medal, 5 Oak Leaf Clusters
MACR 10767, Luftgaukommando Report KU 3368, Aircraft B-24J 42-51530 (Idiot’s Delight), Pilot Capt. Wayne E. Stewart, 10 crew – 5 survivors
Crashed at Annaturm-Deister, 5 kilometers north of Springe
Prisoner of War at Stalag Luft IV (Gross-Tychow, Germany)
Born New York, March 21, 1921;
Mr. Sigmond Pollak (father), 278 Ackerman Ave., Clifton, N.J.
Casualty List (Liberated POW) 6/7/45
Harry Pollak, who served in the States Department as an authority on international labor affairs, died on September, 27, 1980. His obituary can be found at the Washington Post.
American Jews in World War II – 249

Crash location in Luftgaukommando Report:
1) Annaturm
2) Deister, 5 km north of Springe

Stewart, Wayne E., Capt. – (0-811152), Meadow, Ut. – Pilot
Spady, Frank A., Jr., 1 Lt. – (0-815007), Chuckatuck, Va. – Co-Pilot (Survived)
Johnson, Woodrow G., 1 Lt. – (0-702443), Iron River, Mi. – Navigator
Reese, William L., 1 Lt. – (0-703016), Garfield Heights, Oh. – Navigator (Nose)
Valachovic, George A., 1 Lt. – (0-886529), Johnstown, N.Y. – Bombardier (Survived)
Anderson, Laverne G., T/Sgt. – (17154654), Littlefield, Ma. – Flight Engineer
Pollack, Harry H., T/Sgt. – (12093803), Clifton, N.J. – Radio Operator (Survived)
Corona, George H., S/Sgt. – (39122650), San Francisco, Ca. – Gunner (Right Waist)
Mosley, Henry K., Jr., S/Sgt. – (15140725), Arcade, N.Y. – Gunner (Left Waist) (Survived)
Reichenau, Walter W., S/Sgt. – (38366475), Fredericksburg, Tx. – Gunner (Tail) (Survived)

____________________

Rosenfield, Samuel Stanley, S/Sgt., 12075010, Right Waist Gunner, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, 4 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart
MACR 10761, Luftgaukommando Report KU 3362, Aircraft B-24J 44-10534, Pilot 1 Lt. Charles J. Ecklund, 9 crew – 8 survivors
Crashed at Rieste, District of Bersenbrueck
Prisoner of War at Stalag Luft IV (Gross-Tychow, Germany) and Stalag Luft I (Barth, Germany) (North Compound 3)
Mr. Frank M. Rosenfield (father), 2067 Mapes Ave., Bronx, N.Y.
Casualty List (Liberated POW) 6/6/45
American Jews in World War II – 419

Crash location in Luftgaukommando Report: Rieste, County of Bersenbrueck

Ecklund, Charles J., 1 Lt. – (0-772320), Harveyville, Ks. – Pilot (Survived)
Strohl, Marvin E., 2 Lt. – (0-720957), Detroit, Mi. – Co-Pilot (Survived)
Vosiepka, George K., 2 Lt. – (0-2056649), Omaha, Ne. – Navigator (Survived)
Simms, Horace R., Jr., 2 Lt. – (0-773343), Oakland, Ca. – Bombardier (Survived)
Guerry, Edward C., T/Sgt. – (39281104), Imperial, Ca. – Flight Engineer (Survived)
Heib, John N., T/Sgt. – (39203497), Seattle, Wa. – Radio Operator
Rosenfield, Samuel S., S/Sgt. – (12075010), New York, N.Y. – Gunner (Right Waist) (Survived)
Johns, Burton A., S/Sgt. – (39290817), Los Angeles, Ca. – Gunner (Left Waist) (Survived)
Cole, Dennis C., S/Sgt. – (16115245), Westby, Wi. – Gunner (Tail) (Survived)

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445th Bomb Group, 703rd Bomb Squadron

Spiegel, Harvey, 2 Lt., 0-834053, Co-Pilot
MACR 11217, Luftgaukommando Report KU 3387, Aircraft B-24J 42-50756 (RN * J), Pilot 2 Lt. Dance W. Snow, 9 crew – all survived
Crashed at Fischbeck / Weser (1 kilometer north of Fischbeck, 6 kilometers northwest of Rinteln)
Prisoner of war at Stalag Luft I (Barth, Germany), North Compound 3
Born April 7, 1924
Mrs. Janice Spiegel (wife), 1739 Dahill Road, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Casualty List (Liberated POW) 6/20/45
American Jews in World War II – Not listed

Statement in MACR: “No information has been received about ship # 756. The four (4) ships flying nearby all failed to return.”

Crash location:
In MACR: 15 miles southeast of Hannover
In Luftgaukommando Report: Fischbeck, 6 km northwest of Rinteln

Snow, Dance W., 2 Lt. – (0-690264), Silver City, N.M. – Pilot (Survived)
Spiegel, Harvey, 2 Lt. – (0-834053), Brooklyn, N.Y. – Co-Pilot (Survived)
Hudson, Robert F., 2 Lt. – (0-2056798), Rochester, N.Y. – Bombardier / Navigator (Survived)
Barbieri, Joseph W., Jr., T/Sgt. – (32781916), Jamaica, N.Y. – Flight Engineer (Survived)
McKim, Ernest M., T/Sgt. – (32905189), Glen Cove, N.Y. – Radio Operator (Survived)
Valore, Biaggio F., Sgt. – (35924434), Cleveland, Oh. – Gunner (Nose) (Survived)
Maronski, Stanley J., Sgt. – (42029120), Angola, N.Y. – Gunner (Waist) (Survived)
Rogers, J.B., S/Sgt. – (38346476), Wheeler, Tx. – Gunner (Waist) (Survived)
Jordan, Robert, Sgt. – (42101534), Upper Montclair, N.J. – Gunner (Tail) (Survived)

From Luftgaukommando Report KU 3387, here’s co-pilot Harvey Spiegel’s wallet-size Identification Card, issued almost three months before the Misburg mission…

____________________

…and, his New York state driver’s license.

United States Army

Cromnick, Harry, S/Sgt., 32167040
United States Army, 44th Infantry Division, 71st Infantry Regiment
Prisoner of War at Stalag 3B (Furstenberg, Germany)
Mr. Hyman Cromnick (father), Alex (brother), 120 West 54th St., Bayonne, N.J.
Casualty List (List of Liberated POWs) 6/4/45
American Jews in World War II – Not listed

Goldsmith, Clifford H., Pvt., 42050862
United States Army, 34th Infantry Division, 168th Infantry Regiment
Prisoner of War at Stalag 7A (Moosburg, Germany)
Mr. Fred Singer (brother-in-law), 680 West 204th St., New York, N.Y.
Casualty List 4/1/45; List of Liberated POWs 6/21/45
American Jews in World War II – Not listed

Greenberg, Sam, Pvt., 33699813
United States Army, 34th Infantry Division, 168th Infantry Regiment
Prisoner of War at Stalag 7A (Moosburg, Germany); German POW # 142238
Mrs. Geraldine R. Greenberg (wife), 43 South Remington Road, Columbus, Oh.
Mr. Paul Greenberg (father), 2328 Sherbrook St., Pittsburgh, Pa.
Employee of Frank and Seder’s Department Store
List of Liberated POWs 6/5/45
Pittsburgh Press 3/21/45
American Jews in World War II – Not listed

Ratner, Alvin J., T/5, 32702618
United States Army, 44th Infantry Division, 71st Infantry Regiment
Prisoner of War at Stalag 12A (Limburg an der Lahn, Germany)
Mrs. Sarah Ratner (mother), 85-37 91st St., Woodhaven (Brooklyn?), N.Y.
Lists of Liberated POWs 6/10/45, 6/14/45
Casualty List 4/19/45
American Jews in World War II – Not listed

Wounded

Canada

Gilboord, Norman, Gunner, B/18743
Canada, Royal Canadian Artillery
310 Roxton Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Canadian Jews in World War II – Part II: Casualties – 98

United States

Etkin, Morris S., Cpl., 33173559, Purple Heart (France)
United States Army
Wounded
Born 1914
Mrs. Gussie R. Etkin (wife), 513 Reed St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Jewish Exponent 3/9/45
Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Record 2/28/45
American Jews in World War II – 519

Kaiser, Arthur, Pvt., 32000743, Purple Heart (France)
United States Army
Wounded
Born 1913
Mrs. Fannie Kaiser (mother), 307 Fox Hill Place, Exeter, Pa.
Mrs. Esther Burmil (sister), 207 Fox Hill Place, Pittston, Pa.
Originally from New York, N.Y.; Worked at Lee Manufacturing Company, West Pittston, Pa.
Wilkes-Barre Record 1/11/45
American Jews in World War II – 530

Another incident…

Witness to the loss of two B-17s

Tolochko, Joseph S., 2 Lt., 0-820102, Bomber Pilot, Air Medal, 6 Oak Leaf Clusters, 35 missions
United States Army Air Force, 8th Air Force, 398th Bomb Group, 600th Bomb Squadron
Born in Pennsylvania
Mr. and Mrs. M. Leon and Bess Tolochko (parents), Dorothy and Jacob (sister and brother), 5840 Phillips Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa.
Jewish Criterion (Pittsburgh) 2/9/45
American Jews in World War II – Not listed

On 11/26/44, witness to loss of two B-17s:

1) B-17G 43-37846 (“N8 * T”, “Phony Express”), Pilot 1 Lt. Kermit R. Pope, 10 crew – all survived ; MACR 11144, Luftgaukommando Report KU 3371

An image of the wreck of Phony Express (near Velswijk, in the Eastern Netherlands) via the American Air Museum in England, taken by the grandfather of American Air Museum Contributor Fer Radstake… The appearance of the bedraggled wreck (sans engines and armament, with a multitude of holes in the airframe) suggests that the plane had received ample attention from souvenir hunters.

2) B-17G 42-97740 (“N8 * Q”), Pilot Capt. Gene L. Douglas, 10 crew – all survived; MACR 11146, Luftgaukommando Report KU 3375

On 11/30/44, witness to loss of another B-17:

Aircraft 43-38463 (“N8 * X”), Pilot 1 Lt. Roger J. Weum, 10 crew – 7 survivors; MACR 11145

The February 9, 1945 issue of Pittsburgh’s Jewish Criterion, which – as was typical through the war – presented in every issue news about Jewish servicemen from Pittsburgh and the surrounding area.

A news item about Lieutenant Tolochko, whose name never appeared in American Jews in World War II.

Acknowledgement

Special thanks to Avi Gold, for Hebrew and Yiddish scholarship and translation!

References

Books

Abelow, Samuel P., History of Brooklyn Jewry, Scheba Publishing Company, Brooklyn, N.Y., 1937

Caldwell, Don, and Muller, Richard, Luftwaffe Over Germany: Defense of the Reich, Frontline Books, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, 2014

Carter, Kit C., and Mueller, Robert, Combat Chronology – U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II, 1941-1945, Center for Air Force History, Washington, D.C., 1991

Chiche, F., Livre d’Or et de Sang – Les Juifs au Combat: Citations 1939-1945 de Bir-Hakeim au Rhin et Danube, Edition Brith Israel, Tunis, Tunisie, 1946

Dorr, Robert F., B-24 Liberator Units of the Eighth Air Force (Osprey Combat Aircraft 15), (Mark Rolfe, Illustrator), Osprey Publishing, Inc., 1999

Dublin, Louis I., and Kohs, Samuel C., American Jews in World War II – The Story of 550,000 Fighters for Freedom – Compiled by the Bureau of War Records of the National Jewish Welfare Board, The Dial Press, New York, N.Y., 1947

Forman, Wallace F., B-24 Nose Art Name Directory, Specialty Press Publishers and Wholesalers, North Branch, Mn., 1996

Freeman, Roger A., The Mighty Eighth – A History of the U.S. 8th Army Air Force, Doubleday and Company, Inc., New York,. N.Y., 1970

Freeman, Roger A., and Osborne, David, The B-17 Flying Fortress Story: Design – Production – History, Arms & Armour Press, London, England, 1998

Kamarainen, Edwin, This Is War and We Are Prisoners of the Enemy, lulu.com, June 5, 2007

Morris, Henry, Edited by Gerald Smith, We Will Remember Them – A Record of the Jews Who Died in the Armed Forces of the Crown 1939 – 1945, Brassey’s, United Kingdom, London, 1989

Rottman, Gordon, US Army Air Force: 1, Osprey Publishing Ltd., London, England, 1993 (with color plates by Francis Chinn)

Other Works

Binghamton Press, February 23, 1945, “Two Binghamton Lieutenants Win New Honors in Battles in Air: Harold Lanning Awarded DFC; Richard Bailey Hits Nazi Plane” (via FultonHistory.com)

Canadian Jews in World War II – Part II: Casualties, Canadian Jewish Congress, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1948

The Story of the 390th Bombardment Group (H) (Privately printed for the Men and Officers of the 390th Bombardment Group 1947), 1947

The 491st Bombardment Group (H) Inc., “Ringmasters”: History of the 491st Bombardment Group (H), Taylor Publishing Company, Dallas, Tx., 1992

USAAF Credits for the Destruction of Enemy Aircraft, World War II, USAF Historical Study No. 85, Office of Air Force History, Albert F. Simpson Historical Research Center – Air University, 1985

Websites

Misburg-Anderten, Germany, at Wikipedia

Deurag-Nerag Synthetic Oil Refinery, Germany

Eighth Air Force Historical Society – Missions by Date – November 26, 1944

Eighth Air Force Historical Society – Mission to Deurag-Nerag Industry Oil Refinery, Misburg, Germany – November 26, 1944

445th Bomb Group – Kassel Mission of September 27, 1944

The Kassel Mission Historical Society

491st Bomb Group

B-24J 42-110167, at B-24 Best Web

Jagdgeschwader 301 History, at Wikipedia

8/25/18

The Flight of a Magen David – II: To War In a Hurricane – The Desert Air War Remembered

The blog about Flight Officer Gordon Steinberg, a fighter pilot in Number 213 Squadron of the Royal Air Force whose personal Hawker Hurricane fighter was emblazoned with a Magen David (a Star of David) on its fuselage, appeared in June of 2017. The post has attracted a bit of notice (well, going by WordPress statistics!), by far most significantly from Alan G. Walton, whose father, John (Jack) Walton served as an armourer in Number 213 Squadron, of the Western Desert Air Force, from 1941 through 1943.

I would like to share Alan’s communication with me, which sheds insight into F/O Steinberg’s service as a fighter pilot, and, the experiences and his father, Leading Aircraftsman John G. (Jack) Walton, who serviced the weaponry of F/O Steinberg’s Hurricane.

Dear Michael,

I read with great interest your web based article on F/O Gordon Steinberg RAF 213 Squadron, Western Desert Air Force.

I had known about F/O Steinberg since my childhood. As my father the late John (Jack) Walton, formerly Leading Air Craftsman J.G. Walton, RAF 213 Squadron, was an armourer in the Western Desert Airforce 1941/2 – 1943. As such he serviced the weaponry systems on F/O Steinberg’s Hurricane.

Albeit illegal my father kept a diary of his desert war experience and this has been subsequently published.

F/O Steinberg features in the book. Along with his picture with the Shield of David on his fuselage. My father often recalled F/O Steinberg’s bravery for flying with this significant symbol on his aircraft, as the senior intel officer in the squadron continually advised F/O Steinberg not to fly with it on his Hurricane. This was due to his own safety in case he was ever shot down, or landed in enemy territory and captured by the enemy.

I had the opportunity some years ago to visit F/O Steinberg’s memorial in the Commonwealth’s War Grave cemetery at El Alamein. Along with other comrades of my fathers from 213 Squadron.

I was delighted to be able to read more about F/O Steinberg from your article, as my father held F/O Steinberg in high regard amongst the pilots that he knew from his Flight of 213 (WDEF).

______________________________

Here are four of Alan’s photographs from his visit to the El Alamein War Cemetery.

Notably, this image shows Alan pointing to F/O Steinberg’s name, engraved upon Column 281 of the Air Force panels, which, “…commemorate more than 3,000 airmen of the Commonwealth who died in the campaigns in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Greece, Crete and the Aegean, Ethiopia, Eritrea and the Somalilands, the Sudan, East Africa, Aden and Madagascar, who have no known grave.”

You can read more about the El Alamein War Cemetery at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

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Alan has authored a monograph about his father’s wartime service, which is based on his dad’s (officially, illegally kept!) wartime diary: Desert War Diary: 213 Squadron 1941/43. The 146 page illustrated book can be directly obtained through Woodfield Publishing, Limited. The history of military aviation, even since the century-old “Great War”, has perhaps inevitably focused upon the experiences of air crew members, particularly pilots. Alan’s book provides a perspective on a central aspect of military aviation – that of ground personnel such as armorers and mechanics; cooks and carpenters – without whose dedication and efforts no air force could function, let alone achieve victory.

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A biography of Alan’s father Jack (August 15, 1919 – January 30, 2008) , can be found at the Number 213 Squadron Website.

Last Days in Captivity: Reminiscences of WW II Ex-POWs Lieutenant Norman Fruman and Private Sidney Thomas

Several of my prior blog posts have addressed the experiences of Jewish prisoners of war, either directly – through first-person accounts of capture and captivity – or indirectly – within the larger context of posts focusing upon specific historical events, or, biographies of specific Jewish servicemen. While the topic of POWs naturally; inevitably, arises from study of any military conflict, it’s particularly significant in the context of the Jewish POWs of the Third Reich, given the ethos, ideology, and goals of Nazi Germany.

This post, respectively covering an essay and letter from Ex-POWs Norman Fruman and Sydney Thomas, provides further insight into this subject.

Norman Fruman, a Second Lieutenant (0-553210) in the 232nd Infantry Regiment of the 42nd Infantry Division, was captured on January 5, 1945, and interned at Stalag 5A (Malsbach / Ludwigsburg) and eventually Stalag 7A (Moosburg).

Born in December of 1923, Norman was the son of Minnie Fruman of 1590 East 172nd Street in the Bronx, while his sister, Dolly F. Epstein, resided at 1225 White Plains Road (also, the Bronx!).

Postwar a professor of English at the University of Minnesota, he penned an essay that was published in Times Literary Supplement on May 5, 1995 (transcribed below), concerning his POW experiences, but equally reflecting upon the changes in American society in the four decades since the war’s end. He passed away in January of 2012.

Other information about Norman’s experiences is found in E.T. Levy’s comment, in the context of Bob William’s “On the Air” New York Post column of October, 1957, covering “The $64,000 Challenge”. Mr. Levy noted that, “In the German POW camp where we were all incarcerated, Lt. Norman Fruman maintained our morale under terribly adverse conditions, organized and led a successful prison escape, was recaptured a second time and underwent privation until liberated at the end of the war … [he was] broken in body, [weighing] less than 100 pounds, and [had] lost his hearing.” You can view the full Williams’ article – found via FultonHistory, – below:

Digital Newspaper Archives of US & Canada

On The Air
By Bob Williams

New York Post
October 7, 1957

Viewer’s View:

Norman Fruman added $4,000 to his $64,000 bankroll on The $64,000 Challenge last night as a ”general knowledge” expert. Writes E.T. Levy of 1205 Av. R, Brooklyn:

“You may be interested to know that [he] was my company commander in the Battle of the Bulge and he became a legendary hero to all of us who were captured along with him.

“In the German POW camp where we were all incarcerated, Lt. Norman Fruman maintained our morale under terribly adverse conditions, organized and led a successful prison escape, was recaptured a second time and underwent privation until liberated at the end of the war … [he was] broken in body, [weighing] less than 100 pounds, and [had] lost his hearing.

“For years he received rehabilitation help … partially recovering his hearing … taught English literature at Columbia and City College and is about to complete his Ph.D. at NYU. He has written articles for encyclopedias and is one of the foremost authorities on symbolism in Coleridge’ (the English poet).

“It was surprising to me to hear [him] referred to on the $64,000 Challenge as a ‘comic book writer,’ which is the least of his attributes. Is CBS trying to keep him incognito?

The Times Literary Supplement article includes a photograph showing Norman immediately upon entering his mother’s home, after his return from captivity. According to the caption, the waving hand in the foreground is that of his mother, Minnie. What the picture lacks in focus and contrast (well, even in the original issue of TLS – the image in this post is a scan of a photocopy of that periodical – the picture isn’t of the best quality) it more than makes up for in spontaneity and symbolism.

Herewith, Norman’s article:

Last Days at Stalag 7A

NORMAN FRUMAN

Times Literary Supplement
May 5, 1995

We stood there at the edge of a rural airfield, about a dozen of us, our filthy, lice-infested clothes hanging from our emaciated bodies, anxiously scanning the skies for the aeroplanes we’d been told would fly us back to France or England, to medical attention, nourishing food and, at last, safety. Nine days before, on April 19, we’d awakened to find that during the night our guards had abandoned Stalag 7A, the huge prisoner-of-war camp near Moosburg in south-eastern Germany, which, it was said, housed as many, as 100,000 Allied prisoners from all over Europe and the Soviet Union. Although the Nazi armies were in retreat on all fronts, unconditional surrender would not necessarily come soon. The Germans had been declared beaten in December of 1944, and then came the Battle of the Bulge. The German attack was no sooner contained in the north than a three-division offensive in the Strasbourg area shredded the thinly drawn American lines. As far as I was concerned, the war was very much
on.

Until American tank troops arrived later in the day on April 29, conditions in Stalag 7A were chaotic. With no system of discipline in place, famished prisoners pillaged whatever stores of food could be found in the kitchens. Others, especially the Russians, according to the rumours which flew about wildly, broke out of the camp and smashed down doors in the nearby village, raping and looting. I was skeptical about the raping. Experience had demonstrated alarmingly that after just two weeks on starvation rations, sexual desire vanished.

Our liberators, fortuitously, proved to be from my own 42nd Infantry Division, widely known as the “Rainbow”. The intelligence officer of my regiment, having heard that a dozen or so officers from the Rainbow were in the camp, hastened over with two satchels of Scotch and bourbon, the last things in the world we hungry POWs needed or wanted. (There was almost complete ignorance in 1945 about how to treat people who had been starved for a long time, an ignorance that was to have widespread and serious consequences.)

Naturally, now that we were liberated, we wanted to get back home as soon as possible. Above all, we wanted to get the hell out of Germany and flee the possibility of being killed at any moment. I had been freed once already, just one month before, when a powerful tank force sent by General Patton in a now hotly controversial action plunged fifty miles behind Germany lines to liberate Oflag 13B, a POW camp for American and Serbian officers near Hammelburg, in the Rhone Valley leading to Bavaria. The tank force, expecting to rescue 200 American officers, in fact found almost 1,500. During the night-time dash back to American lines, we were attacked several times at German roadblocks, and suffered heavy casualties, mainly to the prisoners clinging precariously to the vehicles.

As dawn approached, our erstwhile liberators had doubled back to a hill a few miles from the Oflag, which was burning furiously in the distance. The tankers advised us to march back to the camp under a white flag and wait there in safety for the arrival of the main American forces which, they assured us, could only be a few days away. They, conversely, would have to fight their way back, and couldn’t do so effectively while encumbered with us. Even after fifty years, the memory of that moment remains intense. Twelve hours before, we “kriegies” (from Kriegsgefangener, prisoner of war), as we called ourselves, had been in a state of euphoria. “Eggs for breakfast!” we shouted as we clambered aboard the tanks and troop-carriers – a phrase that had come to stand for everything normal and good in life.

Most of the POWs trooped wearily off towards the camp. A few of us decided to risk making it back to the American lines fifty miles away on our own. As it happened, hardly was the column of prisoners out of sight when the American force was attacked by a cluster of German Tiger tanks. In the brief but fierce battle that followed, the American unit was destroyed. Understandably, many military historians have condemned Patton for sending this force on so problematic a mission and accused him of doing so only because his son-in-law was a prisoner in the camp.

I and four fellow kriegies reached the nearby woods moments after the battle began and staggered as far as possible from the gunfire before dropping exhausted. For the next five nights, we plodded westward, sleeping during the day, and coping as best we could with dysentery, exhaustion, bleeding gums, and the oedema that resulted from months on a diet mainly of two watery soups a day. The Geneva Convention stipulated that as captured officers we were not required to work, and this the Junker command at Offizierslager 13B observed scrupulously. The result was that 13B was on the lowest food ration in Germany outside the death camps. Almost all of us there lost one-quarter of our body weight during the first month.

After five days behind German lines, we were recaptured and sent by boxcar to camps deeper into Germany. Almost every day, Allied fighter planes strafed us. Once, moments after we reached Ingolstadt, the city was attacked by a vast fleet of Flying Fortresses. The ground heaved, shuddered and rocked under the bombardment, as we crawled frantically into whatever hollow in the earth might give protection. After watching the Fortresses fly in tight formation through a flak-pocked sky, some to explode in spectacular balls of flame, none of us was ever afterwards inclined to complain about how much better the guys in the Air Corps had it, what with their hot showers at night and dancing with the local girls in USO clubs after the day’s mission, while we were lucky to have a dry foxhole.

I thought about all this a month later, while waiting with increasing impatience on that makeshift airfield near Stalag 7 A for the planes to arrive. The previous nine days had been a succession of mounting frustrations. We began every day feeling confident that transport would arrive to take us away. And every day ended in gloom. What was taking so long? Rumours flew about wildly. Hitler was dead, not dead. The German High Command was negotiating surrender. Not true. Vague rumours about a nearby camp named Dachau where the liberators had seen terrible, unspeakable horrors. And some strange things were happening at 7A. When trains arrived from the east to take the many thousands of Russian prisoners back to the Soviet Union, there had been some rioting. Unaccountably to us, many of the Russians did not want to go back home! Years passed before I understood the meaning of this.

Suddenly a plane appeared in the distance, its shape unfamiliar. Someone groaned, “Jesus, it doesn’t look like one of ours… It could be a Kraut!” We froze, but only for an instant. It was German, all right, but not a fighter plane, and within a moment we made out that it was trailing a long white sheet, doubtless signifying surrender. It quickly landed and taxied to a bumpy halt near us. Out stepped the pilot, throwing up his arms, smiling, to be immediately followed by a young woman clutching a small pig. “Alles kaput! It’s over! The war’s over!” he shouted in German. “The high command has surrendered!” “Thank God”, said the woman.

I felt a deeper sense of weary relief than joy. The war might be over for them but not for me. Though we knew nothing of the savage carnage at the recent battle for Iwo Jima, we were certain that the Japanese, like the Germans, would fight fanatically long after any rational hope of victory was gone, and would not surrender until their home islands lay in smouldering ruins. I fully expected to participate in the invasion. None of us, of course, had an inkling that in three months the atomic age would begin with the instantaneous obliteration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

An hour or so later, transport planes arrived to fly us to Le Havre, where we were deloused, showered, issued with new uniforms, underwear, socks and boots – our first change of clothes since becoming prisoners. Within days, I was on a luxury liner converted to a hospital ship and among the very first troops to return from Europe after VE-Day. Thus our arrival in New York harbour was greeted by scores of ship whistles and foghorns, huge arcs of water thrown up by fire-ship hoses, and wild cheering from the milling crowds on the docks.

I was a few months past twenty-one years old on VE-Day, and when I think back on that day I am struck once again, and more than a little dismayed, by how little sense I had in 1945 of a future whose horizons might be radically different from the ones any of us had imagined for ourselves. When the war in Europe began in 1939, the United States was in the tenth year of a crushing depression. Hard times seemed to be the normal condition of economic life. It wasn’t until well into President Eisenhower’s second term (1956-60), after more than a decade of booming prosperity, that Americans began to feel that happy days were not only here again, but maybe here to stay. Memory of the Depression faded. The young began to take for granted that their lives would be far more prosperous, secure and full of exciting choices than their parents could ever have imagined.

The great, transforming agency of social change, which was to alter the United States in ways whose consequences have yet to be determined, came about as a result of a wartime law universally known as the “GI Bill”. It guaranteed to every veteran a month of free higher education for every month of service, plus a full year bonus for the first three months, up to a limit of four years, together with a monthly stipend sufficient for living expenses. (That stipend, $75 a month, permitted me to live quite well in Paris as a graduate student at the Sorbonne in 1950 and 1951.)

Passage of the GI Bill represented another kind of VE-Day – a Victory for Education. This act was to demonstrate the incalculable value to a nation’s economic life of an educated public, a lesson only now being learned in many countries. Between 1955 and 1965, there was built somewhere in the United States, on average every two weeks, an institution of higher learning at least the size of a junior college, and this happened at the same time that the vast majority of colleges and universities were expanding at a frenzied pace. To everyone’s astonishment, there was no pause in the swelling tide of incoming students after the first waves of veterans passed successfully through college life. Intoxicated with the idea of universal higher education, legislatures in state after state voted that anybody with a high school diploma was entitled to enter college. Within a single generation, “Open Enrollment” arrived, whereby students unprepared for college work, sometimes drastically so, were admitted anyway. “Remedial” courses proliferated. Grade inflation soon undermined the meaning of graduating with honours. Once again, the perverse law of unintended consequences had dripped its poison into the chalice of utopian visions.

On May 8, 1945, when that German couple told us that the war was over, who could have predicted that fifty years later defeated Germany and Japan would again be among the most powerful nations on earth, that Europe would lose its colonies, the British Empire shrink to the shadow of its former self, the Soviet Union disappear, Communism be repudiated almost everywhere? Or that men would walk on the moon, that the population of the world would more than double despite the arrival of a safe birth-control pill, which would itself make possible the most revolutionary change in sexual mores ever known, that millions would take for granted unheard-of technologies like television, computers, video recorders, faxes and compact discs, that the women’s movement would metamorphose millennia-old relations between the sexes – and that those fifty years would witness vicious wars large and small in every corner of the globe, and that our naive hopes of a United Nations that would keep the peace everywhere would be utterly dashed?

To reflect on VE-Day is to realize how pitifully limited is our capacity to predict the future. Experience thus warns us against both optimism and pessimism. The past fifty years of astonishing progress and appalling retrogression confirm yet again that Pope was right to describe our species as “in endless error hurled; / The glory, jest, and riddle of the world”.

Norman Fruman is Professor of English at the University of Minnesota. He is the author of Coleridge: The Damaged Archangel, 1972, and is preparing an edition of Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria.

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Though his name is listed in the 1947 compilation American Jews in World War II (on page 316 of Volume II, to be specific) Norman’s essay – unlike that of Rabbi Leonard Winograd – despite its detail, depth, and literary quality, lacks either mention of allusion to any aspect of having been a Jewish infantry officer in combat against the Third Reich, and, a Jewish POW in German captivity. The reasons for the curious “absence” of these topics – a literary kind of “dog that didn’t quite bark”, let alone growl! – are open to conjecture…

This is unfortunate, for a reading of his article reveals that Dr. Fruman manifested the invaluable ability to view events – events personal; events collective – in the context of a time span beyond their immediacy. This is especially evident in terms of the article’s last five paragraphs, which focus upon the enormous changes that have ensued in the United States in particular, and the world in general (well, at least the now deliberately-self-atrophying “West”) in the then fifty – and now in 2019 seventy-four – gad, is it seventy-four? – years since the war’s end in 1945.

The central and overlapping “take-aways” that emerge are a deep and obvious sense of disillusionment about the post-WW II emphasis on the centrality of the chimera otherwise known as “higher education”; the effects of the enormous sociological changes that have eventuated and continue so, at an unrelenting pace – from scientific and technological developments (particularly in terms of the relationship between the sexes, and ensuing economic and sociological changes in society); ultimately, a sense of humility in terms of mans’ “limited capacity to predict the future”.

This trio of realizations is anticipated in two newspaper articles – from 1959 and 1995 – (via Fulton History) quoting Dr. Fruman’s opinion about I.Q. tests, (“They do NOT evaluate creativity, reasoning power, or judgement.”), and, the imperative to study and evaluate literature as art, rather than viewing texts through the ideological prisms of “race, class, and sex.”

These two articles follow:

This Week
August 23, 1959

Question 5: “What do I.Q. tests really measure?” Mrs. Perry Davis of Wapello, Iowa, writes.

Answer: Norman Fruman, professor and quiz-show winner: I.Q. tests measure acquired knowledge in certain academic areas. Unfortunately, such an examination does not mirror certain mental traits which may be much more important than academic learning and ability to memorize. They do NOT evaluate creativity, reasoning power, or judgement.

Incidentally, one team of intelligence researchers rates about 2.2 per cent of the American population as “very superior” in intellect.

Professors Reject Political Correctness

Richmond County Daily Journal & Moore County Citizen News-Record
September 20, 1995

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – English professor Norman Fruman is fed up with the kind of literary criticism that reduces Shakespeare to an apologist for European hegemony and sees a lesbian subtext in every Emily Dickinson poem.

Fruman, a University of Minnesota English professor emeritus, just wants to read, analyze and talk about literature as art. He’s sick of analyzing novels and poems for what they say about the politics of race, class and sex.

So Fruman and like-minded colleagues have formed an organization that aspires to promote literature as fine writing foremost.

The Association of Literary Scholars and Critics holds its first conference this weekend in Minnneapolis. The group was formed in February 1944 and has more than 1,300 members.

For those of us who entered teaching because we had fallen in love with literature, nothing is more urgent than a return to an open, rather than a close, reading of stories and poems and plays that convey the very stuff of human life,” Roger Shattuck of Boston University, a member of the association, write in a recent article about the group in Civilization, the magazine of the Library of Congress.

Shattuck recalled a student in his sophomore humanities course who presented an Emily Dickinson poem on bird hopping, feeding, pausing and taking flight as a metaphor for a lesbian sexual encounter. When asked about the versification and literal meaning, the student had nothing to add, he said.
Taught from a political point of view, Shakespeare is not the bard of Avon but a cheerleader for the British Empire, complained Professor John Ellis of the University of California, Santa Cruz, secretary-treasurer of ALSC.

Teachers “think that’s the most important thing you can say about Shakespeare, is that he was an apologist for European domination,” Ellis said. “Why would one bother to make statements about Shakespeare that you could make about any Elizabethan?”

Fruman said association members want to “get back to the feeling about literature that made them readers in the first place.”

Politics Not Literature

“If you take ‘Moby Dick’ and spend a lot of time on why there are no women in the book, then you’re talking politics and not the book,” Fruman said.

“The question is a very interesting one in general, but once you’ve made the statement, how long does it take to deal with it?”, he said. “To make that a major issue might be appropriate in a course on sociology or social studies, but it’s a perversion of literature to deal with such matters extensively.”

If this was foresight and wisdom in 1959 and 1995, how much more so is it in 2019? And, beyond?

Other Jewish prisoners of war captured on January 5, 1945, include:

United States Army

PFC Saul E. Lipnick (1110175), 42nd Infantry Division, 232rd Infantry Regiment, Silver Star, Purple Heart
Stalag 5B (Villingen)

Pvt. Milton M. Roth (13185360), 35th Infantry Division, 134th Infantry Regiment
Stalag Lust III (Sagan)

PFC Morris Weiner (36752698), 1st Infantry Division, 16th Infantry Regiment
Stalag 11B (Fallingbostel)

(Oddly, I’m unable to find any information about the capture of an “E.T. Levy”, quoted in the Post article of 1957.)

Royal Canadian Air Force

Flight Officer David Elkin (J/39299), Navigator, No. 408 Squadron, on 28th mission
Born Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, July 1, 1923
Mr. S. Elkin (father) and Pvt. Eugene Elkin (brother), 4587 Marcil Ave., Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Crew member of Halifax III NR209, EQ * A, piloted by F/Lt. Andrew F. Scheelar, shot down by Ju-88 during mission to Hannover, Germany at 19:50 hours. Aircraft crashed near Hohlstedt (Hollenstede?), about three miles (2 km?) south of Furstenau, Hannover.

Three survivors from crew of seven: Besides F/O Elkin, these comprised F/O Fred Alfred Winter (air bomber) and air gunner (tail gunner?) F/O William Albert Baker

According to F/O Elkin’s biographical entry in Canadian Jews in World War II, “…the pilot [F/Lt. Scheelar] and flight engineer [Sgt. John Daly] … sacrificed their lives by holding the plane steady while the others parachuted out. After two days of freedom F/O Elkin was captured by the German S.S., and interned at Luchenwald.”

Flight Lieutenant Andrew F. Scheelar, J/13449, from his military Service File, available within the database “Canada, WWII Service Files of War Dead, 1939-1947”, at Ancestry.com. Born in Kimball, Minnesota, and residing at Strome, Alberta before joining the RCAF, he is buried at the Sage War Cemetery, in Germany.

The last report about Halifax NR209, also from F/Lt. Scheelar’s Military service file. Note that every crew member had completed more than twenty “trips”.

Given that neither duckduckgo nor the search engine headquartered at Mountain View (y’know, where it’s asserted that “the moral arc of history bends toward progress” (1) … oops, I digress!) yield records for a POW camp by the name of “Luchenwald”, could F/O Elkin actually have been imprisoned at Buchenwald?

I do not know, but the phonetic coincidence is intriguing.

In any event, F/O Elkin returned to the United Kingdom on May 14, 1945.

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Sidney Thomas’ letter to the New York Review of Books in April, 1990, in response to Istvan Deak’s ‘The Incomprehensible Holocaust’: An Exchange” (2) is far shorter than Norman’s essay (but of course – it’s a letter!). Its central focus is a discussion of the reasons for the survival of Jewish POWs of the Third Reich – specifically Jewish POWs from the armed forces of the United States and British Commonwealth (and perhaps by implication, other “western” nations) – within the larger context of the Shoah. Though not mentioned by Deak, this is especially notable in comparison with the fate of Jewish POWs in German captivity, who were members of the armed forces of Poland and the Soviet Union.

Sidney attributes this – I think quite correctly – to self-interest on the part of the mens’ captors, who did not wish to place themselves in postwar jeopardy as war criminals, given the realization (albeit not to all) of an eventual Allied victory.

Here’s Sidney’s letter:

IN STALAG VIIA

New York Review of Books
April 12, 1990

To the Editors:

May I add a footnote to Istvan Deak’s statement [“’The Incomprehensible Holocaust’: An Exchange,” NYR, February 1] that “German fairness towards Allied prisoners of war was even extended to Jews in British or American uniform: they alone of all the Jews in Nazi captivity had little to worry about.” As a Jew and an American prisoner of war in Stalag VIIA at Moosburg, near Munich, where I arrived on December 15, 1944 in transit from a processing camp at Ludwigsburg, I encountered no overt discrimination for several months. However, early in 1945 (I am not certain of the exact date) an order came down from the camp administration segregating all Jewish prisoners and forbidding them to go into Munich on work details with the other prisoners. Whether this was meant as a first step in future measures against Jewish prisoners, we never learned. Fortunately, nothing further came of this order, and after some time, as I recall, we were able to take part, once again, in the regular routine of the camp. I would assume that this abortive attempt at special treatment of Jewish prisoners had its origin in a directive from higher Nazi authority and was not confined to Stalag VIIA. If we “had little to worry about,” it was not, in my opinion, because of “German fairness” but because of Nazi fears, certainly in the lower echelons, at a time when Germany was clearly losing the war, of future punishment as war criminals.

Sidney Thomas
Syracuse, New York

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Sidney’s supposition about the early-1945 order for the segregation of Jewish POWs at Ludwigsburg having been issued from a “higher Nazi authority” may have very solid basis in fact. The segregation of Jewish POWs at Stalag Luft I (Barth), and, Stalag 9B (Bad Ord) (from which 350 American POWs, including 77 Jewish soldiers, were sent to the Berga am Elster slave labor camp) transpired during the same time-frame in mid-January of 1945: At Stalag Luft I on January 10 (according to Mozart Kaufman), and at Stalag 9A, during the evening of January 18-19 (according to Sydney Goodman). This suggests that orders for the segregation of American Jewish POWs emanated from the same level or body within the German military hierarchy.

Though his name does not appear in American Jews in World War II (akin to innumerable American Jewish servicemen whose names should have appeared therein), I believe that Syracusan letter-writer Sidney Thomas was a PFC (32788833) in the 399th Infantry Regiment of the 100th Infantry Division, and was captured on November 21, 1944. If correct (I think so…) his status as a liberated POW was noted in the Long Island Star Journal on June 19, 1945, where his wife was listed as Rae Thomas, at 73-12 35th Ave., in Jackson Heights, New York.

Other Jewish prisoners of war captured on November 21, 1944, include:

United States Army

S/Sgt. Jacob Eines (32787009), 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division
Stalag 12A (Limburg an der Lahn)

PFC Isaac Geller (32894672)
Stalag 2A (Neubrandenburg)

PFC Jack Rubin (34543743), 334th Infantry Regiment, 84th Infantry Division
Stalag 11B (Fallingbostel)

Pvt. Ira S. Shulman (32645751), 406th Infantry Regiment, 102nd Infantry Division
Stalag 12A (Limburg an der Lahn)

PFC Charles Soloff (34493463), 143rd Infantry Regiment, 36th (“Texas”) Infantry Division
Stalag 7A (Moosburg)

United States Army Air Force (8th Air Force)

T/Sgt. Albert Miller (33777588), Radio Operator
359th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group
Hohe Mark Hospital

S/Sgt. David Levy (16078484), Tail Gunner
603rd Bomb Squadron, 398th Bomb Group
Stalag Luft IV (Gross-Tychow)

1 Lt. Matthew I. Radnofsky (0-717500), Navigator
423rd Bomb Squadron, 306th Bomb Group
Vechta; Stalag 11B Lager Lazaret Fallingbostel

861st Bomb Squadron, 493rd Bomb Group (Auerbach and Edgar)

S/Sgt. Merle Auerbach (36760072), Waist Gunner
Stalag Luft IV (Gross-Tychow)

2 Lt. Richard Edgar (0-886467), Navigator
Stalag Luft I (Barth)

2 Lt. Harold Scheer (0-694733), Navigator
359th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group
Stalag Luft I (Barth), North Compound 3

2 Lt. Marvin Laufer (0-710281), Bombardier / Navigator
603rd Bomb Squadron, 398th Bomb Group
Hohe Mark Hospital

References

Canadian Jews in World War II – Part II: Casualties, Canadian Jewish Congress, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1948, p. 121

Chorley, W.R., Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War – 1944 (Volume VI), Midland Publishing, Hinckley, England, 1998, p. 34

Kaufman, Mozart, Fighter Pilot – Aleutians to Normandy to Stalag Luft 1, M&A Kaufman Publishers, San Aselmo, Ca., 1993

Dublin, Louis I., and Kohs, Samuel C., American Jews in World War II – The Story of 550,000 Fighters for Freedom, The Dial Press, New York, N.Y., 1947

Goodman, Sydney L., Private, 36889334, M Company, 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division, Prisoner of War at Stalag 9B and Berga-am-Elster, Diary covering events from December 16, 1944, through March 16, 1945.

Comments

(1) The combination of hubris and shallow thinking inherent in such a belief is as frightening as it is staggering.

(2) Contemplated through the overlapping perspectives of Eliezer Berkovits, David Birnbaum, Hyam Maccoby, William Nicholls, and Robert S. Wistrich, the Shoah is not nearly as incomprehensible, mysterious, or perplexing as once – and perhaps still? – assumed.

The Flight of a Magen David – I: To War In a Hurricane

If Phil Goldstein’s P-38 was unusual in terms of the name it carried – JEWBOY – then one other second world war fighter plane – a Hawker Hurricane of Number 213 Squadron, Royal Air Force – was notable for the symbol it carried: A Magen David; the Shield of David.

The pilot? Flight Officer Gordon Steinberg, a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force from Toronto.

Sadly, he did not survive the war.

A biography of Gordon’s too-brief life from Canadian Jews in World War II – Part II: Casualties (the companion volume to Canadian Jews in World War II – Part I: Decorations, both published in 1948) follows:

FLYING OFFICER GORDON STEINBERG, J-17346, of Toronto, died of injuries received while in action near Alexandria, Egypt, on February 17, 1944. He was forced to bail out of his plane as a result of enemy action. He was buried at sea.

Flying Officer Steinberg enlisted in the air force at Toronto on September, 1940. He was trained at St. Hubert, Victoriaville, Dunnville, Regina, and at Yorkton where he was awarded his pilot’s wings on November 6, 1941. In December of the same year he landed in England and proceeded for further training as a fighter pilot. Flying Officer Steinberg went to Africa in June, 1942 while the Axis forces were pushing the Allied Eighth Army back into Egypt. Attached to the 213th R.A.F. (Middle East) Squadron, he participated in the battles in which Montgomery’s forces repelled the enemy. He was attached to the Eighth Army all the time this force was advancing across the African continent from Egypt to Tripoli. While in Africa Flying Officer Steinberg was commissioned and promoted three times, attaining the rank of flying officer a few months before his death. He visited “Palestine” several times on his leaves and developed a great interest in the country. The R.C.A.F. wrote to his family: “Flying Officer Steinberg completed 92 operational flights. His duties included patrols, air-sea rescue searches and scrambles against enemy aircraft.”

Born in Toronto on October 9, 1914, Flying Officer Steinberg was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Steinberg of 127 Maria Street. He attended Strathcona Public School and Humberside Collegiate Institute from which he was graduated in 1934. Flying Officer Steinberg had been a member of the Jewish Boy’s Club. Prior to enlistment he had been employed as a salesman, clerk and truck driver. A brother, Private Lawrence Steinberg, served in the army.

An aspect of F/O Steinberg’s life not touched upon in the biography is the fact that he’d married in November of 1941, while training to be a pilot. His wife was Ruby Alma (Schopf) Steinberg, who resided at 3251 Dundas Street, in Toronto. Also not mentioned were his four siblings (Bernice, Lawrence, Lilyan, and Louis), as well as his mother, Bella (Nagelburg). Like his father, Bella was born in Austria and naturalized as a Canadian citizen.

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F/O Steinberg’s death on his 92nd operational mission was not due to enemy fighters, flak, or weather. It was due to mechanical failure: The engine of his Hurricane fighter failed in flight.

On February 17, 1944, he departed at 9:30 A.M., with Flight Sergeant S.G. Pickford, from 213 Squadron’s landing ground at Ikdu (also known as “Edku”: a town in the Beheira Governorate, east of Alexandria and very close to the shore of the Mediterranean sea) on a convoy patrol mission. Approximately one hour later, while over the sea roughly between Marsa Matruh and Alexandria, his engine cut as dense black smoke poured from it. F/O Steinberg called F/Sgt. Pickford over his radio indicating that he was going to bail out.

This, he immediately and successfully did.

The loss of his plane and his parachute descent were witnessed by Royal Hellenic Navy Commander N. Sarris aboard the escort destroyer H.H.M.S. Themistocles, who immediately steered his ship towards the position at top speed. He reached the location (31 26 N – 29 16 E; about 35 miles west-northwest of Alexandria) about ten minutes later. Through the dedicated efforts of the Themistocles’ crew F/O Steinberg was eventually found, but sadly, his life could not be saved.

He was buried at sea that afternoon.

The following two images, obtained from The National Archives in Kew, extracted from the Squadron Record and Squadron Summary for No. 213 Squadron, cover the events of 17 and 18 February 1944.

Air Ministry Squadron Operations Records

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As is typical for Casualty Files covering deaths of servicemen in the British Commonwealth forces (analogous to Individual Deceased Personnel Files for American military deaths), the documentation for F/O Steinberg includes a detailed inventory of his effects, which is shown below:

Notable in the list of F/O Steinberg’s possessions is his Hebrew Alamack and Hebrew Prayer Book, as well as his yarmulkah, or kippah (“1 small black cap”), tefillin (“2 prayer straps”), and tallitot (“4 Jewish shoulder capes”), these items listed among a variety of the typical personal possessions of a serviceman and aviator.

Later that year, his wife Ruby, who F/O Steinberg designated as the recipient of his small estate, instructed authorities to, “…give his holy books & religious articles to some religious institution. – Thank You”.

With the passage of over seventy-three years and the absence of documentation (assuming any notes were kept, in the first place), there is almost certainly no way of knowing what eventually became of these items. One imagines that they found their way back to the Jewish community of Toronto, or, that they were donated to a synagogue, school, or Jewish family in Alexandria. Whoever received them likely never knew of the bravery, dedication, or identity of their original owner, but no matter. It would be nice to think; it would be nice to dream, that F/O Steinberg would have been satisfied knowing that their purpose and meaning would continue.

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F/O Steinberg’s name is commemorated on Column 281 of the Alamein Memorial, in Egypt.

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As for the Hurricane? As shown in the photo, P/O Steinberg’s “personal” aircraft carried a Magen David composed in the style of interlocking triangles, in two colors (one light and one dark) painted on the forward fuselage. While his Casualty File and Number 213 Squadron’s historical records for February of 1944 indicate that he was lost in Hurricane IIC BP563 (a plane with over 250 flight hours), and Number 213 Squadron’s Hurricanes were identified by the code letters “AK”, neither set of documents list the aircraft’s specific, individual identification letter. In the absence of other photographs of the plane, it is impossible to tell if F/O Steinberg was lost in his “own” plane, or another aircraft.

The image below, from History of War, shows a Hawker Hurricane in North Africa, with the letters “AK” indicating its assignment to Number 213 Squadron RAF.

The 213 Squadron Association website carries a photo essay – The Hornet’s Sting – that appeared in FlyPast magazine in 1995. Two images show Hurricanes bearing the Squadron’s “AK” code letters, while a third image shows over thirty of the squadron’s pilots at a Christmas Party at Ikdu in 1943. Perhaps F/O Steinberg was among them?

References

Forman, Wallace R., B-17 Nose Art Name Directory, Phalanx Publishing Co., Ltd. (Specialty Press), North Branch, Mn., 1996

Forman, Wallace R., B-24 Nose Art Name Directory, Phalanx Publishing Co., Ltd. (Specialty Press), North Branch, Mn., 1996

Canadian Jews in World War II – Part II: Casualties, Canadian Jewish Congress, Montreal, Quebec, 1948.

RHS Themistocles, at
http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/5921.html

Number 213 Squadron RAF

At Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._213_Squadron_RAF

At History of War, at
http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RAF/213_wwII.html

Number 213 Squadron Association, at
http://213squadronassociation.homestead.com/

Number 213 Squadron Association – The Hornet’s Sting (From FlyPast magazine No. 175, 1995), at
http://213squadronassociation.homestead.com/Flypast/flypastarticle.html

Hawker Hurricane IIC in No. 213 Squadron Service, at
http://www.historyofwar.org/Pictures/pictures_hurricaneIIC_213sqn.html

The National Archives (Kew), Royal Air Force Operations Records Books 1939-1945, at
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/raf-operations-record-books-1939-1945/

Wing Commander William Weiser’s Award of the Distinguished Flying Cross, as seen in the Forward (Forverts), in December of 1944

The recent posts about Royal Canadian Air Force Wing Commander William Weiser elicited moving and interesting comments from Dr. Patricia Easteal, Caroline Mitchell, and Libby Weiser. From them, I learned that – alas – sadly; ironically – W/C Weiser passed away on March 26.

Only four days earlier, the article about him from The American Hebrew of May, 1944, was posted on this blog, under the title “Words of the Wing Commander”.

Given his accomplishments, it’s unsurprising that news items about W/C Weiser appeared in other publications during WW II, specifically the well-known Yiddish-language newspaper, the Forward (or, “Forverts“). Dr. Easteal kindly contributed an article – published in that newspaper on December 21, 1944 – which shows her late father receiving the British DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross) award from King George VI.

The article appears below…

(As an aside, note that the Forward presents the Wing Commander’s surname as “Weyser“. (!))

According to Wikipedia, “The Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC),” established on June 3, 1918, “is the third-level military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, instituted for “an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against the enemy”.

Here’s an image of the DFC…

The date of publication of this article prompted further curiosity. Namely: What other pictures did the Forward publish in its issue of December 21, 1944?

The answer was (and is!) readily at hand, at the National Library of Israel’s website of the Historical Jewish Press. The NLI allows visitors access to the content – as images – of over 120 historical Jewish periodicals – among them the Forward – published in a variety of languages. A search of their well-designed website yields an image of the entirety of the page where the photograph of W/C Weiser was published, and this is presented below. (The picture of W/C Weiser and King George VI appears in the upper-left corner of the page.)

As for the other pictures?

Clockwise, from left to right, the illustrations depict: Edward von Steiger, the newly elected President of Switzerland for 1945; Privates First Class (and brothers) Abe and Sid Schneider of the Bronx; Major General Harry L. Twaddle of the American 95th Infantry Division, with soldiers Pvt. Alfred Page of Chattanooga and PFC Max Frankel of Denver; the late Mexican-born film star Lupe Velez (sad story about her…); Lupe’s pet dogs “Chips” and “Chops” at the entrance to her Beverly Hills home; and at bottom, delegates to the 8th National Convention of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation in Montreal.

Reference

Distinguished Flying Cross (British), at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distinguished_Flying_Cross_(United_Kingdom)

Biography of Wing Commander William Weiser – From “Canadian Jews in World War II”

The prior post about RCAF Wing Commander William Weiser presented him in an informal – yet highly informative, very expressive! – literary context, in the format of excerpts from letters he’d sent to his wife, Sophie Weiser, between May of 1942 and February of 1944. These letters were published in The American Hebrew in 1944.

However, another view of Wing Commander Weiser’s WW II military career appeared only three years later – in 1947 – in an entirely different setting. That year, the Canadian Jewish Congress published a two-volume set of books covering the military service of Canada’s Jews in the recent war, aptly and simply titled Canadian Jews in World War Two. The “first” of the two books, “Decorations” (Part I), comprises biographies of all Canadian Jewish servicemen who received awards for their military service. The “second” volume, “Casualties” (Part II), covers Canadian Jewish servicemen who were killed, wounded, or captured.

Viewed within a larger context, both during, and especially since the Second World War, numerous works have been published describing – in widely varied formats and styles – Jewish military service in WW II. Among these works, Canadian Jews in World War II easily stands out as – far and away – the very best. Though varying in length and content, the biographical profiles are typically extremely detailed, almost always including nominal genealogical information, photographic portraits of excellent quality, and – for those men who were casualties – the circumstances under and dates when such events occurred, sometimes even with mention of the military unit to which they were assigned. Some profiles include lengthy extracts and quotes from official correspondence, or, letters from friends and comrades.

In sum, these two books are both very nicely produced “as” books, and, they are superb stand-alone historical reference works.

A biography of Wing Commander Weiser can be found on page 6 of Part I. Like the majority of profiles in both books, his entry includes a formal photographic portrait, which happens to be identical to (and better than!) the image presented in the prior post, the latter of which is actually a digital image from 35mm microfilm.

His picture is presented below, along with a verbatim transcript of his biographical entry.

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WING COMMANDER WILLIAM WEISER, J-10822, R.C.A.F., of New York City, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on Oct. 4th, 1943, the Bar to his D.F.C. in May, 1944, and named a member of the Order of the British Empire on Jan. 25th, 1946.

The citation with his D.F.C. states:

“Flying Officer Weiser has flown on operations against some of the enemy’s most important targets and has always displayed great determination to complete his mission successfully. By his courage and devotion to duty he has set an excellent example to his crew.”

The citation accompanying the Bar read:

“This officer has completed two tours of operational duties. Most of the sorties completed by him have been accomplished in the face of heavy enemy action over such targets as Berlin, Hamburg, and Essen. As a Flight Commander, S/Ldr. Weiser has displayed skill, courage, and devotion to duty of a high order. His enthusiasm and organizational ability have been valuable assets to his squadron.”

Wing-Cmdr. Weiser learned to fly at Floyd Bennett Field, New York, and came to Canada to enlist in the R.C.A.F. eight months before the United States entered the war. He won his wings and commission and was posted overseas in May, 1942. There he was attached to a Pathfinder Squadron with which he completed two tours of operations. While he continued to command a bomber on raids over Germany, he was also in charge of the training of new pilots assigned to his squadron. Later he was posted to the staff of a Canadian bomber group.

Returning after a heavy raid on Germany in May, 1943, Wing-Cmdr. Weiser’s bomber crashed. Wing Cmdr. Weiser was severely injured and was confined to the hospital for more than a month. The other members of the crew escaped with slight wounds.

Born in Newark, N.J., in 1919, William Weiser is the son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Weiser of 971 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. Shortly before going overseas in 1942 Wing-Cmdr. Weiser married the former Miss Sophie Goldberg who lives at 1475 Grand Concourse, Bronx, N.Y.

Reference

Canadian Jews in World War II – Part I: Decorations, Canadian Jewish Congress, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1947, p. 6.