Soldiers from New York: Jewish Soldiers in The New York Times, in World War Two: May 4, 1945 – United States Navy – Naval Aviator Saul Chernoff – II [Revised post…!]

[First created on April 6, 2022, this post has now been updated … read on! …

As you can read just below – as the very “opening line” of this post, “Sometimes, it is a good thing to be wrong.” 

I penned that sentence as a result of having received – to my happy surprise and great appreciation – information and numerous photographs about Lt. JG Saul Chernoff, as a result of the appearance of the December, 2021 post Soldiers from New York: Jewish Soldiers in The New York Times, in World War Two: May 4, 1945 – United States Navy – Naval Aviator Saul ChernoffFrom Donna and Susan, Lt. JG Chernoff’s nieces, this material transformed their uncle’s identity from that of a mere “name and serial number” to a person with a fully three-dimensional life in history, and has been the basis for “this” second post, which was created in early April of 2022.

With that, Donna has clarified an aspect of their Uncle’s story about which was a little “off” – geographically speaking, that is.  This pertains to the photograph of Saul and his sister Lillian.  The correction appears below, in the same dark red text as used for this – and the preceding – paragraphs.  Scroll on down!…]

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Sometimes, it is a good thing to be wrong.

My recent post about Lt. (jg) Saul “Sonny” Chernoff, an F4U Corsair fighter pilot in Navy fighter squadron VBF-85, who scored three aerial victories on May 4, 1945 and was killed in action almost a month later, concluded on this ambiguous note:  “I have no further specifics about Lt. (jg) Saul Chernoff.  Perhaps he crashed at sea, just off the Ibusuki Seaplane Base; perhaps somewhere on the Satsuma Peninsula.  To the best of my knowledge, he was never a POW.  Even if he had been captured, his chance of survival to the war’s end, even during these closing three months of the Pacific War, in the context of the fate of Allied fliers captured by the Japanese, would only have been about 1 in 2.” 

I also noted – in lieu of other information – that, “Saul Chernoff’s name appears on page 288 of American Jews in World War II, where he is listed as having been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, and Purple Heart.  His name also appears in both volumes of the 1946 publication Combat Connected Naval Casualties of World War II.  In Volume I, his name appears on page 99 as being “Missing in Action or During Operational War Missions”, while in Volume II, his name can be found on page 12, where he is listed as “Reported in California as Missing”.”

And there, I supposed, things would remain: That nothing more would be known about Lt. (jg) Chernoff besides the appearance of his name in military records from a war – the Second World War – that ended nearly eighty years ago. 

After all, time has a way of carrying – sometimes gently; sometimes abruptly; always irrevocably – recollections of the past to horizons beyond the grasp and memory of man.  So as for Saul Chernoff the person, nothing more, I thought, would ever be known.

And so, if sometimes it is good to be wrong, this is one such time…

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Not long after the post appeared, I was more than startled to be contacted by Susan, Donna, Sandra, Nancy, and Larry, Saul Chernoff’s nieces and nephew.  Though fate never gave them the opportunity to know their uncle personally, awareness of his “place” in their family had never been lost, and continues to this day.  Perhaps, the memory of man (and, the memory of a man) can more strongly defy the grasp of time than we might imagine.  

As a result of Susan and Donna’s efforts, and especially Susan’s fine job of image scanning, this follow-up post includes images of the Chernoff family, and, Saul himself.  Also included are images of photos and documents from other sources.  Through these, it’s possible to have a glimpse of Lt. (jg) Chernoff as a pilot, and simply, a person.

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First, from the Jackson – McKane Family Tree at Ancestry.com, this image shows Saul’s father Morris in a Denver Park in 1917.  My knowledge of military aircraft surpassing my familiarity with automobiles by several order of magnitude (!), I don’t know what kind of car this is.  But, well, it is a car.  (That’s a start!)

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The next ten images of Saul and his family are Susan’s ultra-high-resolution scans of family photographs.

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Morris Chernoff and his children in 1926:  Three-year-old Saul and his five-year-old sister Lillian stand on the running board of their father’s car, somewhere in Los Angeles.  

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Saul and Lillian, with their parents Sima and Morris, some-unknown-where in the Los Angeles area, during the late 1930s.     

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The next three images – the first, below, of Saul and Lillian, and the latter two only of Saul – were taken on the same day and same location.  The obvious clues:  Saul wearing the same striped shirt in each picture, each picture sharing the same background with an advertising banner for a realtor, and, the overall lighting conditions.  The words “Holly Vista” on the sign pertain to a neighborhood in San Bernardino, east of Los Angeles.

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Donna’s update: “You guessed that the pictures of Saul with his sister/our mom and with his model plane were taken in San Bernadino, based on the sign that said Holly Vista.  But if you look in the background of the pic of Saul and our mom, you’ll see a sign for Schwab’s Pharmacy.  Their house was located across the street from Schwab’s on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, on the edge of the Sunset Strip.  It’s a pretty iconic place; read about it here: A Look Back: L.A.’s Schwab’s Pharmacy Was More Than A Drugstore.”  

Well, that was interesting!  As a sometime movie-buff, I’m certain that I heard in passing “of” Schwab’s Pharmacy over the years, but I had little knowledge of its historical and cultural significance.  And so, even just a brief perusal of the Internet revealed an abundance of information and photos of Schwab’s, let alone the personalities connected to it.  Though this fascinating topic lies far beyond the scope of this blog, here are three representative images of Schwab’s, and, its present (former, really) location on Sunset Boulevard.  

A high-resolution image of Schwab’s storefront, taken some time before 1949. 

Schwab’s in the early 1950s, uploaded to Pinterest by Betsy Thompson.  This image appears to be a frame from an 8mm or 16mm movie, or, a 35mm Kodachrome slide.  To the right of Schwab’s is Googie’s Coffee Shop, designed in 1949.

Schwab’s (on the right) and adjacent businesses, in the 1930s. 

According to Wikipedia, “Schwab’s was closed in October of 1983.  On October 6, 1988, the building was demolished to make way for a shopping complex and multiplex theater.”  A May, 2022 Oogle Street view of Schwab’s former location appears below.

From the YouTube channel of NASS Video Restoration, in the video “California 1952, Sunset Blvd: Hollywood to Sunset Strip in color [60fps,Remastered] w/added sound”, Schwab’s and Coogie’s are visible at the right center from 8:27 to 8:35.   

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And so, back Saul’s story…

“Builds Models”

It seems that the event prompting the three above photos was Saul’s proud display of a powered model airplane, of which he was the builder, as indicated in the class yearbook for the Hollywood High School class of 1940…

…which indicates the interest that eventually led him to become a fighter pilot.

As for Saul’s model, it’s interesting to note that at least in terms of the popular culture of the ’30s, the phrase “airplane model” typically denoted flying, powered model aircraft, constructed of balsa and other light-weight material.  This was a some two decades before that phrase connoted non-flying (very non-flying!) models constructed from kits comprised of injection-molded polystyrene pieces, and intended purely for static display.  We’re talking some years before the advent of Monogram, Revell, AMT, MPC, Jo-Han, Renwal, Pyro, Lindberg, Aurora, Hawk, and the many plastic kit manufacturers that have come and gone, as well as the few – like Tamiya – that have survived and grown, or – like Airfix – reemerged phoenix-like, over the past few decades.

Saul’s airplane, still under construction (note that only the upper side of the wing leading edges are “skinned”) appears to be powered by a one-cylinder engine, with a control mechanism or fuel tank in the center of the fuselage. 

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Since, sadly, any and all documents about Saul’s aviation training and military career no longer exist, nothing is known about the location and occasion of the following photo, which “speaks for itself”, or more aptly put, “shows for itself”:  Saul is seated in the rear of a biplane.  I don’t know if – in light of his interest in aviation – Saul attained a pilot’s license before WW II, or, his aviation training occurred solely in the Navy.  But, I think this photo suggests the latter, for it looks like he’s wearing attire and equipment associated with military aviation.

As for the type of aircraft this is, I have no idea.  I was unable to find any images of this aircraft in either United States Navy Aircraft since 1911, or Navy Air Colors, suggesting that it’s a civilian aircraft.  Key identifying features are the radial engine, all metal fuselage with cylindrical front section, and a sort of notch in the lower wing near where it joins the fuselage.  

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Location and time completely unknown, I guess that this image shows Saul’s pilot training class … at the inception of training?  In any event, Saul is fourth from right, in the second row…  

…and here he is in close-up.

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A step forward in time:  Again undated; again names unknown; again location unknown, Saul has progressed further in training.  On a sunny day, a Grumman F4F Wildcat serves as a backdrop for Saul (p r o b a b l y rear row, second from right) and seven other pilots.

While the clothing and equipment worn by the pilots is largely the same, note the square pouches attached to the Mae Wests (life vests) worn by Saul, and the pilots to his right and left.  These are Life Jacket Dye Marker packets, which were used (still used today) by aviators or naval personnel lost at sea, to assist searchers and observers in rescue ships and aircraft to more easily pinpoint their location from a distance.  When opened, a Dye Marker packet releases a fluorescent bye that imparts a brilliant green color to water adjacent to the release point – in marked contrast to the shades of blue and gray typically associated with the sea – thus facilitating spotting a person’s location from either distance or altitude.  Used by flying personnel in both the Army Air Force and Navy, and the air arms of other Allied nations, there were variations in the design and markings of the packets (I guess the operating instructions were very simple, anyway), but the general appearance was consistent through the war.

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One version of the below image, of the pilots and enlisted men of VF-85 as seen in December of 1944, appears in my first post about Lt. JG Chernoff, where it’s taken (and improved a little via Photoshop) from the War History of VF-85 at Fold3.com.

However, this copy this of image – as seen in this post – is of greatly (really; vastly) higher resolution, contrast, and overall quality.  Susan scanned it at a resolution of 600 dpi.  (It’s big – 6 MB.)  The fact that a copy of this photo remained in the possession of Saul’s family suggests that other individuals in the picture received their own copy.  

Saul is tenth from left in the second row from the front, directly to the left of the F4U’s lowermost propeller blade. 

The name of the men in the picture are listed below.  

Front Row (sitting)

Ens. Bean, Roy N.
Ens. Hatfield, Elvin H.
Ens. Siddall, Frank S.
Ens. Edwin, Norman L.
Ens. Kirkham, Charles N. (KIA June 2, 1945)
Ens. Noel, Richard L.
Lt. Cdr. Gilmour
Lt. Cdr. Ford, Warren W.
Lt. Cdr. Roberts
Lt. Tilton, Eugene B.
Ens. Lawhon, David W.
Ens. Dunn, John C.
Ens. Bloomfield, Robert A.
Ens. Solomon, Leonard E.
Ens. Egolf, James O.
Lt. Irgens, Donald L.
Lt. (jg) Lamphar
Ens. Huber, Joseph A.

Second Row

Lt. (jg) Blair, George M.
Lt. (jg) Robbins, Joe D.
Ens. Moos, Kennard “A.”
Lt. (jg) Edwards, (William H.?)
Ens. Moore, John H.
Ens. Meltebeke, Raymond L.
Lt. (jg) Callan, Allie W.
Lt. (jg) Nichols, James B.
Lt. Wollum, Donald G.
Ens. Chernoff, Saul
Ens. Shinn, William G.
Ens. Marr, William H. (KIA June 2, 1945)
Ens. Clark, John G.
Lt. (jg) Sovanski, Lawrence
Ens. McCraken, Billie R.
Ens. Fuog, Howard W.
Ens. Yirrell, Francis
Lt. Goodnow, Robert G.
Ens. Loeffler, John D.

Third Row

Lt. (jg) Webster, Bayard
Lt. Fuller, Roy A. (KIA June 2, 1945)
Ens. Kling, Nelson P.
Ens. Kennedy, Harold R. (KIA June 2, 1945)
Ens. Pierce, James W.
Lt. Vickery, Arthur E.
Ens. Bruening, Floyd W.
Lt. (jg) Black, James B.
Lt. (jg) Horne, Hugh R. or Joseph S.
Lt. (jg) Whitney, Robert C.
Lt. (jg) Horne, Hugh R. or Joseph S.
Ens. McPhee, Duncan C.
Ens. Harrington, Henry M.
Ens. Clarke, William “R.”
Ens. Meyers, Donald E.
Ens. Fitzgerald, Louis A.
Lt. (jg) Spring
Lt. (jg) DeMott, Richard W.
Ens. Sabin, Donald G.

Enlisted Men (on Wing)

Schmidt
Goessling
ART 1C Curry, Roland H.
AMM 2C Thompson, Claud W.
AMM 1C Stransky, Lloyd J.
AMM 2C Kusmer, Erwin L.
AEM 1C Lewis, Frank H.
AM 1C Callahan, William J., Jr.
ACMM Young, Kenneth D.
ACRM Wright, Wilbur T.
Y 1C Hager, Franklin T.
AMMP 1C Brackett, William A.
AMM 3C Keegan, Joseph J.
PR 2C Kinner, Wilbert K.
AOM 3C Tanner, Charles L.
AOM 1C Richardson, William L.
ACOM Klein, Irving

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As mentioned in the first post, Saul was married.  His wife, Georgette Dorothy Kamm, resided with her family at 139 Main Street, in Northport, Long Island, New York.

Searching on Ancestry.com yielded her graduation portrait from the yearbook of the 1943 class of Northport High School…   

…while here’s a low-resolution close-up of her portrait.  

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Here’s the couple’s wedding announcement, from the Northport Journal of October 6, 1944, found via FultonHistory.

CHERNOFF-KAMM

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph M. Kamm of 628 East Main Street announce the marriage of their daughter Georgette Dorothy to Mr. Paul [sic] Chernoff, Ensign, U.S.N. Air Corps on last Sunday, October 1.

Ensign and Mrs. Chernoff will make their home in Hollywood, Calif.

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With Georgette wearing her wedding ring, the married couple pose for a photo, probably in the Los Angeles area.

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On March 8, 1946, about nine months after Lt. (jg) Chernoff was killed, the Northport Journal carried the following news item, also via FultonHistory:

The Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross for action over Okinawa and Iwo Jima have been awarded Lieut. (jg) Saul Chernoff, USNR, who has been missing in action since June 21, 1945.  His wife is the former Miss Georgette Kamm, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kamm of Main Street, who is at present [still, in 1946] with her husband’s people in California.

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The image below, at at SAS – Special Aircraft Service (digital aviation art) posted by “Lagarto” on May 19, 2019 – shows the Ibusuki Seaplane Base under attack by United States Navy aircraft on April 16, 1945.  If you examine the picture very closely, you’ll see an SB2C Helldiver dive-bomber banking to the right, in the upper center of the image.  Five aircraft, possibly Kawashini H8K “Emily” (二式大型飛行艇) Type 2 Large-Size Flying Boats, are visible on the concrete apron at the lower right center of the picture.  

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Of the six VF-85 / VBF-85 pilots killed in action on June 2, 1945 during the squadron’s air battle with N1K2-J fighters of Japan’s 343rd Naval Air Group, Saul was the only pilot whose body was recovered, and who thus has a place of burial.  This document, from the Casualty File for VF-85 / VBF-85, covers his recovery and identification, his Corsair evidently having crashed somewhere near the Ibusuki Seaplane Base, perhaps in the vicinity of Uomidake Peak.  Though the document indicates that searchers found the wreck of his Corsair, unfortunately, the specific location is not given.     

The page is transcribed below. 

November 8, 1948

Report of Investigation Division, Legal Section, GHQ, SCAP.

Remains of Lt. CHERNOFF recovered and identified.
Investigations, conducted to date, indicate no atrocity involved in the death of the pilot concerned in this case.  Case closed.

Chernoff – Saul – Presumed Dead to Determined Dead

Reference: Reports of William R. Gill, dated 22 April 1948 and 21 February 1948.

DETAILS:

At Tokyo:

Previous Investigation Division Reports indicate that according to information received from Graves Registration, Unknown X-779 has been identified and confirmed by the Office of the QM General as Lt. Saul CHERNOFF, USNR.

Lt. CHERNOFF’s remains were recovered at Kagoshima-ken, Kumotsuki-gun, Neshime-machi, by Graves Registration team and was [sic] reinterred at the U.S. Cemetery in Yokohama.  The remains have been listed as Unknown X-779 prior to identification, and have been investigated under Graves Registration Case History No. 610.

Graves Registration report further stated that the Engine Number of the recovered plane coincides with the plane, piloted by Lt. CHERNOFF and dental charts also compared favorably.  Investigations conducted by this office indicate that there has been no indication of an atrocity committed in the death of Lt. Saul CHERNOFF.

Copies of all reports written on cases concerning the Kyushu Area are directed to Inv. Div. File 1505 which is a central reference for the Kyushu Area plane crashes.

On another document…

February 17, 1948 Supplementary Determination of Death

The Japanese records and the records of this Bureau agree as to date and place of crash.  The search and recovery team investigating the crash cite noted the following numbers on the engine plate: “Pratt and Whitney Aircraft, Contract No. A/S/2344, Mfg. No. P-22541”.  This corresponds with the engine number of the plane in which Lieutenant CHERNOFF was flying. 

The Casualty File for VF-85 / VBF-85 is one of many such sets of documents covering US Navy WW II aircraft and aircrew losses.  It’s in NARA Records Group 24, specifically records of the “Casualty Branch / Casualty Assistance Branch of the Personal Affairs Division”. 

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Saul was buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on June 16, 1949. 

His mother Sima died just under one year later, and was buried alongside him.  They share the same matzeva, as seen in this image by FindAGrave contributor dml

In terms of military aviation history, with a natural focus on the design of warplanes, aerial combat strategies, aerial aces, victories and losses, camouflage and markings, military aviation heraldry, “nose art”, flying equipment, the sub-types and serial numbers of aircraft, and yet more (well, the subject is interesting) it seems that something quite fundamental is easily be lost: The fact that behind all these facets of tactics and technology is the impact of war, even upon the side of the victors.  The more one delves into the “human” side of conflict, this becomes all the more apparent. 

And so…  

The timing between Saul’s death in 1945, his 1949 burial, and his mother’s passing only one year further, was more than a mere coincidence. 

Saul’s sister Lillian related to her children that Sima’s passing was literally, “…of a ‘broken heart’, so in some ways she was another casualty of the war.” 

Lillian’s specifically recalled her mother’s reaction to the news of Saul’s Missing in Action status: “After my mother got news that my brother got shot down, she took off one day and she didn’t tell us where she was going, and what she did was on her own she went to San Diego to go on the boat that my brother had been on to see where he had slept.  So she was very very traumatized by my brother being killed.  And she really didn’t have any desire to go on.”

Saul’s father Morris died at the age of eighty, in 1970.  

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Born on May 24, 1925, Georgette remained in California.  In time she remarried.  She died in Alameda on September 2, 1994.

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In many, many (did I say many?) of my prior posts, I’ve made reference to or commented about the 1947 publication of the dual-books American Jews in World War II, one volume of which is a state by state compilation of the names of American Jewish servicemen who were killed or wounded in action, and / or received military awards.  These entries are based on information recorded on color-coded index cards by the National Jewish Welfare Board, which list a serviceman’s name, rank, branch of service, (sometimes) serial number, (some other times) theater of service, awards, next of kin, and residential or correspondence address.  Paralleling the example given for Major Milton Joel, here are the two cards filed for Lt. (jg) Chernoff:  One pertaining to his “Death in Action” status, and the other denoting his receipt of the Air Medal and Purple Heart.  

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This is the page (page 288) from Volume II of American Jews in World War II which lists Saul’s name: At bottom right, under “New York”, rather than “California”, reflective of his wife’s original residential address.

Here Are Some Books

Doll, Thomas E., Jackson, Berkley R., and Riley, William A., Navy Air Colors – United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Aircraft Camouflage and Markings – Vol. 1 1911-1945, Squadron/Signal Publications, Carrollton, Tx., 1983

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

Green, William, Famous Fighters of the Second World War, Hanover House, N.Y., 1958 (Kawashini Shiden pp. 111-116)

Green, William, Famous Fighters of the Second World War – Volume II, Doubleday and Company, Inc., Garden City, N.Y., 1969 (Chance Vought Corsair pp. 79-92)

Sakaida, Henry, and Takaki, Koji, Genda’s Blade – Japan’s Squadron of Aces 343 Kokutai, Classic Publications, Surrey, England, 2003

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

Young, Edward M. (Illustrated by Gareth Hector), F4U Corsair vs. Ki-84 “Frank” Pacific Theater 1945, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, England, 2016 

Specific Reference Works – No Author Listed

Combat Connected Naval Casualties, World War II, by States, United States Navy Department Office of Information, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1946

A Bunch of Websites

History of Bomber Fighting Squadron Eighty-Five, at VBF85.com

Fighting Squadron Eighty-Five – May 15, 1944 – September 25, 1945, at VBF85.com

VBF-85 Cruise Book, at VBF85.com

Morris Chernoff’s Scrapbook, 1916-1938, at University of Denver Archives

Holly Vista, at Neighborhoods.com 

Aircraft Action Reports, Reports of Air Operations, War Diaries, and War Histories – at Fold3.com

VF-85 / VBF-85 Aircraft Action Report (Fighter Sweep over Airfields at Kagoshima, Chiran, and Izumi, Kyushu, Japan) – 2 June 1945

USS Shangri-La Report of Air Operations against Kyushu, Japan

USS Shangri-La War Diary – Report of Air Operations Against Kyushu

USS Shangri-La War History

War History, VP 13, 12 7 41–10 1 44 & War History, VPB 13, 10 1 44–12 21 45

Soldiers from New York: Jewish Soldiers in The New York Times, in World War Two: Corporal Philip Arkuss – January 11, 1945 [Updated post…  “New and Improved!”]

[I recently re-posted information about Jewish military casualties on July 12, 1945, based on a news item about Captain Edmond Joseph Arbib – killed in a flying accident on that date – which was published in The New York Times on July 18, 1945. 

Akin to that updated post is this similarly updated post, pertaining to Jewish military casualties on January 11, 1945.  When originally created, on May 11, 2017, this post was limited to information about two members of the United States Army Air Force (Cpl. Philip Arkuss and Lt. Edward Heiss), based on a news item about Corporal Philip Arkuss – in particular – which appeared in the Times on March 8, 1945.  Paralleling my recent post about Captain Arbib, “this” revised post is of a much larger scope, and presents information about some other Jewish military casualties on the day in question: January 11, 1945.]

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Corporal Philip Arkuss

Thursday, January 11, 1945 – 27 Tevet 5705

Tehé Nafshó Tzrurá Bitzrór Haḥayím

May his soul be bound up in the bond of everlasting life.

Corporal Philip Arkuss (32802439) served in the 100th Bomb Squadron of the 42nd Bomb Group, a B-25 Mitchell equipped combat group of the 13th Air Force, then stationed at Sansapor, New Guinea.  His name appeared in a Casualty List published in the Times on March 8, 1945, and his photograph and obituary were published in that newspaper twelve days later, on March 20. 

Cpl. Arkuss’ aircraft, B-25J 43-27979, piloted by 2 Lt. John W. Magnum, was shot down by anti-aircraft fire during a low-level bombing and strafing mission to Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia.  (Formerly the Netherlands East Indies.)  The plane was at too low an altitude for the crew to escape by parachute, though their chance of survival if captured would have been miniscule, at best.  

Mangum, John Wesley, 2 Lt. – Pilot (0-751383) – Dallas, Tx.
Acker, Clarence Ward “Buck”, 2 Lt. – Co-Pilot (0-765211) – Dallas, Tx.
Quinn, Thomas F., 1 Lt. – Navigator (0-569858) – Chicago, Il.
Snyder, Carl V.E., Sgt. – Flight Engineer (35867076) – Franklin County, Oh.
Hough, Wallace E., Cpl. – Gunner (12199927) – St. Lawrence County, N.Y.

“The strafers RON’d [rendezvoused] at Morotai, and repeated the performance the following day.  Capt. J.W. Thomason was the leader of the 69th; Capt. R.J. Weston, the 70th; Lieut. John M. Erdman, the 75th; Lieut. Tom J. Brown, the 100th; and Capt. Gordon M. Dana, the 390th.  It was another knockout punch; 300-pound demos exploded inside at least two buildings, sending debris up to the level of the planes, and tracers went everywhere, wiping out AA gun crews and personnel who had run to cover.  But still the AA did its damage.  Lieut. J.R. Sathern was hit and had to crash-land wheels-up at Morotai.  All the crew walked away.  Hit in the right engine just after releasing, Lieut. John W. Mangum of the 100th crashed into a 6000 foot ridge west of the target, with no possibility of escape for the crew.”

The MACR (Missing Air Crew Report) covering the loss of this plane and crew is presented below.  The number of this MACR – 15661 – indicates that the document is a “fill-in” MACR, filed after the war ended.

Course: Off Marr on Cannal through Dampier Strait to Cape Waka at the southern tip of Sanana Island to Mono_i Island to the initial point of Sampara River mouth, then direct to the target on a true heading of 210 degrees.  Retirement right divert to Morotai.  From Morotai direct to home base.

It is believed that Aircraft B-25, 43-27979 was hit in the right engine just after dropping its bombs in the target area.  The plane was observed to slowly settle while on fire.  It crashed and exploded on a ridge 6,000 feet west of the target area P-1 at Kendari.  The bomb doors were still open when the plane exploded.  There was no chance for any of the crew to escape alive.  (Ref. Mission Report #245).

According to American Jews in World War Two, Philip received the Purple Heart, but, no other military awards are listed for him.  If this is correct, it would suggest that he had flown less than five combat missions at the time of his death. 

This photo from The Crusaders provides a representative view of a 42nd Bomb Group B-25J “solid nose” Mitchell bomber in natural metal (that is, uncamouflaged aluminum), unlike most of the Group’s bombers, which were finished in olive drab and neutral gray.  This example sports the 42nd Bomb Group’s simple markings comprised of the Group’s insignia of a Crusader shield painted on the center of the fin and rudder, and the top of the vertical tails trimmed in yellow.  Interestingly, the plane’s serial number (44-30285) appears twice: Upper in the original factory-painted location, and lower in repainted stylized numbers.  Crusader B-25s carried no plane-in-squadron identification numbers or letters.

B-25J 44-30285 survived the war.

Here’s the emblem of the 13th Air Force…

…while this excellent image of the 42nd Bomb Group’s insignia with repainted serial number, characteristic of late-war Crusader Mitchells, is from World War Photos.  This B-25J (44-29775) also survived WW II.  

This image of the insignia of the 100th Bomb Squadron – crossed lion paws on a blue field – is from Maurer and Maurer’s Combat Squadrons of the Air Force – World War Two.  Images or scans of the original insignia do not (as of 2022) appear on the Internet.  

This small-scale Oogle map shows the general location of the city of Kendari, in Southeast Sulawesi, in the Celebes Islands.  The city lies in the very center of this image. 

Oogling in for a closer look, this map shows the location of the 42nd Bomb Group’s destination and target for the January 11 mission: Kendari Airfield (or Kendari II), now known as the Bandara Haluoleo airport, southwest of Kendari.  The red oval designates the general location of the crash site of 43-27979, based on latitude and longitude coordinates in MACR 15661.

Oogling yet closer…  The Mangum crew’s Mitchell crashed into a ridge west of Kendari II, not actually at the airfield itself.    

This Oogle air photo – at the same scale as the above map – shows the plane’s probable crash location, again indicated by a red oval.  The precise location of the crash would presumably be available in IDPFs (Individual Deceased Personnel Files) for any and all of the plane’s six crewmen.

The plane’s entire crew was buried in a collective grave in Section E (plot 145-146) of Zachary Taylor National Cemetery, in Louisville, Kentucky on August 16, 1949.  An image of the crew’s collective grave marker, taken by FindAGrave contributors John and Kim Galloway, is shown below:

Here is Cpl. Arkuss’ obituary, as it appeared in the Times on March 20:

Former New Opera Player Dies on Celebes Mission

On Christmas Day Corp. Philip Arkuss of 170 Claremont Ave. entertained several thousand servicemen at his base by playing a violin he had purchased from a “buddy” after he went overseas.  Before entering the service he had been with the New Opera Company and with “Porgy and Bess,” and had won a Philharmonic scholarship.  He was 23 years old.

His widow, Olga Bayrack Arkuss, has received a War Department telegram reporting that he was killed on Jan. 11 in action over the Celebes Islands.  He was a radio operator – gunner in a B-25 bomber that was shot down by Japanese anti-aircraft while flying low and crashed into a mountainside.

He had entered the service in February, 1943, training in Florida, South Dakota and South Carolina and went overseas in October of last year.  Before entering the service he had been concert master of a United Service Organization’s Symphony Orchestra that toured the country.

Besides his widow he is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Arkuss, and a brother, Albert.

This 2017 Oogle Street view shows the location of the Arkuss family’s WW II home: 170 Claremont Ave., in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan…

…while this street scene of 170 Claremont Ave. is from streeteasy.com.

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Other Jewish casualties in the 100th Bomb Squadron include Sergeant James Edward Levin (14065044; Flight Engineer; MACR 15979; B-25J 43-36015), from Charleston, S.C., whose crew was lost on April 8, 1945; Second Lieutenant Joseph B. Rosenberg (0-685730; Navigator; MACR 13501; B-25J 43-27976), from New York, N.Y., whose aircraft was lost on March 10, 1945; and Flight Officer Ralph E. Roth (T-128789; Navigator; B-25J; MACR 14132; 43-27848) from South Bend, In., whose Mitchell crashed on April 14, 1945. 

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Some other Jewish military casualties on January 11, 1945 (27 Tevet 5705) were…

Tehé Nafshó Tzrurá Bitzrór Haḥayím

May his soul be bound up in the bond of everlasting life.

On the 11th of January, 1945, two bombers were lost from the twenty-five Calcutta based 58th Bomb Wing B-29 Superfortresses that struck dry-dock facilities at Singapore.  

One of these aircraft was B-29 42-24704, piloted by Lt. Col. Donald J. Humphrey.  There were eight survivors from the eleven crew members in this 793rd Bomb Squadron, 468th Bomb Group plane, the loss of which is covered in Missing Air Crew Report 10879, and at Pacific Wrecks.  Of the eight, four survived as POWs.  

In total, the crew of the other B-29, 42-65226 (the loss of which is covered in MACR 10878), plane-in-squadron number 54, did not fare so well:  Of the eleven men in this plane, only three would survive the war.  While two minutes from the target and on its bomb-run, the aircraft, piloted by Major Joseph H. Wilson, Jr., was either directly struck by anti-aircraft fire, or (as later speculated by Major Wilson himself) an aerial bomb, and exploded. 

As described in Missing Air Crew Report…

About 5 miles NE of primary target, time 0203Z, 4 objects believed to be chutes were seen in air close together, at 14,000’.  No B-29 was seen in immediate vicinity.

While on Bomb Run, about 20-25 miles N of primary target, pilot of a/c 580 saw an a/c explode directly over target.  The explosion emitted large orange flame, then the a/c seemed to disintegrate.   Observers could not be sure that this a/c was a B-29.

Contact with a/c 226 of this Squadron was last made in the vicinity of the IP.  Up to this point, 3 other aircraft had voice radio contact with 226; during this time between Assembly Point and IP, 226 was talking with these a/c , all of them attempting to get together for formation bomb run.  After leaving IP no one had any contact with 226, and subsequent efforts to call him from the local ground station were unsuccessful. 

01 15 N – 103 53 E was approximate position of a/c 226 when last contacted by voice radio.

Plane 54’s crew comprised:  

Wilson, Joseph H., Jr., Major – Aircraft Commander (0-413209) – Gainesville, Ga. – Survived (Evaded)
Fitzgerald, Russell G., 1 Lt. – Co-Pilot (0-808350) – West Medway, Ma. – Survived (Evaded)
Osterdahl, Carroll Nels, 1 Lt. – Navigator (0-739573) – Santa Barbara, Ca. – Captured; Murdered 2/10/45
Heiss, Edward, 1 Lt. – Bombardier, 0-688085, Brooklyn, N.Y. – Captured; Murdered 2/10/45
Vail, Charles E., 1 Lt. – Flight Engineer (0-860970) – What Cheer, Iowa – KIA
Yowell, Robert William, 1 Lt. – Radar Operator (0-862033) – Peola Mills, Va. – Captured; Murdered 2/10/45
Roberts, Jerry D., S/Sgt. – Radio Operator (18226784) – Jacksonville, Tx. – Survived (Evaded)
Wolk, Philip, Sgt., 32805025 – Gunner (Central), Bronx, N.Y. – KIA
Gumbert, Boyd Morris, S/Sgt. – Gunner (Right Blister) (13131774) – New Kensington, Pa. – KIA
Ellis, Samuel Burton, Jr., S/Sgt. – Gunner (Left Blister) (34687577) – Pitts, Ga. – Captured; Murdered 2/10/45
Holt, Alarick Arnold, T/Sgt. – Gunner (Tail) (37160988) – Lindstrom, Mn. – KIA

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Here’s the emblem of he 20th Air Force…

…while this example of the emblem of the 677th Bomb Squadron is from Military Aviation Artifacts.  

 

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As highlighted above, only three of the plane’s crew would eventually return:  Besides Major Wilson, the other two survivors were co-pilot 1 Lt. Russell G. Fitzgerald and radio operator S/Sgt. Jerry D. Roberts.

Sgt. Wolk, Flight Engineer 1 Lt. Charles E. Vail, aerial gunner (right blister) S/Sgt. Boyd M. Gumbert, and, tail gunner T/Sgt. Alerick A. Holt presumably died in the explosion or crash of the aircraft. 

Lt. Heiss, navigator 1 Lt. Carroll N. Osterdahl, radar operator 1 Lt. Robert W. Yowell, and aerial gunner (left) S/Sgt. Samuel B. Ellis, Jr. all survived the explosion and – like Wilson, Fitzgerald, and Roberts – parachuted to safety. 

But…  According to postwar statements by Major Wilson and Sgt. Roberts, Heiss and Yowell were captured by the Japanese while attempting to reach the headquarters of a local Chinese guerilla unit, possibly with the connivance of a certain Manuel Fernandez, a “plantation worker who may have been playing both ends of the game for his own personal enrichment”.  Other (web) sources suggest that Lt. Osterdahl and Sgt. Ellis were also captured. 

In any event, these four men were killed murdered by their captors (specifically, a “Sub-Lieut. Koayashi” and a “W/O Toyama” of the 10th Special Base Unit) on February 10, almost a month after they were shot down.   

A copy of the Detail of the Trial Record of members of the 10th Special Base Unit is available via ocf.berkeley.edu.  I’ve transcribed and edited the document, which you can access here.

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Akin to the loss of B-17G 44-6861, the loss of B-29 42-65226 marks an incident (well, there were a few) where a missing aircraft had earlier been photographically captured in an official Army Air Force photograph.  This image, Army Air Force photo A-55427AC / A1014, taken a little less than two months before the loss of the Wilson / Fitzgerald crew, is captioned:  “Boeing B-29 Superfortress of the 20th Bomber Command fly [sic] over the Himalaya Mountain range in an area now commonly referred to as “The Hump”.  Photo was taken enroute to target at Omura, Japan, 11/21/44.  In this photo cloud formations obscure the mountainous background.  [penciled in…] “444th Bomb Group.

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MACR 10878 includes postwar affidavit by Sgt. Roberts and an interview of Major Wilson. 

Here’s Sergeant Wilson’s affidavit, taken on June 18, 1946 at Barksdale Field, Louisiana, while he was serving in Squadron A-1 of the 2621st Army Air Force Base Unit. 

On January 11, 1945, we were scheduled for a mission to attack Singapore, Malaya.  Upon going to briefing in the morning in question, our regular Engineer assigned our crew was attached to a rest camp, which caused a vacancy to exist on our crew.  On this morning, First Lieutenant Charles E. Vail, 0-860971, was assigned to our crew as Aerial Engineer.  My assigned position on the crew was radio operator, which placed me directly across from the engineer in the plane. 

After briefing and take off about two minutes from the target, and while on the bomb run, there was an explosion, causing the ship to be blown to bits and six of us were blown out of the ship.  This knowledge was gained from the other members of the crew, as I was rendered unconscious at the time of the explosion.

The first thing I can remember is that I came to in the air and my parachute was open.  While descending, I noticed bits of the ship falling.  To the best of my knowledge, the location was about two miles from the target outside of Singapore. 

Upon reaching the ground, members of a guerilla band rescued me and on this same day at about sundown, I joined the bombardier, Lt. Heiss.  Early the next morning about three o’clock, we joined two other members of our crew, the pilot, Major Wilson, and the radar man, 1st Lt. Yowell.

While enroute to guerilla headquarters, we approached a Japanese sentry post, at which time the leader of the guerilla band that we were with placed Major Wilson and myself under cover of bushes and surrounding trees, and made a statement that he was going to try to get Lt. Heiss and Lt. Yowell past the sentry post, since they were uninjured and we were classified as stretcher cases.  He said if he could manage to get the two through without being caught, he would return for us.  After a lapse of approximately four days, a member of the guerilla band returned, at which time he told us that Lt. Heiss and Lt. Yowell had been captured by the Japanese upon crossing the road.  After a lapse of approximately two weeks, we received word that Lt. Heiss and Lt. Yowell had been executed, along with a third person whose identity is unknown to me, but it was believed by the guerilla band that he was captured immediately upon landing from bailing out of one of the airplanes in the formation.  To the best of my knowledge, we were the only ship that had been hit at that particular time.

The guerilla leader made a statement while we were stationed with him that this third member who had been executed was taken down the main street of Singapore and that the Japs were flogging him and that the man who was being flogged kept crying out, “Good for me, bad for you,” buy which they determined that he was an American because of his language.  According to the guerilla band’s information gathered from the Japs, they accounted for only four bodies in the plane, they captured three men, and the three of us made a total of ten men, which would leave another crew member still unaccounted for.

About five weeks after our accident, we joined the co-pilot of our crew, Lt. Fitzgerald, who had survived the crash and had joined natives.  He had not seen any of the crew members until we joined him. 

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Here’s a transcript of an interview of Major Wilson as recorded and transcribed by 1 Lt. H.P. Romanoff, the Assistant Post Intelligence Officer, Headquarters, at Army Air Force Overseas Replacement Depot and AAF Redistribution Station No. 5, Greensboro, North Carolina.  The statement specifically concerns the fate of 1 Lt. Charles E. Vail, though Major Wilson’s statements are relevant to the fates of other crew members.

Wilson stated that he was the pilot of the B-29 and that Vail was not the regular flight engineer, this being his first assignment.

Wilson stated that take-off was from Duddkhundi, India, for target at the Salita Naval Base, Singapore, on 11 January 1945.  While on the bomb run the aircraft was hit by either flak or an aerial bomb.  The aircraft exploded.  As a result of the explosion, a hole was blown in the plastic nose of the aircraft.  While trying to regain control of the aircraft, Wilson saw several black objects going rapidly through the hole in the plastic nose.  It seemed as if the objects were being thrown through as a result of the force of the explosion.  Wilson’s safety belt was tight.  This gave him an opportunity to look back just prior to being thrown himself.  He noted that Vail’s seat was empty.

Prior to the above, Wilson last saw Vail just prior to the bomb run.  On this occasion he had instructed Vail to check the fuel.

After being thrown from the aircraft, Wilson parachuted safely to the ground.

Upon receiving the ground, Wilson and four other members of his crew (1st Lt. Russell Fitzgerald, co-pilot; 1st Lt. Edward Heiss, bombardier; 1st Lt. Robert Yowell, radar operator, and S/Sgt. Jerry D. Roberts, radio operator) were gathered together that night by Chinese natives.  The latter had information that another person had been captured by the Japanese and was quite badly beaten before being taken to Singapore.  The identity of this person is unknown. 

Later that night, 1st Lt. Heiss and 1st. Lt. Yowell were captured by the Japanese and taken to either Singapore or Johore, Bahru, India.

HEARSAY INFORMATION: Later on, while assisting Major Wilson in evasive tactics, Chinese guerillas and an Indian dresser (one who works as a first-aid man on a rubber plantation), Manuel Fernandez (employed at S__gai, Plantation Esate, Massai Johore) stated that two First Lieutenants and one other person were publicly tortured to death at either Singapore or Johore.  Major Wilson feel that Vail could have been one of the three persons.  Ity is believed that Fernandez may be able to confirm this because of his close proximity to the Japs.  However, it is further believed by Major Wilson that while anti-Jap, Fernandez may have been playing both ends of the game for his own personal enrichment.  It is quite possible that Fernandez has been interrogated by the British.

Major Wilson further stated that he heard four men of his crew were found dead at the scene of the B-29 crash and that three others, in addition to Fitzgerald and Roberts, had been captured.

Major Wilson also stated that a good source of information is a Chinese guerilla named Chen Tien, alias Chai Chek.  This person is one of the guerilla leaders from Singapore who could speak English.  Chen Tien is known to British Intelligence, having worked for them while in the jungle.

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These three Oogle Maps show the general – presumed – location of the crash of B-29 42-65226.  This first map shows the location of Singapore: Just off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula.  

Oogling in for a closer look, the red oval shows the bomber’s probable crash location:  Not in Singapore per se, but just beyond, between Plentong and Johor Bahru.  This estimate is based on longitude and latitude coordinates in the Missing Air Crew Report, as well as statements by witnesses to the aircraft’s loss, and, accounts by the three survivors.  

One more map, giving an even closer (!) view of the B-29’s likely crash location.  If correct (I think correct…), the crash site is now an area of residential and commercial development.  Including a shopping center.  

Life numerous American Jewish WW II servicemen, the name of Lieutenant Edward Heiss, the plane’s bombardier, is absent from the many-times-mentioned-at-this-blog book, American Jews in World War Two. 

Born in New York in 1918, he was the son of Samuel (1887-10/3/60) and Pepi (Scherzer) (1/26/89-10/15/88) Heiss, and brother of Seymour and Sylvia, the family residing at 503 East 2nd St., in Brooklyn.  The recipient of the Air Medal and Purple Heart, he flew 12 combat missions.  A symbolic matzeva exists for him Mount Moriah Cemetery, in Fairview, New Jersey, and his name is Commemorated at the Tablets of the Missing in the Manila American Cemetery, Manila.

Several images of Lt. Heiss and his family members, as well as a photo of what I believe (?) to be his crew, can be found in the blogs posts “On Memorial Day, Remembrance of my Uncle Eddie is a blessing”, and “Memorial Day – In Honor of My Uncle Eddie,” created in his memory, at Divah World, from which these pictures have been taken.  

This portrait of Edward was probably taken during training…

…while this portrait was presumably taken upon his graduation from bombardier school. 

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With his mother Pepi, and sister Sylvia?

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With his father Samuel and mother Pepi.

This image of Lt. Heiss’ symbolic / commemorative matzeva is by FindAGrave contributor dalya d.  There’s a stone there.  Someone visited.  Perhaps they said kaddish?

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Here’s – I think – Lt. Heiss’ crew – with Lt. Heiss circled.  Since the aircraft serving as a backdrop is a B-17 Flying Fortress, this photo would definitely have been taken while the crew was undergoing training in the United States.  The men standing to the right and left of Lt. Heiss would presumably have been the pilot, co-pilot, navigator, and flight engineer, while the enlisted personnel kneel in front.  Judging by appearances – see photo below – I think the officer to Lt. Heiss’ right is 1 Lt. Robert W. Yowell.

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1 Lt. Robert William Yowell of Peola Mills, Va., (0-862033) was the B-29’s Radar Operator.  This image of Lt. Yowell, from the Library of Virginia, was contributed to his FindAGrave profile by DebH.  

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This image, from the Olson Family Tree at Ancestry.com, shows the bomber’s navigator, 1 Lt. Carroll Nels Osterdahl, Navigator (0-739573), of Santa Barbara, Ca.

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Sergeant Philip Wolk, the B-29’s central fire control gunner, is mentioned in American Jews in World War Two, where his name appears on page 475.  He’s listed as having received only the Purple Heart, which would suggest that’d he completed less than five combat missions prior to his death on January 11.

Sergeant Wolk was married:  His wife was Bette, whose address was listed as 2810 Wallace Avenue, in the Bronx; his mother was Bertha, who by 1940 married Jacob Kleinman, and his siblings Alice and Bernard.  He was buried at Mount Zion Cemetery, Maspeth, N.Y. (Path 30 Right, Gate 2, Grave 1, Kadish Brooklyn Society) on June 21, 1950.  

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From Boeing’s B-29 Maintenance and Familiarization Manuel (HS1006A-HS1006D), this cutaway shows the interior details of a B-29’s aft pressurized compartment.  The forward section of the compartment (to the left) has stations for the aircraft’s port and starboard gunners, and, an upper station with an elevated seat for the bomber’s central fire control gunner, who had the ability to selectively control any one (or any number, in combination) of the bomber’s gun turrets.  Each of the three aerial gunner’s positions features a hemispherical plexiglass sighting / observation dome, with its own gunsight.  The rear section of this compartment (to the right) contains the rear upper gun turret, and, a toilet and rest bunks, the latter two accommodations rather necessary (!) due to the duration of missions capable of being flown by B-29s.  

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As the B-29’s central fire control gunner, Sgt. Wolk would have occupied the elevated seat in this compartment.  This image, coincidentally from The Pictorial History of the 444th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy Special, shows a “CFC” gunner in his crew position, photographed from the vantage point of one of the two side gunner positions.  As determined postwar, Sgt. Wolk never escaped the falling B-29.

United States Army (Ground Forces)

Killed in Action, Died of Wounds, or, Died While Prisoners of War

Axelrod, Seymour M., PFC, 42076821, Purple Heart, 1 Oak Leaf Cluster
78th Infantry Division, 309th Infantry Regiment, A Company
Mrs. Rose Axelrod (mother), 703 E. 5th St., New York, N.Y.
Born 1926
Place of burial unknown
American Jews in World War II – 268

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Barr, Sidney Fred (Shlomo “Yidel” bar Yehiel), PFC, 33735600, Purple Heart
70th Infantry Division, 276th Infantry Regiment, L Company
Mr. Isaac Barr (father), 4950 Albany Ave., Chicago, Il.
Born Chicago, Il., 1925
Waldheim Jewish Cemetery, Forest Park, Chicago, Il. – Gate 203 (Proskover Society)
American Jews in World War II – 93

These two images of PFC Barr’s matzeva are by FindAGrave contributor Jim Craig.

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Bellman, Alexander, PFC, 32312426, Purple Heart
63rd Infantry Division, 254th Infantry Regiment, K Company
Mr. Benny Bellman (father), 1725 Fulton Ave., Bronx, N.Y.
Born 8/8/18
Long Island National Cemetery, Farmingdale, N.Y. – Section H, Grave 9787
Casualty Lists 2/24/45, 3/24/45
American Jews in World War II – 272

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Einhorn, Stanton Lewis Arthur (Shmuel Yehudah Asher bar Dov HaLevi), PFC, 33772037, Purple Heart
90th Infantry Division, 357th Infantry Regiment, Company E or G
Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin (9/11/86-6/20/74) and Minnie (Haber) (12/19/94-3/20/91) Einhorn (parents)
Edgar, Harold, and Cpl. Marvin D. Einhorn (brothers)
6642 Lincoln Drive, Philadelphia, Pa.
Born Philadelphia, Pa., 12/4/25
Roosevelt Memorial Park, Trevose, Pa. – Lot D3, Plot 31A, Grave 3; Buried 8/15/48
Casualty List 12/4/25
Jewish Exponent 3/16/45, 8/20/48
Philadelphia Inquirer 3/8/45, 8/14/48
Philadelphia Record 3/8/45
American Jews in World War II – 518

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Fink, Harold, Sgt., 18073450, Purple Heart, in France
70th Infantry Division, 275th Infantry Regiment, G Company
Mr. and Mrs. Hyman (4/3/93-11/3/37) and Minnie (Levine) (5/18/97-8/15/91) Fink (parents), 2202 East Alabama St., Houston, Tx.
Ethel Cecile, Hortense, and Jack Joel (sisters and brother)
Born Brenham, Tx., 1923
Epinal American Cemetery, Epinal, France – Plot B, Row 39, Grave 24
American Jews in World War II – 571

This portrait of Sgt. Fink, from the Class of 1940 San Jacinto High School yearbook, is via FindAGrave contributor Patrick Lee.  

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Goldsmith, Jack, S/Sgt., 32432720, Purple Heart, at Darnatel, France
Mr. and Mrs. William and Lena Goldsmith (parents), 710 Fairmount Place, Bronx, N.Y.
Irwin J. Goldsmith and Mrs. Bess (Goldsmith) Zuckerman (brother and sister)
Born 1917
Place of burial unknown – Buried 3/26/49
New York Times (Obituary Section) 3/26/49
American Jews in World War II – 327

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Gorod, Sherman, PFC, 16169183, Purple Heart
14th Armored Division, 68th Armored Infantry Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Abraham (5/1/87-5/61) and Sadie (Grawoig) (3/15/85-12/71) Gorod (parents), 311 East 69th St., Chicago, Il.
Born Chicago, Il., 3/16/24
Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago, Il. – Buried 7/30/48 (Graveside Service)
Chicago Tribune 7/30/48
American Jews in World War II – 101

The Schwartz Family Tree, at Ancestry.com, includes this Class of 1942 Parker High School yearbook portrait of PFC Gorod. 

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Hart, Rudolph I., PFC, 32700046, Purple Heart
103rd Infantry Division, 411th Infantry Regiment, K Company
Mr. Maurice Hart (uncle), 132 Bella Vista Ave., Tuckahoe, N.Y.
Born New York, N.Y.
Epinal American Cemetery, Epinal, France – Plot B, Row 22, Grave 54
Casualty List 4/3/45
The Herald Statesman (Yonkers) 4/2/45
American Jews in World War II – 341

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Levinsky, Stanley M. (Shmuel Moshe bar Ben Tsion), PFC, 13125947, Purple Heart, 1 Oak Leaf Cluster
35th Infantry Division, 134th Infantry Regiment, K Company
Wounded in action previously; approximately 6/17/44
Mr. and Mrs. Barney (1892-1949) and Pauline (1893-1977) Levinsky (parents), 237 S. 57th St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Born 6/1/22
Har Zion Cemetery, Collingdale, Pa. – Section A, Lot 550, Grave 1
Jewish Exponent 8/25/44, 3/2/45
Philadelphia Record 8/17/44, 2/20/45
American Jews in World War II – 536

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Levy, Joseph Leonard, Pvt., 13141950, Purple Heart
90th Infantry Division, 357th Infantry Regiment
Mr. Benjamin Levy (father), 1439 Kennedy St., NW, Washington, D.C.
Luxembourg American Cemetery, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg – Plot E, Row 5, Grave 31
American Jews in World War II – 78

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Sergeant Seymour Millstone and PFC Stanley Rubenstein were two of the seventy-six men – from the contingent of 350 American POWS sent from Stalag 9B (Bad Orb) to the Berga am Elster slave labor camp and assigned to Arbeitskommando 625 – who died, directly or indirectly during their imprisonment at Berga, or on the forced of the surviving POWs from the camp later.  I’ve mentioned this event in blog posts about First Lieutenant Sidney DiamondPvt. Edward A. Gilpin, and Captain Arthur H. Bijur, while you can read about it in much more depth in an essay by William J. Shapiro, veteran of the 70th Infantry Division, at the Jewish Virtual Library.

Sergeant Millstone died on March 25, and PFC Rubenstein on April 4.  They were among the twenty-six POWS who died while actually at Berga, per se.  Forty-nine POW deaths occurred immediately commencing with the forced march of POWs from the camp on April 6 (not April 3, as described elsewhere), through April 23, 1945, only two weeks before the war in Europe ended.  Aaron “Teddy” Rosenberg (Aharon bar Zev Ha Cahan) of Jacksonville, Florida, initially made a complete recovery from the effects of his imprisonment, but rapidly and irreversibly relapsed.  He died in the United States on June 27, 1945, a little over two months after liberation.    

Millstone, Seymour, Sgt., 36696896
79th Infantry Division, 315th Infantry Regiment
Captured
Died (in reality, murdered) while POW 3/25/45
POW at Stalag 9B (Bad Orb), and, Berga am Elster (German POW # 27542)
Mr. and Mrs. Philip and Alice (Resnick) Millstone (parents); Miss Phyllis Millstone (sister), 1623 South Herman Ave., Chicago, 3, Il.         
Also 201 South 8th St., Las Vegas, Nv.
Born Cleveland, Oh., 7/23/25
Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Holland – Plot N, Row 15, Grave 12
American Jews in World War II – 110

This newspaper item about Sgt. Millstone’s POW status is by FindAGrave contributor Jaap Vermeer.

This portrait of Sgt. Millstone is via Ancestry.com.

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Rubenstein, Stanley (Yehosha bar Eliahu Shmuel), PFC, 33977622, Purple Heart
79th Infantry Division, 315th Infantry Regiment
Captured
POW at Stalag 9B (Bad Orb), and, Berga am Elster (German POW # 27465)
Died (murdered, in reality) while POW 4/4/45
Mr. and Mrs. Simeon and Sarah (Finkelstein) Rubenstein (parents), Earl (brother), 1171 Ocean Parkway, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Born New York, N.Y., 9/14/24
Long Island National Cemetery, Farmingdale, N.Y. – Section J, Grave 14645; Buried 4/13/49
New York Times – Obituary Page (Memorial Section) 9/14/45
New York Times – Obituary Page 4/10/49
American Jews in World War II – 423

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In researching this story some years back at the United States National Archives (I considered writing a book about this story.  But, I decided not to.  That’s another story.)  Well anyway, to quote an earlier blog post:

The books – both released in 2005 – are:  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.  A review of Whitlock’s book by John Robert White can be found at H-Net Reviews, under the title Fitting Berga into the History of World War II and the Holocaust.  

The documentary, Berga: Soldiers of Another War, was the subject of reviews and discussions by the International Documentary Association (Kevin Lewis – Remembering the POWs of ‘Berga’: Guggenheim’s Final Film Celebrates His Army Unit) and The New York Times (Ned Martel – G.I.s Condemned to Slave Labor in the Holocaust).  The last project of documentary film-maker Charles Guggenheim, Soldiers of Another War was released in May of 2003, eight months after his death.)

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In any effort, as part of my research, I discovered that the names of the POWs at Berga had been recorded in two lists that differ appreciably in depth and format. 

One list is quite simple in organization, and has information fields for a POW’s surname and given name, German POW number, rank, date of birth, vocation or profession, height in meters, and eye color. 

The other list is much more complex; its “header” page (scanned from a photocopy) is shown below, followed by a German-language transcription and English-language translation.     

USA
350 U.S.A.

(Datum) 16.2.45
28.März 1945

Zu= und Abgänge

des Kriegsgefangenen = Lagers IX B
Abgangs Meldung Nr.    1937     für Stalag IX B
Zugangsmeldung            176       für Stalag IX C

Bemerkungen:
1. Die liste ist zugleich die Meldung über die ausgegebenen Erknunngsmarken.
2. Die Abgänge sind hinter den Zugangen geschlossen einzutragen.
3. ”Matrikel-Nr.” = Nr. der Stammrolle ufw. des Kr. Gef. in seinem Heimatlande.

An die
“Wehrmachtauskunftstelle fur Kriegerverluste und Kriegsgefangene”
Berlin

_____

USA
350 U.S.A.

(Date) 2/16/45
28 March 1945

Arrivals and Departures

of the prisoner of war = Camp IX B
Departure Report No. 1937 for Stalag IX B
Entry message 176 for Stalag IX C

Remarks:
1. The list is at the same time the notification of the identification marks issued.
2. The departures are to be entered closed behind the arrivals.
3. “Matriculation No.” = Number of the master role etc. [military serial number] of the prisoner of war in his home country.

To the
“Wehrmacht Information Center for Lost Soldiers and Prisoners of War”
Berlin

____________________

The image below, also scanned from a paper photocopy, shows the final of the 44 pages comprising this “larger” list, with the names of Stanley Rubenstein, Seymour Millstone, and Jack Bornkind (Yakov bar Nachum), who died on April 23, literally moments before a group of POWs were liberated by American forces, being the 348th, 349th, and 350th entries.  

Note that the 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, on neither list does the soldier’s religion or ethnicity actually appear.  However, on the “smaller” of the two lists (not shown here) the names of the Jewish POWs comprise the first 77 entries, while in this “larger” list – overall at least – surnames / religions / nationalities are generally (generally) arranged at random. 

Finally, an opinion:  While I’ve used the word “died” to describe the fate of Seymour Millstone and Stanley Rubenstein, in moral, ethical, and philosophical fact, they and the seventy-four others who did not survive either imprisonment at Berga, or, the death march afterwards (and in the case of Aaron T. Rosenberg, its after-effects) were, simply and honestly, murdered.

____________________

Schreier, Bernard S., PFC, 32811465, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart
78th Infantry Division, 309th Infantry Regiment
Mr. and Mrs. Charles (12/20/90-5/25/64) and Pauline Schreier (parents), 424 Grand Concourse, New York, N.Y.
Born Bronx, N.Y., 5/27/23
Ardennes American Cemetery, Neupre, Belgium – Plot D, Row 8, Grave 54
Casualty List 11/1/1945
American Jews in World War II – 433

____________________

Schwartz, Norman, T/5, 32805024, Engineer, Purple Heart, in Belgium
87th Infantry Division, 312th Engineer Combat Battalion
Mr. Max Schwartz (father), 780 Pelham Parkway, New York, N.Y.
Born 1924
Casualty List 3/15/45
Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St. Louis, Mo. – Section 82, Grave 1J; Buried 3/9/50
American Jews in World War II – 436

This image of the collective grave of T/5 Schwartz and eight comrades – all presumably killed in the same January 11, 1945 incident – is by FindAGrave contributor Eric Kreft.  

____________________

Tannenbaum, Henry (“Hershy”) Irving (Yitzhak Tzvi bar Ezra Yisrael), Pvt., 33752792, Purple Heart, 1 Oak Leaf Cluster, in Belgium
83rd Infantry Division, 331st Infantry Regiment, F Company, 2nd Battalion
Mrs. Bertha (Fiedel) Tannenbaum (wife), Samuel Victor (son), 110 Division Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mr. and Mrs. Abraham and Molly Tannenbaum (parents), Leon and Sadie (brother and sister)
Born Brooklyn, N.Y., 2/29/16
Mount Hebron Cemetery, Flushing, N.Y. – Williamsburg Bikur Cholim Society, Block 25, Reference 9, Section G, Line 8, Grave 11
War Department Release 12/19/44
The Jewish War Veteran, Spring, 1989
American Jews in World War II – 459

You can read more about Pvt. Tannenbaum, the battle in which he lost hi life, and especially the impact of his death on his family, in this moving essay by his son, Samuel Victor, at the American WW II Orphans Network

Or, to quote William Faulkner in Requiem for a Nun, “The past is never dead.  It’s not even past.”

These three photos of Private Tenenbaum, his wife and son, and matzeva, are via FindAGrave contributor THR (from Samuel Tannenbaum).  

__________

Henry Tannenbaum, his wife Bertha, and their son Samuel, at Livingston Manor, New York, in July of 1944.

xxxxx

__________

Wounded in Action

Firestone, Berel (Beryl), T/4, 12154917, Radio Operator, Purple Heart, in Luzon, Philippines
Miss Lynn Spear (fiancee), 34-20 83rd St., Jackson Heights, N.Y.
Mr. Maurice Firestone (father), Boston, Ma.
Born 1923
Casualty List 3/17/45
Long Island Star Journal 3/17/45
American Jews in World War II – 309

____________________

Orlow, Michael H.M., PFC, 33791740, Purple Heart, 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, in Luxembourg
Mrs. Dora Orlow (wife), 1639 W. Huntingdon St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Mr. Morris Orlow (father), Miriam (sister)
Born 1911
Jewish Exponent 3/9/45
American Jews in World War II – 542

____________________

On November 11 of the year 2010, an article by David Rubin appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer.  Probably not-so-coincidentally published on Armistice Day – the (92nd) anniversary of the end of World War One, otherwise known as the “Great War” – the article recounts the WW II military service of Rubin’s uncle Robert C. Paul, who served as an infantryman in the European Theater of War.  Though a single article, Rubin’s reminiscence is in reality two parallel stories:  It focuses on his uncle’s experience in the army as recounted through correspondence with his immediate family, and then segues into the war’s unsurprisingly indelible impact on Robert Paul’s life over subsequent decades.  While this impact was immediately physical (his uncle was on January 11, 1945 wounded by shrapnel in the right foot and side), on different and perhaps deeper level it was political; perhaps psychological; perhaps spiritual; perhaps more.  

A transcript of David Rubin’s article follows, in turn followed by some accompanying images scanned from the print (remember that thing called print?!) edition of the Inquirer.  

A World War II Soldier’s Letters Bring Back the Horrors of War

As a member of the Ninth Infantry Division, it was my cousin Bobby’s lot to be tethered to the front line in some of World War II’s most fearsome fighting.

Normandy.  The Huertgen Forest.  The Battle of the Bulge.

He rarely mentioned any of it.

But when he lay in the hospital, dying of cancer in the spring of 2009, he couldn’t stop talking.  And the morphine made his accounts suspect.  It wasn’t clear what he’d seen, what he’d dreamed.

When an uncle sent me a box a few months ago stuffed with my cousin’s letters from the war, I finally had the opportunity to learn about the events that shaped him, and that helped tear him apart.

At first Bobby wrote home so often his letters didn’t bear the date, just the day.

“Thurs,” begins an early correspondence to his mother from infantry camp.  “The boys thank you for the food.  Even C rations would taste good.”

Pvt. Robert C. Paul was undergoing training at Fort Meade, Md.  He was writing back home to his mother, my great-aunt Ethel.

“My moonshiner friends built a blazing fire in the downpour and I kept warm for a while.  But then I had to fix my booby traps.”

The year was 1943.  Bobby was 19, a bespectacled twig at 5-foot-9 and 130 pounds.  When he was drafted, he’d just finished his third year at Harvard College.

Bobby always thanked his good fortune to be paired with Southern boys who were crack shots.  He was an unlikely warrior, a sensitive soul who loved Abbott and Costello movies, Walt Whitman poems, and his mother’s fruitcake.

He was, by his own account, the world’s worst soldier, the very label one of his drill sergeants pinned on him.

“Fine,” went Bobby’s reply.  “Then send me home.”

Instead, they sent him to Normandy on July 1, 1944, three weeks after the invasion.  Bobby’s father was dying of kidney disease, and after a short leave my cousin caught up with the 39th Infantry Regiment, the fighting already in progress.

Most of his letters are written in pencil and scrawled on stationery from the USO, the Army, the Marine Corps, whatever he had handy.  He reported to his mother, a fellow cinema fan, on the movies he saw on leave.  He asked his father about baseball, hockey, and the ponies.  He hungered for news about his many cousins and friends back home.

The chatty tone ended with the letter dated Oct. 16, 1944:

“Here it is blue Monday and I am in Paris.  It took a shell to get me here.  I am all right, feeling better physically than mentally.  I got it in my left arm, but it is not too bad.  I’ll be none the worse for it when I get better.”

He tried to assure his parents that the hospital was modern, the doctors first rate.  He didn’t want anyone worrying, or blaming themselves for letting him ship out, as though they’d had a choice.

“This is devilish business and one has to have faith,” he wrote.  “I thought that the battle would make me a stronger person, but I realize how weak I still am.  When the shock of combat has worn off, I realize that it is but a bluff, that mask of bravery that I have been carrying on under.”

Bobby’s recovery took a couple of months.  He had been back with his company in the Huertgen Forest for just a matter of days when he was mortared again.

His wounds that time were serious, despite the Army telegram that reported he’d been injured only “slightly.”

The shell landed Jan. 11, 1945, in Belgium near the German border.  Shrapnel blew off bits of three toes on Bobby’s right foot and raked his thighs and arms.  He was evacuated to a hospital in England.

He tried to dwell on the positive when he wrote his mother on Red Cross stationery:

“I was very fortunate this time because I was wearing glasses and had no helmet on when I got hit.  It was around midnight and they had to use a snow buggy to get me out.  The company medics are the heroes of this war because they take care of the wounded regardless of the risks.  They go through everything with nothing but a red cross for protection.”

Now Bobby talked about how the war was going from his perspective, how although everyone was talking about the Russian offensive, he felt the Germans were too stubborn, too tough to quit so soon.

He’d fought for seven months, across France to the Ardennes, then helped capture Roetgen, the first German town conquered in the war.  He was exhausted.

With the war winding down, he must have sensed he would not see combat again – he’d be sent home after five months in the hospital to recuperate at Camp Edwards in Massachusetts.  He received his discharge from there that summer, a 21-year-old private first class awarded the Purple Heart.

For the rest of his life, Bobby would rally support for antiwar movements.  He never let my brother and me play with guns.

“The experience I went through wasn’t pleasant,” he wrote from his English hospital to his mother.  “It didn’t prove anything, but it was part of my sacrifice for my country.  I haven’t done much, but some of my critics should have been over here.  This is the infantry’s war, but they will get no credit when the war is over.  The rear echelon boys who have it made will be the toasts of the town.  I’ll be glad enough to just get back to you, but I will know that I did my part.”

When we were about to clean out his house in Sharon, Mass., a year ago last spring, Bobby wanted to make sure we grabbed the Nazi flag because some people might not understand why he’d kept it.  I wrote a column about my dilemma: What’s the right thing to do with it?

We wound up giving it to the town’s historical society, with his obituary and my column.  They’re all on display today, Veterans Day.  The woman who runs the society said they describe the flag as a souvenir from the war.

I have to think Bobby would laugh at that notion, as though the Nazi flag were some trinket, like a miniature Eiffel Tower, and not the symbol of the evil that made him reach so far down inside himself, not the reminder of the blood and the screams and the terror he endured.

Or maybe his voice would rise excitedly, and he’d yell, because little things would often upset him.

Reading his letters, I have a better sense why.

Here’s a biographical record about Robert C. Paul:

Paul, Robert Carlton (Reuven Caleb bar Shimon HaLevi), PFC, 31358523, Purple Heart, 1 Oak Leaf Cluster
9th Infantry Division, 39th Infantry Regiment, I Company
Wounded January 11, 1945; Slightly wounded in action previously (approximately October 15, 1944)
Mr. and Mrs. Sidney R. and Ethel (Shapiro) Paul (parents), 133 South Main St., Sharon, Ma.
Born April 22, 1924; Died March 9, 2009; Buried at Rabbi Isaac Elchonon Cemetery, Everett, Massachusetts
Philadelphia Inquirer – November 11, 2010
American Jews in World War II – Not Listed

____________________

Robert Paul, probably as seen in his high school graduation portrait. 

__________

Here’s an example of state-of-the-art communication in a world refreshingly prior email and Facebook (Facebook? – gag!):  A Western Union telegram.  In this case, the War Department’s message of January 31, 1945, to PFC Paul’s father Sidney, informing him of Robert’s wounding on January 11, 1945.  Very unusual for a telegram, the text takes the form of a handwritten message, rather than typed text.  A transcription follows… 

Sidney R. Paul
133 So Main St.
Sharon, Mass.

Regret to inform you, your son Private First Class Robert C. Paul was slightly wounded in action 11 January Belgium.  Mail address follows direct from hospital with details.

Ulio, The Adjutant General

__________

One message generates another.  Evidently, Robert’s mother sent an inquiry to the War Department upon receipt of the January 31 communication.  Her reply yielded this message, generated in the typical telegram format of lines of typed text glued to the Western Union stationary.  

PTA 415 54/55 GOVT = WUX WASHINGTON DC 1 449P
MRS SIDNEY R PAUL =
                             133 SOUTH MAIN ST SHARON MASS RTE BSN=
REURTEL NO INFORMATION RECEIVED CONCERNING CONDITION OF YOUR SON PVT FIRST CLASS ROBERT C PAUL SINCE PREVIOUS COMMUNICATION REPORT RECEIVED DID NOT GIVE NATURE OR EXTENT OF WOUNDS REPORTS OF HIS CONDITION WILL BE PROMPTLY FORWARDED TO YOU UPON RECEIPT ASSURE YOU OUR SICK AND WOUNDED SOLDIERS ARE RECEIVING BEST POSSIBLE MEDICAL CARE =
                                         J A ULIO THE ADJUTANT GENERAL

__________

The soldier has returned: This V-Mail letter of February 22, 1945, was sent by Robert to his mother while he was recovering from his wounds at “U.S. Hospital Plant 4103”.  

Dear Mother:

I am beginning to find one-sided correspondence overwhelming.  There isn’t much to write about with my routine pleasantly unexciting.  I can report that I am getting along quite nicely.  I can use a wheelchair and can hop around the ward for short distances, so I am not bed-bound.  I am not able to get to the cinema yet, but I don’t think it will be long now.  The Pacific war now seems to be getting rougher every day.  Byrnes is crouching down on everybody & everything.  But I know that you will carry on.  You should[n’t?] be forced to resort to K-rations & foxholes.  Take care of Father & yourself and give my regards to all the family. 

Hugs & Kisses
Bobby

The “Byrnes” referred to in the above letter was James F. Byrnes, head of the Office of Economic Stabilization and the Office of War Mobilization.

__________

Somewhere in the United States, Robert on crutches during his recovery.  

____________________

Pick, Harold R., Sgt., 36649783, Purple Heart
79th Infantry Division, 315th Infantry Regiment
Captured; POW at Stalag 9B (Bad Orb)
Mrs. Ida Pick (mother), 533 Addison St., Chicago, Il.
Casualty List 5/16/45
American Jews in World War II – 112

____________________

Weisbein, David, PFC, 33811447, Purple Heart, in Belgium
Mrs. Sarah Weisbein (wife); Ellen (daughter), 2519 S. Marshall St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Born 1913
Jewish Exponent 3/23/45
Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Record 3/10/45
American Jews in World War II – 559

________________________________________

Some other Jewish military casualties on January 11, 1945, include the following…

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

Killed in Action

Davidovna, Aleksandra Abramovna (Давидовна, Александра Абрамовна), Lieutenant (Лейтенант)
Senior Nurse (Female Soldier) (Старшая Медицинская Сестра)
Mobile Field Hospital 3537
Wounded 1/10/45; Died of wounds 1/11/45 at Mobile Surgical Field Hospital 171
Born 1923, city of Moscow
Mother: Vera Semenovna “Meldenson” (Mendelson?)

Freylikhman, Motel Shlemovich (Фрейлахман, Мотель Шлемович), Lieutenant (Лейтенант)
Infantry – Senior Medic (Фельдшер Старшии)
66th Guards Rifle Division, Medical Services
Born 1923, Zhytomyr Oblast
Father: Shlema Zayvelovich

Fuksman, Abram Borisovich (Фуксман, Абрам Борисович), Lieutenant (Лейтенант)
Armor – Self-Propelled Gun Commander (Командир Самоходной Установки)
38th Artillery Regiment, Military Post 22131 “E”
Died of disease / illness at Clearing and Evacuation Hospital 1353
Born 1905, Chelyabinsk or Zhitomir
Wife: Anna Sheleevna Shterman

Krasnoshchek, Khaim Tsalevich (Краснощек, Хаим Цалевич), Lieutenant (Лейтенант)
Infantry – Battery Commander (Командир Батареи)
100th Artillery Regiment
Father: Tsal Mardukhovich Krasnoshchek

Milkher, Genrikh Abramovich (Мильхер, Генрих Абрамович), Lieutenant (Лейтенант)
Infantry – Rifle Company Platoon Commander (Командир Взвода Стрелкового Роты)
1st Polish Army, 4th Rifle Division, 12th Rifle Regiment
Born 1918, Warsaw

Sagalovich
, Naum Isaakovich (Сагалович, Наум Исаакович), Lieutenant (Лейтенант)
Infantry – Firing Platoon Commander (Командир Огневого Взвода)
100th Howitzer Artillery Regiment
Missing in Action
Born 1905
Wife: Mariya Izrailovna Shenderovna

Taymufet, Mayor Gertsovich (Таймуфет, Майор Герцович), Guards Red Army Man (Гвардии Красноармеец)
Armor – Sapper (Сапер)
27th Guards Autonomous Heavy Tank Regiment, Sapper Platoon
Missing at Pruvayni, Latvia
Estra Moiseevna Taymufet (mother), Stalinskiy Oblast, Kamenets-Podolsk, Stalina Village, House 120
Born 1922, city of Kamenets-Podolsk
Mother: Estra Moiseevna Taymufet

Polish People’s Army

Killed in Action

Cymer, Henryk, Cpl.
12th Infantry Regiment
Mr. Jakub Cymer (father)
Jewish Military Casualties in the Polish Armies in World War II, Volume I – 14

____________________

Gryner, Jozef, Pvt.
12th Infantry Regiment
Mr. Abram Gryner (father)
Born 1918
Aleksandrow Cemetery, Lodzkie, Poland – Q A1 R 3 No. 1
Jewish Military Casualties in the Polish Armies in World War II, Volume I – 26

____________________

Milcher, Henryk, 2 Lt., at Warsaw, Poland
12th Infantry Regiment
Mr. Abrahama Milcher (father)
Born Mazowieckie, Warsaw, Poland, 1919
Warsaw, Aleksandrow Street Cemetery, Warsaw, Poland
Jewish Military Casualties in the Polish Armies in World War II, Volume I – 49

____________________

Robert, Bronislaw, Cpl.
10th Infantry Regiment
Mr. Dawid Robert (father)
Warsaw, Aleksandrow Street Cemetery, Warsaw, Poland – Q A2, R 12 No. 2
Jewish Military Casualties in the Polish Armies in World War II, Volume I – 58

France – Armée de Terre

Killed in Action

Rosenberger, Hans, Sergent-Chef (“AC-21P-146645”), at Obenheim, Bas-Rhin, France
Bataillon de Marche No. 24
Born 6/11/08
Carre communal “Kogenheim”, Kogenheim, Bas-Rhin, France – Tombe individuelle, No. 2
(First name from SGA “Seconde guerre mondiale” web site – SGA “Sepultures de Guerre” web site gives name as “Jean”.  SGA “Seconde guerre mondiale” web site lists Unite as “1ere D.F.L.”, while SGA “Sepultures de Guerre” web site lists Unite as “B.M. 24”.)

And to conclude (! – ?), here are some references…

Books (Author Listed)

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

Maurer, Maurer, Combat Squadrons of the Air Force – World War Two, Albert F. Simpson Historical Research Center and Officer of Air Force History, Headquarters, USAF, 1982

Russell of Liverpool, Edward F.L.R., Baron, The Knights of Bushido: A History of Japanese War Crimes During World War II, Skyhorse Publishing, New York, N.Y., 2008

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, World Federation of Jewish Fighters Partisans and Camp Inmates: Association of Jewish War Veterans of the Polish Armies in Israel, Tel Aviv, Israel, 1994

Smith, Paul T., The Pacific Crusaders, Mohave Books, Ca., 1980

Rust, Kenn C., Thirteenth Air Force Story, Historical Aviation Album, Temple City, Ca., 1981

Books (No Specific Author)

The Crusaders: A History of the 42nd Bombardment Group (M), 1946, Army & Navy Pictorial publishers, 234 Main St., Baton Rouge, La.

The Pictorial History of the 444th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy Special, 1947

A Bunch of Websites…

B-25J 43-27979 and Her Crew, at…

Pacific Wrecks

B-29 42-665226 and Her Crew, at…

Pacific Wrecks

Divah World blog

677th Bomb Squadron, 444th Bomb Group

12 O’Clock High! – Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum (under “Japanese and Allied Air Forces in the Far East”)

Dark and Bizarre Stories

Fukudome War Crime Trials, at…

World War II Document Archive – Pacific Theater Document Archive formerly at wcsc.berkeley.edu (no longer available)

Trial Record of Singapore War Crimes Case No. 235/1102 (Vice Admiral FUKUDOME Shigeru, Rear Admiral ASAKURA Bunji, Commander INO Eiichi, Vice Admiral IMAMURA Osamu, Captain MATSUDA Gengo, and Capt SAITO Yakichi), held on 9, 12, 17-20, 23 and 27 Feb 1948, at www.ocf.berkeley.edu

Pvt. Henry I. Tannenbaum, at…

American WW II Orphans Network
Geni.com
Thomas D. Curry and the men of F Company, 331st Infantry Regiment, 83rd Infantry Division

PFC Robert C. Paul, at…

Rubin, Daniel, “A World War II Soldier’s Letters Bring Back the Horrors of War”, The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 11, 2011 (formerly here; no longer available)

384

Through These Pale Cold Days – “Operation Michael” – The German Spring Offensive of March 21, 1918

Some time during the last week of March in the year 1918 – the specific date will remain unknown – Isaac Rosenberg, a Private in the British Army serving in the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment – penned the following poem:

Through These Pale Cold Days

Through these pale cold days
What dark faces burn
Out of three thousand years,
And their wild eyes yearn,

While underneath their brows
Like waifs their spirits grope
For the pools of Hebron again –
For Lebanon’s summer slope.

They leave these blond still days
In dust behind their tread
They see with living eyes
How long they have been dead.

(From The Collected Works of Isaac Rosenberg, page 91)

__________

Photographic portrait of Private Isaac Rosenberg, Regimental Number 22311, probably taken in September, 1917, from Joseph Cohen’s Journey to The Trenches.

__________

Born in Bristol on November 25, 1890, Rosenberg was a painter and poet in civilian life.  Despite his pacifistic nature – attributable to his familial upbringing as much as his independent personality – both of which dispositions gave him a disinclination to military life, Rosenberg enlisted in the British Army in October of 1915.  His primary motivations were simple: Enervating uncertainty about making a livelihood, whether through the arts or most any other vocation, and more fundamentally, a matter-of-fact sense of resignation in terms of the tenor of the times.  Perhaps he felt that military service, even if he was largely unamendable to it physically, psychologically, or intellectually, would provide his life with structure and direction unavailable to him otherwise.  Even if this was in a time of war.

Rosenberg was killed in action on the first day of April in 1918, not long after he composed “Through These Pale Cold Days”, a poem which expressed his frustrated yearning to return to Eretz Israel, and, serve in a Jewish military unit, this last desire reflected by his persistent and unsuccessful application to transfer to the Judeans, the Jewish volunteer battalions organized by Vladimir Jabotinsky and then serving in Egypt and the Yishuv. 

His death came eleven days after the commencement of the great German offensive otherwise known as Operation Michael, which was (Wikipedia speaking here), “…launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin, France.  Its goal was to break through the Allied (Entente) lines and advance in a north-westerly direction to seize the Channel Ports, which supplied the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and to drive the BEF into the sea. …  The offensive ended at Villers-Bretonneux, to the east of the Allied communications centre at Amiens, where the Allies managed to halt the German advance; the German Army had suffered many casualties and was unable to maintain supplies to the advancing troops.” 

Rosenberg’s final battle was described by Tulane University faculty member Joseph Cohen, in his 1975 book Journey to the Trenches, as follows:

“The First King’s Own Regiment, still in the reverse trenches, moved quickly to the forward area, at one point suffering heavy casualties in terrain exposed to the enemy’s cross-fire.  Twenty-four hours later the Germans had overrun the front line, and the First King’s Own Regiment along with other adjacent units found themselves back in the reserve trenches, which became the new front lines.  Throughout that Saturday and Sunday, March 30-31, they stubbornly resisted the German advance.  When the attack eased on Sunday, the few survivors in Rosenberg’s company were ordered to the rear.  In the early morning hours of Monday, April 1, All Fools’ Day, the Company made its way back under cover of darkness.  The men had not gone more than two hundred yards when a runner caught up with them.  The attack had been renewed and every man was needed.  Since they had earned their brief respite from the fighting they were not ordered to return, but asked to volunteer.  No one had to go back.  Among the few who did was Rosenberg. 

“Certainly he knew what the odds were against his surviving that fateful hour.  He did not have to volunteer, but made the decision to go back as in 1915 he had made the decision to enlist.  He returned, and within an hour of reaching the battle area, somewhere close to the French Village of Fampoux, Isaac Rosenberg was killed in close combat.  He was twenty-seven.”

This account parallels the Wikipedia entry for Rosenberg, which states, “Having just finished a night patrol, he was killed on the night of 1 April 1918 with another ten KORL soldiers; there is a dispute as to whether his death occurred at the hands of a sniper or in close combat.  In either case, he died in a town called Fampoux, north-east of Arras.  He was first buried in a mass grave, but in 1926 the unidentified remains of the six KORL soldiers were individually re-interred at Bailleul Road East Cemetery, Plot V, Saint-Laurent-Blangy, Pas de Calais, France.  Rosenberg’s gravestone is marked with his name and the words, “Buried near this spot”, as well as – “Artist and Poet”.”

But, what of March 21, 1918, the opening date of the final German offensive in the west?

When I embarked on researching British Commonwealth Jewish military casualties of the Great War, based on information in The Jewish Chronicle and records accessible via the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, I soon noticed a relatively high number of records for soldiers killed in action on July 1, 1916, the opening of the Somme Offensive, of which I’d previously known only anecdotally.  In the same way, the CWGC database revealed a cluster of records for the fallen on March 21, 1918, of which – prior to that time being focused on the Second World War – I’d previously known, well, also-nothing-at-all.  That date, I soon learned, was the opening day of Operation Michael, which, “…had been costly for the Germans, who had suffered c. 40,000 casualties, slightly more than they inflicted on the BEF,” something paralleling, in terms of overall magnitude (though the specifics were different) the terrible events on the opening day of the Somme Offensive.

And so, akin to the post about the Somme battle, here are presented biographical records and photographs (where available) of Jewish military casualties on this March day, a little over a century and four years ago.

The names of 37 men are listed. 

Of the 37, thirty-three lost their lives in battle, one of whom, Pte. Max Rapaport, born in Rumania, was serving in the South African Infantry.  A 34th (L/Cpl. Moss Emanuel – died possibly? probably? – not in battle, similar to the 35th (Pte. Barnett Schwartz) who served in the Yishuv.  Schwartz seems to have no actual grave, being commemorated at the Jerusalem Memorial. 

Notably, the 36th man was an American: Air Mechanic Samuel Walter Arnheim, serial 152812.  From West End Avenue in New York City, he was a flying instructor in the Royal Flying Corps, and was killed in a aviation accident at the School of Aerial Gunnery at Camp Hicks, in Texas, though the specifics of that incident are unknown.  His death received extensive coverage in the both the general and Jewish press, having been reported on in at least six newspapers.

As for the “37th”, Pte. Samuel Waxman?  Wounded, he survived the day and the war.  A member of the 24th Battalion in the Australian Imperial Forces, he was born in Warsaw, and his Attestation Papers (accessed via the National Archives of Australia) reveal that as a Russian subject (however the word “subject” was then defined!) he was obligated to serve in the AIF, due to his obvious inability to return to Russia and serve in that country’s army.   

It’s notable that the names of nearly half of the 37 – fourteen – never appeared in The Jewish Chronicle, while the names of 12 of those 14 soldiers are likewise absent from the British Jewry Book of Honour.

And, awfully reflective of the awful and overwhelming nature of the Offensive’s opening day, only four of the aforementioned 33 have places of burial. 

But alas, there was more, and is more: The Wikipedia entry for the Offensive alludes to German losses for the opening day exceeding those of the British.  This is sadly reflected in the number of German Jewish soldiers lost in battle this day: 52.  Their names, military units, dates and places of birth and residence, and places of burial (where known) are listed below, though only Leutnant Erich Heilbrunn’s entry includes a photo.

As per the post about the Somme Offensive, to place the events of this day in a clearer context, I’ve included links to a variety of websites, and, some videos.

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“Self Portrait in Steel Helmet”, by Isaac Rosenberg (From Ben Uri Gallery & Museum Collection, at ArtsUK)

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Kaiserschlacht: The German Spring Offensive, at Anglo Historian (March 21, 2018)

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Thursday, March 21, 1918 – 8 Nisan, 5678

.ת.נ.צ.ב.ה.

Tehé Nafshó Tzrurá Bitzrór Haḥayím

May his soul be bound up in the bond of everlasting life.

Killed in Action or Died of Wounds

Barnett, Samuel, Pvt., 204305
London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), 1st Battalion (Attached to 2nd/4th Battalion)
Mr. and Mrs. Elias and Polly Barnett (parents), 240 Mile End Road, London
Also 9 Gordon Road, Stoke Newington, London, N
Born 1898
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France – Panel 85
(CWGC lists mother’s name as Polly; did father remarry?  If not, mother was actually Miriam (Belasco) Barnett.)
British Jewry Book of Honour – 79, 462

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Bensusan, Harry, Rifleman, O/461
Rifle Brigade, 9th Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Henry and Adelaide Bensusan (parents), David, Isaac, Joseph, Reuben, Rosetta, Solomon (brothers and sister)
8 Hutchinson Ave., Aldgate
Born Spitalfields, Middlesex, 1899
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France – Panels 81 to 84
British Jewry Book of Honour – Not Listed

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Bernstein, Jacob, Pvt., 29444
West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales’ Own), 10th Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Hyman and Leah Bernstein (parents), 53 Roseville Road, Leeds, 8
Born Leeds, 1897
Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France – Bay 4
British Jewry Book of Honour – photo section 128 (not listed elsewhere in book)

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Inscription on matzeva: In loving memory of Jack – Mourned by his mother – Brothers and sisters

Cohen, Jacob, Pvt., 262663
Manchester Regiment, 2nd/6th Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Wolf and Esther Cohen (parents), Israel, Reuben, Lilly, Minnie, and Victor (brothers and sisters)
31 Exchange St., Cheetham, Manchester
Born Manchester, 1894
Assevillers New British Cemetery, Somme, France – VI,D,10
The Jewish Chronicle 4/26/18 (incorrectly lists serial as 252263)
British Jewry Book of Honour – 84, 364; photo section 238

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Cohen, Oscar, Pvt., G22470
The Buffs (East Kent Regiment), 7th Battalion
Mr. Philip Cohen (father), 47 West Green Road, London, N15
Born Whitechapel, London, 7/2/98
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France – Panel 16
The Jewish Chronicle 7/26/18
British Jewry Book of Honour – 85, 238; photo section 229

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Fiddler, Michael, Rifleman, S/35069
Rifle Brigade, 16th Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Davis and Rachael Fiddler (parents), Benjamin, Blumah, Jacob, Lazarus, Samuel, and Sophy (brothers and sisters)
103 Slater St., Brick Lane, London, E
Born St. Thomas, Bethnal Green, 1899
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France – Panels 81 to 84
The Jewish Chronicle 3/21/19
British Jewry Book of Honour – 88, 383 (incorrectly lists surname as “Fidler”)

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Fraser, Hyman, Sgt., 202360
The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment, 11th Battalion, C Company
Mrs. Minnie (Shock) Fraser (wife), 17 Bannerman St., Edgehill, Liverpool
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France – Panels 21 to 23
The Jewish Chronicle 5/10/18
British Jewry Book of Honour – 89, 288

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Freedman, Mark, Pvt., 203869
Northumberland Fusiliers, 22nd (Tyneside Scottish) Battalion
Mrs. Betty Freedman (wife), 25 Grove St., Commercial Road, London
Mr. and Mrs. Morris and Annie Freedman (parents), 40 Merchant St., London, E
Born 1891
Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France – Bays 2-3
The Jewish Chronicle 5/24/18
British Jewry Book of Honour – 90, 242 (Lists name as “Freedman, D.M.” (p. 90) and “Freedman, W.” (p. 242)); photo section 225

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Goldberg, Edward (“Eddie”), Pvt., 85316
The King’s (Liverpool Regiment), 1st Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Abraham and Hannah Goldberg (parents), Joseph and Rachel (brother and sister)
185 Brunswick Buildings, Goulston St., Aldgate, London, E
Born Whitechapel, London, 1896
Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France – Bay 3
The Jewish Chronicle 5/17/18
The Jewish Chronicle (Obituary section) 4/26/18
British Jewry Book of Honour – 91, 288

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Goldstone, Leonard, L/Cpl., 44748 (Formerly 3320, London Regiment)
Royal Irish Rifles, 12th Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Alfred A. and Millie Goldstone (parents), 130 King St., Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
Born Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France – Panels 74 to 76
British Jewry Book of Honour – 378

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Harris, Henry, Pvt., 18268
Royal Irish Regiment, 2nd Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. John and Sarah Harris (parents), 18 (38?) Wilkes St., Spitalfields, London, E
Born 1889
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France – Panels 30 and 31
The Jewish Chronicle 3/28/19
British Jewry Book of Honour – 95, 305

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Inscription on matzeva: Deeply mourned by brother – Sisters and relatives

Himmelstein, Harry, Pvt., 203842
London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), 2nd/2nd Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Simon and Liba Himmelstein (parents), Fanny, Rosa, and Solomon (sisters and brother)
94 Grove St., Commercial Road, Stepney, London, SE (E1?)
Born Whitechapel, London, 1899 (Or…born in Poland…)
Chauny Communal Cemetery, British Extension, Aisne, France – 3,F,11
The Jewish Chronicle 5/3/18
British Jewry Book of Honour – 96, 472, 473

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Jacobson, Samuel, Pvt., 51685
The King’s (Liverpool Regiment), 19th Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Isaac and Yetta Jacobson (parents), Bertrice, Harry, Kate, Marks, Milly, Myer, Reuben, and Soloman (sisters and brothers)
39 Great Orford St., Liverpool
Born Liverpool, Lancashire, 1897
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France – Panels 21 to 23
British Jewry Book of Honour – Not Listed

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Kutchinsky, Alec, Rifleman, R/32227
King’s Royal Rifle Corps, 9th Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Michael and Rosie Kutchinsky (parents)
Dawn, Esther, Isaac, Judah, and Rachel (sisters and brothers), 48 Anthony St., London, E
Born St. George in the East, Whitechapel, London, 1894
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France – Panels 61 to 64
The Jewish Chronicle 3/28/19
British Jewry Book of Honour – 101, 360; photo section 132

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Levi, Frederick Joseph, 2nd Lieutenant
Lincolnshire Regiment, 1st Battalion (Attached to 2nd/5th Battalion)
Mr. and Mrs. Mark and Bloom Levi (parents), Ada, Cissie, Lillie, and Manuel (sisters and brother)
116 Pershore Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham
Born Edgbaston, Birmingham, 1895
Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France – Bays 3 and 4
The Jewish Chronicle 4/19/18, 1/3/19 (Issue of 4/19/18 lists name as “Levi, F.I.”)
The Jewish Chronicle (Obituary section) 12/20/18
British Jewry Book of Honour – 72, 293; photo section 45

An image of the matzeva of Frederick Joseph’s father Mark, by FindAGrave Contributor Hockley Lass, is shown below.  Note that their son, who is commemorated at the Arras Memorial, is memorialized by engraved text.    

IN LOVING MEMORY OF
MAURICE ALBERT LEVI,
SON OF
MARK AND BLOOM LEVI,
DIED MARCH 6TH 1919, AGED 26.
ALSO OF THEIR SON
FREDERIC JOSEPH LEVI,
WHO WAS KILLED IN ACTION IN FRANCE
MARCH 21ST 1918, AGED 23.
MAY THEIR SOULS REST IN PEACE

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Levi, Reuben, Pvt., 40139
Royal Scots Fusiliers, 6th/7th Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Marks (6/3/67-8/13) and Leah (Lazarus) (died 10/7/34) Levi (parents), Sarah (“Sadie”) (1900-1973) (sister)
75 Green Road, Leeds
Born Leeds, Yorkshire, 1895
Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France – Bay 5
British Jewry Book of Honour – Not Listed

Marks Levi’s naturalization form of September 2, 1912, from the Sargent Family Tree (by Jacqueline Sargent), at Ancestry.com, appears below.  Note that Reuben’s name (he was then 17) is recorded on the Certificate of Naturalization to an Alien sheet.

The following three images of Reuben (he’s the center figure in the group picture) are also displayed at the Sargent Family Tree page.  

Also among Sargent Family Tree documents is this Official notification of Reuben’s death, dated January 25, 1919.  Though he has no known grave, the document reveals that his body must have been recovered and identified by the German military.  

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Levy, Henry, Pvt., 31092
York and Lancaster Regiment, 2nd Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. William and Sarah Levy (parents), Florence, Jacob, Joseph, Julius, and Samuel (sister and brothers)
67 Frederick St., South Shields
Born South Shields, Durham, 1889
Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France – Bay 8
British Jewry Book of Honour – Not Listed

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Marks, David, Cpl., 41016
Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 1st Battalion (Formerly Royal Field Artillery)
Mr. and Mrs. Labovitch (“Jacob”) and Rachel Marks (parents), Fanny, Harris, Israel, and Lazarus (sister and brothers)
9 Herdford Place, Meadwood Road, Leeds
Born Yorkshire, England, 1883
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France – Panels 79 and 80
British Jewry Book of Honour – Not Listed

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Meltzer, Solomon, Pvt., 64462 (Transferred to Labour Corps, 108th Labour Company; serial changed to 11484)
The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, 3rd/5th Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. D. and L. Metlzer (parents), 15 Hewitt St., Hightown, Manchester
Born St. Peters, Bradford, West Yorkshire
Faubourg d’Amiens Cemetery, Arras, Pas de Calais, France – VII,B,32
The Jewish Chronicle 4/12/18
British Jewry Book of Honour – 108, 442; photo section 58

Solomon’s matzeva appears in this image by FindAGrave Contributor PearLady

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Mosely, Arthur, Pvt., 275217
London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), 3rd Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Simon and Ann Moseley (parents)
Frances, John, Joseph, and Louis (sister and brothers), 68 Lincoln St., E3, Bow, London
Born Mile End, London, 1897
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France – Panel 85
The Jewish Chronicle 3/28/19
The Jewish Chronicle (Obituary section) 3/28/19
British Jewry Book of Honour – 109, 480, 481 (British Jewry Book of Honour – lists surname as “Moseley”, and “Mosely”, but CWGC lists surname as “Mosely”.  1901 Census lists surname as “Moseley”)

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Nyman, Maurice, Rifleman, R35759
King’s Royal Rifle Corps, 1st Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob and Leah Nyman (parents), Harry, Hyman, Philip, and Sidney (brothers), 3 Cable St., Whitechapel East, London
Born Whitechapel, London, 1898
Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France – Bay 7
British Jewry Book of Honour – Not Listed

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Rapaport, Max, Pvt., 13190
South African Infantry, 2nd Regiment
Mr. and Mrs. Sulim and Hinda Rapaport (parents), Str Hagi, Vasluiu, Rumania
Born Rumania, 1889
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France – Panels 95-98
British Jewry Book of Honour – Not Listed

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Rosenberg, Abraham, Pvt., 34958
Machine Gun Corps, 51st Battalion
Mrs. Dora Rosenberg (mother), 92 Grafton St. / 3 Stamford St., Leeds
Born London
Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France
The Jewish Chronicle 5/10/18 (TJC lists name as “Rosenberg, H.”)
British Jewry Book of Honour – 114, 395

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Rosenberg, Lewis, L/Cpl., 233855
London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), 2nd Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Israel and Edith Rosenberg (parents)
Harry, Hetty, Hyman, Leah, and Sammy (brothers and sisters)
220 St. George’s St., E (or) 21 The Highway, London
Born Wapping, London, 1898
Chauny Communal Cemetery, British Extension, Aisne, France – Sp. Mem. C; 2,F,1
The Jewish Chronicle 5/3/18
British Jewry Book of Honour – 114, 483, 484

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Rottstein, Harry, Cpl., 203390
Durham Light Infantry, 2nd Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Reuben and Ada Rottstein (parents)
Abraham, Anne, Clara, Isaac, Joseph, Rebecca, and Rose (brothers and sisters)
8 Rich St., Limehouse, St. Georges, North Somerset
Born Mile End, London, 1892
Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France – Bay 8
British Jewry Book of Honour – Not Listed

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Rubenstein, Hyman, Pvt., 235283
East Lancashire Regiment, 2nd/4th Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Leon and Rose Rubenstein (parents)
Blanche, Fanny, Hyman, Jack, Pearl, Ray, and Sarah (sisters and brothers), 153B Kensington, Liverpool
Born Leeds, Yorkshire, 1898
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France – Panel 42 and 43
The Jewish Chronicle 4/26/18 (Incorrectly lists surname as “Rubinstein”)
British Jewry Book of Honour – 115, 321

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Schratsky, Phillip, Rifleman, R/22366
King’s Royal Rifle Corps, 7th Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Jack (John) and Mary (Minnie) Schratsky (parents), Benjamin, Dinah, Freeman, Isaac, Kate, Leah, Sarah, and Solomon (brothers and sisters)
6 Duval St., Spitalfields, London
Born Whitechapel, London, 5/30/94
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France – Panels 61 to 64
British Jewry Book of Honour – Not Listed

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Segelman, Powell, Cpl., 44518
Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment), 16th Battalion
Mrs. Mary Segelman (mother), Annie Cohen, Dora Levinson, Ellis, Hetty Baker, and Max (sisters and brothers)
113 Victor St., Lincolnshire, Grimsby
Born Kovno (Kaunas), Lithuania, 1892
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France – Panels 52 to 54
The Jewish Chronicle 5/3/18 (Mentions that he served as “Grimsby”)
British Jewry Book of Honour – 117, 340

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Smullen, Abraham, Pvt., 33847
Manchester Regiment, 16th Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis and Ethel Smullen (parents), Hyman, Rachel, and Sarah (brother and sisters), 89 Stock St., Manchester
Born Belfast, Ireland, 1896
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France – Panels 64 to 67
British Jewry Book of Honour – 119, 368

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Solomons, Frank, L/Cpl., R/23189
King’s Royal Rifle Corps, 9th Battalion
Mr. Simon Solomons (father), 7 Frostie Place (12 Frostie Mansions), Whitechapel, E, London, England
Born Stepney, Middlesex
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France – Panels 61 to 64
The Jewish Chronicle 5/3/18
British Jewry Book of Honour – 119, 362

 

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Williams, Nathan, Pvt., 141430
Machine Gun Corps, 58th Company
Wounded (gassed)
Mr. and Mrs. Louis and Rachel Williams (parents), Annie, Florry, Isaac, Ivy, Jacob, Leah, Morris, and Sarah (sisters and brothers)
172 Green St., Bethnal Green, London, E
Born Bethnal Green, London, 1898
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France – Panels 90 to 93
The Jewish Chronicle 5/3/18, 3/28/19 (Chronicle lists name as “N.A. Williams”, and serial as 225727)
British Jewry Book of Honour – 123, 396

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Yarmovsky, Jacob, Pvt., 31879
West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales’ Own), 1st Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Eli (“Hillel”) (1868-10/2/34) and Sophia (“Zifaie”) (1870-3/8/38) Yarmovsky (parents)
Elizbaeth Julia (“Lizzie”), Jacob Philip, Leah, Louis, Max, and Sarah Rebecca (sisters and brothers)
20 Henbury St., Benson St., Leeds
Born Leeds, Yorkshire, 1897
Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France – Bay 4
British Jewry Book of Honour – Not Listed

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Zimmerman, Naheim, Pvt., 267774
Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment), 2nd/7th Battalion
Mr. and Mrs. Morris and Flora Zimmerman (parents), Aaron, Annie, Barnett, Beatrice, Ephraim, Harriet, Israel, Leah, and Leon (brothers and sisters)
184 High St., Shadwell, London, E
Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France – Bay 7
The Jewish Chronicle 5/31/18
British Jewry Book of Honour – 123, 341

Died Non Battle

Emanuel, Moss, L/Cpl., 41460
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion
Died non-battle
Mrs. Lilly (Weinrabe) Emanuel (wife)
Mr. and Mrs. Emanuel (5/1/54-7/31) and Elizabeth “Lizzie” (Lazarus) (1854-1/21) Emanuel (parents)
48 Brighton Road, Stoke Newington, London
Also 126 Maybury Road, Woking, Surrey
Born Whitechapel, London, 1886
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France – Panels 38 to 40
The Jewish Chronicle 6/14/18, 9/27/18, 10/4/18
The Jewish Chronicle (Obituary section) 9/27/18, 10/4/18, 3/21/19
British Jewry Book of Honour – 88, 317
The Sun – 3/26/18

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In Egypt or The Yishuv

Schwartz, Barnett, Pvt., 51283
Imperial Camel Corps
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob and Kate Schwartz (parents), Abraham, Esther, Leah, Nathan, Samuel, and Sarah (brothers and sisters)
289 Oxford St., Stepney, London, E
Born Mile End, London, 1894
Jerusalem Memorial, Jerusalem, Israel – Panel 7
The Jewish Chronicle 3/28/19
British Jewry Book of Honour – 117; photo section 26

An American Jew in the Royal Flying Corps

Arnheim, Samuel Walter, Cadet, 152812
Royal Flying Corps
Killed in flying accident at School of Aerial Gunnery, Camp Hicks, Texas, United States
Enlisted in Royal Flying Corps in July of 1917; sent to Texas as flying instructor.
Graduate of Yale University
Mr. and Mrs. Marks and Fannie (Frances?) (Lewald) Arnheim (parents), 246 West End Ave., New York, N.Y., United States
Mrs. Milton F. Untermeyer (sister)
Born New York, N.Y., 4/21/89
Jesherun New Burial Ground (Beth Shalom Fields?), Brooklyn, N.Y. – Plot 670, B; Buried 3/26/18 (Services led by Reverend Dr. Stephen S. Wise)
Occupation: Manufacturer of Clothing, US Army & Navy Officers’ Uniforms
The Jewish Chronicle 6/7/18
The Jewish Chronicle (Obituary section) 5/3/18, 3/21/19
British Jewry Book of Honour – Not Listed
The Daily Standard Union (Brooklyn) – 3/22/18
The Independent Republican – 4/5/18
New York Herald – 3/22/18, 3/26/18
New York Tribune – 7/9/17, 3/26/18

Wounded in Action

Waxman, Samuel, Pvt., 5905
Australian Imperial Forces, 24th Battalion
Mr. Lazar Waxman (father), Warsaw, Poland
Also Rothdown St., Carlton, Victoria, Australia
Born Warsaw, Poland, 1896
Attestation Papers list civilian trade as “Salesman”
British Jewry Book of Honour – 565

This statement of August 7, 1916, by the Consulate of Imperial Russia, in Melbourne, communicates Samuel Waxman’s obligation to serve in the Australian Expeditionary Forces in lieu of his inability to serve in the Russian army.  

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Germany

Imperial German Army – Deutsches Heer

German Tactics For 1918 Spring Offensive – THE GREAT WAR Special, at The Great War (March 12, 2018)

Kaiserschlacht – German Spring Offensive 1918 – THE GREAT WAR Week 191, at The Great War (March 22, 2018)

Operation Michael Runs Out Of Breath – THE GREAT WAR Week 193, at The Great War (April 5, 2018)

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.ת.נ.צ.ב.ה.

Tehé Nafshó Tzrurá Bitzrór Haḥayím

May his soul be bound up in the bond of everlasting life.

Bachrach, Leopold, Soldat / Kanonier
Fussartillerie Bataillon 90, 2nd Kompagnie
Born 11/15/99, in Muhlhausen
Resided in Muhlhausen (Thur.)
Kriegsgräberstätte in St.Quentin (Frankreich), Block 3, Grab 704
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 289

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Bauer, Julius, Leutnant
Infanterie Regiment 185, 1st Battalion, 2nd Kompagnie
Born 1/7/83, in Frankenthal
Resided in Mannheim
Kriegsgräberstätte in Rancourt (Frankreich), Block 3, Grab 697
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 281

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Benger, Samuel, Soldat
Infanterie Regiment 184, 2nd Battalion, 7th Kompagnie
Born 1/20/96, in Tworog
Resided in Breslau
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 177

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Berdass, Artur, Soldat
Reserve Infanterie Regiment 242, 1st Battalion, 2nd Kompagnie
Born 4/23/92, in Trebnitz
Resided in Chemnitz
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 188

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Bernstein, Harry, Vizefeldwebel
Infanterie Regiment 92, 3rd Bataillon, 9th Kompagnie
Born 2/22/96, in Altenburg
Resided in Berlin
Kriegsgräberstätte in Neuville-St.Vaast (Frankreich), Block 16, Grab 1264
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 132

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Blumenthal, Walter, Unteroffizier
Fusilier Regiment 39, 1st Battalion, 4th Kompagnie
Bor 8/8/91, in Hamm
Resided in Hamm
Kriegsgräberstätte in St.Quentin (Frankreich), Block 6, Grab 212
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 236

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Bud, Rudolf, Soldat
Infanterie Regiment 77, 1st Battalion, 3rd Kompagnie
Born 3/24/93, in Berlin
Resided in Berlin
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 134

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Cahn, Michael, Soldat / Grenadier
Garde Reserve Regiment 1, 2nd Battalion, 6th Kompagnie
Born 8/30/87, in Mainz
Resided in Hamburg
Kriegsgräberstätte in Neuville-St.Vaast (Frankreich), Block 17, Grab 1110
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 370

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Fabisch, Georg, Soldat
Infanterie Regiment 25, 2nd Battalion, 8th Kompagnie
Born 2/11/90, in Tangermunde
Resided in Tangermunde
Kriegsgräberstätte in Maissemy (Frankreich), Block 5, Grab 1656
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 345

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Feibel, Sally, Soldat / Jäger
Reserve Jäger Bataillon 2, 1st Kompagnie
Born 6/20/94, in Gr. Lichtenau
Resided in Danzig
Kriegsgräberstätte in Neuville-St.Vaast (Frankreich), Block 8, Grab 481
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 191

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Forsch, Richard, Soldat
Reserve Infanterie Regiment 60, 2nd Battalion, 5th Kompagnie
Born 11/24/97, in Teschenmoschel
Resided in Teschenmoschel
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 346

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Frankel, Hugo, Soldat
Infanterie Division XXXIV, Sturm Kompagnie
Missing
Born 5/10/95, in Barnsdorf
Resided in Barnsdorf
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 127

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Frankenthal, Sally, Soldat
Infanterie Regiment 453, 1st Battalion, 4th Kompagnie
Born 7/8/91, in Altenlotheim
Resided in Altenlotheim
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 122

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Glaser, Ernst, Soldat / Reservist
Reserve Infanterie Regiment 233, 3rd Battalion, 12th Kompagnie
Born 4/17/90, in Lubzin / Pom.
Resided in Stettin
Kriegsgräberstätte in Neuville-St.Vaast (Frankreich), Block 21, Grab 695
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 340

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Guggenheim, Erwin, Vize-Wachtmeister
Feldartillerie Regiment 14, 1st Battalion, 3rd Kompagnie
Born 12/9/94, in Gailingen
Resided in Gailingen
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 221

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Haarburger, Hans, Soldat / Jäger
Jäger Bataillon 9, 4th Kompagnie
Born 9/22/97, in Hamburg
Resided in Hamburg
Kriegsgräberstätte in Viry-Noureuil (Frankreich), Block 5, Grab 135
GVDK says 3/26/18
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 371

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Hammerstein, Wilhelm, Soldat
Fusilier Regiment 73, 3rd Battalion, 10th Kompagnie
Born 3/15/88, in Berlin
Resided in Berlin
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 141

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Heilbrunn, Erich, Leutnant, Eiserne Kreuz 2 Klasse, Entschliessung des Konigs Ludwig von Bayern (Iron Cross 2nd Class, Resolution of King Ludwig of Bavaria)
Bayerisch Infanterie Regiment 10, 2nd Battalion, 8th Kompagnie
Born 7/22/90, in Nordhausen
Resided in Nurnberg
Kriegsgräberstätte in Neuville-St. Vaast (Frankreich), Block 11, Grab 707
Freudenthal, p. 83-84
Ingolstädter Gesichter: 750 Jahre Juden in Ingolstadt – 257
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 305

Though the photographer’s full identity is not listed, this image of Leutnant Erich Heilbrunn’s matzeva in Neuville-St. Vaast appears in this image by “Simon“, from “Webmatters – Visiting Battlefields of the First World War”.  

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Itzig, Franz, Soldat
Infanterie Regiment 132, 1st Battalion, 3rd Kompagnie
Born 1/2/96, in Berlin
Resided in Berlin
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 144

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Koppel, Franz, Leutnant
Landwehr Infanterie Regiment 150, 3rd Battalion, 10th Kompagnie

Born 6/4/87, in Hamburg
Resided in Hamburg
“Koppel, Franz has not yet been transferred to a military cemetery set up by the Volksbund or could not be recovered as part of our reburial work. According to the information available to us, his grave is currently still in the following location: not recorded”
[Koppel, Franz wurde noch nicht auf einen vom Volksbund errichteten Soldatenfriedhof überführt oder konnte im Rahmen unserer Umbettungsarbeiten nicht geborgen werden.  Nach den uns vorliegenden Informationen befindet sich sein Grab derzeit noch an folgendem Ort: nicht verzeichnet.]

Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 372

____________________

Korbchen, Hans, Soldat
Reserve Infanterie Regiment 262, , Maschinen-Gewehr Kompagnie 3
Born 4/20/93, in Geldern
Resided in Berlin
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 147

____________________

Lachmann, David, Soldat
Reserve Infanterie Regiment 232, 2nd Battalion, 8th Kompagnie
Born 2/20/84, in Grabow
Resided in Berlin
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 147

____________________

Laumann, David, Gefreiter
Infanterie Regiment 150, 1st Battalion, 1st Kompagnier
Born 3/1/88, in Dollstaedt
Resided in Pr. Eylau
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 317

____________________

Levy, Joseph Isaac, Sanitats Gefreiter
Fussartillerie Regiment 90, 1st Battalion, 4th Kompagnie
Born 2/6/98, in Hamburg
Resided in Altona
Kriegsgräberstätte in Neuville-St.Vaast (Frankreich), Block 18, Grab 1154
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 123

____________________

Lewin, Michaelis, Soldat
Infanterie Regiment 79, 3rd Battalion, 12th Kompagnie
Born 6/25/91, in Posen, Thuringia
Resided in Posen
“No burial report could be found for the dead man in the available documents.  However, since the French graves service carried out reburials from the surrounding places to collective cemeteries in the 1920s, he could have been buried as an “unknown” in the comrade’s grave at the war cemetery in Neuville-St.Vaast (France) prepared by the Volksbund.”
[Für den Toten konnte in den vorliegenden Unterlagen keine Grabmeldung ermittelt werden. Da der französische Gräberdienst jedoch in den 20er Jahren Umbettungen aus den umliegenden Orten jeweils auf Sammelfriedhöfe durchführte, könnte er auf der vom Volksbund hergerichteten Kriegsgräberstätte in Neuville-St.Vaast (Frankreich) als “Unbekannter” im Kameradengrab bestattet worden sein.]
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen
– 382

____________________

Lewysohn, Jakob Jaques, Soldat
Reserve Infanterie Regiment 60, 1st Battalion, 2nd Kompagnie
Born 6/30/76, in Berlin
Resided in Berlin
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 150

____________________

Lichtenstein, Leo, Offizier Stellvertreter
Infanterie Regiment 426, 3rd Battalion, 11th Kompagnie
Born 1/17/83, in Danzig
Resided in Berlin
Kriegsgräberstätte in St.Quentin (Frankreich), Block 8, Grab 365
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 151

____________________

Liffmann, Hugo, Unteroffizier
Infanterie Regiment 49, 3rd Bataillon, 9th Kompagnie
Born 2/27/90, in Odenkirchen
Resided in Munchen-Gladbach
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 294

____________________

Lindenheim, Bruno, Unteroffizier
Feldartillerie Regiment 76, 1st Battalion, 4th Kompagnie
Born 8/22/97, in Mannheim
Resided in Mannheim
Kriegsgräberstätte in Neuville-St.Vaast (Frankreich), Block 15, Grab 378
GVDK says 3/22/18
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 282

____________________

Maier, Ernst, Gefreiter
Reserve Fussartillerie Regiment 3, 2nd Battalion, 6th Kompagnie
Born 10/1/95, in Frankfurt am Main
Resided in Frankfurt am Main
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – Nachtrag (Addendum) 2 – 427

____________________

Michels, Josef Georg, Soldat
Reserve Infanterie Regiment 230, 3rd Bataillon, 9th Kompagnie
Born 4/3/84, in Korlin
Resided in Berlin
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 154

____________________

Moritz, Edwin, Soldat
Infanterie Regiment 459, 2nd Battalion, 8th Kompagnie
Born 11/4/97, in Langenselbold
Resided in Langenselbold
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 270

____________________

Moses, Hugo, Soldat
Infanterie Regiment 184, 1st Battalion, 1st Kompagnie
Born 10/2/98, in Gr. Strehlitz
Resided in Munster (Westf.)
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 294

____________________

Nassauer, Salli, Soldat
Feldartillerie Regiment 10, 1st Battalion, 3rd Kompagnie
Born 7/31/89, in Wehen
Resided in Hamm.-Munden
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 238

____________________

Nathan, Simon, Soldat / Landsturmmann
Reserve Infanterie Regiment 219, 3rd Battalion, 11th Kompagnie
Born 10/16/77, in Czarnikau
Resided in Castrop
Kriegsgräberstätte in Viry-Noureuil (Frankreich), Block 5, Grab 81
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 188

____________________

Neumann, Max, Soldat
Reserve Infanterie Regiment 233, , Maschinen-Gewehr Kompagnie 3
Born 11/24/98, in Leipzig-Reudnitz
Resided in Berlin
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 156

____________________

Oppenheimer, Hermann, Soldat
Bayerisch Infanterie Regiment 10, 3rd Battalion, 11th Kompagnie
At St. Leger
Born 7/3/93, in Treuchtlingen
Resided in Treuchtlingen
Kriegsgräberstätte in St.Laurent-Blangy (Frankreich), Kameradengrab
Ingolstädter Gesichter: 750 Jahre Juden in Ingolstadt – 257 (lists date as 8/21/18)
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 349

____________________

Ottenheimer, Max, Soldat
Garde Reserve Regiment 1, 3rd Battalion, 10th Kompagnie
Born 4/17/97, in Gemmingen
Resided in Gemmingen
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 224

____________________

Parieser, Hermann, Soldat / Musketier
Reserve Infanterie Regiment 38, 3rd Battalion, 12th Kompagnie
Born 10/4/97, in Russ (Krs. Heydekrug)
Resided in Konigsberg (Pr.)
Kriegsgräberstätte in Billy-Berclau (Frankreich), Block 4, Grab 46
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 264

____________________

Phillippsohn, Oscar, Gefreiter
Infanterie Regiment 162, 2nd Battalion, 6th Kompagnie
Born 7/31/96, in Hamburg
Resided in Hamburg
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 374

____________________

Reiss, Norbert, Unteroffizier
Bayerisch Infanterie Regiment 24, 1st Battalion, 3rd Kompagnie
Born 1/26/78, in Oberwaldbehrungen
Resided in Neustadt (Saale)
Kriegsgräberstätte in St.Quentin (Frankreich), Kameradengrab
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 299

____________________

Rosenbusch, Berthold, Soldat
Infanterie Regiment 453, 2nd Battalion, 7th Kompagnie
Born 5/29/97, in Grunsfeld
Resided in Grunsfeld (i. Baden)
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 232

____________________

Rothenberg, Max, Soldat
Fussartillerie Bataillon 158, 2nd Kompagnie
Born 2/19/90, in Schlochau
Resided in Berlin
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 159

____________________

Salinger, Siegfried Fritz, Vizefeldwebel
Lehr Infanterie Regiment, 3rd Battalion, 10th Kompagnie
Born 12/16/94, in Marienburg
Resided in Berlin
Kriegsgräberstätte in Neuville-St.Vaast (Frankreich), Block 19, Grab 836
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 160

____________________

Schonfeld, Hans, Soldat
Infanterie Regiment 453, 1st Battalion, 1st Kompagnie
Born 11/24/92, in Sangerhausen
Resided in Koblenz
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 259

____________________

Seligmann, Jakob, Soldat, Musketier
Infanterie Regiment 147, 2nd Battalion, 6th Kompagnie
Born 6/2/98, in Emden
Resided in Emden (Ostfr.)
Kriegsgräberstätte in St.Quentin (Frankreich), Block 13, Grab 149
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 203

____________________

Simon, Siegfried, Soldat, Pionier
Pionier Kompagnie 100
Born 7/5/95, in Hamburg
Resided in Hamburg
Kriegsgräberstätte in St.Quentin (Frankreich), Block 6, Grab 77
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 375

____________________

Sprinz, Otto, Assistant Arzt
Bayerische Ersatz Infanterie Regiment 3, 2 Bataillon, Stab Kompagnie
Born 12/21/91, in Burghaslach
Resided in Wurzburg
Kriegsgräberstätte in Maissemy (Frankreich), Kameradengrab; bei Nauroy
Ingolstädter Gesichter: 750 Jahre Juden in Ingolstadt – 258
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 364

____________________

Weigert, Hans, Soldat, Kanonier
Fussartillerie Bataillon 50, 3rd Kompagnie
Born 5/11/99, in Berlin
Resided in Berlin
Kriegsgräberstätte in Maissemy (Frankreich), Block 1, Grab 871
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 165

____________________

Wertheim, Eugen, Soldat
Infanterie Regiment 117, 2nd Battalion, 7th Kompagnie
Born 5/2/86, in Offenbach
Resided in Offenbach (Main)
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 310

____________________

Wittstock, Erich, Gefreiter
Born 2/8/97, in Berlin
Resided in Berlin
Kriegsgräberstätte in Neuville-St.Vaast (Frankreich), Block 13, Grab 394
JGD lists rank as “Soldat”; Rank here from Volksbund.de.
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – Anhang (Appendix) – 400

____________________

Wolf, Julius, Gefreiter
Garde Regiment 123, 2nd Battalion, 5th Kompagnie
Born 5/5/82, in Sennfeld
Resided in Heilbronn
Kriegsgräberstätte in Maissemy (Frankreich), Block 1, Grab 2159
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 241

References

Books (…Author Listed…)

Adler, Michael, and Freeman, Max R.G., British Jewry Book of Honour, Caxton Publishing Company, London, England, 1922 (Republished in 2006 by Naval & Military Press, Uckfield, East Sussex)

Cohen, Joseph, Journey to the Trenches – The Life of Isaac Rosenberg, 1890-1918, Basic Books, Inc., New York, N.Y., 1975

A Book (…No Specific Author…) …

Die Jüdischen Gefallenen Des Deutschen Heeres, Deutschen Marine Und Der Deutschen Schutztruppen 1914-1918 – Ein Gedenkbuch, Reichsbund Jüdischer Frontsoldaten, Forward by Dr. Leo Löwenstein, Berlin, Germany, 1932

Some Websites…

Operation Michael

Operation Michael, at Wikipedia

German Spring Offensive, at Wikipedia

The Importance of the Operational Level: The Ludendorff Offensives of 1918,(Lorris Beverelli), October 28, 2019, at The Strategy Bridge 

Why did the German Spring Offensive of 1918 Fail?, at Daily History

WWI’s Massive German Spring Offensive of 1918 (Mike Phifer), at Warfare History Network

Major John George Brew – 1918: Retreat from St. Quentin, via Web Archive  (http://brew.clients.ch/stquentin.htm)

German Infantry Divisions of the Great War (H.G.W. Davie), July 13, 2018, at HGW Davie

Jäger (Infantry), at Wikipedia

List of German Jäger Battalions before 1918, at Wikipedia

Isaac Rosenberg

…at Wikipedia

…at Poetry Foundation

… at Poets.org

…at Writers Inspire

…at FindAGrave

…at ArtsUK.org (12 Paintings)

…at Representative Poetry OnLine, at University of Toronto, via Internet Archive Wayback Machine (5 Poems)

 

Soldiers from New York: Jewish Soldiers in The New York Times, in World War Two: Edmond J. Arbib – July 12, 1945 [Updated post…  “New and Improved!”]

[This post first appeared on April 30, 2017.  Now in 2022, five years later, it’s been updated.  In its original form the post only covered Army Air Force ferry pilot Captain Edmond J. Arbib, notice of whose death in a domestic training flight on July 12, 1945, appeared in The New York Times the following July 18.  The post now covers incidents involving four other Jewish servicemen on that same July Thursday, part of a larger (lengthier) project of updating and expanding my other posts covering American Jewish WW II casualties reported upon in The Times.]  

Even if “the war” in Europe had by the second week of May, 1945, ended, the war still continued:  One airman was lost during a training flight in the European Theater, and two others in the Pacific Theater.  The fourth Jewish soldier, Gunner Solomon Rosen, from Essex, England, having survived for three and a half years as a prisoner of the Japanese, died in Borneo.

Further details about these four men appear below…

On Thursday, July 12, 1945 / 3 Av 5705

– .ת.נ.צ.ב.ה. –

Tehé Nafshó Tzrurá Bitzrór Haḥayím

May his soul be bound up in the bond of everlasting life.

Notice about the death of Army Air Force Ferry Pilot Captain Edmond J. Arbib was published in the Times on July 16 and 18, with his obituary appearing on the latter date.

Captain Arbib, a member of the 5th Ferry Group of the Air Transport Command, lost his life while piloting Douglas A-26C Invader 44-35799.  With 1 Lt. John W. Thomas (of Craighead County, Arkansas) as a pilot-rated passenger, his aircraft took off on a demonstration training flight from Love Field, in Dallas, Texas, and crashed northwest of Grand Prairie.

____________________

Veteran Air Force Pilot is Killed in Texas Crash

Capt. Edmond Joseph Arbib, Army Air Forces, 27-year-old veteran ferry pilot, was killed at Love Field, Tex., when his airplane crashed last Thursday, the War Department has informed his family here.  Descended from Jonas N. Phillips, an American Revolutionary soldier, and from Henry Marchant, a signer of the Articles of Confederation, Captain Arbib was born in New York, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Rene S. Arbib [Rene Simon Arbib; 4/11/90-7/21/47], his father being a native of Cairo, Egypt, and his mother the former Miss Sylvia Phillips.

He enlisted in September, 1941, as a private in the ground forces of the AAF.  In October, 1942, he received his wings.  Captain Arbib ferried planes to every war theatre and served in the China-Burma-India theatre for nine months, making eighty-eight round trips over the Himalayan “hump”.

He held the Distinguished Flying Cross with three bronze stars, the Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters and a Presidential Wing Citation.

Surviving are his widow, Mrs. Harriet Brodie Arbib; his parents and a sister, Mrs. Harold Bartos.

Amidst advertisements for women’s clothing, Southern Comfort, and Gene Krupa (in an “air-conditioned” setting, no less – well, we are talking 1946 after all) Captain Arbib’s obituary appeared on page 13 of the Times.


____________________

Born on January 23, 1918, Edmond was buried at the Beth Olam Cemetery, in Cypress Hills, Ridgewood, Queens.  Note that his obituary calls attention to his descent from Jonas Phillips (1736-1803) and Harry Marchant. 

____________________

Here are images of the Army Air Forces Accident Report (46-7-12-5) covering the loss of A-26C 44-35799. 

This is the report’s first page, which includes nominal information about the incident: date, time, and location, and, background flight experience of the crew members.

__________

Here’s the bulk of the Report’s text.  Though it was determined by accident investigators that the port engine was feathered and not operating and insufficient power could be attained in the starboard engine to maintain flight, at the time of the crash, the specific cause of these mechanical problems couldn’t be established with certainty. 

A normal take-off was reported to have been made at Love Field, and a landing was executed several minutes later at Hensley Field.  ***  Members of the aircraft maintenance crew, who were standing by near the take-off runway, report that they observed black smoke emitting from both engines during the take-off run.  The crewmen also reported that it appeared that both engines were “sputtering, sound like they were loaded up”, and not developing full power.  As the aircraft passed them, the left engine is said to have been shaking violently, and acceleration seemed inadequate for normal take-off.  ***  As smoke was still emitting from the engines, the left engine appeared to “cut out”.  *** 

Inspection of the wreckage revealed that the left propeller was in full feathered position. 

Full consideration has been given to the experience and qualifications of Captain Arbib, and it is felt that normal preflight engine run-up was satisfactory, or flight would not have been attempted from Love Field.  The fact that the engines were reported to function normally on occasions, while checking unsatisfactorily at times, has been considered, however the exact nature and cause of the reported loss of power can not be determined.  Exact time that the aircraft was on the ground at Hensley Field, prior to take-off, could not be determined, however it was found that considerable taxiing was necessitated and there was a delay in take-off due to congested traffic.  Whether or not a pre-flight power check was run prior to the take-off is not known.

All facts and findings, as set forth above, have been reviewed and it is the opinion of members of this Aircraft Accident Investigating Board that reported engine functions indicate that both engines were “loaded up” on take-off, due possibly to excessive rich mixture.  Though it was found that the left propeller was feathered, it is believed that a similar malfunction was experienced in both engines, and that sufficient power could not be attained in the right engine to sustain single-engine flight.

It is concluded that take-off power failure, of this nature, could be fore-seen and avoided by the execution of a normal pre-flight power check and the proper manipulation of power controls.

It is recommended that the importance of pre-take-off power checks be stressed, regardless of the condition of aircraft engines, and that special attention be given to engine run-up and power checks after extended ground operations, which might be conducive to “loading up” of engines.

________

The Report also includes this letter to the Post Safety Officer, which goes into detail about Captain Arbib’s experience an proficiency, concluding that, “Captain Arbib’s ability as a pilot and his flying record was considered above average by the undersigned.

16 July 1945

TO: Flying Safety Officer, Post

FROM: Flight Training Office

SUBJECT: Captain E.J. Arbib, information concerning

1.     Captain Edmond J. Arbib was assigned to Transition on personnel memorandum number 148 – 23 June, 1945, as a pursuit A-26 instructor.

2.     The above mentioned pilot was given an instructor’s flight check ride in B-25 ship and was found highly satisfactory.  This pilot had one thousand (1000) hours first pilot time – five hundred (500) hours of which was in C-46s, one hundred hours in B-25s, one hundred (100) hours in B-24s, eighty (80) hours in P-38s, and two hundred and twenty (220) hours single engine pursuit.  Subject Officer was formerly a check pilot on B-24 type aircraft at Romulus, Michigan and held a white instrument card with two hundred and fifty (250) hours instrument time.  Pilot was not involved in any accident due to pilot error.

3.     Captain Arbib was given an original A-26 check at this Station on 13 May, 1945.  After the original check, Captain Arbib spent twelve (12) hours on A-26s under the supervision of the Pursuit Flight Commander.  This time consisted of extensive single engine work, both on take-offs and landings – practically all landings were completed under the supervision of an A-26 instructor or the Flight Commander.

4.     Captain Arbib’s ability as a pilot and his flying record was considered above average by the undersigned.

/s/ A.E. Probst
A.E. Probst
1st Lt., AC
Pursuit Flight Commander

A TRUE COPY
Wilbur G. Shine
WILBUR G. SHINE

Captain, Air Corps

____________________

United States Army Air Force

12th Air Force

Though the war in Europe had ended, Army Air Force training missions continued regardless.  On July 12, during a simulated dive-bombing mission of an airdrome at Augsburg, and, a simulated strafing mission of buildings at the Ammersee (Ammer Lake), First Lieutenant Fred B. Schwartz (0-2057031) was killed when his P-47D Thunderbolt fighter, aircraft 42-26718 (squadron identification letter “C” or “O“) struck the surface of the Ammersee and sank.  The incident was reported in Missing Air Crew Report 14953.  

A member of the 522nd Fighter Squadron, 27th Fighter Group, 12th Air Force, Lt. Schwartz, born on May 6, 1924 in McKeesport, Pa., and was the son of John and Lillian (Gelb) (10/13/93 – 1/3/83) Schwartz of 628 Petty Street.  His sister was Velma Feldman, who in 1945 resided at 1629 Cal. Avenue, in the White Oak section.  

His name appearing on page 550 of Volume II of American Jews in World War II, Lt. Schwartz had been awarded the Air Medal and two Oak Leaf Clusters, suggesting that he’d flown over 10 combat missions prior to the war’s end.  He is buried at the Luxembourg American Cemetery at Plot H, Row 4, Grave 47.  

As well as in MACR 14953, information about this incident can be found at Aviation Safety Net, and, the 12 O’Clock High Forum.  The story of the plane’s loss and eventual recovery and salvage was reported upon by Gerald Modlinger in the Augsburger Allgemeine on April 16, 2009 and June 5, 2010, though as of now – 12 years later, in 2022 – those two articles, the latter including a picture of the salvaged P-47, are behind paywalls.  (Oh, well.)  But – ! – when I first researched this story some years ago, these articles were still openly available and I was able to copy and translate them.  So, they appear below, accompanied by an air photo of the Ammersee.  

________

Here’s the shoulder-patch of the 12th Air Force…

…while this image of the emblem of the 522nd Fighter Squadron is from Popular Patch.com.

Here are two representative depictions by illustrator Chris Davey of 522nd Fighter Squadron Thunderbolts, as seen in Jonathan Bernstein’s P-47 Thunderbolt Units of the Twelfth Air Force.  A single letter on the mid-fuselage serves as a plane-in-squadron identifier on these otherwise simply marked aircraft.  

This painting is of P-47D 42-26444, “Candie Jr.“, “E“, flown by Lt. Robert Hosler, in December of 1944…

…while this painting shows P-47D 44-20856 “BETTY III“, “O“, of 1 Lt. Robert Jones, as the aircraft appeared in early April of 1945.  

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Pilot Rests in Cemetery in Luxembourg (“Pilot-ruht-auf-Friedhof-in-Luxemberg”)

When a quiet solitude had entered Lake Ammersee in November, a lonely watercraft was sailing on the lake.  An American explorer was viewing sonar for an aircraft that crashed shortly after the end of the war.

Gerald Modlinger
April 16, 2009

Diessen – When a quiet solitude on Lake Ammersee arrived in November, a lonely watercraft was on the lake.  An American explorer was viewing sonar for a plane that crashed shortly after the end of the war, and especially for the pilot who was killed.  Aerospace researcher Josef Köttner from Diessen has now researched that the pilot who he has been looking for has been resting in a US military cemetery in Luxembourg for decades.

Bob Collings, director of the company, emailed last November when he told how moving it was when members of the family were given certainty about the mortal remains of their fathers and grandfathers who had been killed in the war.  The search campaign on the Ammersee also returned to a request from the descendants of the missing US soldier.  At the same time, the courthouse also issued the necessary permits for the exploration.

In order to clarify the fate of the pilots killed in the crash of the P-47 Thunderbolt on July 12, 1945, however, the elaborate search action would obviously not have been necessary.  After an Internet investigation and a request from the US Air Force, 79-year-old Köttner is clear about the incident and the fate of the killed pilot.

The crashed P-47 Thunderbolt was piloted by Fred B. Schwartz, a member of the US Air Force’s 522th Fighter Squadron.  This unit was stationed in Sandhofen near Mannheim in the summer of 1945.  From the accident report and the reports of pilots of other combat aircraft it is clear that on 12 July 1945 at 9:40 am, four P-47 Thunderbolt machines from Sandhofen flew to a practice site on an airfield south of Augsburg and then aimed at a row of houses on the Ammersee as targets.  At about 11 o’clock an airplane’s propeller tips came into contact with the surface of the water.  The pilot had misjudged the situation.  The plane pulled up again, then fell to the water on the south-east of Lake Ammersee and sank after a few seconds without the pilot leaving the aircraft.  The remaining three P-47s still circled around the crash site for some time and then returned to their base.

Meanwhile, a boat had arrived at the crash site, but at that time the plane had already sunk in the water, at a point where the lake is about 45 meters deep.  A buoy was installed as a marker.

Afterwards a company from Regensburg was assigned to recover the wreckage of the aircraft.  There is nothing else to read in the accident report.  On an American website, on which the overseas soldiers’ residences are listed, Köttner finally found himself in search of the fallen Lieutenant Fred B. Schwartz.  The pilot, who came from Pennsylvania, found his final place of rest at the military cemetery in Luxembourg.

In the meantime, nothing has been known about the findings gained during the days-long search on the Ammersee.  “We are also surprised that we have not heard anything at all,” said Wolfgang Müller, the courthouse’s spokesman yesterday regarding the Lieutenant.  Furthermore, the employees of the water authority would be interested in the findings of the Americans about the conditions on the bottom of the lake.

Without giving any details, Bob Collings and Bob Mester had told the search company Underwater Admiralty Sciences (UAS) about the wreckage of cars, boats and craters their sonar had encountered.  Whether or not they found the plane they were looking for, remained open.

__________

The P-47 Was Already Salvaged in 1952 (“Die P-47 wurde schon 1952 zerlegt”)

Gerald Modlinger
June 5, 2010

Diessen – The aircraft search by an American company one and a half years ago at the Ammersee was probably not only with regard to the unfortunate pilot, but also with regard to his aircraft from the start without certainty.  The underwater archaeologist Lino von Gartzen from Berg reports in the magazine Flugzeugclassic that the airplane wanted by the Americans already 1952 from the Ammersee had been salvaged.  Previously, Lachen avocational researcher Josef Köttner had already shown that the pilot who had been killed on July 12, 1945, has been lresting in an American military cemetery in Luxembourg for decades.

This picture shows the salvage of the P-47 Thunderbolt near St. Alban in the spring of 1952.  The American search team arrived 56 years too late to find it still.

Photo: 1952 Ludwigshain / Collection of Gartzen

This Wikimedia Commons image of the Ammersee is by Carsten Steger.

Aerial image of the Ammersee (view from the south)

The fact that there are probably no more aircraft in the southern Bavarian lakes today is mainly due to Ludwiging, a native of Inning, who reported on Gartzen in October 2009 in Flugzeugclassic.

Ludwigshain (1920-2009) had been trained in the Second World War by the Navy in Norway as a salvage dredger.  One needed such people among other things, in order to be able to lift airplanes, which were sunk by saboteurs in the harbor.  His knowledge remained useful to Hain after the end of the war.  With a partner he began to retrieve aircraft which had fallen into the Bavarian lakes.  When he had fished the lakes largely empty, he went to Lake Constance, where he died in the spring of 2009.

All metal was strongly sought in the 1950s

It is today the high antiquity of historical aircraft wrecks that arouses the interest in them, making after the Second World War the scarcity, especially in metals, of aircraft wrecks to worthwhile companies.  It was only in the early 1960s that such [wrecks] became gradually uninteresting, as the price of scrap metal fell sharply.

In southern Bavaria, Hain with his partner Schuster, among other things [found] a British Lancaster, a B-17, a Bf-109 and two P-47 Thunderbolts, besides various vehicles, boats, a mini-U-boat and heavy bridge parts, writes Gartzen, after a conversation he had had with Hain shortly before his death.

The eye-witnesses did not agree on the type of aircraft

Ludwigshain found one of the two American P-47 Thunderbolt machines taken from the Ammersee in the spring of 1952.  The Landsberger Tagblatt had already been mentioned by Rolf Haunz in November 2008 for this aircraft.  The Kaufbeurer spent his childhood in Diessen and was a witness to the spectacular flight of aircraft in front of St. Alban.  Haunz said at the time that it must have been a P-47.  However, other people who saw children as the plane was landed could not confirm this with certainty.

According to Gartzen, “99.99 per cent” of Ludwigshafen’s photographs made it clear that in 1952 the P-47, which was sought again a year and a half ago, was taken from the Ammersee.  The serial number was exactly what the Americans were looking for.  The cockpit of the P 47 was closed, indicating that the aircraft pilot could not leave his machine.  In addition, the time of the salvage coincided with the identification of missing pilot Fred B. Schwartz in April 1952.

After the plane was pulled ashore, it was disassembled.  The parts were transported by truck and train.  Crashed airplanes were a real treasure in the 1950s: Gartzen knows of a case in which such an aircraft produced 25,000 marks. “That was the value of a family home.”

____________________

United States Army Air Force

5th Air Force

Though combat missions had ended for the Army Air Force in the European Theater, they would continue without respite in the Pacific for four more months.

On one such mission, – to destroy oil storage tanks at Toshien, Taiwan (formerly Formosa) – B-24M Liberator 44-50390 “Becomin’ Back” of the 528th Bomb Squadron, 380th Bomb Group, piloted by Major Kenneth E. Dyson, was struck by three or four bursts of 90mm anti-aircraft fire.  Of the plane’s 11 crew members, there would be six survivors.  Second Lieutenant Eugene Stark (0-2024001), the bombardier, would not be among them.  He was seen to bail out by T/Sgt. Edward Treesh, the flight engineer, but was not seen afterwards.  The plane’s loss is described in MACR 14921.        

The son Martin and Julia (10/27/98-7/21/90) Stark, of 950 Aldus Street in New York City, Lt. Stark would be the recipient of the Air Medal, 1 Oak Leaf Cluster, and Purple Heart, indicating that he’d completed between five and ten combat missions.  His name appeared in official casualty lists on August 8 and October 3, 1945, and can be found on page 453 of Volume II of American Jews in World War II.  

The plane’s crew consisted of:

Dyson, Kenneth E., Major – Pilot (Killed – Not recovered)
Muchow, Robert Leonard, 2 Lt. – Co-Pilot (Rescued)

Flanagan, Michael J., Jr., 1 Lt. – Navigator (Killed – Buried at sea)
Stark, Eugene, 2 Lt., Bombardier (Killed – Not recovered)
Bongiorno, Thomas G., F/O – H2X Navigator (Killed – Not recovered)
Treesh, Edward Oren, T/Sgt. – Flight Engineer (Rescued)
Nagel, Lawrence J., T/Sgt. – Radio Operator (Rescued)
Latta, William E., S/Sgt. – Gunner (Rescued)
Heffington, James C., S/Sgt. – Gunner (Killed – Not recovered)
Wood, Albert W., S/Sgt. – Gunner (Rescued)
Dalton, Maurice G., S/Sgt. – Gunner (Rescued)

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This image of the 528th Bomb Squadron insignia is from the MASH Online military clothing and insignia store.  

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The Missing Air Crew Report for the plane’s loss includes detailed eyewitness statements by all six survivors – 2 Lt. Muchow, S/Sgt. Latta, T/Sgt. Treesh, S/Sgt. Dalton, T/Sgt. Nagel, and S/Sgt. Wood – of which S/Sgt. Dalton’s is by far the longest and most detailed.  Notably, the only survivor from the front of the plane was Lt. Muchow.  The last of the survivors to be rescued, he was picked up from the sea by a Martin PBM Mariner.  Here’s his account of the loss of “Becomin’ Back“:

528TH BOMBARDMENT SQUADRON (H) AAF
APO # 321

19 JULY 1945.

EYEWITNESS DESCRIPTION OF CRASH

On July 12, 1945, we were on a mission to Toshien, Formosa to knock out some oil storage tanks in the northeast corner of the town.  We were lead ship of the second squadron.  Instead of making the planned bomb run, Major Dyson asked the H2X Operator for a direct heading to the target from that position which we later found out to be north of the prescribed bomb run and directly over a battery of 90mm anti-aircraft guns.  After starting on the bomb run I could see a solid barrage of ack-ack about a mile in front of us and at out altitude.  It appeared at the time that our evasive action was insufficient an then we were hit. 

I remember only one burst close in on the left side of the plane.  This burst shattered the pilot’s window, injured Major Dyson, shot out the auto-pilot and burst the hydraulic lines in front of my feet.  I immediately called the engineer and asked him to check the leaking gas.  I then asked Major Dyson how bad he was hit.  I could see he had superficial cuts about the face and he added that his left arm or side was hit.  The blast had blown off his earphones and mike and he was very dazed.  I was dazed enough that the one burst is all I recall, later I found out we received three or four. 

I switched to “D” Channel and tried to contact the submarine, to no avail.  I finally switched to “B” Channel and contacted a fighter plane who in turn gave me the sub’s position.  I looked back then and the leaking gas in the bomb-bay looked like a solid sheet of rain.  The fumes had penetrated the plane and we were all affected to a certain degree.  We had the side windows open up front so were lucky in that respect. 

I asked Sgt. Wood to get me the navigator and when I finally made him look my way he just laughed in my face.  H was like a drunk from the gas fumes and so too, were the others on the flight deck.  This, helped account for the dazed reactions of all of us. 

All this time Major Dyson just sat with a dazed expression on his face, said nothing, and flew the ship by instinct, I thought, than from realization, of the situation.  Or ordered us to bail but we were too close inshore and continued to the submarine.  Several times I took the ship and turned it back toward the sub when Major Dyson turned back toward Formosa.

The ship was running okay from the recordings of the instruments and our main worry was losing an engine.  We were headed toward the sub and loosing altitude at about three hundred (300) feet per minute.  We were hit while at about 13,000 feet.  The first man bailed out at about 10,000 feet and I bailed out at about 8,500 feet.  I was the last man to leave the ship.  Before Lt. Flanagan bailed out he told me he was going.  I asked if all had bailed and ‘chutes opened and he said they had.  I left soon after he did and thought Major Dyson would follow me.  After my ‘chute opened I saw the ship just before it hit the water.  It had apparently lost an engine and gone in on a wing.  The men on the sub said it started burning before hitting the water, then blew up. 

The following was taken from the Log of the U.S.S. Cabrilla (SS-288), the submarine that picked us up. 
July 12
1140, received word that plane was going to be ditched. 
1145, sighted seven ‘chutes in the air.
1210, picked up Dalton, M.G.
1212, picked up Wood, A.W.
1302, picked up Flanagan, M.J.
1331, picked up Treesh, E.O.
1400, picked up Latta, W.E.
1404, picked up Nagel, L.J.
1422, picked up Muchow, R.L.
1640, buried Lt. Flanagan, M.J. at sea, Goron Bi, Formosa, baring 036 T, distance fifteen (15) miles

Robert L. Muchow

ROBERT L. MUCHOW,
2nd Lt., Air Corps,
Co-Pilot, 528th Bomb Sq.
380th Bomb Gp (H).

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This image of the nose art of Becomin’ Back can be found at the website of the 380th Bomb Group (the “Flying Circus“), in the historical profile of B-24M 44-50390.

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Here’s the 1945 map from MACR 14921 showing the approximate location of the loss of Becomin’ Back

…while here’s a 2021 Oogle Map showing the crash location, based on longitude and latitude coordinates as listed in the MACR.

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United States Army Air Force

20th Air Force

During the early evening hours of July 12, 1945, the 20th Air Force’s 16th Bomb Group incurred its first combat loss.  This happened during the start of a night mission to “Kawasaki”, the name probably meaning the city of Kawasaki, in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.  At approximately 1935 to 1940 hours K (kilo)* time, not long after taking off from Guam, three of the four engines of the 16th Bomb Squadron B-29 42-63603 ran away, and, the engines’ propellers could not be feathered. 

As the aircraft descended rapidly from 4,500 feet, aircraft commander Lt. Milford Berry ordered his crew to bail out.  Though it will never be known if Lt. Berry himself escaped the descending plane, all other crew members in the B-29’s forward section left the airplane.  

In the rear crew compartment, all crew members left their bomber with the exception of right blister gunner S/Sgt. Harold I. Schaeffer and tail gunner Sgt. Philip Tripp.  

Of the eight men known to have parachuted from their B-29, only three survived: pilot 2 Lt. James Trivette, Jr., bombardier 1 Lt. Rex E. Werring, Jr., and left blister gunner Sgt. Clarence N. Nelson.  Four of the other five crewmen were never found.  However, Sgt. Tripp’s body was recovered; he is buried at Forest Dale Cemetery in Malden, Massachusetts.    

Among the crew members of 42-63603 was Sergeant Morton Finkelstein (32977132) the bomber’s flight engineer.  Born in a placed called Brooklyn on June 22, 1925, he was the son of Edward E. (1/30/01-5/21/83) and Rose (Lubchansky) (1900-1/24/85) Finkelstein, their family residing at 32 Joralemon Street. 

His name appeared in casualty lists published on August 15, 1945 and April 21, 1946, and can be found on page 309 of American Jews in World War II, where he is recorded as having received the Air Medal and Purple Heart.  Like the other four missing crew members, his name can be found in the Tablets of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.  

(Kilo Time Zone is often used in aviation and the military as another name for UTC +10.  Kilo Time Zone is also commonly used at sea between longitudes 142.5° East and 157.5° East.)

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This image of Sgt. Finkelstein, at the archives of the National Museum of the Pacific War, at Fredericksburg, Texas, was uploaded to FindAGrave by Chris McDougal.  

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Here’s the Record of Casualty for Sergeant Finkelstein, completed by Chaplain Bernard J. Gannon and provided to Major David I. Cedarbaum.  This document is from the Honor Roll in the Cedarbaum Files (Folder 5) at the American Jewish Historical Society.  

As stated in the Record of Casualty:

“The plane in which Finkelstein was riding was commanded by Lt. Milford A. Berry.  At least a portion of the crew bailed out.  Finkelstein is known to have left the plane.  The plane had three run-away engines and exploded a few feet above the water.  Three men were recovered, one body [Sgt. Tripp] was buried at Saipan the identity of which was known.

It is understood that prayers for soldier’s safety were included in your service at the 73rd Air Service Group Chapel, 15 July 1945.”

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A symbolic matzeva for Sgt. Finkelstein appears in this image by FindAGrave contributor Mary Lehman.  It’s located at Mount Golda Cemetery in South Huntington, New York.

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The crew of 42-63603:

Berry, Milford Audrain, 1 Lt. – Aircraft Commander (Last seen in aircraft)
Trivette, James, Jr., 2 Lt. – Pilot (Rescued)

Rollins, K. Warren, 1 Lt. – Navigator (Last seen bailing out)
Werring, Rex E., Jr., 1 Lt. – Bombardier (Rescued)
Ameringer, Irving W., 2 Lt. (Last seen bailing out)
Finkelstein, Morton, Sgt. – Flight Engineer (Last seen bailing out)
Lynch, Robert E., Sgt.  (Last seen bailing out)
Schaeffer, Harold I., S/Sgt. – Gunner (Right Blister) (Last seen in aircraft)
Nelson, Clarence N., Sgt. – Gunner (Left Blister) (Rescued)
Tripp, Philip Gregory, Sgt. – Gunner (Tail) (Killed (see Cederbaum report)

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A flying, bomb-carrying, world-spanning hippo is the central motif of the insignia of the 16th Bomb Squadron, in this image from Pinterest, uploaded by Nikolaos Paliousis.  

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Here’s a partial transcript of post-war “fill-in” Missing Air Crew Report 15373, which covers the loss of 42-63603:

Time and position of bailout: 1934K, 12 July 1945, approximately 80 miles north of western tip of Orote Peninsula, Guam.  Coordinates:  14-36 N, 114-25 E.

The aircraft acted properly during take-off (1940 K) and climb.  After leveling off at 6,200 feet, RPMs were reduced but No. 1 engine remained at 2400.  The Airplane Commander reduced the RPMs of No. 1 engine to 2000 with the feathering button.  Almost immediately however it increased and went wild.  The Airplane Commander hit the feathering button but it had no effect, so he pulled the throttle back, told the Bombardier to salvo the bombs and headed for Guam.  On the turn, No. 3 engine started building up and again the feathering button was ineffective.  The Airplane Commander gave the order to prepare to ditch.  Almost immediately, No. 4 engine ran away and the order to bail out was given.  The altitude was about 4500 feet, and the aircraft was dropping at about 1000 feet per minute.  The Pilot took over the plane was the Airplane Commander fastened his parachute and one-man life raft.  The Pilot rang the alarm bell and called the left scanner and tail gunner on the interphone. 

The airplane commander attempted to transmit on VHF channel, but it appeared to be dead.  He then switched to Channel A.  Bombardier reported that Pilot was not getting out on this channel.  Also, no word has been received of receipt of any message by any aircraft or ground station.

Bail out:

Exit through forward bomb bay:

The Navigator and Radio Operator went out first (order unknown), and their chutes were seen to open by the Bombardier who was third out.  The Radio Operator hesitated but left sometime between the time the Bombardier and Pilot bailed out.  The Pilot was next out and saw one chute open just before he left the airplane.  With the exception of the Airplane Commander, the front of the airplane was clear when he left, and the altimeter indicated 500 feet.  No difficulty was experienced in leaving the hatch.  The Bombardier and Pilot put their hands along the edge of the bulkhead door and dove out in one motion.

Exit through rear bomb bay:

The Right Scanner had been briefed to bail out first and was fully geared and ready to go.  The Left Scanner motioned him out but he (Right Scanner) “looked blank”.  The Left Scanner then asked him to step aside so he (Left Scanner) could go out, thinking that by so doing the Right Scanner might gain confidence.  The Right Scanner stepped aside, still mute, and the Left Scanner dove out the pressure bulkhead door.  The Right Scanner was never seen to leave the airplane. 

Altitude and time for Bail Out:

Between 1500 feet and 500 feet.  Time interval approximately 1 ½ minutes between first and last man.

Like some other MACRs for B-29 crews whose members were rescued after parachuting over, or ditching in, the Pacific Ocean, the document accords much attention to the many factors involving aircrew survival, in terms of bailout procedure, safely parachuting, use of a one-man life raft (in terms of deployment, inflation, and how-to-actually-successfully-get-into-the-raft in the first place), physical and psychological factors involved in survival at sea, and, attracting the attention of searching vessels and aircraft.

What’s notable about the bailout from 42-63603 is that this occurred at about 7:40 at night (civilian time).  Given that sunset in the Kilo Time Zone on July 12, 1945 would have occurred at 8:30 P.M., the crew would have had less than an hour of light before the arrival of total darkness.  At sea; alone.

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Akin to the Oogle map illustrating the loss location of Becomin’ Back, this map shows the loss location of B-29 42-63603.

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This cutaway image from Boeing’s B-29 Maintenance and Familiarization Manuel (HS1006A-HS1006D) shows the interior arrangement of a B-29’s forward crew compartment.  The location of the flight engineer’s station, on the right side of the compartment, is directly behind the co-pilot. 

This panoramic 360-degree-view, at 360Cities, gives a high resolution, clear view of the B-29’s front crew compartment.  Upon going to the link you’ll arrive at a view of the interior of a B-29’s forward crew compartment, facing forward.  Rotate the view 90 degrees to the right (use the right arrow), and you’ll see the flight engineer’s station with it’s small myriad of dials and switches, as well as throttle leavers.  

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The following diagram, from the XXI Bomber Command Combat Crew Manual, specifically Section XII – “Emergency Procedures” – depicts the sequence by which the members of a Superfortress crew were to bail out of their bomber during an in-flight emergency.  

In the nose, the bailout sequence was: 1) bombardier, 2) flight engineer, 3) co-pilot, 4) navigator, 5) radio operator, and 6, pilot.  Escape could be made through a hatch in the cockpit floor situated directly above the nose wheel (by definition, necessitating that the nose wheel be lowered), or, through the bomb bay, the latter option requiring that the crew compartment to be depressurized so that the bomb bay could be accessed through a circular hatch.

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British Army

Died while Prisoner of War

The fact that four of the five servicemen mentioned in this post were aviators, all members of the United States Army Air Force, is a coincidence of the timing of July 12, 1945.  The war in Europe had ended on May 8 (or May 9, in the former Soviet Union), and combat, as such, was now only occurring in the Pacific Theater.  Along with Captain Arbib, Lieutenants Schwartz and Stark, and Sgt. Finkelstein, the fifth (known) Jewish soldier who was a casualty on July 12 was – as mentioned in the “intro” to this post – a member of the British Army.  Probably captured during the fall of Java on March 12 1942, he was Gunner Solomon Rosen (1827101).

Born in 1914, he was the husband of Henrietta Rosen, of Heathway, Dagenham, Essex, and the son of Sam and Annie.  A member of the 78th Battery, 35th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, he arrived in Singapore aboard the ship Nishi Maru on September 14, 1942, and then in Kuching, Borneo, aboard the Hiteru Maru on October 9 of the same year. 

It was there that he died, in tragic irony only a little over one month before the end of the Second World War.  Then again, more than a few POWs of the Japanese succumbed to illness, starvation, mistreatment, or appallingly worse, through and even after the last day of hostilities in the Pacific Theater of War.  (Such, as…)  

Gunner Rosen, whose name appears on page 148 of Volume I of Henry Morris’ We Will Remember Them, is buried at the Labuan War Cemetery, in Malaysia; Plot N,C,6.  His name appears in the Roll of Honor – Java Index.  

Gunner Rosen’s matzeva, with the Hebrew abbreviation .ת.נ.צ.ב.ה. (Tehé Nafshó Tzrurá Bitzrór Haḥayím – May his soul be bound up in the bond of life) inside the Magen David, appears in this photo by FindAGrave contributor GulfportBob.

References

Bernstein, Jonathan, P-47 Thunderbolt Units of the Twelfth Air Force, Osprey Publishing, Long Island City, New York, N.Y., 2012

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.

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

Rust, Kenn C., Twelfth Air Force Story, Historical Aviation Album, Temple City, Ca., 1975

No Specific Author Listed

XXI Bomber Command Combat Crew Manual, A.P.O. 234, May, 1945 (reprint obtained via EBay)

Jonas Phillips (wikipedia), at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonas_Phillips

Soldiers from New York: Jewish Soldiers in The New York Times, in World War Two: May 4, 1945 – United States Navy – Naval Aviator Saul Chernoff

My prior posts about Jewish military casualties on May 4, 1945, have covered men who served in army ground forces, the United States Army Air Force, United States Marine Corps, and United States Navy.  However, I’ve retained one last name; one last identity; one last biography … for this “last” post.  The reason being, the sheer abundance of information about the man in question: Lt. (jg) Saul “Sonny” Chernoff of the United States Navy.

There are some vague parallels with the fate of 2 Lt. Wallace Franklin Kaufman, whose “story” has been the basis for this group of posts: 

Kaufman was shot down on May 4, 1945, and survived as a POW of the Japanese, until he was murdered on the following May 24 – three weeks later.  

Chernoff, too, was shot down (during aerial combat with Japanese fighters) on the same May 4, an event depicted – below – on the cover Edward M. Young’s F4U Corsair vs. Ki-84 “Frank” Pacific Theater 1945After rescue, Lt. (jg) Chernoff resumed flying combat missions. 

One June 2, 1945 – almost one month later – he was shot down (again) during aerial combat with Japanese fighters (again). 

Sadly, that time he did not survive. 

A chronicle of the events of both days from the Spring of 1945 follows below.  But first, some biographical information:

Born in Los Angeles on January 11, 1923, Saul Chernoff – his given name was originally “Saule” – was the son of Morris (9/2/90-2/4/70) and Sima (Gorelick) (1/15/93-6/11/50) Chernoff (parents), and brother of Lillian.  The family lived at 456 North Gardner Street, in Hollywood, California.  

Married, Saul’s wife was Georgette Dorothy (Kamm) Chernoff, who resided at (or originally hailed from) 139 Main Street, in Northport, Long Island, N.Y.  Another relative may (?) have been A Mr. B. Oxhorn, who resided at 854 South Harvard Boulevard, in Los Angeles.

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This is the only good photograph I’ve thus far been able to locate of him.  From Ancestry.com (like everything else…but I digress), this is Saul’s graduation portrait from the Hollywood High School Class of 1940 Yearbook.  

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Completely unlike Major Milton Joel, other than a very (very (v e r y)) brief funeral notice in the Los Angeles Times in 1949, substantive information about Saul’s pre-war wife, and military training, is thus far unavailable to me.  (That is, assuming it’s survived some-unknown-where across a span of nearly eight decades.)  Thus, I’ll “jump” directly to his service as a fighter pilot in Navy fighter Squadron VBF-85, alias the “Sky Pirates”.  

The squadron emblem of VBF-85, portraying a sword-wielding one-eyed pirate holding the reins of a descending lightning bolt, set against a murkily moonlit, starry night-time sky, appears in several variations.  This version, also manufactured in cloth form during WW II for use as a jacket patch, is mentioned at VBF-85 as having been used as a decal actually placed about the Squadron’s F4Us, at least relatively early during the Squadron’s combat service.

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Probably (?…) taken in December of 1944, this image, from the War History of VF-85 (via Fold3), shows the squadron’s officers and enlisted men posed in front of an F4U.  Names of personnel, left to right, are listed below. 

Front Row (Sitting)

Ens. Bean, Roy N.
Ens. Hatfield, Elvin H.
Ens. Siddall, Frank S.
Ens. Edwin, Norman L.
Ens. Kirkham, Charles N.
Ens. Noel, Richard L.
Lt. Cdr. Gilmour
Lt. Cdr. Ford, Warren W.
Lt. Cdr. Roberts
Lt. Tilton, Eugene B.
Ens. Lawhon, David W.
Ens. Dunn, John C.
Ens. Bloomfield, Robert A.
Ens. Solomon, Leonard E.
Ens. Egolf, James O.
Lt. Irgens, Donald L.
Lt. (jg) Lamphar
Ens. Huber, Joseph A.

Second Row

Lt. (jg) Blair, George M.
Lt. (jg) Robbins, Joe D.
Ens. Moos, Kennard “A.”
Lt. (jg) Edwards, (William H.?)
Ens. Moore, John H.
Ens. Meltebeke, Raymond L.
Lt. (jg) Callan, Allie W.
Lt. (jg) Nichols, James B.
Lt. Wollum, Donald G.
Ens. Chernoff, Saul
Ens. Shinn, William G.
Ens. Marr, William H.
Ens. Clark, John G.
Lt. (jg) Sovanski, Lawrence
Ens. McCraken, Billie R.
Ens. Fuog, Howard W.
Ens. Yirrell, Francis
Lt. Goodnow, Robert G.
Ens. Loeffler, John D.

Third Row

Lt. (jg) Webster, Bayard
Lt. Fuller, Roy A.
Ens. Kling, Nelson P.
Ens. Kennedy, Harold R.
Ens. Pierce, James W.
Lt. Vickery, Arthur E.
Ens. Bruening, Floyd W.
Lt. (jg) Black, James B.
Lt. (jg) Horne, Hugh R. or Joseph S.
Lt. (jg) Whitney, Robert C.
Lt. (jg) Horne, Hugh R. or Joseph S.
Ens. McPhee, Duncan C.
Ens. Harrington, Henry M.
Ens. Clarke, William “R.”
Ens. Meyers, Donald E.
Ens. Fitzgerald, Louis A.
Lt. (jg) Spring
Lt. (jg) DeMott, Richard W.
Ens. Sabin, Donald G.

Enlisted Men on Wing

Schmidt
Goessling
ART 1C Curry, Roland H.
AMM 2C Thompson, Claud W.
AMM 1C Stransky, Lloyd J.
AMM 2C Kusmer, Erwin L.
AEM 1C Lewis, Frank H.
AM 1C Callahan, William J., Jr.
ACMM Young, Kenneth D.
ACRM Wright, Wilbur T.
Y 1C Hager, Franklin T.
AMMP 1C Brackett, William A.
AMM 3C Keegan, Joseph J.
PR 2C Kinner, Wilbert K.
AOM 3C Tanner, Charles L.
AOM 1C Richardson, William L.
ACOM Klein, Irving

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Friday, May 4, 1945

(22 Iyyar 5705)

I first learned “about” Lt. (jg) Chernoff by happenstance, while reviewing Casualty Files pertaining to Allied aviator POWs of the Japanese, as well as Navy War Diaries, at the National Archives in College Park – a few (some? several?!) years back.  Within records for VF-85 / VBF-85, I discovered the squadron’s Aircraft Action Report that was filed for a Combat Air Patrol mission near Okinawa on May 4, 1945, during which the squadron shot down thirteen Japanese aircraft for the loss of two F4Us.

The squadron’s victories comprised:

Five “Type 93 twin-float advanced trainers“: The Yokosuka K5Y intermediate trainer / floatplane (九三式中間練習機), which went by the Allied reporting name of “Willow”.  Though a biplane, the K5Y was still a viable kamikaze weapon, as attested to by the destruction of the USS Callaghan on July 28, 1945, the last Allied ship to be sunk by a kamikaze attack.    

Three “Petes“: The Mitsubishi F1M reconnaissance floatplane (零式水上観測機), otherwise known to Allied pilots by the reporting name “Pete”.

Five “Zeke 52s“: The well-known Mitsubishi A6M (零式艦上戦闘機) carrier fighter, otherwise known – and very well known – as the “Zero”.  (Still known in 2021 and beyond? – That’s another topic entirely.)

These aerial victories were credited as follows:

Lieutenant Lawrence Sovanski: Two Petes
Lieutenant Jack Sidney Jacobs: Two Petes
Lieutenants Sovanski and Jacobs (shared): One Pete
Ensign W.R. Green: Two Petes
Ensign M.M. (Marvin M.?) Fogarty: One Pete
Lt. (jg) David W. Lawhon: Two Zeke 52s
Lt. (jg) Saul Chernoff: Three Zeke 52s.  (Which, may well not have been Zeke 52s after all, as will be revealed below…)

The Squadron’s Aircraft Action Report, prepared by ACI Lt. J.E. Curby, is so well written, flowing so well as a historical and “action” document, that it would be redundant for me to summarize it.  So instead, a transcript of the Report immediately follows this composite image of the Report’s first two pages:

Comparative performance of own and enemy aircraft:

The type 93 trainers could not evade the Corsair.  Speed no more than 150 knots.  Very little protection.

Pete was more maneuverable than Corsairs, but easily overtaken by Corsair.  Could turn inside Corsair.

Zeke-52 could not dive away from Corsair.  Apparently had very little armor for wing tanks since they burned readily.

Twelve VF-85 fighters were sent out on patrol C.A.P. north of Okinawa to intercept any Japanese planes coming from Kyushu.  The planes were vectored out at 0842 to a large bogey.  The engagement which followed was the first for the day fighters of VF-85.

The engagement was divided into two parts.  One third of the planes led by Lieut. J.S. Jacobs, USNR, engaged type 93 seaplane intermediate trainers and “Petes” while the other two thirds fought with Zeke52s.

The Petes and trainers were contacted about seven miles north of Iheya Jima.  The trainers were armed with bombs, but none were observed on the Petes.  The Japanese were apparently on a suicide mission against shipping targets in the Okinawa area.

Lieut. Jacobs saw one of our destroyers under attack by a “Nick”, and as he turned in to attack, the Hick dove into the destroyer before he had an opportunity to fire.  He then observed, with his wingman, Ensign W.R. Green, USNR, about eight seaplanes low on the water.  Lieut. Jacobs immediately attacked, and splashed a twin float seaplane.  He later identified this plane to be a type 93 seaplane intermediate trainer.  Lieut. Jacobs then sighted another one heading for a destroyer and he got a 45 [degree] deflection shot.  It burst into flames but continued into the destroyer.

During this time Ensign Green obtained hits with a full deflection shot on another trainer which began to burn and landed on the water.  Lieut. Jacobs then strafed it and was followed by Lieut. Lawrence Sovanski, USNR, who caused it to explode.

Ensign Green then got on the tail of a Pete and splashed him with a short burst.  A few seconds later he was on the tail of another Pete which he splashed in short order.

Lieut. Sovanski, with his wingman, Ensign M.M. Fogarty, USNR, had also been busy attacking the trainers as soon as they were sighted.  Lieut. Sovanski made on pass at a trainer and scored hits, but failed to splash him.  He then spotted the plane wounded by Ensign Green and Lieut. Jacobs and exploded it.  Just then another Bogey of about eight planes was sighted.  Lieut. Sovanski pulled up and made a stern approach on a 93 trainer.  He burned it with a short burst and it exploded.  He then followed another one but had to hold his fire while another Corsair passed out of his sights; however, a second or two later he opened up and the trainer exploded.

Ensign Fogarty, meanwhile, made a flat side, full deflection run on a Pete.  It burned, hit the water and exploded.

During this entire melee there were fighters from the Yorktown attacking these groups of bogies.

While the above engagement was in progress, Lt. (jg) J.D. Robbins’ (USN) division was engaging some 12 – 16 planes, Zeke-52s, fifteen miles north of the other encounter.  This group was tallyhoed at 17,000 feet.  The flight had been at 22,000 feet.  Unfortunately, the 20mm cannon in three planes in Lt. (jg) Robbins’ division froze up and they were forced to retire from the engagement.  Lt. (jg) Saul Chernoff, USNR, and Lt. (jg) F.S. Siddall were both shot down at this time.  They were both rescued and are in good shape. 

Lt. (jg) Chernoff’s plane was the only one which had all guns operating.  He soon learned that there were two groups of Zekes, the first one consisting of 16-20 planes and the second also consisting of 16-20 planes.  His story is best told in his own words.  (It should be mentioned that he had no intimation that his fellow pilots were having difficulties with their guns, and had left the scene of battle.)

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Continuing with the Aircraft Action Report, here is a transcript of Lt. (jg) Chernoff’s account of the engagement, which appears in the Action Report as a typewritten document:

OKINAWA – Angels 20

4 May 1945

At approximately 0845 we were vectored out on a heading of 030 degrees.  No speed was given and when a request for information was asked, a report was given that the bogey was 40 miles at angels 15.  We went on vector for about ten minutes when Ensign E.L. MYERS, USNR, my wingman, spotted the bogeys behind us and above.  I immediately gave him the lead and followed. 

About a mile from the bogey which appeared to be a large group of Zekes in two formations, Ensign MYERS pressed home his attack.  I don’t believe he saw the second formation as he made his attack on the first group.  I saw he would be in a bad way from the second group, so made an attack on them.  It was a low side attack, coming from underneath.  I don’t believe they saw me as no evasive action was taken.  I gave a short burst to the lead plane and his port wing came off and he spun in.  Still coming up, I gave a short burst to the second plane and he blew up.  I skidded to one side and came down in another run on two more planes.  They started evasive action, making a hard turn to port.  I fired about three bursts and the second man and he, also, blew up.  I closed on the first but couldn’t turn inside of him.  At that time I looked behind and saw three Zekes on my tail so immediately did a split “S”.  Going down I was hit and my engine was smoking very badly and oil completely covered the windshield.  My oil pressure started dropping and then my prop governor went out.  Using my throttle, my R.P.M.s went as high as 5000, and when I cut it off it still read about 3500.  I was followed down to about angels ten by one Zeke who then broke off and left, climbing back up. 

I made several radio transmissions and tuned on my IFF to emergency.  Two fighters from VF-85 drew alongside me and I then made a water landing.  I couldn’t determine the direction of the waves so made a landing between them.  I put my flaps down and held off until my airspeed indicator read 60 kts.  There was quite a jar but I didn’t receive any injury.  My life raft, which I had loosened in the air, fell to the bottom and I couldn’t get it out, so jumped into the water with just my Mae West.  Both planes did a marvelous job of directing L.C.S.-11 to my position which was about 4 ½ miles south-east of Yuron Shima.  They were relieved by another flight of four planes from VBF-85.  After two and a half hours I was picked up.

My mistakes:

1. I forgot to jettison my belly tank.
2. Landed cross wind.
3. Let raft fall to bilge.
4. Jumped into water before inflating Mae West.

S. CHERNOFF

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The Aircraft Action Report does not include a parallel statement concerning the shooting down and survival of Lt. (jg) Siddall.  In any event, Siddall was flying F4U-1D 82746, and Chernoff F4U-1D 82542.  

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This Oogle map shows the approximate location – indicated by Oogle’s emblematic red pointer – where VF-85 intercepted the Japanese attacking force, based on latitude and longitude coordinates listed in the Aircraft Action Report.  The location can be seen to have been approximately 50 miles east of Radar Picket Station 4.  

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But, wait, there’s more…!

Though Lt. (jg) Lawhon and Lt. (jg) Chernoff claimed two and three Zeke 52s, respectively, there is a high probability that this was a case of misidentification, for the Japanese fighters may have been Nakajima Ki-84 Hayates of the 60th Shinbu-Tai (60th Special Attack [kamikaze] Unit (Dai 60 Shinbu-tai / (第六十振武隊).  This clarification comes from Edward M. Young’s F4U Corsair vs. Ki-84 “Frank” Pacific Theater 1945, where it is stated:

On May 4, Maj. Michiaki Tojo, commanding the 103rd Hikō Sentai, led a formation of Hayates from his own unit and the 102nd Hikō Sentai that were charged with escorting a mixed Special Attack airplane formation consisting of Ki-27 “Nates,” Ki-43 “Oscars,” Ki-84 “Franks” and two Ki-45 “Nicks” (Type 2 Two-seat Fighters) to Okinawa.  More “Oscars” from the 65th Hikō Sentai also participated in the mission. 

That same morning VF-85 sent up three divisions on CAP north of Okinawa.  Flying at 20,000ft, Ens. E.L. Myers, wingman to Lt. (jg) Saul Chernoff, saw a formation of what he identified as 12-16 “Zekes,” and Chernoff ordered him to take the lead.  The other members of the division found that the 20mm cannon in their F4U-1Cs had frozen and had to break off the attack.  Chernoff continued, seeing that the Japanese aircraft were in two formations, one higher and one lower.  He decided to attack the higher formation on his own in order to protect Ens. Myers, even though he would be attacking from below.  Another division of VF-85 was climbing rapidly to help.  Chernoff came in on what he identified as a formation of “Zekes” and opened fire with his cannon, knocking the port wing off one airplane.  He fired on a second, which blew up under his fire, then came down to make a run on two more fighters, firing three bursts at one that blew up (these may well have been “Franks,” as the 60th Shinbu-Tai lost three that day and the escort force lost eight). 

As he tried, and failed, to follow the second fighter through a turn, Chernoff noticed three “Zekes” coming down on him from above.  Maj. Tojo had been watching the Special Attack airplanes targeting what he thought was a group of US Navy cruisers and destroyers when he saw two Corsairs come into view below him, one behind the other.  They were firing on the Special Attack airplanes, and apparently did not see him.  The second Corsair, apparently flown by Lt. (jg) F.S. Siddell [sic], came within range and Tojo immediately opened fire and sent it down smoking.  Chernoff did not see Tojo closing behind him, the Ki-84 pilot opening fire and hitting the Corsair’s engine, which began to smoke badly and covered the windscreen with oil.  Chernoff did a split-S to escape, but his Corsair was finished.  Major Tojo was not sure how badly he had damaged the two Corsairs, but wisely did not follow them down.  Chernoff and Siddell were badly hit, but both made water landings and were rescued.  With an experienced pilot at the controls and an altitude advantage, the Hayate had shot down two Corsairs in under a minute. 

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This brief moment in time has been imagined and depicted in a painting by aviation artist Gareth Hector.  Mr. Hector’s composition forms the “bottom half” of his dual cover montage for Mr. Young’s book, issued in 2016 by Osprey Publishing, one of the (thus far) 122 books comprising Osprey’s Duel series.  The cover of Mr. Young’s book, viewable at 96 dpi resolution c/o Mr. Bezos.  

Mr. Hector’s painting depicts Saul – moments after having previously downed three Ki-84s (not Zeke 52s) – diving away in his burning Corsair after having been attacked by Major Michiaki Tojo.  Clearly shown on Saul’s F4U are the white lightning-bolt wing and tail markings of VF-85.  

The caption parallels the excerpt quoted above:  “On May 4, 1945, Maj. Michiaki Tojo, commander of the 103rd Hikō Sentai, led a formation of 30 Ki-84s from the 101st, 102nd and 103rd Hikō Sentai as escorts for a mixed formation of Special Attack airplanes sent to attack US Navy vessels off Okinawa.  The Ki-84s had to zigzag above the slower bomb-laden kamikaze.  Near the island of Iheya Shima, northwest of Okinawa, the formation spotted several American ships and the Special Attack airplanes began their final dives.  Flying above and monitoring the attack, Maj. Tojo suddenly saw two F4U Corsairs below him, intent on intercepting the Special Attack formation.  One Corsair turned to the right and came into firing range.  Apparently unseen, Maj. Tojo opened fire and sent the F4U down smoking.  The leading Corsair, probably flown by Lt. Saul Chernoff of VF-85, also turned to the right and failed to notice the Ki-84s above until Maj. Tojo was in a position to open fire, hitting Chernoff’s engine.  The naval aviator dove away, with his Corsair smoking badly, and successfully ditched.  Chernoff was rescued, only to be killed subsequently on June 2, 1945 when VF-85 clashed with the N1K2-J “Georges” of the 343rd Kokutai over Kyushu.  (Cover artwork by Gareth Hector)”

(Given the way that Mr. Hector’s has depicted this aerial engagement in such a vivid, detailed, well-imagined yet entirely realistic manner, and his composition’s fortunate availability at very high resolution, I took his work one [small] step “beyond” (- quite intentional pun -) and – rather than simply nominally include it within “this” post – retouched it using Photoshop to remove the “upper” half of the montage and eliminate text from this “lower” half, simplifying the scene and giving it a little bit more “oomph”. )

You can view fourteen examples of Mr. Hector’s work at his website, Gareth Hector Military Art, while fifty books featuring his cover illustrations can be viewed here, at Osprey Publishing.  His work is characterized by a visual perspective that captures action at – or just before – its height, a use of lighting and illumination that have an optimum balance, and, an near photographic attention to detail.

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From VBF-85, this photo shows three (plus a wingtip) F4Us, probably in the vicinity of Hawaii, marked with the squadron’s emblematic white lightning bolt on tail and wingtip…  

…while this illustration, by Don Greer (via WarWall) appearing on the cover of Jim Sullivan’s F4U Corsair in Action, provides a much clearer view of VF-85’s / VBF-85’s squadron markings.  Though individual plane-in-squadron numbers are painted on the tail and cowling, unfortunately, these are not recorded in Aircraft Action Reports.  Note that the aircraft carries the Sky Pirates squadron insignia below the cockpit; this insignia reportedly appeared on the squadron’s Corsairs less frequently as the war progressed.  

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Almost one month later, on Saturday, June 2, 1945 (22 Sivan 5705), Lt. (jg) Chernoff was no longer among the living.    

– .ת. נ. צ. ב. ה –
תהא נפשו צרורה בצרור החיים

What happened?

…thirty-two Corsairs from VF-85 / VBF-85 were tasked with a fighter sweep mission to the Chiran, then Kagoshima, and finally, Izumi airfields on the island of Kyushu.  Prior to returning to the Shangri-La and while rendezvousing over Kagoshima Bay (Kagoshima-wan; 鹿児島湾), a radio request was received to provide high cover for an air-sea rescue operation for three downed F6F Hellcat pilots (two from the USS Ticonderoga and one from USS Yorktown) who’d ditched in the bay.  As the Corsairs orbited the area in the vicinity of the Ibusuki Seaplane Base, they were attacked from above by what was estimated to have been 20 to 30 (actually 23) Japanese fighter planes.  The planes were described as a mixture of Franks [Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate; キ84 疾風, “Gale“], Jacks [Mitsubishi J2M Raiden; 雷電, “Lightning Bolt], Oscars [Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa; 隼, “Peregrine falcon” / “Army Type 1 Fighter” 一式戦闘機], and Tojos [Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki; 鍾馗, “Devil Queller”], and even the Judy [Yokosuka D4Y Suisei; 彗星, “Comet” dive-bomber], but in reality the only enemy aircraft encountered by VF-85 / VBF-85 were all N1K2-J Shiden-Kai (紫電改 – “Violet Lightning – Modified”) fighters of the elite 343rd Naval Air Group, which was commanded by Captain Minoru Genda.  The 343rd was comprised of (this quote is from Wikipedia, but okay, it’s valid), “…the best surviving ace fighter pilots the Imperial Navy had at the time.”  

The result?  Well, as aptly stated in the opening paragraph of the Shangri-La War History, “2 June was the one disastrous day for the squadron.”  VF-85’s prior encounters with Japanese warplanes were limited to kamikaze aircraft, as recounted above for the mission of May 4, 1945.

By day’s end, VF 85 / VBF 85 suffered one pilot killed on take-off at the mission’s start, two pilots killed outright in combat, three pilots who ditched (two after their aircraft had been damaged by anti-aircraft fire and / or enemy aircraft; one from lack of fuel) but did not survive to be rescued.  Two pilots managed to return to the Shangri-La in damaged Corsairs, of which one aircraft may (?) have been junked.

The 343rd Naval Air Group lost two pilots in the battle.

As for the three Hellcat pilots floating in Kagoshima Bay?  They were all rescued, as was the complete crew of a seaplane that was lost early in the air-sea rescue effort.

Of VF 85 / VBF 85’s losses, Lt. (jg) Saul Chernoff was the second pilot to have been killed:  He was shot down – “jumped” – outright, at the start of the 343rd Naval Air Group’s attack, after breaking away from his Section Leader in order go to independently attack a Shiden fighter, an action which was noted (though Chernoff’s name isn’t mentioned, the implication is obvious) in VF-85 / VBF-85’s Aircraft Action Report.

The above summary is a distillation of information in documents filed by VF-85 / VBF-85, VH-3 and VPB-13 (the two squadrons involved in the air-sea rescue for the three downed Hellcat pilots), the Shangri-La, histories of VBF-85 and VF-85 published at the war’s end, and, Henry Sakaida and Koji Takaki’s history of the 343rd Naval Air Group, Genda’s Blade, published in 2003.  

The information in these sources is as interesting as much as it is well-written.  Rather than “pick and choose” snippets from these documents, the text is presented below in full…  (Gadzooks.  Veritably, again there I go making another really long post!)  My additional commentary appears inside brackets, italicized, in maroon font.  [Just like this.]

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First, I’ll begin at the “end”, with post-mission comments by the Air Group Commander, in the USS Shangri-La War Diary – Report of Air Operations Against Kyushu:

Comments of Air Group Commander

Fighter Sweep Over Kyushu

Pilots must learn to stay together. In our first real fighter sweep the desire to kill as many Japs as possible caused new pilots to become dispersed. They knew better and admitted it later. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any way of learning this lesson except by experience.

The Japs still have some first class pilots and airplanes. Prior to these sweeps this group had encountered only Kamikaze pilots who offered no real opposition. This, plus rumors that the Jap air force was definitely low on good pilots, gave us an erroneous appreciation of the situation such that we were greatly surprised in our encounter. The Japs flew tight formations, executed well-timed coordinated attacks and retained an initial altitude advantage. Their initial attack was made through high overcast at 22,000 feet indicating apparent radar control. Some of the planes out dived Corsairs at well over 400 knots IAS and were able to make tight turns in those dives.

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Second, from the Shangri-La War History:

2 June was the one disastrous day for the squadron. A fighter sweep was ordered against airfields on Kyushu. The weather was worse than terrible and added to that the nearest field was over 300 miles away. It was necessary to fly on instruments a good deal of the time to the target and over an hour on the return trip.

The sweep first attacked Izumi airfield where Lieut. L. Sovanski, USNR, Lt. (jg) N.L. Edwin, USNR, both had their planes damaged by flak. The next sweep attacked Chiran airfield, however, in both cases few aircraft were observed. In the meantime, two pilots from the Yorktown were downed in Kagoshima Wan. Comdr. W.W. Ford, USN, took charge of aiding them. A Coronado attempted to land near one of the pilots, but on landing damaged its propeller rendered the plane useless. Another Coronado orbited the area. A Dumbo (PBM) finally arrived and rescued the downed pilots and also the crew of the Coronado.

During this time the high cover for the downed pilots was jumped by Franks, Jacks, Oscars and Judys, [a statement to this effect is repeated in further documents] all first line planes piloted by experienced pilots.  [Though the Ki-43 Hayabusa would serve throughout the duration of the war, by 1945 it had been superseded in performance, armament, and other features by later Japanese fighters, such as the Ki-84 Hayate.]  Lt. (jg) W.R. Clarke, USNR, shot down one Jack and one Oscar, and Lieut. G.M. Blair, USNR, damaged a Jack. However, the enemy took heavy tool on our fighters. Lieut. R.A. Fuller, USNR, was shot down by antiaircraft fire over Ibusuki auxiliary seaplane base. Lt. (jg) Saul Chernoff, USNR, was shot down by an enemy plane. The planes of Lt. W. Atkinson, USNR, and Lt. (jg) H.R. Kennedy, USNR, were so badly damaged that they had to make forced water landings. Lt. (jg) C.N. Kirkham, USNR, orbited Lt. (jg) Kennedy in the hope of effecting his rescue and remained with him until he, too, was forced to make a water landing due to lack of fuel. All three pilots were in their rafts, but due to the foul weather none of the pilots were recovered. Lt. (jg) C.N. Kirkham, USNR, has been recommended for the Navy Cross for his heroism.

In addition, two other planes were so badly damaged they had to be jettisoned and one plane was forced to ditch near a destroyer due to lack of gasoline.

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Lieutenant (jg) Saul Chernoff was shot down in the attack over Ibusuki. Lieutenant Wallace Atkinson, Jr. – struck by Japanese fire in the same encounter – crashed with his plane near Kuchino Shima. Flak bursts off the Ibusuki seaplane base sent Lieutenant Roy A. Fuller into the sea.

Two other pilots who failed to return had managed to survive the dynamic air battle but were lost enroute to the ship. When Lieutenant (jg) Harold R. Kennedy was unable to keep his plane in flight because of previously sustained damaged, Lieutenant (jg) Charles N. Kirkham – while orbiting the position where his comrade had fallen – ran out of gas and landed in the water. Neither was recovered.

In addition, there were two plane losses without personnel casualties. One pilot was picked up when his fighter was forced down at sea by fuel exhaustion. Another managed to fly his F4U back to the carrier for a landing despite severe damage by enemy fire, but the plane was cannibalized and jettisoned over the side.

The squadrons of Air Group 85 took a great deal more than they gave that day. Against the quick surprise blows of the Japanese, their own retaliatory punches seemed vainly ineffectual. For the gallant fight which they waged and the heavy casualties which they suffered they extorted a disproportionate toll of two planes downed, one probably destroyed and one damaged.

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Third, from the History of Bomber Fighting Squadron Eighty-Five:

Black Saturday for Fighting Squadron EIGHTY-FIVE. The day started out with a 0500 CAP, Irgens’ and Whitney’s divisions. At 0600, CAG Sherrill led a fighter sweep on Kyushu airfields. The weather was extremely bad – the worst we had ever operated in – and the nearest field was over 300 miles from the force.

The hop got off to a bad start when “Bill” Marr, VBF, went in on take off. He was lost when he tried to swim to a destroyer that was picking him up. “Bill” Clarke took off and filled in GAG’s division.

The strike group consisted of 32 planes and the divisions were led by Comdr. Cherrill, Comdr. Ford, Lieut. Comdr. Hubert, Lieuts. Fuller, Sovanski, Blair, Callan and Jacobs.  [That’s eight sections; I guess 4 planes per section?]  The sweep went in over the coast of Kyushu at about 9,000 feet. The first attack was on Chiran Airfield, a partial attack in which only three divisions participated. A rendezvous was made and the group headed for Kagoshima and Izumi Fields in Northern Kyushu. Again another partial attack was made on Izumi, most of the divisions maintaining their altitude to carry out the flight instructions of getting the Jap planes that might be in the air.

At Kagoshima Field, a flak barrage damaged the planes of Larry Sovanski and “Red” Edwin. A retirement was made from this field to Kagoshima Wan, where two Yorktown pilots were in the water. Lieut. Comdr. Ford took charge of aiding them, establishing contact with the Dumbo planes.

The five remaining divisions were orbiting at about 8,000 feet. Fuller’s division was ordered to join the Captain to assist in the rescue – one Dumbo had crashed on landing and a second one was expected to arrive. In letting down, Fuller led his division in an attack against Ibusuki Auxiliary Seaplane Base. He was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed.

The four divisions remaining as top cover were then jumped by a group of some 20-30 Japs flying Franks, Jacks, Oscars and Tojos. [Similar to earlier statement.]  The enemy attack was unobserved until it was pressed home.  Sovanski, Callan, Kennedy, Edwin and Atkinson were hit in this attack and Chernoff was shot down. Kennedy was thought to have been wounded.

In the melee which followed, “Bill” Clarke shot down one “Jack” and one “Oscar” and George Blair damaged one “Frank”, Sovanski’s and Callan’s divisions retired as soon as possible and headed for the base. On the way, Kennedy made a rough water landing, but got into his raft. Kirkham stayed with Kennedy and attempted to effect a rescue. He remained until he ran out of gas and then landed beside Kennedy.

The rest of the group retired, about one and one half hours of the flight, back being on instruments. Atkinson lost all oil pressure and was forced to make a water landing. Toenges landed in the water beside a destroyer of the screen when he ran out of gas, and was immediately recovered. Kennedy, Kirkham and Atkinson were not recovered because of a storm which came up that afternoon. Sovanski’s tail hook ‘snapped on landing and Fitzgerald, who followed him aboard, made a two turn ground loop on the deck without getting a barrier.

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Fourth, the Aircraft Action Report of VF-85 / VBF-85.  But (!) a caveat (!!):

Well, though I couldn’t find the Aircraft Action Report for VF-85 and VBF-85 at Fold3.com despite searches using a variety of key-words and time-frames (gee why am I not surprised?) I w a s able to find the Report in Japan’s National Diet Library Digital Collections, where it’s titled “Aircraft Action Report No. VF85#27 VBF85#25 CVG85#20 1945/06/02 : Report No. 2-d(64): USS Shangri La, USSBS Index Section 7“., under the “Level” 文書名:Records of the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey = 米国戦略爆撃調査団文書 ; Entry 55, Security-Classified Carrier-Based Navy and Marine Corps Aircraft Action Reports, 1944-1945. 

And so, here is a composite image of the Report’s first two pages:

[Note the following statement at the bottom of the second sheet:]

COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE, OWN AND ENEMY AIRCRAFT.

Jack: Speed about same as Corsair, apparently well armored. Good diving characteristics, self sealing tanks, more maneuverable than Corsair.
George: Outdive and outclimb Corsair, appear faster.
Oscar: Turn inside Corsair.
Tojo: More maneuverable, dives faster.
Frank: Faster than Corsair, outdives and outclimbs Corsair.

[Despite mention of the Jack, Oscar, Tojo, and Frank, the only Japanese fighter encountered by VF-85 / VBF-85 on this mission was the N1K2-J Shiden-Kai (Allied code name “George”).  Though – at first glance – a striking example of misidentification, the assumption that other types of Japanese fighters had been encountered does makes sense, given the context and nature of the aerial engagement.  The main and common characteristics of these Japanese warplanes was that they were radial-engine, single-seat, low-wing monoplanes, having (except the Jack) a 360-degree-vision pilot’s canopy.  Thus, given the element of complete surprise incurred by VF-85 / VBF-85, the intensity of the aerial battle, and the fact that the Navy pilots were up against Japanese pilots of equal or greater combat experience, an error in identification was not at all surprising.]   

So, here’s the subsequent and substantial text of the report:

Aircraft Action Report – 2 June 1945

After a delightful breakfast of baked beans, well done toast, grape fruit juice and scrambled eggs, [interesting, how the Report starts with mention of breakfast, and ends with mention of lunch – see below!] 29 fighter pilots from VF-85, 2 fighter pilots from VBF-85 and CAG-85 took off at 0600-I from the U.S.S. SHANGRI-LA, for a fighter sweep against airfields on Southern Kyushu. The sweep was under the leadership of CAG-85, Commander W.A. SHERRILL, U.S.N. The Fighting Squadron was led by Lt. Cdr. W.W. FORD U.S.N. Each plane carried two 150 gallon Universal wing tanks.

The sweep started off badly. Lt. (jg) W.H. MARR, A1, USNR., in one of the first planes to take off, crashed on take-off. He was able to get out of the plane and obtain a life raft, but just as he was about to be picked up by the guard destroyer he disappeared under the surface and was not seen again.

At the time of the launching the ship was approximately 400 miles from the farthest field to be attacked. The weather to Kyushu was poor with a ceiling varying from 300 to 400 feet and visibility from 50 feet to two miles. During most of the trip it was necessary to fly on instruments. A cold front was encountered on the way. The weather over the target areas was better than on the trip up, overcast 3000 to 4000 feet, visibility good.

The group hit Chiran airfield at about 0800, strafing planes in the revetments, many of which were believed to be dummies. Damage was not assessable. No planes were seen to burn. Moderate heavy and medium antiaircraft fire was encountered. Evasive action was taken and none of our planes were damaged. The heavy antiaircraft fire was accurate in altitude but not in deflection.

The group then effected a rendezvous south of Kyushu and proceeded to Kagoshima airfield. Some planes were observed around the perimeter of the field but attack was not made as the targets did not seem worth while.

Izumi airfield was the next target. The group orbited the field several times. Moderate medium antiaircraft fire was encountered, one of our planes being hit. One half the group searched the field and one division strafed the only plane observed on the field, a twin engined job. It did not burn but was seriously damaged. Empty three-sided huts near the runways were observed, indicating their use for covering aircraft.

While returning at about 0900 toward Kagoshima, a request was received to orbit two downed pilots in Kagoshima Wan. One was northeast of Ibusuki auxiliary seaplane base and one southeast of the same base. Commander SHERRILL and his division orbited the pilot in the northeast position and Lt. Cdr. FORD and Lt. Cdr. T.R. HUBERT, USN and their divisions orbited the pilot in the southeast position.

The weather began closing in and in a short while the ceiling was between 300 to 400 feet and visibility poor. The remainder of the fighters wore orbiting at approximately 8000 feet below a second overcast. There was another overcast at about 18000 feet.

Lieutenant R.A. FULLER, A1, USNR, and his division wore over Ibusuki auxiliary seaplane base when he observed some Emilies [Kawashini H8K seaplane] on the water. He was at about 4500 feet going about 180 knots. He asked for permission to strafe but was told to join in orbiting the downed pilots. He pushed over and after a very short time in his dive very accurate medium antiaircraft fire came up and hit him. He crashed in the bay. The rest of his division pulled out of the dive and acted as cover for the orbiting planes.

At approximately 0920 two PB2Ys arrived, one of which made a landing in Kagoshima Wan to rescue the downed pilot [Koeller] in the southeast position. He tore off his port wing float and lost his port outboard propeller upon landing, and was unable to take off. A second PB2Y orbited over the same area. Finally, at about 0930 a Dumbo PBM landed successfully and picked up the pilot and the crew of the PB2Y. Enemy planes were reported over the orbiting aircraft. Commander SHERRILL and his division climbed to 4500 feet, then to 8000 feet. Zekes and Tojos attacked from about 10000 feet from 12 o’clock high, then fell back to 6 o’clock and established section weaves. None were hit.

Three Tojos made a run from 2 o’clock on CAG who was on the starboard side. His wingman, Lt. (jg) J.C. DUNN, Al, USNR., turned into the Tojos and got a good burst head on. The Tojo smoked and some flame was seen coming from the engine wall. He dove into the clouds and was not observed again. Five or six other planes made section runs on CAG’s division but caused no damage. After each pass the enemy joined up for another pass.

At about this time Jap pilots in Franks, Oscars, Tojos and Jacks, [again] approximately between 20 to 30 in all, began attacking from 16,000 foot.

Unfortunately, after the first attack several of our planes split up and had a hot time of it. The Japs were most aggressive and were experienced pilots. They made section passes and attacked only when they had the tactical advantage. However the Japs would not attack when they saw our planes in a defensive weave, even though they had altitude advantage and numerical superiority. Four Franks jumped Lieut. G.M. BLAIR’s division in an overhead pass. His division was at 8000 feet and the Japs attacked from about 14,000 feet, just below the overcasts. One Frank made a head-on pass on Lieut. BLAIR and pressed home its attack. Lieut. BLAIR finally had to break away to avoid colliding with him. Lieut. BLAIR scored some hits but did not seriously damage it. Lt. (jg) Saul CHERNOFF, Al, USNR., flying on Lieut. BLAIR broke off dive [sic] after a Jap. He was apparently jumped from above and was last seen burning and spinning through the overcast at about 4500 feet.

Lieut. BLAIR then tried to get some six or seven other planes to form a Lufbery circle and climb. After gaining about a thousand feet he discovered they had left him. He and his wingman then joined another division.

Lieut. CALLAN’s division was also attacked at this time by four Georges or Franks. Three of the planes in his division were damaged, one seriously, that of Lt. (jg) H.R. KENNEDY, Al, USNR., who subsequently was forced to make a water landing on his way home. Lt. (jg) C.N. KIRKHAM, Al, USNR., flew with him and remained, orbiting him in foul weather and was also forced to ditch when he ran out of gasoline. Neither has been recovered.

Lieut. L. SOVANSKI, Al, USNR., and his division were also jumped by several fighters. His plane was severely damaged (see picture). He was able to make it back to the ship, but with only 10 gallons of gas left at the time of landing aboard.

Lt. (jg) W.R. CLARKE, Al, USNR., after having become separated from CAG’s division after having first been jumped, found an Oscar below him. The Oscar was crossing in front of him. Lt. (jg) CLARKE turned after him and fired from 900 to 1000 feet. The Oscar made a shallow wing-over and then began to climb. Lt. (jg) CLARKE stayed on his tail and continued firing. Part of the Oscar’s cowling came off and it started down. It began burning and went through the overcast out of control enveloped in flames.

Lt. (jg) CLARKE then joined up on Lt. (jg) R.L. MELTEBEKE, Al, USNR., and Lt. (jg) H.W. FUOG, Al, USNR. They were at 4500 feet and observed a Jack about 500 feet above them. Lt. (jg) MELTEBEKE and Lt. (jg) FUOG made a head on attack, but did not damage the Jack. However, Lt. (jg) CLARKE, weaving, got on its tail and had no difficulty in catching it. He scored hits in the engine, cockpit and wing roots. The plane smoked and then burned and was in a radical angle of dive, out of control going through the overcast a short distance above the mountains when last soon. The pilot was seen to parachute.

About this time, 1100, the PBM was able to take off using JATO with its passengers. Lt. Cdr. FORD and the rest of the planes orbiting the Dumbo headed for home. After they had been on course about ten minutes the PB2Y which had remained in the vicinity called for help. Lt. Cdr. FORD turned back and when near the PB2Y was to _____ it had found refuge in the clouds and was safe.

After having stayed over Kyushu for more than an hour and a half longer than planned, the planes headed for home. The weather was terrible, necessitating instrument flying for over an hour. Ceiling was practically zero and visibility zero during this time. Lt. (jg) W. ATKINSON, Al, USNR, was forced to ditch due to loss at-oil pressure, the cause of which is unknown. Lt. (jg) R.F. TOENGES, Al, USNR., ditched near a picket destroyer when he had but 12 gallons of gas left. He had expended an abnormal amount of gas due to the buffeting of his two belly tanks, forcing him to use an excess power setting to maintain formation.

Finally the group returned to the ship after six and three quarter hours in the air in time for a hearty lunch of broth and crackers.  [Hmmm…  I just don’t know.  I think steak, potatoes, and pie would have been richly deserved.]

Lessons learned:

(1) Don’t orbit airfields when a/a is known to be present.
(2) Don’t leave your section leader to become a hero. [This is an obvious reference to Lt. (jg) Chernoff.]
(3) Don’t be taken in by decoys so as to be easy meat for a/a or enemy fighters.
(4) Don’t try to cover without obtaining sufficient altitude to prevent being jumped from above.
(5) If outnumbered or at an altitude disadvantage, immediately start defensive weave.  Japs apparently will not attack.

XIII. MATERIAL DATA.

Two Universal Wing Tanks on ono plane buffeted seriously, causing need for higher power settings. Gas consumption was thereby increased to such an extent that the plane was forced to ditch. Neither tank could be jettisoned.

Although every piece of radio equipment in plane Bureau Number 32290 was hit by 20mm fragments, it continued to operate satisfactorily.

REPORT PREPARED BY:
J. E. CURBY, Lieut. USNR. A.C.I.
APPROVED BY:
W.W. FORD, Lt. Cdr. USN, 6-8-45

____________________

Fifth, excerpts from Chapter 15 (“We learned some lessons today”) of Genda’s Blade, which covers the 343rd’s encounter with VF-85 / VBF-85.  The chapter incorporates excerpts and information from the Aircraft Action Report, as well as reminiscences from surviving Japanese and American pilots.  For brevity (me brief? – !) I’m limiting this excerpt to text pertaining to the Japanese side of the air battle:

… Capt Genda received word that a large group of enemy carrier aircraft had been spotted en route, heading for the southern tip of Kyushu where the Kamikaze airfields were located.

*****

Capt Genda was fully aware of the attacks on Chiran and Kagoshima, but he was not in a hurry to counterattack. “The enemy had overwhelming strength” he wrote in his memoir. “Formations of about 30 aircraft would come in, one after another, within a short interval.  It would not have been effective to have brought our squadron of only 20 or 30 aircraft in front of such large enemy waves, even though the Shiden-Kai group was the cream of the Naval fighter force.  If we hit the first enemy group, we would be surrounded and slaughtered by other groups that would follow in succession.  Therefore, I thought it would be advantageous for us to attack the enemy’s tail end group.  Upon departure following the raid, its formation would be disorderly and its pilots would be in a mood to hurry home.  It would take much more time for the preceding groups to come back to aid the tail end group being attacked by our fighters.”

At 08.45 hrs, Capt Genda decided to put his plan into action.  Lt. Keijiro Hayashi, newly appointed squadron leader of Squadron 407, was ordered to take charge of the interception.  His unit contributed eight fighters.  Flying under his leadership were Lt. Ryoichi Yamada of Squadron 701 with eight aircraft, and Lt. Masaji Matsumura from Squadron 301 with five aircraft.

Lt. Hayashi was a very capable leader and a veteran of the air battles at Balikpapan, Borneo.  A graduate of the Naval Academy, he was a classmate of S301’s Lt. Naoshi Kanno.  Capt Genda was favorably impressed with the new squadron leader.  Hayashi had been an ensign assigned as a navigator to the carrier Akagi when he crossed paths with the CO who was a staff officer of the 1st Fleet Hayashi later commanded S602 at Balikpapan, Borneo, before being transferred along with ten of his men to the 343 Kokutai in mid-May.  He was brought in to replace Lt. Yoshishige Hayashi who was killed in action against B-29s on 21 April.

Twenty-one Shiden-Kais took off at 08.45 hrs. Eight aircraft from Hayashi’s S407 and another two-division group were led by Lt. Ryoichi Yamada from Squadron 701.  A top cover flight of five aircraft was commanded by Lt. Matsumura.  It was airborne within minutes, with a mix of aircraft drawn from all three squadrons.

“It took about 30 to 45 minutes for our Shiden-Kais to reach the southern tip of Kyushu” wrote Genda. “During that time they reached an altitude of 6,000 to 7,000 meters.  I wanted our pilots to be in a good position when encountering the enemy aircraft.  This was ideal though we could not always do it like that every time, as I wanted.”

*****

Twenty-one Shiden-Kais finally arrived over Kanoya at an altitude of almost 6,100 m at 09.55 hrs local time.   he weather was fair and visibility was good.  The sky was virtually cloudless and there were no enemy aircraft to be seen as they approached Kagoshima Bay.  With no fear of being jumped from above, Lt. Hayashi wondered where the Americans had gone.  Suddenly, he saw them far below; 16 gull-winged aircraft heading south to the right of their direction of flight.

Lt. Hayashi, leading Squadrons 407 and 701, dived on the orbiting Corsairs of Cdr Sherrill’s group.  He worried that their excessive diving speed would cause them to overshoot their prey and negate the element of surprise.  But the Corsairs scattered as Hayashi’s formation came screaming down from twelve o’clock high, with a 2,000 ft altitude advantage.

“For a few minutes, we maintained discipline and organization, but soon there were sections and singles all over the sky,” recalled Blair. “My transmitter was out so I could not give any directions.  My wingman, John Moore, stayed right with me, but Chernoff, a substitute section leader, went off on his own to be a hero and was shot down.  [Interesting; almost a quote from the Action Report.]  Moore and I started for altitude and were immediately looking ahead on a Frank (?) section.  We both fired a short burst and at the last second, I broke under the leader, sure he was going to hit me.  I heard his engine as he passed overhead!  The Japs really knew the game.  They’d make section runs about four at a time, leaving eight or 12 above us as cover, and all of them would re-form after each pass.”

“It was a complete surprise attack,” recalled Genda. “The enemy aircraft had no means to cope with it.  Most of them were unable to enter into an ordinary dogfight.  Our Shiden-Kais glued themselves to the enemy’s tails or dived at them and destroyed one after another.  Enemy fighters flamed, wings flew off, and spiraled down…”

*****

The Shiden-Kais of Squadron 301, on cover duty, descended upon a group of eight Corsairs led by LCdrs Ford and Hubert. They were orbiting a downed pilot in the southeast position.  The Japanese believed that these Corsairs were not aware of the other group’s situation.  Genda wrote later. “If they had been alerted and joined in the combat the situation might have changed.  The 301st division rushed into the new group of eight Corsairs.  The fight was as one-sided as the first one.  Five of the eight were shot down.”

*****

On the credit side, Fighting Squadron 85 put in claims for two destroyed, one probable, and two damaged.  The day’s high scorer was Lt(jg) William R. Clarke with two victories, followed by Lt(jg) John C. Dunn with a probable, with a damaged each to Lt. George M. Blair and Lt(jg) Donald P. Grau.

On the Japanese side, two pilots failed to return – CPOs Eiji Mikami from Squadron 301 and Jiro Funakoshi of Squadron 701 [shot down by Lt. (jg) William R. Clarke].  So wild was this encounter, the 343 Kokutai claimed 18 victories, with Lt. Hayashi’s men claiming 13!  [18 victories?!  Not really; not at all.  Overclaiming – not at all uncommon in aerial warfare – in this instance, by a factor of 6.]

*****

During the year 2000, locals in Kagoshima Prefecture were cultivating land in the vicinity of Kanoya and found an aircraft machine gun.  They dug further and discovered a name chop (family seal) inscribed with the name “Mikami.”  Name chops are used by the Japanese to imprint the family seal on documents and letters.  This further confirms that Lt(jg) William R. Clarke hit CPO Jiro Funakoshi, who parachuted into the sea.  His bleached bones were found along the shores of Takeshima and his identity was confirmed by the name written on his life jacket.  He had no relatives and died alone.

____________________

Sixth and Seventh, here are documents pertaining to the rescue of one of the three downed F6F Hellcat pilots, Ensign Roy G. Kueller:

From the War Diary of VH-3:

RESCUE SQUADRON THREE
FLEET POST OFFICE
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

RESCUE OF TWELVE SURVIVORS – 2 June 1945

On 2 June 1945, Lieutenant DORTON and his crew in PBM-5, F-5, departed Kerama Retto at 0545 and were waiting to rendezvous with VF 20 miles east of Suwanose Shima in the northern Ryukyus when they intercepted a report of a fighter pilot down in Kagoshima Bay, southern Kyushu. They proceeded without VF cover and enroute heard a search plane give an ETA of 15 minutes at the position of the survivors.

Enroute, he intercepted a further message that the search plane in attempting this rescue had been damaged due to rough water and subsequently overturned. However, he continued into the bay and landed in 4-5 foot swells and into a 20-knot south wind a half mile off the enemy beach. He encountered anti-aircraft fire from shore batteries while both airborne and waterborne, but succeeded in taxing to the location of the downed personnel. With the original downed fighter pilot and the entire crew of the sunken search plane aboard, he made a rough water JATO take-off and returned safely to base.

The VF pilot was Ensign Roy G. KOELLER, of VBF-9 based aboard the U.S.S. YORKTOWN. He was hit in the right wing and engine by AA while strafing parked aircraft on Kanoya East airfield. He headed south and ditched at 0830 in the middle of the bay. He made a no-flap landing, hitting hard, and lost his raft before he could inflate it. About 20 minutes later, an orbiting VF dropped a wing tank and he clung to that until rescued.

The PB2Y, having intercepted the report of the VP pilot down, had landed in the middle of the bay at 1015. One large swell threw the plane into the air, the left wing dropped and the plane came down, losing the port float, and the port outboard propellor. The plane capsized 10 minutes later while taxing and the crew took to rafts being picked up 25 minutes later. Survivors were…

Lieutenant G.W. HEAD
Lieutenant (j.g.) H.S. MILLER
Ensign R. STRAUS
BAILEY, E.R., AMM2C
BRISLAUN, H.A., AMM3C
COTTELL, C.R., ARM2C
NURNBERG, C.W., AOM3C
WILLIAMS, C.E., ARM1C
JOHNSON, R.F., ARM2C
MYERS, D.N., AMM2C
…and…
COLLINS, C.H., AOM2C

R. P. WATERS, Jr.,
R. P. WATERS, Jr.,
Lieutenant Commander, A, U.S.N.R.,
Air Intelligence Officer.

__________

From the War History of VP-13 / VPB-13:

On 2 June while on a routine patrol along the southern coast of Kyushu, Lieut. George P. Yonkers, USN, and Lieut. George Head, USNR, intercepted radio voice transmissions from fighter pilots off the U.S.S. YORKTOWN who were returning to their ship after a strike in Kyushu. The conversations indicated that they were circling a downed pilot and calling for Dumbo assistance.

Lieut. Yonkers answered the call and learned that two fighter pilots were downed in Kagoshima Wan, a large bay approximately five miles wide and 18 miles long, located at the southern tip of Kyushu. The two PBYs were 30 minutes from the position and informed the fighters that they would lend assistance. When the Coronados arrived on the scene the YORKTOWN pilots informed them that the closest Dumbo plane was 40 minutes away, that they were very low on gas and could remain over the area for approximately 20 minutes more. An added complication was that the area was reported to be heavily fortified. Antiaircraft positions and enemy fighter fields were nearby and without the then existing cover of 35 fighters, rescue would be quite difficult. The downed flier was drifting toward the shore and action had to be taken then or never.

From the air, conditions looked favorable for a landing and at 1000I a decision was made to attempt to get the ladened plane down, rescue the pilot and get off the water without JATO assistance. Two dye markers gave the position of one of the fighter pilots and the 2Ys were informed that another was down 10 miles up the bay. Lieut. Head made an approach and touched the water at 31-17N 130-45E. Tide and wind were in opposite directions and the surface was choppy. Upon contact the plane bounced into the air and stalled out on the left wing. The left wing-tip float and No. 1 propeller were torn off and the fuselage buckled amidships but crew members were at ditching stations and no one was injured. There were 1900 gallons of gasoline aboard the plane. The bombs had been jettisoned.

Meantime, Lieut. Yonkers was circling the area to assure himself that the landing was successful and then intended to go on up the bay and make a landing near the other pilot.

Shortly after the landing a Dumbo PBM from VH-3 arrived on the scene and was given a complete picture of the situation by Lieut. Yonkers and the carrier pilots. In the water below Lieut. Head and his crew had abandoned the plane. Seven men were in a Mk 7 life raft, three were clinging to its side. WILLIAMS, C.E., ARM1C, swam to the side of the fighter pilot and was giving what assistance he could.

The light-weight, JATO equipped air-sea rescue plane circled close to shore, and benefitting from the PB2Y’s experience, landed in less choppy water.

Above the floating raft, gas-nervous fighter pilots wheeled in a protective circle and finally headed in the direction of their carrier hoping to have enough fuel to make a landing. Finally the PB2Y-5 was the only protection the stricken men and their rescuers had. As the last fighter faded into the clouds, enemy shore batteries lost their timidity and opened up.

Just in time the PBM’s engines roared, and four charges of JATO rocketed them into the air with the downed fighter pilot and the eleven man crew of the patrol bomber aboard. They were saved just 22 minutes after their plane had been abandoned. As the rescue plane made its getaway, Lieut. Yonkers made two bombing and strafing runs on the damaged plane leaving it in a sinking condition. When last seen the hull was sinking rapidly with its classified equipment, in from 80 to 100 fathoms of water.

____________________

The Toll

Here is a list of the six VF-85 / VBF-85 pilots killed on June 2, as well as information about Lieutenants Sovanski and Toenges (who returned to the Shangri-La in damaged planes), and, the three F6F pilots who were rescued.  Upon correlating aircraft Bureau Numbers and pilot names between those listed in the Aircraft Action Report, those associated with a set of twenty photos of two damaged Corsairs (see below…), and, Bureau Numbers and pilot names as listed at Aviation Archeology, there are discrepancies for the Corsairs flown by Atkinson, Kennedy, and Sovanski.  

Killed

Atkinson, Wallace Payne, Jr., Lt., 0-157866 – Enemy aircraft damage over Ibusuki seaplane base (affected oil pressure); forced to ditch near Kuchino Shima; Not recovered
VF-85 F4U-1D 82547 or 82751

Chernoff
, Saul, Lt. (jg), 0-347306 – Enemy aircraft over Ibusuki seaplane base

VBF-85 F4U-1D 82789

Fuller, Roy Arthur, Lt., 0-106132 – Anti-aircraft over Ibusuki seaplane base

VBF-85 F4U-1D 82298
WW II Memorial

Kennedy, Harold Ray, Lt. (jg), 0-337469 – Enemy aircraft damage (possibly wounded); forced to ditch near Kyushu en-route to Shangri-La; Not recovered

VBF-85 FG-1D 76540 or 82751

Kirkham, Charles Noble, Lt. (jg), 0-347317 – Ran out of fuel while orbiting Kennedy; ditched nearby; Not recovered

VBF-85 FG-1D 76528
WSU Magazine
WW II Memorial

Marr, William Howard, Lt. (jg), 0-338032 – Crashed into sea (spun in) on take-off from USS Shangri-La; drowned.  Pilot seen to get out of plane and into life raft.  Left life raft on approach of destroyer, but disappeared underwater about thirty-five feet from raft in an apparent attempt to swim to destroyer.

VF-85 F4U-1D 82371

Returned in Damaged Planes

Edwin, Norman Leon, Lt. (jg)
VBF-85 FG-1D 87843 (Listed in Aviation Archeology as having been lost 6/8/45 at Kyushu – a typo?)

Sovanski, Lawrence, Lt., 0-121394 – Damaged by anti-aircraft and enemy aircraft; landed aboard carrier and aircraft jettisoned; Recovered
VF-85 F4U-1D Listed in Aviation Archeology as 82547, but probably 82290. 
Born 9/8/15 – Died 3/16/00

Toenges, Robert Frederick, Lt. (jg), 0-337588 – Ran out of fuel en route back to carrier (high fuel consumption due to weather, and could not drop tanks); ditched; Recovered
VBF-85 FG-1D 76477
Born 11/22/23 – Died 11/3/06

Rescued

Head, G.W., Ensign (and 10 crew members) VPB-13, PB2Y-3 7132

Kueller, Roy G., Ensign, VBF-9 (USS Yorktown (CV-10)), F6F-5 78145

Scott, Frank Vaughn, Jr., Lt., VF-87 (USS Ticonderoga (CV-14)), F6F-5P 72853

Hershey, Merle Murray, Lt., VBF-87 (USS Ticonderoga (CV-14)) F6F-5 78633

____________________

One that made it back: Lieutenant Lawrence Sovanski’s damaged F4U-1D, aircraft number “1“, Bureau Number 82290, has just landed on the Shangri-La.  This picture, via VF-85, is from “… VBF-85 XO “Tex” O’Neill’s diary, thanks to his son Kevin O’Neill, and captioned, “Larry Sovanski brings Bernie’s plane back from Kyushu.  You should have seen the other side.”  The plane was subsequently jettisoned.  

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

__________

Also found in “Aircraft Action Report No. VF85#27 VBF85#25 CVG85#20 1945/06/02 : Report No. 2-d(64): USS Shangri La, USSBS Index Section 7“, here are four of the above-mentioned twenty 8 1/2″ x 11” images showing battle damage to two Shangri-La Corsairs after the mission: Aircraft F4U-1 87843 (“Repaired aboard ship.”) and 82290 (“Stripped and stricken from the roll.”). 

The Aircraft Action Report describes the damage to these two plane as comprising:

87843: “Left flap, 1 1/2 foot hole in left aileron, hits by a/a in oil tank.  Knocked out entire right aileron.”

__________

82290: “.50 caliber holes in fuselage, 40mm in root of wing panel, right outboard flap damaged by shrapnel, 1×1/2 foot hole in left aileron by 20mm, HE, below rudder, shrapnel in fuselage, propeller, and cowling.”

____________________

This series of Oogle Maps shows the scene of the action:

This map shows the southern tip of Kyushu, where Ibusuki (designated by the blue oval) in situated on the Satsuma Peninsula, in Kagoshima prefecture.

____________________

Oogling in for a closer view of the Satsuma Peninsula, here’s a topographic / geographic map of the location of the seaplane base, which is now the site of the Ibusuki Naval Air Base Memorial (指宿海軍基地記念館).  Chiringashima Island lies to the northeast.  

____________________

This is an air photo view of the above map, at the same scale.  In 2021, lots of restaurants and places to stay.

____________________

This photo, taken on May 12, 1945, shows Ibusuki Seaplane Base looking north-northeast.  This picture, discovered on EBay, is from a lot of four original photos (no longer available by 12/15/21 – I guess they were sold!) of bombing target photos of Japan, covering Kure Harbor and the Ibusuki Seaplane Base.  Note the Uomidake Cliffs to the left of the base and its access road, and Chiringashima Island to the northeast, which – in this 1945 view and still today, is connected to the mainland – specifically, the Tara Peninsula – by a stretch of sand, which may be known as (I don’t know Japanese, so this text is phonetic and simply taken from Oogle) the “Chiringashima Suna no Michi.”  

____________________

This image of the Ibusuki Seaplane Base, looking southwest, is from Report of Air Operations Against Kyushu Airfields, and was photographed on March 18, 1945. 

____________________

This painting by aviation artist T. Toshino, appearing as “box art” for the Hasegawa Corporation’s 1/32 plastic model kit of the Kawashini N1K2-J fighter, is a striking representation of this excellent fighter plane.  Toshino’s art appropriately depicts – for the purposes of this post – an aircraft of the 343rd Naval Air Group (note the “343” on the rudder), with the dual yellow stripes denoting a plane flown by a “commander”; this plane is depicted a little differently in Donald Thorpe’s book covering the camouflage markings of Japanese naval aircraft.  You can read much more about the floatplane-derived Shiden fighter at Arawasi – Wild Eagles, and (of course) Wikipedia.   

__________

And, from Sakaida and Takaki’s Genda’s Blade, here’s an image of the r e a l white 15.  Caption: “Shiden-Kai 343-A-15 at Matsuyama Airfield on 10 April 1945 just before Squadron 301 departed for its new base at Kanoya.  Lt. Naoshi Kanno frequently flew this aircraft.  As with other units, pilots of the 343 Kokutai flew aircraft on an availability basis.  Poor-quality fuel caused maintenance problems, making the assignment of individual aircraft to units impossible.  However, aircraft marked such as this were reserved for flight leaders.”  (Photo from K. Osuo)

__________

From Genda’s Blade, here are color profiles (by Shigeru Nohara and Thomas Tullis) depicting N1K2-Js of each of the 343rd Kokutai’s three squadrons, designated by Roman letters painted at the top of the aircraft’s rudders as “A” (301st Hikotai), “B” (407th Hikotai), and “C” and 701st (Hikotai), respectively. 

__________

__________

Japanese Losses

Chief Petty Officer Eiji Mikami – Squadron 301
Chief Petty Officer Jiro Funakoshi – Squadron 701 (shot down by Lt. (jg) William R. Clarke)

____________________

____________________

I have no further specifics about Lt. (jg) Saul Chernoff.  Perhaps he crashed at sea, just off the Ibusuki Seaplane Base; perhaps somewhere on the Satsuma Peninsula.  To the best of my knowledge, he was never a POW.  Even if he had been captured, his chance of survival to the war’s end, even during these closing three months of the Pacific War, in the context of the fate of Allied fliers captured by the Japanese, would only have been about 1 in 2.  

Lt. (jg) Chernoff was buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery / Beth Olam Cemetery,  in Hollywood, California, on January 16, 1949.  (Section 18, Lot 718, Grave G).   His burial announcement appeared in the Los Angeles Times on the same date. 

Saul Chernoff’s name appears on page 288 of American Jews in World War II, where he is listed as having been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, and Purple Heart.  His name also appears in both volumes of the 1946 publication Combat Connected Naval Casualties of World War II.  In Volume I, his name appears on page 99 as being “Missing in Action or During Operational War Missions”, while in Volume II, his name can be found on page 12, where he is listed as “Reported in California as Missing”.  

____________________

____________________

And, another pilot…

In VF-85’s Aircraft Action Report for the mission of May 4, 1945, the name of pilot “Lieut. J.S. Jacobs” makes an appearance.  This man was Jack Sidney Jacobs (0-157472).  Born in Massillon, Ohio, on January 6, 1920, he was the son of Meyer and Eva Jacobs, and the brother of Gwendolyn and Leslie.  His family lived at 6820 Crandon Ave., In Chicago, Illinois. 

Like many American Jewish WW II servicemen – like innumerable other American Jewish WW II servicemen; as alluded to very frequently at this blog – his name never appeared in the 1947 book American Jews in World War Two.

The article below, by Jonah Meadows at patch.com, is apparently the only information about Jack Jacobs present on the Internet.  (Well, at least aside from genealogical information at Ancestry.com.)  Interestingly, note the statement, “One his most harrowing experiences was flying through a typhoon.  Twenty-two people were lost during that mission, including his best friend who was shot down.”  While obviously on no mission did VF-85 lose anywhere near that number of planes and pilots, given the nominal mention of a “typhoon”, the implication of the loss of many planes, and consequently many planes participating in the mission, this comment may actually be a reference – however inaccurately remembered and/or recorded – to the mission of June 2, 1945, which VF-85 / VBF-85 commenced with 31 aircraft.  

Jack Jacobs, U.S. Navy Veteran of World War II, Honoree

Jack was a student at DePaul University and was participating in the Civilian Pilots Training Program and had completed 30 hours of flight time.  The day after Pearl Harbor, Jack joined the U.S. Navy.  After completing psychological testing and physical training at the University of Chicago, Jack was one of Chicago’s Own, a group of seventy enlistees sent to a base in New Orleans for training and then to Jacksonville, Florida.  He was not immediately shipped overseas.  Jack was initially stationed in Pensacola as a flight instructor, training not only American pilots but even members of Britain’s Royal Air Force.  In March of 1945, Jack was sent to the Pacific with Air Group 85.  He was a Lieutenant Senior flying CV-38 [sic] otherwise known as Corsairs, and was a fighter pilot assigned to the Shangri-La, an SS [sic] Class aircraft carrier.  His group provided combat air patrols for 3 destroyers and Jack made 179 carrier landings.  During his service, Jack earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and five Air Medals.  One his most harrowing experiences was flying through a typhoon.  Twenty-two people were lost during that mission [error], including his best friend who was shot down.  Another time, he was returning to the Shangri-la and had only 6 or 7 gallons of fuel left but he was ordered to hold at 10,000 feet as enemy pilots had been spotted in the area.  He was then instructed to hold at 12,000 feet.  Then advised to hold at 30,000 feet.  While temperatures near the carrier’s deck surface were in the 70s, at 30,000 feet temps drop to 30 degrees below freezing.  He was wearing his nylon jumpsuit and began to experience the effects of hypothermia, he started to lose control of his plane but was able to communicate the emergency and his need to land immediately.  The fleet turned around – a protocol that was unheard of – he was able to land in practically making a vertical drop to the carrier deck.  Air Group 85 was part of the massive preparations for an invasion of Japan.  The Shangri-la was only 80 miles away from Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped.  Naval personnel aboard the carrier were only told about a “device the army had.”

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Here Are Some 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

Green, William, Famous Fighters of the Second World War, Hanover House, N.Y., 1958 (Kawashini Shiden pp. 111-116)

Green, William, Famous Fighters of the Second World War – Volume II, Doubleday and Company, Inc., Garden City, N.Y., 1969 (Chance Vought Corsair pp. 79-92; Nakajima Hayate pp. 125-132)

Sakaida, Henry, and Takaki, Koji, Genda’s Blade – Japan’s Squadron of Aces 343 Kokutai, Classic Publications, Surrey, England, 2003 

Thorpe, Donald W., Japanese Army Air Force Camouflage and Markings – World War II, Aero Publishers, Inc., Fallbrook, Ca., 1968

Young, Edward M. (Illustrated by Gareth Hector), F4U Corsair vs. Ki-84 “Frank” Pacific Theater 1945, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, England, 2016 

Specific Reference Works – No Author Listed

Combat Connected Naval Casualties, World War II, by States, United States Navy Department Office of Information, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1946

Nakajima Ki-84, Profile Books Limited, Windsor, Berkshire, England, 1982

History of Bomber Fighting Squadron Eighty-Five, at VBF85.com

Fighting Squadron Eighty-Five – May 15, 1944 – September 25, 1945, at VBF85.com

VBF-85 Cruise Book, at VBF85.com

List of Imperial Japanese Army air-to-surface special attack units, at Wikipedia

Aircraft Action Reports, Reports of Air Operations, War Diaries, and War Histories – at Fold3.com

VF-85 Aircraft Action Report (Target Combat Air Patrol over Okinawa) – 4 May 1945

VF-85 / VBF-85 Aircraft Action Report (Fighter Sweep over Airfields at Kagoshima, Chiran, and Izumi, Kyushu, Japan) – 2 June 1945

USS Shangri-La Report of Air Operations against Kyushu, Japan

USS Shangri-La War Diary – Report of Air Operations Against Kyushu

VH-3 War Diary

USS Shangri-La War History

War History, VP 13, 12 7 41–10 1 44 & War History, VPB 13, 10 1 44–12 21 45

Soldiers from New York: Jewish Soldiers in The New York Times, in World War Two: Captain William Hays Davidow – January 21, 1943 [Doubly updated post… “New and improved! – Twice!”]

[[December 13, 2021 – “Once more, with feeling!”:  Updated yet again!  I recently obtained a copy of the Army Air Force Accident Report covering the loss of P-40F 41-14403, and the death of its pilot, Captain William Hays Davidow.  I’ve included the first two pages of this 14-page document, below.  Much as I surmised or “read between the lines” of the Times’ obituary for Capt. Davidow – I assumed he crashed on take-off or landing – he indeed crashed on take-off, when his Warhawk’s engine cut, forcing him to make an emergency belly-landing, 1/12 miles south of the airdrome.]]

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[Dating back to January of 2018 and updated on November 27 of 2021, this post is now updated:  New pictures and new images.]

Army Air Force Captain William Hays Davidow, a pilot in the 12th Ferry Group, lost his life in the crash of a P-40 Warhawk fighter plane at Accra, British West Africa (now Ghana), on Sunday, January 21, 1943 (15 Sh’vat 5703).  His aircraft, P-40F 41-14403, suffered engine failure on takeoff.

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Here’s an Applish Map showing the coast of Africa (specifically, along the Gulf of Guinea) with Ghana at the center.  Accra is situated on the coastline.   

Appling in for closer look: The city of Accra, with Kotoka International Airport.  Established as a military airport by the British in WW II, this was probably the location of Captain Davidow’s crash.  

An even closer look:  A view of the contemporary international airport.

From NARA’s collection “Black and White and Color Photographs of U.S. Air Force and Predecessor Agencies Activities, Facilities, and Personnel – World War II”, via Fold3, here’s a May, 1943 view of the Accra Air Base Operations Building, certainly much as it would have appeared to Captain Davidow in early 1943.  (Photo 342-FH-3A00701-77499AC)

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The second and third pages of the Accident Report for Capt. Davidow’s loss are shown below.  As seems to be pretty standard for early war Accident Reports, the initial page(s) – below – comprises a very brief handwritten summary (an abstract, as it were) of the report.  This includes the serial number of the report, and, the location of the plane’s loss.    

Accra, British West Africa

1615 GMT                                                                                          43-1-21-502

Immediately after take-off when about 150 – 200 ft. altitude the engine failed.

Pilot made forced landing with gear-up in rough terrain.  The belly tank was sheared off upon contact with the ground.  The plane skidded about 150 ft. hit a tree stump, snapping off the left wing, breaking gas tank & caught on fire.

Fatal to pilot.  Plane completely destroyed.

P.B.H.

__________

The next page in the document is a standard form (A.A.F. Form No. 14, of May 15, 1942, that is), appropriately dubbed a “Report of Aircraft Accident”.  The form’s data fields cover the date, time, location, and military organization of the plane and pilot (or crew), identifying information about the plane in question, and especially, a record of the pilot’s flight hours.  This is followed, at bottom, by a very brief descriptive summary of the accident.

Note that Captain Davidow, though having amassed a total of over 1,000 flight hours, had only completed 4 hours in P-40s (P-40Fs, to be specific) prior to the accident, which was a test flight.  But, his lack of experience with this aircraft was entirely unrelated to the plane’s loss, which was attributed – at bottom, in faint handwriting – to “100% material” [failure].”  As to w h y the engine failed, other documents in the report offer no explanation.  

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On January 27, an obituary of Captain Davidow appeared in The New York Times, albeit not in association with a Casualty List.  Rather, it was published as a “stand alone” news item on page four in the newspaper’s first section.  The prominence of the obituary – which is shown and transcribed below – was probably due to Captain Davidow’s familial relationship to Arthur Hays Sulzberger, publisher of the Times

Born in New York on December 15, 1919, William Davidow was employed by the Times prior to entering the Army Air Force as an Aviation Cadet.

Along with The New York Times, news about Captain Davidow appeared in the Herald Statesman (Yonkers) (1/28/43), the Long Island Daily Press (12/17/40, and 1/29/43), and Nassau Daily Review – Star (6/30/42, 2/5/43) while a tribute in his honor, written by fellow employees at the Times, was published in the German exile newspaper Aufbau on June 11, 1943. 

Captain Davidow is buried in the North African American Cemetery, in Carthage, Tunisia, at Plot C, Row 19, Grave 7.  His name appears on page 295 of American Jews in World War Two.  

His obituary from the Times is presented below…

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Army Flier Is Victim Of a Crash in Africa

SCARSDALE, N.Y., Jan. 26 – Captain William Hays Davidow of the Army Air Forces has been killed in an airplane accident in Africa, the War Department has notified his mother, Mrs. Irwin Friend, of 44 Graham Road, Scarsdale.  [Also 121 East 94th Street, in the Carnegie Hill section of Manhattan – MGM]  There were no further details.

Captain Davidow was born in New York City twenty-three years ago.  He attended Lafayette College for two years, and was a member of the swimming team.  In 1939 he became a member of the merchandise research department of THE NEW YORK TIMES.

In October, 1940, he enlisted in the Air Forces as an aviation cadet, graduating as a pilot in August, 1941.  He was trained at Maxwell Field, Birmingham, Ala.  He went to Africa shortly before Pearl Harbor.

Surviving besides his mother are his father, Leonard H. Davidow of New York, and two sisters, Mrs. Marjorie D. Mathias and Miss Betty Davidow.  Mrs. Arthur Hays Suzlberger of New York is a cousin.

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This image of Captain Davidow standing in front a PT-17 Stearman biplane, presumably a semi-official portrait taken during his pilot training, appeared in the Scarsdale Inquirer on November 6, 1942.

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A more formal portrait of William Davidow as a Flying Cadet, from the United States National Archives collection of “Photographic Prints of Air Cadets and Officers, Air Crew, and Notables in the History of Aviation“.  (RG 18-PU)  Lt. Davidow received his wings on August 15, 1941. 

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This portrait of William Davidow appeared both in the Times’ obituary and the Lafayette College Book of Remembrance, the latter profiling alumni of Lafayette College (in Easton, Pennsylvania) who lost their lives in World War Two.

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Here’s a memorial poem in honor of Captain Davidow from the June 11, 1943 issue of Aufbau, by Ben Samuel, a journalist who contributed many biographical profiles of American Jewish soldiers to the Jewish press during the Second World War.  Though Samuel’s work is invaluable in terms of chronicling the participation of American Jews in the United States’ war effort, unsurprisingly – given the ethos of the era – his writing is largely if not entirely absent of a perception of the nature of the war, in terms of the identity and survival of the Jewish people on a collective basis.  

Jews in
Uniform

By BEN SAMUEL

Obit

     As a tribute to his memory,
his co-workers on the editorial staff of
the New York Times recently
dedicated the following poem to
Captain William Hays Davidow,
Army Air Force, who died in action
“somewhere in Africa” early
in January:

They told us today that Bill had
     been killed,
in action,
in Africa.

It brought the war home to us,
     right into
the office, closer than it’s ever been.

Not rationing…
Not service stars posted in the lobby
Not saying goodbye to the others,
like Bill, who go off every day to
     the war…
Not reading Rex Stout’s preachment
To “hate the enemy”…
Not hearing the sirens wail
every Saturday noon…
Not anything
has brought the war so close to us
as telling us that Bill had been
killed in action
in Africa

You see, Bill was one of us.
We worked with him.
We played with him.
We ate and drank with him.
Complained and griped with him.
Laughed and kidded with him.
Dreamed and hoped with him.
Got drunk with him.
Sobered up with him.
And said so long to him
when he went off to war.

And now they tell us he’s been killed
in action,
in Africa.
That he won’t be coming back
when this show is over.
That he won’t be laughing with us
and eating with us and working
     with us.
and being alive with us.
any more.

And that’s hard to take,
because we loved Bill.
We love him still
We know who killed him, too,
You killed him, Hitler,
You dirty swine,
Damn you!

We thought we knew before
what it was all about.
We didn’t.
But we know now,
Because of Bill.
And it’s going to be tough with you,
Hitler…

____________________

The Davidow family home in Scarsdale, New York, as it appeared in 2017, via Zillow.com.

United States Navy

Two Jewish members of the United States Navy are known to have been involved in military incidents on January 21.  They were Lieutenant Albert Plotkin, killed in a domestic flying accident, and Seaman Bernard Applebaum, who was rescued during the sinking of his ship, but who died of illness in October, 1945.

Plotkin, Albert, Lt., Co-Pilot
Navy Air Transport Squadron VR-3
Aircraft (R4D-1 Skytrain Bureau Number 5051), struck Fremont Peak, near Flagstaff, Arizona; Pilot – Lieutenant Max S. Knudsen; 6 crew and passengers – no survivors
Mrs. Virginia Elizabeth “Betty” (Ogle) Plotkin (wife), New Smyrna, Fl. / Kansas City, Mo.
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Herman and Pearl Plotkin (parents), David and Ruth Plotkin (brother and sister), 90-36 149th St., Jamaica, N.Y.
Born Akron, Ohio, 12/14/16
Buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va. – Section 8, Grave 6169 – Buried 5/23/43

Herald Statesman (Yonkers) (1/28/43)
Long Island Daily Press 12/17/40, 1/29/43
Nassau Daily Review-Star 6/25/41, 3/4/42, 6/30/42, 2/5/43
American Jews in World War Two – 406

The article below appeared on the first page of the January 29, 1943 issue of the the Long Island Daily Press

Wreckage of the Skytrain was only discovered four months later, as seen in this article from The Washington Post of May 17, 1943.

Navy Plane Lost Since January Found in Arizona

Flagstaff, Ariz., May 16 (AP) – The wreckage of a Navy cargo plane missing since January 21 with six men aboard was found today by a high school hiking club on the San Francisco peaks.

Sheriff Peery Francis said the plane was “pretty badly torn up,” and that all the bodies had been found.

When the plane was three days overdue on its flight from Kansas City to San Pedro, Calif., the Navy said those aboard were:

Pilot: Lieut. Max S. Knudsen, Kansas City, Mo.; co-pilots, Lieut. Albert Plotkin, Kansas City, Mo.; Lieut. (j.g.) Phillip H. Pitts, Jr., Birmingham, Ala.; Chief Radioman Cullen A. Snyder, Central City, Pa.; Aviation Machinist’s Mate Wilford De Booth [Wilford D. Booth], Cainesville, Mo.; Seaman Second Class, Don J. Steele, Carmichaels, Pa.

These two images of Lt. Plotkin’s matzeva in Arlington National Cemetery are by FindAGrave contributor Anne Cady.  Note that Lt. Plotkin was a Freemason.    

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Applebaum, Bernard (David bar Rav Yakov), Seaman 1st Class, serial number possibly 5791828
Crew Member of Submarine Chaser USS SC-709 (lost off Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia)
Born 1926
Mr. Jacob Applebaum (father), Philip (brother), 16 Henry St., Malden, Ma.
Died (non-combat) at Brooklyn Naval Hospital on 10/26/45; Malden Press 11/2/45
American Jews in World War Two – p. 149
Buried at Meretz (Mont Vale?) Cemetery, Woburn, Ma.

This image of Bernard’s matzeva is by Donna Halper.  

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

Among Jewish military casualties on January 21, 1943, were these members of the Red Army:

Eylenkrig, Yakov Isaevich – Lieutenant [Эйленкриг, Яков Исаевич – Лейтенант]
Platoon Commander
314th Rifle Division, 598th Autonomous Sapper Battalion
Disappeared / missing in action, during tank activity under force of artillery shelling [Пропал без вести при содровождении танков при силы артиллерийский обстреле]
Born 1913 or 1916, city of Kiev
Mother I.Ya. Eylenkrig; lived in Kurshabsk raion

Flomin
, Natan Abramovich – Captain [Фломин, Натан Абрамович – Капитан] (In battle for Stalingrad)

Battalion Commander
226th Rifle Division, 987th Rifle Regiment
Born 1915; city of Pervomansk, Odessa oblast
Father: A. Yakov Flomin, resided in city of Chkalov
Place of burial: Stalingrad oblast

Grossman, Lev Moiseevich – Lieutenant [Гроссман, Лев Моисеевич – Лейтенант]
Platoon Commander
225th Rifle Division, 695th Rifle Regiment
Died of wounds / Died of disease / illness
Born: 1907; Chkalov region, Kvarkensky district, mine Aydir
Wife: Ida Isaevna Dubenskaya, city of Znamenka, Mosseynaya 66
Russia, Saratov oblast, Kirovsky raion, Resurrection Cemetery (northeastern part, mass grave) / Saratov oblast, city of Saratov, city cemetery

Kleyn, Iosif Lazarevich, Lieutenant – [Клейн, Иосиф Лазаревич, Лейтенант]
Platoon Commander
16th Autonomous Rifle Brigade
Born: 1915; Kongradskiy region, Poltovskaya oblast, Ukraine SSR
Wife: Anna Maksimovna Kleyn, lived in city of Tbilisi
Place of burial: Krasnodar Territory, Northern raion, Severskaya Station, southern margin

Mitelman, Yeshaooiy Volfovich – Lieutenant – [Мительман, Е. Вольфович – Лейтенант]
Platoon Commander
18th Rifle Division, 424th Rifle Regiment
Born: 1920; Dunaevskiy raion, Kaments-Podolsk oblast
Mother: Anna Shmulevna Mitelman; lived in city of Sizran

Pasik, Iosif Mikhaylovich – Lieutenant [Пасик, Иосиф Михайлови – Лейтенант] (In battle for Stalingrad)
Platoon Commander
13th Guards Rifle Division, 34th Guards Rifle Regiment
Born 1922; Satanovskiy raion, Kamenets-Pololsk oblast, Ukraine SSR
Father resided in city of Kazatin
Buried at Mamayev Kurgan – city of Stalingrad, Stalingrad oblast

Pogorelskiy, Samuil Mikhaylovich – Guards Lieutenant [Погорельский, Самуил Михайлович – Гвардии Лейтенант] (In battle for Stalingrad)
Deputy Company Commander (Political Section)
57th Army, 15th Guards Rifle Division, 47th Guards Rifle Regiment
Born 1904; city of Urgench, Kharkovskiy oblast
Wife: Elena G. Podgorelskiy, resided in Kharkovskiy oblast
Buried: City of Volgograd, Sovetsky raion, Peschanka settlement, center, mass grave

Veseliy, David Lazarevich – Junior Lieutenant – [Веселый, Давид Лазаревич – Младший Лейтенант]
Platoon Commander
364th Rifle Division, 1216th Rifle Regiment, 1st Gunnery Company
Born: 1909; Volkovetskiy raion, Kamenets-Podolsk oblast
Mother: Frida Ayzikovna Veselaya; lived in Kamanets-Podolsk oblast

Zilberg (Zilberberg?), Matvey Mironovich – Lieutenant [Зильберг (Зильберберг?), Матвей Миронович – Лейтенант]
Tank Commander
39th Autonomous Tank Brigade
Missing in action in Kamenskiy raion, Rostovskaya oblast
Born: 1922, city of Kiev, Ukraine SSR
Mother: Zinaida Petrovna Zilberg (Zilberberg?), resided in city of Kiev

…while this man, captured on January 21, survived as a prisoner of war and was repatriated from German captivity:

Podolnik, Solomon Semenovich – Lieutenant – [Подольник, Соломон Семенович – Лейтенант]
Deputy Battery Commander (Political Section)
Captured 1/21/43
98th Rifle Division

Some References

Websites

Arthur Hays Sulzberger (Wikipedia)

Captain William H. Davidow incident of January 21, 1943 (Aviation Archeology Database)

Scarsdale Inquirer for November 6, 1942 (Hudson River Valley Heritage Historical Newspapers)

Aufbau, poem honoring Captain William H. Davidow, in issue of June 11, 1943 (German Exile Press newspapers, at Deutsche National Bibliothek)

Submarine Chaser USS SC-709

Wrecksite.com

and

Wikimapia.org

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.

Lafayette College Book of Remembrance, 1946, Lafayette College, Easton, Pa. (With special thanks to College Archivist Elaine M. Stomber!)

January 1, 2018

Soldiers from New York: Jewish Soldiers in The New York Times, in World War Two: United States Army Air Force, May 4, 1945

This is the second of four posts covering Jewish military casualties on Friday, May 4, 1945, “this” post pertaining to members of the United States Army Air Force. 

The four men listed here – 2 Lt. Bernard Prizer, PFC Rodney E. Jacobson, F/O Aldwyn W. Fields, and Cpl. Milton Jcobs – were casualties in very different settings.  These ranged from a training flight in the United States (Prizer), to an as-yet-unknown ground action in Germany (Jacobson), to a combat mission against the Japanese (Fields and Jacobs). 

Of the four, only Fields survived.    

On Friday, May 4, 1945

(22 Iyyar 5705)

______________________________

United States

2 Lt. Bernard Prizer

450th Army Air Force Base Unit 

– .ת. נ. צ. ב. ה –
תהא נפשו צרורה בצרור החיים

2 Lt. Bernard Prizer (0-763854) serving as a co-pilot, was killed in the crash of a Martin TB-26B Marauder (41-18241) piloted by 2 Lt. Arthur C. Middleton and assigned to the 450th Army Air Force Base Unit (Combat Crew Training Station, Night Fighter), based at Hammer Army Airfield, Fresno, California.  The aircraft crashed 1 1/2 miles north of the city of Pinedale, with none of the plane’s six crewmen surviving.  Investigators speculated that that cause of the accident was detonation of the port engine, which reportedly had been cutting out in flight.   

Lt. Prizer was not buried in a Jewish cemetery in his home city of Cleveland, but instead in a Christian cemetery – the Little Bethel Freewill Baptist Cemetery, southwest of Macon, Georgia – presumably because his wife Margaret was from the city of Ideal.

Born Ohio, 2/6/17
Resided with wife at 944 F Street, Fresno, Ca.
Mr. and Mrs. Julius and Selma Prizer (parents); Edith and Nathan Prizer (sister and brother), 3421 E. 135th St., Cleveland, Oh.

Fresno Bee 5/5/45 (via GenDisasters.com, submitted by Stu Beitler) – see transcript below…
Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945 – Volume 3: August 1944 – December 1945 – p. 1091 (Incident “5-4-45A”)
American Jews in World War II – 497

__________

From the Williams T. Larkins collection at 1000aircraftphotos.com, this 1945 photo shows a bedraggled but colorful TB-26B (42-43332) at Kingman, Arizona, before conversion to pots & pans, or, aluminum siding.  Quoting 1000aircraft photos, “In 1943, a conversion program was initiated to strip B-26s of operational equipment and provide them with target towing gear.  In all, 208 B-26B and 350 B-26C were converted in this way, and re-designated AT-23A and AT-23B in the advanced trainer category.  These designations were later changed to TB-26B and TB-26C respectively…”

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FRESNO ARMY BOMBER CRASH KILLS 6 MEN

Fresno Bee – May 5, 1945

Six army airmen, including a Fresnan, were killed instantly yesterday afternoon when the twin engined medium bomber in which they were flying crashed and burned about two miles north of Camp Pinedale on the Yosemite Highway.

The Fresnan was Corporal PAUL H. BROWN, 25, a son of Sam Lee Brown of Orange, Tex.  He had lived with Lieutenant Colonel and Mrs. Beverly H. Jones, 5707 Wilson Avenue, for the last six years, and attended the Fresno High School and the Fresno State College, where he played football before he entered the service three years ago.

The fatal accident was the most serious in the recent history of Hammer Field, and the first crash involving more than one or two fliers since a B-24 fell into Huntington Lake in 1943, killing six men.

Eye witnesses to the crash, including a rancher living nearby who reported to Hammer Field authorities the plane was in trouble when it passed over his home at treetop level, said the ship was having engine trouble before it struck the ground.

The terrain in the area is rolling, and small knolls rise several feet above the highway.

The pilot of the ill-fated ship was Second Lieutenant ARTHUR C. MIDDLETON, 29, a son of Mrs. Mary K. Chambers, 5000 East Broadway, Long Beach.

The copilot was Second Lieutenant BERNARD PRIZER, 27, whose home before he entered the service was at 3421 East 135th Street, Cleveland, O.  He resided with his wife, Mrs. Margaret Jane Prizer, at 944 F. Street.  Mrs. Prizer was taken to the Hammer Field Base Hospital, suffering from shock, after she was told of the crash which killed her husband.

The other four men aboard the plane were:

Sergeant JOSEPH J. HIZNY, 23, whose wife, Mrs. Anna Mae Hizny, resides at 1717 River Road, Pittston, Pa.

Sergeant JOHN B. SZUES, 29, a son of Mrs. Mary Szues, RFD (no number), Machias, N.Y.

Corporal PAUL F. REDHEAD, 29, a son of Mrs. Colista Redhead, 11815 Chesterfield Avenue, Cleveland, O.

BROWN is survived by three brothers, John G., a veteran of the marines, and Sammy B., both of whom live in Stillwater, Okla., and Frank, who has been a prisoner of the Japanese since Manila fell early in the war, and three sisters, Mrs. Glen Smith, Miss Helen B. Brown and Miss Lillian Brown, all of Valliant, Okla.

He had been stationed at Hammer Field for the last year as an aviation mechanic.

Shortly after the plane took off from Hammer Field, its crew radioed the control tower at the army base the ship was in trouble and was planning to try for a crash landing.

The radio report was the last word from the ship, and moments later army personnel at Hammer Field, about seven miles from the scene of the crash, saw smoke rising after the plane had struck the ground.

Competitors in the California State Open Gold Tournament pro-amateur division, playing on the Fort Washington Golf Course about three miles away, heard the explosion which followed the plane’s crash.

Hammer Field authorities said the plane was on a routine combat training flight when the fatal crash occurred. A board of army officers has been appointed to investigate the accident.

Fire crews from both Camp Pinedale and Hammer Field rushed to the scene of the crash after the report was received of the plane’s difficulties, but were too late to attempt any rescue work.

This image of Lt. Prizer’s simple matzeva is by FindAGrave contributor Doug Cromer.  

________________________________________

European Theater

United States Strategic Bombing Survey

PFC Rodney Edward Jacobson

– .ת. נ. צ. ב. ה –
תהא נפשו צרורה בצרור החיים

Though one might ostensibly assume that every casualty associated with service in the Army Air Force would be directly associated with flying “in” or activity “with” an aircraft, PFC Rodney Edward Jacobson (36589029) shows that this was not – hardly at all – so.  A member of the United States Strategic Bombing Survey, PFC Jacobson was killed only four days before the war’s end in Europe.  The reasons is unknown: perhaps his unit was engaged in a firefight with German soldiers; perhaps he was riding in a vehicle which struck a mine; perhaps something else.  He received the Purple Heart.

Born Detroit, Mi., 3/17/23
Mr. and Mrs. Harry [7/4/95-1/10/72] and Sophie (Victor) [1/2/97-8/12/81] Jacobson (parents), 1 Lt. Ivan Mayer Jacobson (brother), 2030 Chicago Blvd., Detroit, Mi.
Clover Hill Cemetery, Royal Oak, Mi. – Section 5, Lot 41; Buried 8/21/49
Student at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio; Member of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity
Casualty List 6/19/45
Detroit Jewish Chronicle 6/15/45, 10/1/48, 8/19/49
The Jewish News 6/15/45, 8/19/49
American Jews in World War II – 191

This portrait of PFC Jacobson, first published in the 1954 Jewish War Veterans of Michigan Golden Book, is one of the many images from that publication now viewable via the Jewish War Veterans – Department of Michigan.

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In this image from the October 1, 1948, of the Detroit Jewish Chronicle, of a plaque honoring members of Temple Beth El who served in the recently ended war, which specifically lists the names of those who were killed in action, or who – like Lieutenants Green or Weil – died in accidents, PFC Jacobson’s name appears fourth from the top in the right column.  Biographical information about nine of these men – three in the army ground forces, four in the air force, and two in the navy – follows the image…

United States Army

Davis, Charles Pershing, PFC, 36128967, Purple Heart (Biak Island)
162nd Infantry Regiment, 41st Infantry Division
Killed in action June 14, 1944
Born August 1, 1918
Mrs. Helain (Abel) Davis (wife), 3255 Cortland St., Detroit, Mi.
Mrs. Rose Davis (mother); Cpl. Marshall, Raymond, and Bernard (brothers), 18015 Ohio Ave., Detroit, Mi.
Graduate of Detroit Institute of Technology
Clovel Hill Cemetery, Royal Oak, Mi.
The Jewish News 7/14/44, 11/3/44
American Jews in World War II – 189

Rafelson, Robert Julien, PFC, 36868672, Purple Heart (Rhine River, Germany)
Engineer Corps
Died of wounds March 13, 1945
Born March 15, 1914
Mrs. Ileen (Jacobson) Rafelson (wife); Tommy (son; YOB 1943), 18922 Muirland, Detroit, Mi.
Mr. Mark Rafelson (father), 18085 Oak Drive, Detroit, Mi.
Graduate of Adrian College; MS degree from University of Michigan
Beth El Memorial Park, Livonia, Mi. – Section 2, Lot 113, Grave 2
The Jewish News 4/6/45
American Jews in World War II – 194

Simon, Lewis Arthur, T/5, 36589807, Purple Heart (Germany)
Died February 20, 1945
2nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron
Born September 5, 1924
Mr. Harold Simon (father), 19 Lasalle Blvd., Detroit, Mi.
Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit, Mi. – Section North F; Buried 8/1/48
The Jewish News 3/9/45
American Jews in World War II – 196

United States Army Air Force

Green, Roy Frank, 2 Lt., 0-661308, Fighter Pilot
23rd Fighter Squadron, 36th Fighter Group
Killed in flying accident November 12, 1942.  Aircraft crashed 5 miles south of Corozal, Puerto Rico
Aircraft: P-39D 41-6919
Born 1918
Mr. Max Greene (father); Mrs. Ida Greenberg (mother), Arlene, Ray and Russ (brother and sisters), 2923 Pasadena Ave., Detroit, Mi.
Clover Hill Park Cemetery, Royal Oak, Mi. – Section 17; Buried 5/13/48
The Jewish News 12/29/44
American Jews in World War II – 191

Jacobs, Alfred L., Sgt., 36145928
Killed in ground accident at Rapid City, South Dakota June 25, 1944
Born March 8, 1919
Mr. Henry Jacobs (father); Richard (brother), 931 Beaconsfield, Grosse Pointe, Mi.
Beth El Memorial Park, Livonia, Mi. – Section 6, Lot 72, Grave 6
The Jewish News 7/14/44
American Jews in World War II – 191

Seymour, William Seymour, 1st Sergeant, 39024032, Drop Crewman, Air Medal, Purple Heart
2nd Troop Carrier Squadron, 10th Air Force
Killed in action January 18, 1944
Aircraft: C-47 41-19476; Pilot: Capt. Ferde A. Larson; Eight crewmen – no survivors
Born 1909
Mr. Emil Schubot (father); Mr. Jules R. Schubot (brother); Betty, Maurice, Rosalind, Sadie, and Samuel (siblings), 18624 Wildemere, Detroit, Mi.
Lt. Harvey Schubot (brother), 400 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills, Ca.
Rock Island National Cemetery, Rock Island, Il. – Section E, Grave 407; Buried 6/8/50
Detroit Jewish News 2/25/44
American Jews in World War II – 195

Weil, Victor Hugo, 1 Lt., 0-513327, Co-Pilot
9th Ferry Squadron, 6th Ferry Group
Killed in flying accident October 7, 1943.  Aircraft crashed at 3048 E Street, in San Bernardino, California
Aircraft: B-25H 43-4203; Pilot: 2 Lt. Randall R. Weiland; Three crewmen – no survivors
Born Michigan, March 27, 1901
Mrs. J.W. Roemer (sister), 49 Virginia Park, Detroit, Mi.
Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit, Mi. – Section North F, Beth El Plot, Lot 25, 26
Detroit Jewish News 10/15/43, 2/9/45
American Jews in World War II – 197

United States Navy

Kopman, Joseph W., Lt. JG, 0-283230, Fighter Pilot, Purple Heart
VF-13 (Navy Fighter Squadron 13), USS Franklin (CV-13)
Killed in action October 17, 1944, Pacific (ABMC lists date as October 18, 1945)
Aircraft: F6F-5 Hellcat 58375; Ditched, but did not survive.
Born 1922, Missouri
Mr. and Mrs. Saul Louis and Ann Kopman (parents), Fay Barbara Kopman (sister), 300 Whitmore Road, Detroit, Mi.
Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines
The Jewish News (Detroit) 1/19/45
OurOldNavy
USSFranklin.org
American Jews in World War II – 192

Lewis, Leonard Leon, Lt. JG, 0-275815, Assistant Beachmaster, Purple Heart
6th Naval Beach Battalion
Killed in action June 6, 1944, in Normandy France (ABMC lists date as June 8, 1944)
Born April, 1924
Michigan State Normal College, Class of 1938
Mrs. Esther (Berger) Lewis (wife); Linda Stark (daughter; YOB 1943), 15818 Meyers Road, Detroit, Mi.
Mr. Jacob B. Lewis (father); Lillian, RM 3C George K., Philip, Albert, Henry, Warren (sister and brothers), 20 Worcester Place, Detroit, Mi.
The Jewish News (Detroit) 7/14/44, 1/19/45
Normandy American Cemetery, St. Laurent-sur-Mer, France – Plot J, Row 10, Grave 32
6thBeachBattalion.org
American Jews in World War II – 1923

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Pacific Theater

20th Air Force

As has been recounted in many prior posts in this series (and recounted above for Lt. Prizer) many wartime casualties occurred in situations that were not actually associated with enemy action, or if a result of an encounter with the enemy, were not related to the immediacy of that event.    

Such an incident on May 4, 1945 concerned Flight Officer Aldwyn Bernard Fields (T-129136), a B-29 Superfortress navigator in the 60th Bomb Squadron of the 39th Bomb Group.  He was one of four survivors of the crew of eleven in B-29 44-70004 (an anonymous aircraft upon which the crew had intended, but never had the opportunity, to bestow the nickname “City of Cooperstown”) commanded by 1 Lt. Smith L. Edwards. 

Rescued from the Pacific Ocean after bailout, the story of F/O Fields’ and the other three survivors is related in detail in MACR 14367. 

This was F/O Fields’ first combat mission, and as a result of the tragic severity of his injuries, for which he received the Purple Heart (no Air Medal, let alone no Distinguished Flying Cross, the former necessitating the completion of five combat missions) it proved to be his only combat mission. 

Born in Manhattan on August 28, 1917, F/O Fields was the son of Beatrice L. Fields (subsequently Kaplan), who passed away on April 6, 1959.  His sister, Beverly (Fields) Sacks, lived at 69-10 Yellowstone Boulevard in Forest Hills, Long Island, while his father’s identity is uncertain.  His father may (may…) have been Max Fialkoff (thus, the name change to “Fields”).  If (?) so, the Fialkoff family experienced tragedy a full decade before the war, for the New York Times reported that a Max Fialkoff, a dress manufacturer born in 1891, took his life at his place of work – at West 33rd Street in Manhattan – on February 13, 1934.  

Brief news articles about F/O Fields appeared in the Long Island Daily Press and Long Island Star Journal on June 20, 1945, while his name appeared in a Casualty List published in the New York Times on June 21.  Beyond that, the only other facets of information I’ve been able to uncover about him indicate that he graduated from City College in 1938, attained a Master’s Degree – subject unknown – from Columbia University prior to World War Two, and postwar, was somehow associated – perhaps philanthropically? – with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Aldwyn Bernard Fields, 65 years old, passed away on March 16, 1982.  He is buried near his mother, at Wellwood Cemetery in West Babylon, New York.  (Section 1, Block 3, Division 43897, Plot A-14, Grave 1). 

As has become evident from the majority of posts in this series, akin to very many American Jewish WW II military casualties, or, servicemen who received military awards, Aldwyn Fields’ name never appeared in the 1947 book American Jews in World War II.    

More about his story follows…

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Seen at Batista Field, Cuba, during training, here’s the Smith Edwards crew: (Replacement Crew 16, 60th Bomb Squadron) in a photo from Fold3, via Sam Pennartz.  Names follow below…

Standing (left to right):

Hetherington, Donald W., 1 Lt. – Newfield, N.Y. – Pilot – Rescued (See also…)
Kelly, Odie Allen, 2 Lt. – Midland, Tx. – Radar Operator – Missing (KIA) (See also)
Fields, Aldwyn Bernard, F/O – Navigator – Rescued
Engelholdt, James Mathias, 1 Lt. – Fond du Lac, Wi. – Bombardier – Missing (KIA)
Edwards, Smith Long, 1 Lt. – La Salle, Il. – Airplane Commander – Missing (KIA) (See also…)
Anderson, Clyde Raymond, Sgt. – Buxton, Me. – Radio Operator – Rescued

Kneeling (left to right):

Arundale, Gerald Wilbur, S/Sgt. – Sheridan, Il. – Gunner (Central Fire Control) – Missing (KIA) (See also…)
Nyholm, Ernest E., Jr., Sgt. – New York, N.Y. – Gunner (Right Blister) – Missing (KIA)
Ogilvie, James R., T/Sgt. – Gunner (Tail) – Did not fly with this crew on this mission
Clark, Harry Wilber, T/Sgt. – La Grange, Il.- Flight Engineer – Missing (KIA)

Sitting (front):

O’Brien, Herbert J., Jr., Sgt. – Otsego, N.Y. – Gunner (Left Blister) – Rescued

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Images of the emblem of the 60th Bomb Squadron are not too abundant, but an excellent example can be found – and purchased as a decal, in different sizes and formats – at MCGraphicsDecals.  Since the image is copyrighted, I’m providing the aforementioned link, rather than showing the insignia itself, “here”!

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As mentioned above, it had been the intention of the Edwards crew to bestow the nickname City of Cooperstown (as in Cooperstown, New York) upon their bomber, but fate never granted them this opportunity.  However, if the wheels of time had revolved differently, this moniker would presumably have appeared in the style of nose art carried by other 314th Bomb Wing (thus, 39th Bomb Group) aircraft.  This emblem was in the form of a pennant superimposed on a map of the United States, the pennant’s flagpole pointing to the specific town or city inspiring the aircraft’s name, with the name of that town or city marked on the pennant.  

An example of this appears below: The nose art for B-29 City of Knoxville (44-69995), of the 458th Bomb Squadron, 330th Bomb Group.  This image is from a set of “Original U.S. WWII B-29 Bomber City of Knoxville Bombardier Fuse Key Grouping – 20 Missions” at Original Military Antiques.  

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Via Ancestry.com, here’s Aldwyn’s graduation portrait in the yearbook of City College of New York, Class of 1938 …

… and, now twenty-eight years old, his portrait from the Long Island Star Journal on June 20, 1945, which accompanied an article about his rescue on the May 4 mission.

Here’s a transcript of the Star Journal’s article. 

The text mentions Aldwyn’s B-29 as having been the Purple Shaft, but this was in error.  As explained by Donald Hetherington (below), on arrival in the Pacific the Edwards crew and the real Purple Shaft (42-65361) were mistakenly assigned to the 19th Bomb Group.  When the crew was transferred back to the 39th Bomb Group, the Purple Shaft remained with the 19th.

Lieut. Fields Wounded On Tokyo Raid

Second Lieutenant Aldwyn B. Fields, 24, Forest Hills flight officer on a B-29, “Purple Shaft”, was wounded while returning from a bombing raid over Tokyo, his mother, Mrs. Florence Fields of 69-10 Yellowstone Boulevard, has been informed.

The “Purple Shaft” had completed her mission, but caught fire and exploded on the way back to its Marianna base.  Lieutenant Fields parachuted into the Pacific and was picked up by the Navy off Iwo Jima.  He has been in the Army for three years and overseas three months.

He was graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School, the Bronx; City College, and received a Master’s Degree from Columbia.  He was commissioned at Austin, Texas.  

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This brief newspaper article, published in the Cooperstown Evening Telegram on May 18, 1945, pertains to Sgt. O’Brien’s arrival in the Marianna Islands.  The article specifically mentions that the crew’s B-29 was to be named after that city, but doesn’t actually specific that this nickname was really painted on the plane.  

Digital Newspaper Archives of US & Canada

SUPER FORTRESS NAMED ‘COOPERSTOWN’

Cooperstown – The CWW of a B-29 Super-Fortress of which Sgt. Herbert J. O’Brien, Oaksville, is turret gunner, recently arrived in the Marianna Islands.

He was given the honor of naming the bomber and “Cooperstown” was the choice.  O’Brien is the eldest son of three sons of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert O’Brien, in service.  Cpl. Robert is with the Infantry in Germany and Richard is waiting call for Navy service.

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This article about Sgt. O’Brien, from The Otsego Farmer of June 8, 1945, mentions him having been wounded on the mission of May 4, but (well, unsurprisingly) doesn’t give any details about the incident.  (This article, and the preceding article from the Cooperstown Evening Telegram, were obtained via Thomas M. Tryniski’s Fulton History database / website.)  

Old Newspapers

Sgt. O’Brien Awarded Purple Heart Medal

Sergeant Herbert J. O’Brien, Jr., of Cooperstown, was presented with the Purple Heart on May 16th.  The medal was presented by his commanding officer, Colonel George W. Mundy, at a Superfortress base on Guam.  Sergeant O’Brien was wounded in action on May 4th while participating in a Superfortress attack on strategic targets on Kyushu, Japan.  Having recovered from his wound, he was returned back to duty on May 8th.

Sergeant O’Brien is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert J. O’Brien of Cooperstown.

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So, what actually happened to 44-70004 and her crew?  In Missing Air Crew Report 14367, the story is best and most appropriately told in the vivid dispassion typical of military documents.  Here it is:

Narrative Report [from Missing Air Crew Report]:

Prior to Abandonment:

The emergency of the aircraft developed at 0345 on May 4th.  The position of aircraft was approximately 20 miles south of Iwo Jima at 10,000 ft.  There was no indication of any trouble before the fire started.  No one in the plane smelled or saw any smoke before the fire broke out.  The fire was first seen by the radio operator [Anderson] in the vicinity of the voltage regulators under the Liaison Radio.  The flames looked as if they were coming off the floor.

The radio operator notified the crew in the nose by voice.  Steps were immediately taken to put out the fire with the extinguisher.  The flames were out for a moment but started again and the extinguisher was empty.  The radio operator made attempts to smother the flames with flak curtains but could not get at it to do any good.

Preparation for Abandoment:

A state of emergency was declared by the pilot.  [Edwards]  There was no electrical power as soon as the fire started.  The pilot hit the gear switch to get nose gear down and also hit the alarm bell.  The alarm bell gave one very short ring, but the nose gear did not start down.  The co-pilot tried to call buddy ship but the radio was out and also the interphone became inoperative. 

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This Oogle map shows the approximate location of 44-70004’s loss, based on latitude and longitude coordinates (24-18N, 141-22 E) listed in the Missing Air Crew Report.  To the best of my knowledge, there were no restaurants, hotels, pharmacies, or ATMs in this part of the Pacific Ocean in 1945, though I’m sure Iwo Jima has them aplenty now (As for “transit”, “parking”, and “attractions”, wellll…  In a sort of sense those sort of existed in 1945, but not in a sort of way anyone would want to take have taken advantage of.  Sort of.)

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The bombardier [Engholdt], engineer [Clark] and navigator [Fields] were attempting to crank the nose gear by hand.  There was a great deal of smoke in the nose of the plane.  It was a whitish grey smoke and very irritating.  The windows in the pilot’s compartment were tried open and closed with no noticeable changes in the smoke.

Abandonment:

The co-pilot seeing that the efforts of the crew to get the nose gear down were not going too well, as he was coughing a great deal and couldn’t see very well, left the co-pilot’s seat to go back to the bomb bay door to tell the men in back to bail out.  The co-pilot saw the CFC gunner [Arundale] going through the tunnel to tell the men in back to bail out.  The radio operator [Anderson] jumped down in the bomb bay and pulled the emergency handle.  The doors opened and he fell out.  The co-pilot [Hetherington] was standing on the cat walk and was just going back inside when the navigator came out and jumped.  He was so badly burned that he was hardly recognizable.  The fire had increased in intensity a great deal in about 15 seconds.  When the co-pilot had come out, the flames were coming out under the top turret but when he started to go back in the flames were all over the turret, with intense heat; so he turned around and jumped.  The navigator had tried to bring the engineer [Clark] back with him but he [Clark] wouldn’t go through the fire. 

The left gunner [O’Brien] heard the alarm bell, fastened his parachute and started for the rear escape hatch, telling the right gunner [Nyholm] to follow him.  The right gunner had started to get a fire extinguisher to take up front.  The radar officer [Kelly] was in his chute and was fastening on his dinghy when the left gunner got back to the radar room.  He told him some one had bailed out of the front and to jump.  Two men, the radar and right gunner, were standing behind the left gunner when he jumped. 

The co-pilot jumped and pulled the cord when he saw he was clear of the plane.  The plane came around in a circle and the whole nose was on fire, flames were coming out of the top and right side of [the] fuselage.  After about a ninety degree turn more it blew up before hitting the water.

The co-pilot saw four other chutes below him and just before the explosion another one open quite low and close to the plane, therefore, the co-pilot was certain that six got out of the plane.

Escape:

The co-pilot, navigator, and radio operator bailed out through the front bomb bay.  The left gunner bailed out through the rear escape hatch.

Weather:

Visibility was good.  The swells were from ten to fifteen feet high.  Wind velocity was unknown.

Survival:

Other B-29s which saw the men parachuting out radioed in their position.  The survivors had been in the water ten minutes when they saw planes flying low overhead.

A Navy PBY spotted the co-pilot [Hetherington] and dropped sea marker dye and smoke bombs.  The co-pilot was in his dinghy approximately two minutes after contact with the water.  He paddled about ten feet, got his parachute and dropped it over his dinghy.  It was very easily spotted from the air and worked well as a sea anchor.  The co-pilot did not drift at all and stayed in the same position as the sea marker dye.

The navigator [Fields] had only his Mae West and had considerable trouble in inflating it.  His hands were severely burned, also his head and arms.  It took him about thirty minutes to inflate his Mae West.  A PBY spotted him and dropped a five man dinghy to him, to which he swam and got into with quite a lot of trouble due to his weak condition.

The left gunner [O’Brien] had his dinghy.  He was spotted by rescue planes and smoke bombs and sea marker dye was dropped.

The radio operator [Anderson] did not have his dinghy as it was lost in the fire but he had his Mae West.  He was not spotted by any rescue planes.  Planes flew directly over him several times.  No sea marker dye or smoke bombs were dropped near him.

Rescue:

A mine sweeper had been sent out immediately and a destroyer escort soon after.  The mine sweeper arrived at the scene first.  It picked up the navigator first who was about five miles from the co-pilot.  It then came over and picked up the co-pilot.  The radio operator was picked up about 15 minutes later by luck, some one saw something out quite a ways and it was he swimming.  The destroyer escort was at the scene by this time and picked up the left gunner.

Although efforts were made until dark to pick up the other men, no one was found.  There was considerable wreckage still floating where the plane went down.  In the area near the wreckage a number of large sharks were seen.

The two ships stayed out until dark and then the survivors were transferred to the destroyer escort and taken into Iwo Jima so that the navigator could have better medical attention.  The mine sweeper anchored in the vicinity of the wreckage and continued search the next day, but no further survivors were found.

Crew recommendations:

More coordination between the planes and ships.

Modification of puncturing mechanism of CO2 cylinders on Type B-4 life preservers.

Use of canopy on raft after person bails out for purpose of easy identification by aircraft; also helps as an emergency sea-anchor.

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Here’s Donald Hetherington’s account of the incident, from History of the 39th Bomb Group.  The book’s 1996 publication implies that this account was written in the early 1990s.

On May 4 over Oita, we had some damage to the right wing, close to the fuselage; it was probably from a phosphorous shell.  Fire started coming through the radio operator’s compartment.  Engineer Harry Clark, Bombardier James Engleholdt, and Navigator Al Fields were attempting to lower the nose wheel with a hand crank and said it had jammed.  I hit the alarm bell, called on the intercom to bail out and called to our buddy plane that we were going out.  I later assumed that our engineer had turned off the battery and generator switches, as I did not transmit.  I said that I would go back and to see if I could get the bomb bay doors open.  Radio Operator Clyde Anderson was working on the emergency handles and jumping on the doors.  After four or five jumps, the doors opened and he fell out with his one-man life raft on fire.  I called out to the crew up front that the doors were open. 

As I stepped into the bomb bay, there was an explosion up front and I was blown out.  It apparently popped my chute; I saw the D-ring falling beside me.  Hugh O’Brien said when he got to the rear door someone had frozen.  Hugh thought if he jumped the rest would follow.

The following would be Missing In Action: Smith Edwards, James Engelholdt, Odie Kelly, Harry Clark, Gerald Arundale, Ernest Nyholm and a tail gunner who’s name I never knew.  [Jacobs]  He replaced our regular tail gunner James Ogilvie, who had accidentally shot himself in the foot just before going to the gunner’s briefing.

Our buddy airplane saw debris on the ocean and when we did not respond to radio calls, they called Guam and also Iwo and PBY was out to look for us.  They spotted me and dropped smoke flares and marker dye.  They found Al and dropped him a five-man life raft.  He was too weak to get in but could get his arm over the edge.  Just before dark, a minesweeper and a destroyer escort arrived.  The minesweeper found me then Clyde Anderson in his Mae West.  The destroyer escort found Al Fields and Hugh O’Brien.  …

We were going to name our plane after the “City of Cooperstown”.  Our crew was assigned to the 19th BG by mistake.  We were loaded with bombs and ready for Tokyo when orders came down to transfer us back to the 39th.  They would not let us fly the mission, as the 39th would get credit for it.  Our plane did not come back from Japan so we were lucky once.  The second time we weren’t.  We were just not meant to fly.  My form 5-Flight Record says: one take off, no landings.

I returned to the 60th and was assigned to the 314th Wing as an Air Sea Rescue Officer where I remained until I returned to the States in December 1946.  I got promoted in August a day after General Power asked about my rank.

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Akin to biographical information I’ve posted about other 20th Air Force casualties, here’s Major David I. Cedarbaum’s record covering F/O Fields’ casualty status.  This document is from the Honor Roll in the Cedarbaum Files (Folder 5) at the American Jewish Historical Society

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The other Jewish crewman aboard 44-70004 was Corporal Milton Jacobs (35517801), the plane’s tail gunner, who was filling in for T/Sgt. Ogilvie, the latter recovering from an accidental gunshot wound.  Ogilvie eventually completed his missions with Replacement Crew 11 – that of 2 Lt. Vincenzo Ricci, of which Jacobs was originally a member.  

Milton was born in Czechoslovakia on January 16, 1922.  His parents, Henry [6/3/98-1985] and Olga (Breitbart) [1899-1986] Jacobs, and brother Lester, lived at 11609 Hopkins Ave., in Cleveland, Oh.  A member of Ohio State University Class of 1947, his name is commemorated on the Tablets of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial in Hawaii.

His name appeared in a War Department Casualty List released on June 19, 1945, the Cleveland Press & Plain Dealer on June 17, 18 and November 21, 1945, and can be found on page 490 of American Jews in World War II.

This portrait of Cpl. Jacobs was taken when he was simply “Milton Jacobs”.  The picture appears in the 1941 yearbook of the Cleveland East Technical High School.  It’s from Ancestry.com.

Three or four years later, this picture is from the photo of the Ricci crew.  

Here’s Major David I. Cedarbaum’s record concerning Cpl. Jacobs, also from the Cedarbaum Files Honor Roll (Folder 5) at the AJHS

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Many visitors to this blog doubtless have familiarity with military history in general (…I guess…), and military aviation in particular (…I suppose…), and thus, need no introduction to the Boeing B-29 Superfortress.  However, given that nearly eight decades have transpired since the Second World War’s end in 1945, and the seeming lack of even general knowledge concerning that war, its weapons, and tactics in contemporary generations, a few photos and diagrams of the B-29 follow.  These shed light on the dire predicament faced by the Edwards crew as they flew above the Pacific Ocean, a little over seventy-six years ago. 

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First, this diagram, from the XXI Bomber Command Combat Crew Manual, specifically Section XII – “Emergency Procedures” – depicts the sequence by which the eleven members of a Superfortress crew were to bail out of their bomber during an in-flight emergency.  Note that the crew of a B-29 is situated in three separate areas of the fuselage:  Pilot, co-pilot, navigator, bombardier, radio operator, and flight engineer are in the nose; behind the plane’s rear bomb bay are three aerial gunners and a radar operator; in the tail, isolated from the rest of the crew, is the tail gunner.

As indicated by this manual, in the nose, the bailout sequence was: 1) bombardier, 2) flight engineer, 3) co-pilot, 4) navigator, 5) radio operator, and 6, pilot.  Escape could be made through a hatch in the cockpit floor situated directly above the nose wheel (by definition, necessitating that the nose wheel be lowered), or, through the bomb bay, the latter option requiring that the crew compartment to be depressurized so that the bomb bay could be accessed through a circular hatch.    

In the rear, the bailout order was: 1) right blister gunner, 2 left blister gunner, and 3) central fire control gunner.  The two remaining crew members – the radar operator and tail gunner – would exit separately.  Escape could be made through the aircraft’s entrance door at rear starboard fuselage, or, through the rear bomb bay, either of which which (as per the nose) required that the rear crew compartment be depressurized.

The tail gunner could escape through the same entrance door, or (not too clearly illustrated here) via an emergency escape hatch (in the form of a jettisonable window) on the starboard side of his compartment.

Well, that’s the idea, but there were four unwritten provisos:  The crew was largely or entirely uninjured; the plane relatively intact or undamaged; the aircraft in relatively level flight; the plane under control.  In this, the bailout diagram is consistent with depictions in instruction manuals pertaining to emergency procedures for other multi-place USAAF WW II aircraft: Whether “ditched” at sea, or in mid-air, the aircraft is illustrated as being entirely intact, with crew members able to nominally carry out their assigned responsibilities.  (I don’t know about diagrams in instruction manuals for British Commonwealth warplanes…) 

But, even the most cursory review of accounts by crew members of B-29s – let alone other USAAF bombers, such as B-17s, B-24s, B-25s, and B-26s – who bailed out of their planes due to combat damage, or in emergency situations unrelated to battle, reveals that such idealized conditions were far (far) more often the exception than the rule. 

Such as, for the Edwards crew.       

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Here’s a wartime painting of a B-29 by Norman Dawn, from WW2OnLine, which presents a clear (yet not entirely accurate – I’ll explain why in a moment!) cutaway “view” of the plane’s design, specifically in terms of the crew layout.  In front, the pilot and co-pilot sit side by side, with the bombardier (obscured by canopy frames) in the very nose.  On the right side of the fuselage and behind the co-pilot is the flight engineer, while behind the engineer is the radio operator.  On the left side of the fuselage and behind the pilot is is the navigator.  Above the bomb-bay, a pressurized tunnel connects the front and rear crew compartments.

While Dawn’s painting is extremely helpful in illustrating the relative locations of the aircraft’s crew positions, it’s also deceptive, for the dimensions of the human figures in the painting have been greatly diminished in size – deliberately so? – relative to the size of the aircraft, deceptively implying that the crew compartments were far, far (did I say far?!) roomier (and big) than in reality.  Another error is apparent in the figure of the crew member moving through the tunnel:  Though he’s wearing a parachute, the actual tunnel diameter was – I think – far too narrow to permit this.

Otherwise, regardless of the painting’s degree of (in)accuracy, it depicts a real aircraft; “136954” was the serial number of an actual bomber, specifically, 41-36954 (the first YB-29, the prefix “Y” denoting a test aircraft), which made its first flight on June 26, 1943.  Though the plane never flew in combat, it’s correctly shown in olive drab camouflage, which was applied to the three XB-29s (“X “for experimental), all fourteen YB-29s (“Y” for testing), and very early production Superfortresses.  You can view an image of the actual plane here.  So, I suppose that Mr. Dawn’s painting (was he employed by Boeing?) dates from 1943.      

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This illustration is vastly more realistic.  From Boeing’s B-29 Maintenance and Familiarization Manuel (HS1006A-HS1006D), this cutaway shows the interior details of a B-29’s forward crew compartment in entirely correct proportion, and, in detail.  Immediately apparent from the design in the maximum use of available space for equipment, with room personnel being kept at a bare and functional minimum.

The location of the navigator’s station (Fields’), with its wooden table, is directly behind the pilot.  The radio operator’s station (Anderson’s; where the fire began) is opposite, while the flight engineer (Clark would) have been directly behind the co-pilot.         

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From TheBestFilmArchives, this film How it Works: The B-29 Superfortress – USAAF Training Film 1944 – provides an excellent overview of the operation of the B-29, primarily from the aircraft commander’s perspective.  Particularly noteworthy in the context of this post are the animations showing the crew arrangement, and, the aircraft’s defensive systems. 

Several YouTube channels host this particular video, TheBestFilmArchives version being the best of the lot in terms of contrast, lightness, and, resolution.    

The particular B-29 featured in the video is aircraft 42-6211, which was delivered to the Army Air Force on October 26, 1943.  A very early B-29, it’s notable that the side blisters have bracing frames or multiple panels, and – more obviously – the plane is camouflaged.  

This picture of the plane’s tail, taken on December 12, 1943, is from WorldWarPhotos.

The bomber was eventually assigned to the 771st Bomb Squadron of the 462nd Bomb Group, and piloted by Carl T. Hull, Jr., destroyed during a take-off crash at Piaradoba, India, on May 23, 1944.

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On a note vastly less serious and vastly more pop culture…

The hemispherical multi-panel design of the B-29’s plexiglass nose and canopy was the inspiration for the cockpit of Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon spacecraft in the iconic series of Star Wars movies.  (Digression:  With the exception of Rogue One – the only good film in the series, and even an excellent stand-alone film – Star Wars is emphatically not science fiction, though it heavily relies on the pop-culture tropes of science fiction, such as “space!”, “aliens!”, and “spaceships!”.  It’s really a paper-thin, brightly colored mélange of morally empty “new age” merde indirectly inspired by Joseph Campbell.  Digression herewith ends.)

David Cenciotti, of The Aviationist, discusses this aspect of the cultural history of the B-29 bomber at: “Did you know that the Millennium Falcon’s cockpit was inspired by the WWII B-29 Superfortress bomber?

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This image, looking forward from the B-29 navigator’s station (as configured in an early production B-29) gives a general impression of what F/O Fields would have seen from his crew position.  The work table with its foldable extension is immediately obvious.  There’s a small window to the left, fabric lining covering the cockpit walls, while the fabric lined dorsal turret – which was surrounded by flames as the crew attempted to escape from 44-70004 – is immediately to the right. 

In terms of the photo’s specifics, it was taken inside B-29A 42-93824 on December 22, 1943, probably (?) at the Boeing factory, given that a hangar door is visible through the window.  On September 13, 1944 the plane, assigned to the Combat Crew Training Squadron of the 234th Base Unit, crashed near Clovis Army Air Field, New Mexico, while landing after a training mission.  Pilot Captain Jack F. Clark was killed, and his twelve crew members injured.  

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Here’s another view of the B-29 navigator’s station (via the National Air and Space Museum) which, in terms of furnishings and equipment, p r o b a b l y has a vastly closer resemblance to F/O Fields’ station in the Edwards’ crew’s 44-70004 than does the early 42-93824.  This is likely so because this is the interior of the later production B-29 44-86292, better known as the Enola Gay.  While basic components are the same as above, note the presence of the orange-screen cathode ray tube for the plane’s AN/APQ-13 radar indicator.    

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To visually sum things up, this panoramic 360-degree-view, at 360Cities, gives a high resolution, clear view of the B-29’s front crew compartment.  The view can be adjusted to show the escape hatch in the center of the nose compartment, through which – given that the bomber’s nose wheel wouldn’t fully extend – forced the Edwards crew to exit through the bomb bay.      

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Moving from front to rear:  Also from the B-29 Maintenance and Familiarization Manuel, this cutaway shows the interior details of a B-29’s aft compartment, where was situated the tail gun position, occupied by Cpl. Jacobs.  As tail gunner, he had two means of escape from 44-70004:  He could have depressurized his compartment and exited the bomber via the plane’s rear entrance door, or, jumped through the escape hatch created by jettisoning the starboard window at the tail gunner’s position.  

But, the Missing Air Crew Report makes no mention of Cpl. Jacobs.  Physically isolated from the crew, his fate will forever be unknown.  

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This video, from the YouTube channel of SkyJockDS, appropriately entitled B-29 Tail Turret View!, clearly shows the interior of the Commemorative Air Force’s B-29A FiFi (44-62070), with particular attention to the view from the compartment’s side windows.  The emergency exit, through which Cpl. Jacobs (could?) have escaped, appears from 0:36 through 0:39.  The center of attention is the General Railway-manufactured Pedestal Gunsight, images of of the B-29 bombardier’s version of which can be viewed here.  

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So much for the aircraft.  So much for technology.  

And about F/O Fields?

According to the report filed by Major Cedarbaum, he “Jumped through flames; [and was] burned on [his] face”.

The Missing Air Crew Report recounts that his injuries were much more severe; he was, “Seriously injured in action; [with] 2nd or 3rd degree burns”.

But, the true gravity of his injuries is actually revealed – decades later – in a communication by Donald Hetherington to the 39th Bomb Group, in which it was related that the navigator’s injuries were far more grave than indicated in Major Cedarbaum’s report.  As described by Hetherington in the History of the 39th Bomb Group, Al dove through the emergency hatch with his entire flying suit on fire.  

“Clyde [Anderson] and I were transferred to the destroyer by Bosun Chair and taken to Iwo.  We were evacuated to Guam in about 10 days.  The hospital in Guam kept me to assist in caring for Al and keep his spirits up until he was sent back to the States.  This was about six weeks.

“He would spend about 3 years having plastic surgery to rebuild his nose, ears and damage to his arms and legs.”

But, even the very little that is known is tragically remarkable, for despite the severity of his injuries (it took a half-hour for him to inflate his Mae West, indicative of the degree to which his hands had been injured), F/O Fields had the presence of mind and willpower to endure until rescue by the Navy just before sunset.    

But, Donald Hetherington’s comment about Aldwyn Fields receiving medical treatment until 1948 (!) implies that the two maintained communication for at least a few years after the war’s end.  

Alas, his postwar story will probably remain unknown. 

(Well, that is merely among men.)

Books, References, Websites, and Other Things

Specific Reference Works

Birdsall, Steve, B-29 Superfortress in Action, Squadron / Signal Publications (Aircraft No. 31), Warren, Mi., 1977

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

Freeman, Roger A., Camouflage & Markings – United States Army Air Force 1937-1945, Ducimus Books Limited, London, England, 1974 (B-29 pp. 145-168)

Lloyd, Alwyn T., B-29 Superfortress in detail & scale, Aero Publishers, Inc., Fallbrook, Ca., 1983

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

No Specific Author Listed

XXI Bomber Command Combat Crew Manual, A.P.O. 234, May, 1945 (reprint obtained via EBay)

Soldiers from New York: Jewish Soldiers in The New York Times, in World War Two: 2 Lt. Wallace Franklin Kaufman – May 4, 1945 (May 24, 1945)

“For those who came back there was a cleaning shower and a clean bunk to purge their weariness. 

But for those who did not there were many possibilities, all of them brutal and tragic.” 

Kevin Herbert, Maximum Effort (1983)

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“וְגִלְּתָ֚ה הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ אֶת־דָּמֶ֔יהָ וְלֹֽא־תְכַסֶּ֥ה ע֖וֹד עַל־הֲרוּגֶֽיהָ…”

“…and the land shall reveal its blood and it shall no longer conceal its slain ones.” (Isaiah 26:12)

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Continuing with my ongoing series of posts about the military service of Jewish soldiers in WW II, “this” post, like other preceding it, concerns Jewish soldiers who were either military casualties (killed, wounded, or missing) or, who received military awards or decorations, for action on a specific calendar date during that conflict.  For the purpose of these posts, that calendar date is based on information in news reports or obituaries about Jewish military casualties published in the The New York Times, most such news items appearing in 1945.  As such, the above-mentioned “date” which serves as the criterion for these posts is the date on which a serviceman was a casualty, when he performed or participated in action for which he was the recipient of military awards, or, if he was involved in any other significant, news-or-memory-worthy event – rather than the date on which a news item was published in the Times

In ironic hindsight, the fact that a soldier was a Jew was neither the criterion nor the focus of the Times’ reporting, since the nominal acceptance – let alone an unapologetic and positive assertion! – of Jewish collective identity; Jewish peoplehood – has long been anathema to the animating ideology of the Times.  As of 2021, that worldview remains undiminished in intensity and taken-for-granted-acceptance, and will probably persist until the arrival of an informational or sociological “black swan event“.  

As for these posts themselves, the order in which they’ve appeared here at TheyWereSoldiers is alphabetical, with servicemen thus far profiled encompassing Navy Hospital Apprentice Stuart E. Adler through Army PFC Harry Kaufman.

And with that, a “new” name makes its appearance:  Second Lieutenant Wallace Franklin Kaufman (serial number 0-931082), a B-24 Liberator navigator in the Army Air Force.  Born in Brooklyn on February 14, 1922, he was the son of Louis (12/23/88-9/5/78) and Lillian (7/23/98-1/17/95) Kaufman, the family residing at 456 Schenectady Avenue.

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Via Apartments.com, here’s a quite contemporary image of 456 Schenectady Ave.  (East Flatbush.)

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More than a nominal record in a Missing Air Crew Report (MACR 14351 to be specific, or the WW II Honor List of Dead and Missing for New York), Lt. Kaufman’s fate is directly associated with a brief newsreel, and a series of photographs, that because of their dramatic, haunting, and terrifying nature, have become etched into the photographic record and popular culture of WW II aviation in particular, and, news coverage of the Second World War, in general.

A member of the 867th Bomb Squadron of the 494th (“Kelly’s Cobras“) Bomb Group, Lt. Kaufman was one of the eleven crew members aboard Brief (44-42058), a B-24M liberator piloted by 2 Lt. Glen R. Custer, when that aircraft was shot down by a direct hit from anti-aircraft fire during a bombardment mission to Koror, in the Palau Islands, on May 4, 1945.  The only crewman of Brief to escape (and to even have had a chance to escape) from the mortally damaged bomber, Lt. Kaufman was captured shortly after landing by parachute in – probably – the Ngurumetegol Strait.  You can read a succinct and detailed summary about this incident at PacificWrecks.

But, by August 15, when Emperor Hirohito read the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War, Lt. Wallace Kaufman was no longer alive:  On May 24 – almost three weeks after falling into Japanese captivity – he had been murdered. 

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Well, here’s notice of Lt. Kaufman’s death, as published on page 31 of Times on November 4, 1945, almost three months after the war’s end.  Notably, three significant aspects of the article are not entirely correct.  First, Lt. Kaufman was not personally and immediately captured by Lieutenant Katsuyama and was not the Japanese Lieutenant’s personal prisoner – that’s a real oversimplification.  Second, Lt. Katsuyama himself (full rank and name: First Lieutenant Tetsuji Katsuyama) actually acted under orders of Lt. Col. Toshihiko (“Yoshie”) Yajima, who himself was under orders of of Lt. General Sadae Inoue.  Third, Lieutenant Katsuyama survived the war.  As revealed in late 1947, Lt. Kaysuyama and some comrades concocted a story to the effect that he’d committed suicide, when in reality he went into hiding commencing with the postwar occupation of the Palaus by American forces.  He returned to Japan in early 1946 under the name of Mikio Koyama, a Japanese soldier who had actually been killed in battle, the full story only coming to light some time later.  

Well, anyway.  Here’s the text of the Times’ article…

Second Lieutenant  Wallace Franklin Kaufman
Tuesday, February 14, 1922 / 17 Sh’vat 5682
(Friday, May 4, 1945 / 22 Iyyar 5705)
Thursday, May 24, 1945 / 13 Sivan 5705

– .ת. נ. צ. ב. ה –
תהא נפשו צרורה בצרור החיים

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Brooklyn Flier Slain By a Japanese Officer

Second Lieut. Wallace F. Kaufman, Army Air Forces, a former lightweight boxing champion at Brooklyn College, was murdered by the Japanese last May 24 after the B-24 bomber of which he was navigator was struck by enemy anti-aircraft fire and he had parachuted to safety.

Details of the murder were disclosed in a letter received yesterday from the War Department by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Kaufman of 456 Schenectady Avenue, Brooklyn.  Lieutenant Kaufman, who was 23, has been reported missing in action since May 4.

A Japanese, Lieutenant Katsuyama, took the navigator prisoner after the plane was struck near Koro Island, Palau Group of the Caroline Islands.  Katsuyama killed his prisoner and later committed hara-kiri to prevent falling into American hands, according to the War Department.  The other ten members of the B-24 crew perished in the falling ship.

Born in Brooklyn, Lieutenant Kaufman was graduated from Boys High School and Brooklyn College.  He enlisted with the AAF in February, 1943, and was sent overseas last February. 

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…and here’s page 31 in its fullness, showing the above article’s setting amidst a variety of advertisements.  It’s 1946:  Life goes on.

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The shoulder-patch of the 13th Air Force…

…the emblem of the 494th Bomb Group (“Kelly’s Cobras”) (found at EBay)…

…and, the insignia of the 867th Bomb Squadron, posted to Pinterest by Nikolaos Paliousis.

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Between September 3, 1944, and June 23, 1945, the 494th Bomb Group was based at Angaur Island, the southernmost island of the Palau Archipelago, or (more accurately) the Republic of Palau.  This Oogle map shows the Palau Islands, with Angaur (outlined in blue), and Koror, (outlined in red).  The air distance between the two is a mere and ironic 37 miles.  

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Here’s the video of the fall of Brief:  Available through the War Archives YouTube channel, this luridly titled British Pathé film, “AIR DEATH – B-24 Shot Down In Carolines Raid” shows the last moments of B-24M 44-42058.  Uploaded in August of 2011, the video has attained many views. 

(I’ve been ambivalent about including the video in this post, but, well, here it is…)  

(I t h i n k the sounds of aircraft engines, falling bombs, explosions, and other sounds in the film were actually recorded in real time, but were instead were dubbed into the film prior to its distribution by British Pathé.  For example, at 00:40 seconds – for the string of 12 bombs – the sound s e e m s (?) akin to that of a single bomb being dropped from a German Ju-87 dive-bomber.)

From 00:07 to 00:10 seconds, the camera focuses on the 867th Bomb Squadron B-24J Liberator 44-40729, alias Hay Maker, an aircraft which survived the war.

This image of Hay Maker’s nose art, originally for sale through EBay, is from ww2aircraft.netforum…  Note that the canvas cover draped over the nose turret is marked with the digits “729”, suggesting that each 494th BG aircraft had its “own” set of protective coverings…  

…while this picture appears in Ken Rust’s 7th Air Force Story.

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Here’s the utterly un-“pronouned” and un-“woke” nose art of Brief.  The aircraft nickname, and, the design of the winged-star symbol, were probably (?!) inspired by the 7th Air Force magazine of that name.    

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This image of the matzevot of Lt. Kaufman and his mother, at Mount Hebron Cemetery, in Flushing, New York (Block 81, Reference 2, Line PP4, Grave 2, Sam D. Johnson Association Society) at FindAGrave, is by Knickerbocker Chapter DAR, New York, N.Y.  The matzeva of his father Louis (cut off in the image) is immediately to the left.  

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Via FindAGrave researcher Chuck, this image shows the collective grave of Brief’s crew.  The location?  Long Island National Cemetery, in Farmingdale, New York- Section J, Grave 13630.  Listed alphabetically below the image (neither by crew position nor rank!) are the names, serial numbers, home towns or cities of residence, and crew positions of the ten.  The group burial took place on August 31, 1949.  

Sgt. Floyd Collins Bennett, 14185619 – Blue Mountain, Ms. – Passenger
2 Lt. Irving R. Brown, 0-778710 – Detroit, Mi. – Co-Pilot
2 Lt. Glen Ruben Custer, 0-2058730 – Mo. / San Diego, Ca. – Pilot
2 Lt. Norbert J. Giese, 0-929814 – Chicago, Il. – Bombardier
Sgt. Richard E. Grimes, 32974352 – Mahopac, N.Y. – Flight Engineer
Cpl. Albin Rynkiewicz, 4205866 – Nanticoke, Pa. – Gunner (Tail)
Cpl. Robert Neil Shillenn, 33576063 – Clearfield, Pa. – Gunner (Ball Turret)
T/Sgt. James F. Tenney, 32677148 – Oswego County, N.Y. – Radio Operator
Cpl. Irving Topp, 12177268 – Brooklyn, N.Y. – Gunner (Dorsal Turret)
Cpl. Victor B. Wilson, 13195222 – Dunmore, Pa. – Gunner (Nose Turret)

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News articles about Lt. Kaufman appeared in the following publications on these dates…

Brooklyn Eagle – 11/6/45, 4/25/46, 10/29/49
New York Times (Casualty Lists) – 7/4/45, 8/29/45
New York Times (News Articles) – 11/4/45, 11/21/45, 7/16/62
New York Times (Obituary Section – “In Memoriam”) 2/14/46, 5/24/46
American Jews in World War II – 360

Nearly two years later, Associated Press news articles pertaining to the trial and sentencing of Lt. Katsuyama appeared in the national news media on December 5, 1947.  (As for the postwar fate of Lt. Col. Toshihiko Yajima and Lt. General Sadae Inoue, I have no further information.)  There, however, the story did not end: In July of 1962 news relating to Tetsuji Katsuyama, no longer a lieutenant and having been released from prison some years before, again appeared in the news media.  This time, the news pertained to Mrs. Anna Topp’s (mother of Cpl. Irving Topp) continuing search for definitive information about her son’s fate.         

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Lt. Kaufman’s fate paralleled that of the overwhelming majority of Allied aviators who were captured in Pacific islands occupied by Japanese military forces, and, that of approximately 47 per cent of the Allied airmen captured after having been shot down during combat missions to the Japanese Home Islands, as determined through the dedicated, remarkably thorough, and above all conscientious research and analysis of the late Tōru Fukubayahsi of POW Research Network Japan.  This manner of treatment of aviator POWs commenced with that of the eight airmen captured after the Doolittle Raid on April 18, 1942, and continued from 1944 through 1945, even after the Emperor’s broadcast on August 15, of which the fate of this crew is only one example.

In terms of the number of Allied aviators taken captive by the Japanese, during combat missions during which they specifically served as air crew members  in any capacity (as opposed to having been captured early in the war during in “ground action” ((for lack of a better phrase)) – for example, during the fall of Singapore, or, the Philippines), who survived as POWs, I’ve determined that 664 of these men lived to see the war’s end.  

Breakdown by nation and air arm follows:

United States
United States Army Air Force – 498
United States Navy – 130
United States Marine Corps – 6
American Volunteer Group – 3

Australia
Royal Australian Air Force – 8

Canada
Royal Canadian Air Force – 7

Netherlands
Netherlands East Indies Air Force – 1

New Zealand
Royal New Zealand Air Force – 1

England
Royal Air Force – 10

Parsing the total of 662 by the aircraft they’d been fly-“ing” (or, flying “in”) when captured, the numbers are the following:

British Commonwealth

Beaufighter – 2
Beaufort – 2
Blenheim – 6
Mohawk – 1
Liberator – 2
Catalina – 6

United States Army Air Force

A-24 Banshee – 1
A-36 Invader – 4
B-17 Flying Fortress – 11
B-24 Liberator – 113

B-25 Mitchell – 40

The total of 40 includes 1 airman from the NEIAF, Sgt. Van Burg of No. 18 Squadron.

B-26 Marauder – 2

B-29 Superfortress – 258

Three B-29 crews (33 men of the 258) survived intact:

1 Lt. John B. Boynton, 6th Bomb Group, 24th Bomb Squadron, B-29 42-24759, 15 // Blind Date / Lady’s Delight, May 23, 1945 (MACR 14482) – 11 crew members; Mission to Tokyo

1 Lt. William C. Grounds, 6th Bomb Group, 40th Bomb Squadron, B-29 42-24916, 54 // The Peacemaker, March 28, 1945 (MACR 13465) – 11 crew members; Mine Laying Mission to Minefield “Mike”

Capt. Robert C. Shanks, Jr., 40th Bomb Group, 45th Bomb Squadron, B-29 42-24574, 293, December 14, 1944 (MACR 10376) – 11 crew members; Mission to Bangkok

C-46 Commando – 10

Includes one fully intact crew:

Capt. Frank E. Cowart, Air Transport Command, 30th Transport Group, C-46 41-12294, December 27, 1943 (MACR 1555) – 4 crew members; Mission – cargo flight from Mohanbari, India, to Chungking (Chongqing), China; crew parachuted 2 miles from Canton, China

P-38 Lightning – 13
P-40 Warhawk – 14
P-47 Thunderbolt – 7
P-51 Mustang – 23
F-4 Lightning – 1
F-5 Lightning – 1
F-6 Mustang – 1
Glider – 1
L-5 Sentinel – 1
OA-10A Catalina – 1

United States Navy / United States Marine Corps

F4U Corsair – 8

United States Navy

F4F Wildcat – 2
FG-1D Corsair – 3
F6F Hellcat – 18
PB4Y Liberator – 24
PBY Coronado – 16
SB2C Helldiver – 30
SBW Helldiver – 1
SBD Dauntless – 3
TBD Devastator – 6
TBF Avenger – 16
TBM Avenger – 16

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So, in light of all the above, the basis of this post is the calendar date of May 4, 1945 (not May 24, the date of Lt. Kaufman’s murder), for in essence and fact, given Japan’s WW II-era cultural, ideological, and racial attitudes concerning enemy military captives (and captive enemy airmen, in particular), Lt. Kaufman’s story was tragically predetermined the moment he took to his parachute, even as the broken Brief and her ten crewmen fell towards the island of Koror. 

Yet, more than the events pertaining to the immediacy of Lt. Kaufman’s fate, this story, especially its postwar aspects, is part of a far larger whole.  It is a reflection (one of many, many such reflections) of the postwar devolution in attitude and policy towards Japanese war criminals: When the cynical winds of realpolitik (commencing even before the war’s end, as explained by Edward Behr in Hirohito – Behind the Myth), economic interests, bureaucratic apathy, institutional inertia, postwar prosperity, and the natural and inevitable (?) desire that society “move on” and leave the past behind – all of these, in the context of the Cold War – made justice incommensurate, inconsistent, and fleeting.  In all this, there are undeniable and solid parallels with the postwar policy of the WW II Allies towards German war criminals, as explored in great and disillusioning depth by Tom Bower in Blind Eye to Murder.   

Sometimes, it seems, the only justice available to men lies in the act of memory. 

This is a meagre second to “reality”, but it is better than no justice, at all.

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There is far, far more that I can relate concerning this utterly numbing story.  But (for now) I’ll hold any such future post in abeyance, for I have other topics to cover; other eras to explore; other subjects to address. 

(For, now.)

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Yet…  Here are two news items from the late 1940s, when Lt. Kaufman’s story was yet fresh in memory.  Both were found via Thomas M. Tryniski’s Fulton History database / website. 

This article was published in the Brooklyn Eagle on April 25, 1946, and covers the establishment of a Jewish War Veterans Post, in Brooklyn, named in honor of Lt. Kaufman.

New J.W.V. Post To Be Named for Late Lt. Kaufman

Institution of the Lt. Wallace F. Kaufman Post, 416, of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States, and installation of the post’s officers will be held Saturday night at the Congregation Shaari Zedek of Brooklyn, Kingston Ave. and Park Place.

Lt. Wallace F. Kaufman, in whose honor the new post is named, was an only son of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Kaufman of 456 Schenectady Ave. and a nephew of Benjamin Kaufman, past national commander of the J.W.V. and World War I Congressional Medal of Honor winner.  He was killed by the Japanese on May 24, 1945, after the B-24 bomber of which he was navigator was struck by enemy anti-aircraft fire and he had parachuted to safety.

The other ten members of the bomber, which crashed near Koror Island in the Palau group of the Caroline Islands, lost their lives in the crash.  After landing in the water, Lieutenant Kaufman was taken prisoner and 20 days later was killed by his captor, a Jap lieutenant, who, fearful of retribution, committed hari-kiri, according to the War Department.

The 23-year-old Army Air Force lieutenant, a native of Brooklyn, was graduated from Boys High School and Brooklyn College, where he was lightweight boxing champion.  He enlisted in the service in February, 1943, and was sent overseas in February, 1945.  His uncle, Benjamin Kaufman [see here, here and here], was his “idol”.

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Via Ancestry.com, here’s Sergeant Benjamin Kaufman’s Abstract of Military Service, filed in 1920.

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At Brooklyn College, Kaufman won the college’s intramural boxing medal and studied business administration in preparation for a law career.

Harry Finkelstein, chief of staff of Kings County Chapter, J.W.V., will be in charge of the post’s institution ceremonies.  Others participating will include Col. William Berman, past J.W.V. national commander, and Municipal Court Justices Harold J. McLaughlin and Daniel Gutman.

Old Newspapers

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Two years later, on February 27, 1948, the following announcement – concerning a Leap New Year’s Eve Annual Dance at the Lt. Wallace F. Kaufman Post – appeared in The New York Post.  

New York State Digital library

I’m not sure, but I guess that the Lt. Wallace F. Kaufman Post 416 Post no longer exists. 

This past is not only a different time, it is a different place.     

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Though the fact that “May 4, 1945”, marking a point in time only four days from Second World War’s end in Europe (May 9 is an alternative date, as explained here and here) might suggest few-“er” casualties and therefore fewer names and events for “this” post, this is hardly so:  Even if the war in Europe was concluding, the war with Japan continued; entirely unabated and with undiminished ferocity.  And so, though most names presented below occur in the context of the Pacific Theater of war, names are also present for Jewish servicemen who were casualties in the European theater – even at this “late” date.  And, along with the names of American Jewish soldiers, I’ve included the names of Jewish soldiers who were casualties while serving in the armed forces of other Allied nations (France, Poland, and the Soviet Union). 

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Yet, the ironic abundance of information pertaining to this date has eventuated in my creating – unlike my unusual practice – three separate posts: “this” post, for Army ground forces. 

A second post, for other members of the Army Air Force.  

And a third post, for the Marine Corps and Navy.  But…!  Due to the plethora of events and the abundance of information pertaining to May 4, 1945 in the Pacific Theater, that will be the lengthiest of this set of three posts, and will take a measure of time to complete.  But, I hope to get it up and viewable eventually. 

(Well, hey, my posts do tend to be on the longish side: The intentional antithesis of the ethos (is there an ethos, other than a gnostic interpretation of reality, such as here, here, and here) of those at the commanding heights (or plutonian depths?!) of the “tech elite” of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.  Oh…  Er…  Uh..  I mean, y’know, Twitter and Facebook.  (Gag.))

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So, ground forces…

Friday, May 4, 1945

21 Iyyar 5705

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United States Army

Pacific Theater

Killed in Action

– .ת. נ. צ. ב. ה –
תהא נפשו צרורה בצרור החיים

Berman, Irvin Leslie, T/5, 20316073, Purple Heart, at Negros Island, Philippines
B Battery, 222nd Field Artillery Battalion, 40th Infantry Division
Born Philadelphia, Pa., 12/15/21
Mr. and Mrs. Israel L. and Melissa Berman [later Prestia] (parents), 2231 N. 8th St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Kenneth Lane Prestia (half-brother)
Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines – Plot E, Row 3, Grave 22. Symbolic matzeva at Mount Sharon Cemetery, Springfield, Pa. (Section N), inscribed with date “5/5/45”
Casualty List 6/1/45
Jewish Exponent 6/8/45
Philadelphia Bulletin 6/2/45
American Jews in World War II – 511

Here’s an image of T/5 Berman’s matzeva at Mount Sharon Cemetery, in Springfield, Pennsylvania.  

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Katz, Abraham (Avraham bar Mordechay HaCohen), PFC, 12042839, Silver Star, Purple Heart
A Company, 306th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division
(Previously wounded; approximately 9/1/44)
Born 6/26/21
Mr. Max Katz (father), 378 Pennsylvania Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Wellwood Cemetery, Pinelawn, N.Y. – Section 3, Block 49, Row 2, Grave 4, Plot A-12, Society Jewish Postal Workers Welfare League of New York; Buried 2/27/49
Casualty Lists 11/1/44, 6/14/45
American Jews in World War II – 358

Via, FindAGrave.com, this image of PFC Katz’s matzeva is by Marie M. Bennett.

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Kletter, Benny, PFC, 32821733, Purple Heart, at Okinawa
A Company, 306th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division
Born Essen, Germany, 1/24/23
Mr. Louis Kletter (father), 1970 East 18th St., Brooklyn, N.Y.
34 Bond St., New York, N.Y.
Mount Hebron Cemetery, Flushing, N.Y. – Block 12, Reference 11, Section F, Line 30, Grave 5
Casualty List 6/26/45
American Jews in World War II – 364

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European Theater

Killed in Action

Perlis, Benjamin (Benyamin bar Yitzhak), Pvt., 42138962, Purple Heart
A Company, 324th Infantry Regiment, 44th Infantry Division
Born Brooklyn, N.Y., 6/28/26
Mr. and Mrs. Isidore and Ida Perlis (parents), 264 Rochester Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Montefiore Cemetery, Springfield Gardens, N.Y. – Block 26, Row 008R, Grave 3, (Society: Graiever Young Men’s Benevolent); Buried 1/16/49
Casualty List 6/11/45
American Jews in World War II – 404

These two images – of Pvt. Perlis’ matzeva, and, his photographic portrait mounted thereon in ceramic – are by FindAGrave contributor Matt Flyfisher.  

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Horowitz, Irving (Yitzhak bar Moshe), PFC, 32769169, Purple Heart, French Cross
Born 9/7/25
Mrs. Ida Horowitz (mother), 150 Governor St., Paterson, N.J.
Riverside Cemetery, Saddle Brook, N.J. – Map 165, Block O, Section 53, Society Anshe Leibowitz
Casualty Lists 5/24/45, 6/22/45

This image of PFC Horowitz’s extremely simple matzeva is by Mark Pollack, a contributor to FindAGrave.com.  

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Summerfield, Norman Sylvan, Pvt., 34720133, Purple Heart, in Austria
L Company, 409th Infantry Regiment, 103rd Infantry Division
Born Memphis, Tn., 12/26/23
Mrs. Fannie Summerfield (mother), 1056 Linden St., Memphis, Tn.
Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold, France – Plot B, Row 24, Grave 1
American Jews in World War II – 568

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Continental United States

Died Non-Battle

Satloff, Herman (Hayyim bar Shlomo), Cpl., 33340623, at Camp Blanding Florida
Born Philadelphia, Pa., 6/13/21
Mrs. Nancy (Katz) Satloff (wife), Washington, D.C.
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel and Fannie Satloff (parents), 1704 West 65th Ave., Philadelphia, Pa.
Montefiore Cemetery, Jenkintown, Pa. – Section 12C, Lot 64, Grave 1
American Jews in World War II – Not Listed

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Soviet Union

Red Army
РККА (Рабоче-крестьянская Красная армия)

Killed in Action

– .ת. נ. צ. ב. ה –
תהא נפשו צרורה בצרור החיים

Bukrinskiy, Mikhail Efimovich / Khaimovich [Букринский, Михаил Ефимович / Хаимович]
Junior Lieutenant [Младший Лейтенант]
SU-76 (Self-Propelled Gun) Commander  (You can read more about the SU-76 – in English – at Wikipedia, while ru.Wikipedia’s coverage of the SU-76 includes production figures for the vehicle.  Images and video of an SU-76 before, during, and after restoration can be viewed at Aregard (“Rear Guard”).) 
1204th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment, Northwestern Front
(Lightly wounded previously – on 8/24/44)
Born 8/17/23, city of Kiev, Ukraine
Mrs. Sofya Markovna Bukrinskiy (mother)

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Goldich, Ushar / Usher (Ushir) Ideleevich / Idelevich [Гольдич, Ушар / Ушер (Ушир) Иделеевич / Идельевич]
Junior Lieutenant [Младший Лейтенант]
Platoon Commander – Battery Operations
408th Mortar Regiment, 42nd Army
Born 3/23, Ukraine
Mr. Idel Pinkhovich Goldich (father)
Buried in Latvia

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Guterman, Petr Grigorevich [Гутерман, Петр Григорьевич]
Guards Lieutenant [Гвардии Лейтенант]
Chief – Chemical Services
158th Guards Artillery Regiment, 78th Guards Rifle Division
(Wounded previously – on 3/1/42, 5/22/42, and 5/21/43)
Born 1910, city of Pertikov, Belorussia
Mrs. Mariya Dubova Guterman (wife)
Buried in Benedorf, Germany

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Magaziner, Mikhail Davidovich [Магазинер, Михаил Давидович / Давыдович]
Lieutenant [Лейтенант]
Platoon Commander – Rifle Platoon
332nd Rifle Regiment, 241st Rifle Division
Born 1907, city of Berdichev, Ukraine
Mrs. Klara Eyzikovna Magaziner (wife)
Buried in Czechoslovakia

__________

Shulman, Ilya Abramovich [Шульман, Илья Абрамович]
Lieutenant [Лейтенант]

Headquarters Translator
1099th Rifle Regiment
(Wounded previously – on 8/15/43)
Born 1923
Mrs. R.I. Shulman (mother)
Buried in city of Tsibinka, Poland

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Vayner, Isaak Ilich [Вайнер, Исаак Ильич]
Senior Technician-Lieutenant [Старший Техник-Лейтенант]
Chief – Assistant Technical Department for Procurement
1531st Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment, 134th Rifle Corps, 2nd Belorussian Front
Born 11/9/19, city of Mariupol, Ukraine

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Poland

Polish People’s Army

Killed in Action

– .ת. נ. צ. ב. ה –
תהא נפשו צרורה בצרור החיים

Feder, Chaim, Pvt. (Operation Brand Berlin)
35th Infantry Regiment
Mr. Chylowys Feder (father?)
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 – 85

Feldman, Leon, W/O
Born 1924
Mr. Sakowicz Feldman (father)
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 – 20

Filhaber, Abram, Pvt. (Operation Brand Berlin)
35th Infantry Regiment
Mr. Szlomo Filhaber (father)
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 – 85

Ginzberg, Wolf, Pvt. (at Kitten, Germany)
Intelligence Company, 7th Infantry Division
Born 1914, Lwow
Mr. Zacharia Ginzberg (father)
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 – 24

Rejchman, Jozef, Cpl. (at Lieske, Germany)
25th Infantry Regiment
Born 1918; Zalesie, Lubelskie, Poland
Mr. Wladyslaw Rejchman (father)
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 – 95

Sztern, Icek, Cpl. ((Operation Brand Berlin), Orianenberg, Brandenburg, Germany)
16th Infantry Regiment
Mr. Abraham Sztern (father)
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 – 68

Sztynzak, Adam, Pvt.
35th Infantry Regiment
Mr. Hersz Sztynzak (father)
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 – 98

________________________________________

Wounded in Action

United States

Pacific Theater

Cominsky, Joseph, PFC, 33177055, Purple Heart, at Okinawa
I Company, 307th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division
(Philadelphia Bulletin lists date as 5/5/45; Previously wounded on 7/26/44)
Born Philadelphia, Pa., 5/12/14
Mr. and Mrs. Robert and Fannie Cominsky (parents), 103 Roseberry St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Jewish Exponent 11/24/44
Philadelphia Record 11/1/44, 6/21/45, 6/22/45
Philadelphia Bulletin 6/21/45
Ours to Hold It High – 467
American Jews in World War II – 516

__________

Kushner, Jerry, PFC, 13127158, Purple Heart, at Okinawa
I Company, 306th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division
Born Philadelphia, Pa., 3/31/24
Mrs. Bessie Kushner [Zatlin] (mother), 5018 N. 10th St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Jewish Exponent 6/29/45
Philadelphia Inquirer 6/21/45
Philadelphia Record 6/22/45
Philadelphia Bulletin 6/21/45
Ours to Hold It High – 514
American Jews in World War II – 534

France

Europe

Armée de Terre

Tordjam, Jacques, Soldat de 2ème Classe, Croix de Guerre (at Baviere, gorges d’Inzell)
Regiment de Marche du Tchad
Had been severely wounded by several bullets in the body by assaulting strongly held emplacements.  [A été grièvement blessé de plusieurs balles dans le corps en se jetant des emplacements fortement tenus.]
Livre d’Or et de Sang – 167

________________________________________

Here’s a reference..

Case File 48-0-26 / 48-44, Records Group 153, United States National Archives, College Park, Maryland, “Report of Investigation Division, Legal Section, GHQ, SCAP”, Inv. Div. No. 1349, Title: “Corporal Irving TOPP”.  “Synopsis of Facts: Statements from Onose, Hamano, Doi, Ogaki and Watanabe set out.  Witnesses report only one survivor from plane crash on 4 May 1945; execution of survivor, Lt. Kaufman, performed by order of Inoue; executor Katsuyama, believe to be still alive and in Japan.”  (Includes interviews of Ichiro Onose (Intelligence Section of Inoue-Butai Headquarters, Babelthuap Island; Norio Doi, commander of forces stationed on Koror Island; Daiichi Ogaki)

Here are some books about history…

Behr, Edward, Hirohito – Behind the Myth, Villard Books (Random House), New York, N.Y., 1989

Bower, Tom, Blind Eye to Murder – Britain, America, and the Purging of Nazi Germany – A Pledge Betrayed, Granada Publishing Limited, London, England, 1981

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

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

Herbert, Kevin, Maximum Effort: The B-29s Against Japan, Sunflower University Press, Manhattan, Ks., 1983

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, World Federation of Jewish Fighters Partisans and Camp Inmates: Association of Jewish War Veterans of the Polish Armies in Israel, Tel Aviv, Israel, 1994

Rogers, David H.; Sigler, Alvin L.; Wilcox, Charley F.; Martin, Briton; 494th Bombardment Group (H) Association, 494th Bombardment Group (H) History WWII: From Orlando, Wendover, Mountain Home, and Kauai to Corregidor, Zamboanga, Koror, Shanghai, and Hiroshima with the Liberators of Kelley’s Kobras and Back Home After All That, 494th Bombardment Group (H) Association, Annandale, MN (c/o E.R. Glazier, 135 E. Park St., Annandale 55302-0336), 1997

Rust, Kenn C., Seventh Air Force Story, Historical Aviation Album, Temple City, Ca., 1979

No specific author…

Ours To Hold It High: The History of the 77th Infantry Division in World War II, Infantry Press, Washington, D.C., 1947 (A very rich source of information, Ours to Hold It High, digitized by Oogle (isn’t everything, including “us”?!), can be accessed and downloaded via Archive.org.)

Here’s a book about gnosticism…

Voegelin, Eric, Science, Politics and Gnosticism, Regnery Gateway Inc., Chicago, Il., 1968

A Spitfire in April – 2 Lt. Ernest Willy Rosenstein [Follow-up…]

You never quite know when a question will be answered.

Case in point:  Lieutenant Ernest Willy Rosenstein, a South African Spitfire pilot in No. 185 (and earlier No. 242) Squadron, Royal Air Force, and the only child of German nine-victory World War One ace Leutnant d.R. Willy Rosenstein.  Killed in action in north central Italy almost a month prior to the the Second World War’s end, two aspects of his final combat mission, described in my 2018 post Soldiers from New York: A Spitfire in April – Ernest Willy Rosenstein – II, have remained a mystery.

Where was he shot down? 

Where did his Spitfire fall to earth?

Part of this uncertainty arose from a letter received some years ago from the Air Historical Branch of the Ministry of Defence (Lacon House Theobald’s Road) concerning Ernest Willy’s last mission:

“Our records show that Lieutenant Rosenstein was the pilot of Spitfire MH892 which was on an air operation (dive bombing) of a methane gas plant at Fontana at about 1100 hours on the day in question.  His aircraft was seen to crash just west of the target.  

“Lieutenant Rosenstein was badly injured on the crash and he died in the local hospital a few hours later.  He was originally buried in a local cemetery, but after the war he was buried in a British Military Plot in a cemetery in Milan.

“Eyewitnesses stated that Lieutenant Rosenstein made a last-minute attempt to bail out, but apparently he was too low for his parachute to deploy properly.”

Where was (where is) Fontana?  I couldn’t find it on a map, whether print or digital.  

Similarly, the Squadron Summary of Events for No. 185 Squadron for the April 2 mission notes:  “Six Spitfires led by P/O L. Liversidge attacked METHANE Gas Plant at P.973903.  Bombed Compressor filling station scoring one direct hit and two near misses.  Compressor building was severely damaged.  Twenty-five strafing runs were made and numerous strikes were scored.  One aircraft piloted by Lt. E.W. Rosenstein burst into flame at the beginning of its bombing dive and dived straight into the ground and exploded.  No parachute was seen and no flak was observed.” 

Where was (where is) “Fontana”? 

Where was (what is) “P.973903”?  Is this even on a map?

So now in 2021, three years after the initial posts about Lt. Rosenstein, I’ve found – or more accurately, I’ve received – the answers to these questions.  They arrived from researcher Rolland Swank, who was also instrumental in providing me with information pertaining to Corporal Jack Bartman, a member of the United States Air Force who was murdered after being captured near the Tyrolean Alps, on April 20, 1945. 

Thanks again, Rolland!

____________________

Here are the two communications I received from Rolland concerning Ernest Willy Rosenstein’s last mission.  Within this information lies the “key” to the mystery:  There was (is) no village of “Fontane“, but there most certainly was (is) a village of “Fontana“. 

Regarding the crash site for Ernest Willy Rosenstein.  The co-ordinates given in the squadron records is P.973903. This is a location in the North Italy Zone.  An explanation for the mapping system is here

The full co-ordinates would be vP973903 (North Italy Zone).  This translates to 44° 50′ 15” N, 10° 10′ 00” E.

On Google maps it is here.

You can see on the map that “Fontane” is just to the North East.

Another clue to the location of the crash is to look a where he was first buried.  Here is the link to information about his grave.

If you click on the “Concentration (1)” tab (link also here) – and look at the “Previously Buried at” column, you will see he was first buried in the Civil Cemetery Noceto.  Noceto is a town located about a mile or so south of the crash site.

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The echodelta.net website for map locations can be off somewhat as to exact locations.  They note (because of the math they use) sometimes locations can be off by 150 to 1000 meters.  However, you can look at the actual maps that they were using in Italy at the time.  Here is such a map with the grid system.  It shows Fontane in the lower right corner.

It looks like vP973903 is actually a located about where the Via Emila and Str. Nuova (named on Google maps) intersect.  Thus we should move the Red Google indicator 50 or so meters down and the 50 meters to the left.  The map shows two “star” symbols on either side of Str. Nuova.  A star symbol indicates a “Mill”.  [Thus, finally, an answer:  The location of vP973903 is in the village of Molinetto.]

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And so, using the places names, geographic coordinates, and maps provided by Rolland, I’ve been able to identify the probable location where Ernest’s fighter, Spitfire IX MH892, fell to earth.  Using a combination of Oogle Map Views, Earth Views, and Street Views, this is illustrated below.    

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However, rather than fully recapitulate Ernest Willy’s life story “here” (the original post “A Spitfire in April – II” can be found here), here are a few images and excerpts from that original post, to place “this” post in a clearer context.

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A formal portrait of Ernest Willy in his officer’s uniform.

.ת.נ.צ.ב.ה.

Tehé Nafshó Tzrurá Bitzrór Haḥayím

May his soul be bound up in the bond of everlasting life.

____________________

Ernest Willy, seated in the cockpit of Naomes II, a Spitfire IX which he flew while assigned to No. 242 squadron RAF.  The aircraft carried the squadron code “LE * P”, buts its serial number is unknown.  Based on information in Ernest Willy’s Pilot’s Log Book and other sources, the image can be dated to July through mid-August of 1944.

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The insignia of Number 185 Squadron, Royal Air Force

Ara Fejn Hu” is Maltese to the effect of “Look where it is” or “See where he is

____________________

Ernest Willy’s matzeva at the Milan War Cemetery in Italy (plot location V, A, 5) photographed by FindaGrave contributor and76.

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These two images, both via the National Archives, show No. 185 Squadron’s Summary of Events, and Operations Record Book (respectively) for 2 April, 1945.

“Six Spitfires led by P/O L. Liversidge attacked METHANE Gas Plant at P.973903.  Bombed Compressor filling Station scoring one direct hit and two near misses.  Compressor building was severely damaged.  Twenty-five strafing runs were made and numerous strikes were scored.  One aircraft piloted by Lt. E.W. Rosenstein burst into flame at the beginning of its bombing dive and dived straight into the ground and exploded.  No parachute was seen and no flak was observed.”

Air Ministry Squadron Operations Records

“Six Spitfires led by P/O L. Liversidge attacked METHANE Gas Plant at P.973903.  Bombed Compressor filling station scoring one direct hit and two near misses.  Compressor building was severely damaged.  Twenty-five strafing runs were made and numerous strikes were scored.  One aircraft piloted by Lt. E.W. Rosenstein burst into flame at the beginning of its bombing dive and dived straight into the ground and exploded.  No parachute was seen and no flak was observed.” 

Air Ministry Squadron Operations Records

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Here’s a small-scale Oogle Map showing Parma and Fidenza, with the position of Fontane circled in blue and Molinetto in red.  

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By way of comparison, here’s the United States Army Map Service 1944 (second edition) 1:50,000 map (Sheet 73-IV) of Fidenza, with the area of interest in the lower right corner.  Though Fontane is labeled, Molinetto is not.  

As mentioned by Roland, “The echodelta.net website for map locations can be off somewhat as to exact locations.  They note (because of the math they use) sometimes locations can be off by 150 to 1000 meters.  However, you can look at the actual maps that they were using in Italy at the time.  Here is such a map with the grid system.  It shows Fontane in the lower right corner.”

____________________

Moving in closer.  Fontane is circled in blue, and the location of Molinetto in red.  The six-pointed-star at Molinetto represents a (grain?) mill.

____________________

Here’s an Oogle map view of the same general area, showing the locations of Fontane and Molinetto, in blue and red respectively. 

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An Oogle Earth view of Fontane…  

____________________

…and, an Oogle map showing the location of Molinetto.

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An Oogle Earth view of Molinetto…

____________________

…and Oogling in for a even closer view of Molinetto.

____________________

Now, we move from aerial views to earthbound views. 

This Oogle Street (highway?!) view looks west-northwest along Via Emilia (SS9), just before reaching the village of Molinetto.  Beyond and behind the six Mulmix grain siloes (and therefore not visible in the image) lies the Molino Testi home goods store, at 77 Via Emilia.  

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Having just driven past (virtually, that is) the six siloes and the Molino Testi store (both to the “right” of this image), we reach the Vini-Salumi Formaggi / Pasta Fresca (“Wines-Salami Cheeses / Fresh Pasta”) store, the one-story brick building in the center of this image.  Though this particular screen-shot dates to 2020, recent (2021) Oogle Street views reveal that this building is vacant, and, completely absent of any signs of ownership.  Albeit, it’s still private property.  

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Going a little farther along Via Emilia, here’s a closer 2020 view of the Vini-Salumi Formaggi / Pasta Fresca store.

____________________

We are now within Molinetto and on Str. Nuova, which is oriented north-northeast.  In the center of this image, the Oogle Street View camera looks into a gravel access road or driveway between two apartment buildings.  Looking closely, it can be seen that this access road leads to (and ends) directly at the rear of the former Vini-Salumi Formaggi.  (Oogle Street and map views reveal that Str. Nuova cannot be reached by Via Emilia due to a fence at the intersection of these two roads.)  

____________________

If you continue along Str. Nuova, you soon reach – just before coming to railroad tracks connecting Parma and Fidenza (and beyond) – Via Mulino Nuova, a short dead-end street oriented east-southeast.  Looking south-southwest from Via Mulino Nuova presents a view directly across a patch of farmland to the rear of the former Vini-Salumi Formaggi, which is in the very center of this image. 

______________________________

And so…  In light of Rolland’s observations, and, air photo and street views available through Oogle, the most probable location for the crash of Ernest Willy’s Spitfire is in the vicinity of the one-story building – the former Vini-Salumi Formaggi – at the intersection of Via Emilia and Str. Nuova.  If anything remains of the aircraft, it probably by now inaccessibly rests at a depth of several meters. 

But, even if just a small remnant of an era which is gradually being forgotten, I would think it still exists. 

Like, I hope – at least for now – memory of the pilot who flew it.  

______________________________

Acknowledgement

Thanks for your help, Rolland!

References

Matzeva of Ernest Willy Rosenstein (at FindAGrave)

Casualty List in South African Jewish Times

No. 185 Squadron, RAF – history (motto (Maltese): Ara fejn hu – “Look where it is”) (at Wikipedia)

No. 185 Squadron, RAF – emblem (at RAF Heraldry Trust)

Brent, Winston, 85 Years of South African Air Force – 1920-2005, Freeworld Publications, Inc., Nelspruit, South Africa, 2005

Martin, Henry J., and Orpen, Neil, South African Forces, World War II. Vol. 6, Eagles Victorious: The Operations of the South African Forces Over the Mediterranean and Europe, in Italy, the Balkans and the Aegean, and from Gibraltar and West Africa, Purnell, Cape Town, South Africa, 1977

South African Jews in World War Two, Eagle Press, South African Jewish Board of Deputies, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1950

Soldiers from New York: Jewish Soldiers in The New York Times, in World War Two: Second Lieutenant Richard H. Davis – October 18, 1944 [Updated post… “New and improved!”]

[Created a couple of years ago – ! – this post has been updated, with the inclusion of maps, as well as new documents and illustrations.  I also removed the two images of MACR 10140 (covering the loss of Lt. Davis’ B-24), due to the (non-typically) poor quality of the digital (Fold3) versions of these documents, replacing them with a simple list of the names of the plane’s crew members.]

Lieutenant Richard H. Davis, from Belle Harbor, New York, was the subject of several news items during his military service.  Three such items appeared in The Wave (Rockaway Beach) on July 22, 1943, and May 18 and August 24, 1944, and covered his military training and deployment to England. 

On April 12, 1945 the sad news item covering Lt. Davis’ death – during an operational mission over Europe on October 18, 1944 – appeared on The Wave’s front page.  This announcement was accompanied by a photograph of the Lieutenant standing before a B-24 Liberator bomber. 

The article (found and accessed via Thomas M. Tryniski’s fantastic FultonHistory.com website) is presented below.

____________________

Lt. Richard H. Davis Killed In Action

Lieutenant Richard H. Davis, 20-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Davis of 156 Beach 134th Street, who was reported missing October 18, 1944, was killed in action on that date in the European Theatre of Operations, his parents were notified by the War Department last week.

Lieutenant Davis was a navigator on a Liberator B-24 bomber with the 8th Air Force.  He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1942 and was called in February, 1943.  He received his training at Selman Field, Louisiana, and few to England in July, 1944, and attended combat training school in North Ireland.  While there he underwent a period of intensive training in high altitude bombing procedures used in the European Theatre of Operations.

Lieutenant Davis was the holder of the Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters.

He was a graduate of Public School 114 and of Far Rockaway High School, class of 1942.  Before enlisting in the service, he was active in Boy Scout Troop 112 and in the Beth-El Players Guild, having appeared in “It Can’t Happen Here,” “Out of the Frying Pan,” and “Our Town.”

Before enlisting, Lieutenant Davis was a Government Civil Service employee in Manhattan.

The B-24 serving as the backdrop in the photograph appears, based on the shape of the forward fuselage and bombardier’s window, to have been a modified “D” version Liberator, with a Consolidated A-6 tail turret (installed by the Army Air Corps Oklahoma Modification Center) replacing the conventional D-version bombardier’s “greenhouse”.  Given that such planes were assigned to the 8th Air Force’s 479th Anti-Submarine Group, the image probably was taken after Lt. Davis’ arrival in England, while he and his crew were undergoing additional training in that country.

By way of example…  The images below (Army Air Force Photographs 76491AC / A11896 and 76493AC / A11897, respectively) showing 479th ASG aircrews at Saint Eval, England, in 1943.  The crew in the former image are anonymous, while the caption of the latter image states that the pilot is Lt. Hill.  

____________________

A month after the article in The Wave, on May 12, 1945, The New York Times carried an obituary for Lt. Davis, which included a portrait taken when he was an Aviation Cadet.   

Bombing Plane Navigator Lost in Europe Last Fall

Lieut. Richard H. Davis, navigator of a Liberator bomber and holder of the Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, who was reported missing last Oct. 18, was killed on that date in the European theatre, according to word received by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Davis of 156 Beach 134th Street, Belle Harbor, Queens.

Lieutenant Davis, who was 20 years old, entered the Army Air Forces in February, 1943.  He was attached to the Eighth Air Force.

____________________

Nearly a year after the mission of October 18, 1944, The Wave – on October 25, 1945 – carried mention of a memorial tribute held in Lt. Davis honor at Temple Beth El, on Friday evening, October 19, 1944. 

Another year – October 20, 1946 – and Lt. Davis’ was mentioned in the “In Memoriam” section of the New York Times obituary page.

____________________

Lt. Davis was and his crew were assigned to the 68th Bomb Squadron of the 44th Bomb Group, otherwise known as the “Flying Eight-Balls”. 

Missing Air Crew Report 10140 covers the loss of Lt. Davis and his crew in B-24H Liberator 42-50381 (WQ * K), piloted by 1 Lt. Julian H. Dayball.  As described in detail in Will Lundy’s 44th Bomb Group Roll of Honor and Casualties, during a mission to chemical works at Leverkusen, Germany, there was apparently a mid-air collision between WQ * K, and B-24H 41-28944 (NB * D, “Flying Ginny“) of the 67th Bomb Squadron, which was piloted by 1 Lt. Michael Bakalo.  This occurred over Belgium in severe weather, while their formation was returning to the 44th’s base at Shipdham, England. 

The planes crashed 1 kilometer from Petegen, near Deinze, in Belgium, the general location indicated by the red oval in the map below.

Of the 21 men aboard the two aircraft there emerged two survivors – waist gunners S/Sgt. George J. Encimer and S/Sgt. Cecil L. Scott – who were both seriously injured after parachuting from Flying Ginny.

Lt. Davis’ crew, none of whom survived, comprised:

1 Lt. Julian H. Dayball – Pilot
High Mill, Mo.

F/O Robert L. Phillips – Co-Pilot
Washington

S/Sgt. Arthur August Steinke – Gunner (Nose Turret)
Snohomish, Wa.

S/Sgt. Ivan W. Fink – Flight Engineer
Juniata, Pa.

Sgt. Edward Paul Sicard – Radio Operator
Turners Falls, Ma.

Sgt. John J. Shea – Gunner (Tail)
Dubuque, Ia.

Sgt. Wilbert L. Couvillion – Gunner (Right Waist)
Baton Rouge, La.

Sgt. Malcolm R. Smith – Gunner (Left Waist)
Washington, D.C.

S/Sgt. Conrad Raymond Bettley, Jr. – Radar Observer
Worcester, Ma.

Richard Davis is buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St. Louis, Mo. (Section 82, Collective Grave 114-115.)  Other crew members buried at the same site include Lt. Dayball; right waist gunner, Sgt. Couvillion; tail gunner, Sgt. Shea; flight engineer, Sgt. Fink; nose gunner, Sgt. Steinke, and radio operator, Sgt. Sicard.  The image below – from FindAGrave contributor “Remo” (the late Bobby Jean “Remo” Remelius) – shows their collective grave marker.   

Lieutenant Davis was awarded the Air Medal and two Oak Leak Clusters. 

His name never appeared in the postwar publication American Jews in World War Two

____________________

Some (some) other Jewish military casualties on Wednesday, October 18, 1944 (1 Cheshvan 5705), include…

Killed in Action
– .ת.נ.צ.ב.ה. –

United States Army Air Force

Herman, Bernard L., 2 Lt., 0-817213, Co-Pilot, Purple Heart
Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin C. and Molly Herman (parents), 7301 Park Heights Ave., Baltimore, Md.
Place of burial unknown
Baltimore Sun 2/6/45

American Jews in World War II – 140

Stern
, Jerome J., T/Sgt., 16105797, Radio Operator, 1 Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart

Mrs. Celia Stern (mother), 1656 47th St., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Place of burial unknown
Casualty List 2/6/45

American Jews in World War II – 455

Lieutenant Herman and T/Sgt. Stern, members of the 67th Bomb Squadron, 44th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, were crewmen on “Flying Ginny”, the loss of which is covered in MACR #15241. 

Witkin
, Leonard, 2 Lt., 0-701359, Navigator, Purple Heart, Ten Missions

United States Army Air Force, 8th Air Force, 44th Bomb Group, 68th Bomb Squadron
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob and Sylvia S. Witkin (parents), 2851 Baxter Ave., New York, N.Y. / 980 Simpson St., Bronx, N.Y.
Born 9/2/21
MACR 9654, B-24J 42-50596, “Flak Magnet”, “WQ * O”, Pilot – 1 Lt. Edward C. Lehnhausen, 9 crewmen – no survivors
Wellwood Cemetery, East Farmingdale, N.Y. – Section B, Block 45, Row 6, Grave 7R, Division North
American Jews in World War II – 474

Wasserman
, Gerald M., 2 Lt., 0-2060421, Navigator, Purple Heart, Four Missions

United States Army Air Force, 8th Air Force, 390th Bomb Group, 568th Bomb Squadron
Mrs. Ruth W. Wasserman (wife), 1020 E. 7th St., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mr. Samuel Wasserman (father), c/o Ferber, 732 N. 26th St., Allentown, Pa.
MACR 9484, B-17G 43-38189, “Powerful Katrinka / Bugs Bunny”, “CC * M”, Pilot – 2 Lt. Donald T. Drugan, 9 crewmen – 4 survivors, Luftgaukommando Report KU 3131
Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St. Louis, Mo. – Section 84, Grave 235-239 (Buried 10/16/50)
American Jews in World War II – 465

(See more about the Drugan crew below, specifically pertaining to the account of Lt. Harry W. Love’s survival…)

United States Army (Ground Forces)

Fiegelman, Joseph, PFC, 33603325, Purple Heart, 1 Oak Leaf Cluster
United States Army, 90th Infantry Division, 358th Infantry Regiment
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel and Dora Fiegleman (parents), Lawrence and Louis (brothers), 520 S. Washington Ave., Scranton, Pa.
Dalton Jewish Cemetery, Dalton, Pa.
American Jews in World War II – 520

Gordon
, Oscar, Pvt., 31406940, Purple Heart

United States Army, 85th Infantry Division, 359th Infantry Regiment
Mrs. Sarah Gordon (mother), Bridgeport, Ct.
Florence American Cemetery, Florence, Italy – Plot D, Row 10, Grave 19
American Jews in World War II – 64

Marcus
, Herbert, Pvt., 32802905, Purple Heart

United States Army, 35th Infantry Division, 320th Infantry Regiment
Mr. Abraham Marcus (father), 4701 12th Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England – Plot F, Row 7, Grave 102
Casualty List 11/28/44
American Jews in World War II – 387

Canada

Hurwitz, Samuel Moses, Sgt., D/26248, Distinguished Conduct Medal, Military Medal
Canada, Royal Canadian Armoured Corps, Canadian Grenadier Guards, 22nd Armoured Regiment, No. 3 Squadron
Captured 10/18/44; Died of wounds 10/20/44
Mr. and Mrs. Harry and Bella Hurwitz (parents); Archie, David, Esther, George, Harry, Ian, and Max (brothers and sisters), 6093 Park Ave., Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Born Lachine, Quebec, Canada, 1/28/19
Bergen-op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands – 9,F,1
The Jewish Chronicle 1/12/45, 6/29/45
Canadian Jews in World War II – Volume I – 46, 52
Canadian Jews in World War II – Volume II – 34

Sergeant Hurwitz was the subject of the lengthy story “Some Never Die”, published by the Canadian Grenadier Guards (cover shown below) which was later incorporated into the Sergeant’s biography in Part I of the 1947 publication Canadian Jews in World War II – Decorations.  The image below, of the front cover of Some Never Die, is from Shelly Reuben’s November, 2013 essay “Big Footsteps – Sgt. Samuel Moses Hurwitz“, at patch.com, which was originally published in The Evening Sun of Norwich, New York.  Ms. Reuben’s story includes six other photos of Sergeant Hurwitz as well as members of his family (unfortunately, none of these photos have captions).  Her account, which includes recollections of the Sergeant’s life and last days from veterans who’d served with him in combat, is as detailed as it is deeply felt, for Sergeant Samuel Moses Hurwitz was her uncle: “Uncle Moe”.    

This image of Sergeant Hurwitz, via Operation: PictureMe, is from his FindAGrave biographical profile…

…while this image Sgt. Hurwitz’s matzeva, also at FindAGrave, is from Astrid.  The Hebrew inscription at the base of the stone can be translated as: “Here lies the young man Shmuel Moshe son of Khayim Avraham ha _____ [covered by flower] Hurwitz, may the Lord avenge his blood, from Montreal, Canada, [probably dates, partially obscured by flower].  

Czechoslovakia

Lobel, Alois, Pvt., B/1196 (Died in France, at Dunkirk)
Czechoslovakia, 1st Armoured Brigade
Born Czechoslovakia, Rajec, okres Diein; 5/23/21
La Targette British Cemetery, Neuville-St, Vaast, Pas de Calais, France – M,13
(The above information about Pvt. Lobel was originally obtained via the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces of the Czech Republic website.  I don’t know if this information is still openly accessible.)
Zide v Ceskoslovenskem Vojsku na Zapade (Jews in the Czechoslovak Army in the West) – 246

England

Freedman, Israel, Pvt., 4038716
England, Pioneer Corps
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis and Rachel Freedman (parents), 15 Mayland St., Stepney, London, E1, England
Born 1914
East Ham (Marlow Road) Jewish Cemetery, Essex, England – Block U, Grave 21
The Jewish Chronicle 10/29/44
We Will Remember Them – Volume I – 086

This image of Pvt. Freedman’s matzeva is via Mike Ganly.

Poland

Kolsberg, Mieczyslaw, Cpl., Poland, Mazowieckie, Otwock, Otwock Hospital
9th Infantry Regiment
Mr. Karol Kolsberg (father)
Born 1904
Andriolli Street Cemetery, Otwock, Mazowieckie, Poland
Jewish Military Casualties in the Polish Army in World War II – Volume I – 38

Soviet Union

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

Borshchevskiy, Mikhail Borisovich – Junior Lieutenant [Борщевский, Михаил Борисович – Младший Лейтенант]
Machine Gun Platoon Commander [Командир Пулеметного Взвода]
93rd Rifle Division, 266th Rifle Regiment
Born 1924; Kiev, Ukraine
Mother: Olga Romanovna Golotgor
Buried Moravian Banovina, Yugoslavia, 1 km west of Krusevac

Sherman, Aleksandr Abramovich – Junior Lieutenant [Шерман, Александр Абрамович – Младший Лейтенант]
Machine Gun Platoon Commander [Командир Пулеметного Взвода]
9th Guards Mechanized Corps, 30th Guards Mechanized Brigade
Born 1924; Belaya Tserkov, Ukraine
Mother: Anna Sherman
Buried in Hungary, southern outskirts of Beretyesamar

Diskant, Isaac, Pvt. (Died at Silute, Lithuania)
16th Lithuanian Rifle Division
Mr. Moshe Diskant (father)
Born 1922
Road to Victory – Jewish Soldiers of the 16th Lithuanian Division – 293

Gruzd, David, Sgt. (Died at Silute, Lithuania)
16th Lithuanian Rifle Division
Mr. Gutman Gruzd (father), Pvt. Chaim Gruzd (brother)
Born 1915
Road to Victory – Jewish Soldiers of the 16th Lithuanian Division – 294

Shamis, Monia, Lt. (Died at Priekule, Latvia)
16th Lithuanian Rifle Division
Mr. Shmuel Shamis (father)
Born 1912
Road to Victory – Jewish Soldiers of the 16th Lithuanian Division – 304

____________________

Wounded in Action

United States Army (Ground Forces)

Dienstman, Samuel, Pvt., 33778251, Purple Heart (Mediterranean Theater)
(Captured on January 27, 1944, and escaped)
Mr. Raphael and Anne Dienstman (parents); c/o Morris Dienstman, 404 W. Rittenhouse St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Pvt. Benjamin Dienstman and Morris Dienstman (brothers), 1533 Devereaux St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Born Pa., 1924
The Jewish Exponent 1/12/45
Philadelphia Inquirer 1/7/44
Philadelphia Record 1/7/44, 2/29/44
Philadelphia Bulletin 1/8/45
American Jews in World War Two – 517

Via FultonHistory, here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer’s January, 1944 article about Pvt. Dienstman’s capture and escape from German forces.  Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to identify his military unit.    

Old Newspapers

This photograph of Samuel Dienstman appeared in The Philadelphia Bulletin on January 8, 1945. 

____________________

Prisoners of War

United States Army (Ground Forces)

Nadelman, Jack W., Sgt., 32822644, Purple Heart, 1 Oak Leaf Cluster
United States Army, 30th Infantry Division, 119th Infantry Regiment
(Also wounded ~ 9/22/44)
POW at Stalag 6G (Bonn)
Mr. and Mrs. Charles and Mary (Feber) Nadelman (parents), 58 E. 1st St., New York, N.Y.
Born N.Y., 1/6/26
Casualty Lists 11/22/44, 4/1/45, 7/6/45
American Jews in World War II – 398

Peters
, Abraham, Pvt., 42087543, Purple Heart

United States Army, 30th Infantry Division, 119th Infantry Regiment
POW at Stalag 2B (Hammerstein)
Mrs. Doris F. Peters (wife), 1664 Ocean Parkway, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Casualty Lists 6/6/45, 6/15/45
American Jews in World War II – 405

Strauss
, Arthur, PFC, 32648586

United States Army, 1st Infantry Division, 18th Infantry Regiment
POW at Stalag 2B (Hammerstein)
Mrs. Klara Adler (sister), 140 Vermilyea Ave., New York, N.Y.
Casualty List 6/18/45
American Jews in World War II – Not Listed

United States Army Air Force

The date of October 18, 1944 became notable for 2 Lt. Harry Wilson Love (0-777006) of the United States Army Air Force – mentioned above in regard to Lieutenant Gerald Wasserman – in three ways:  It was his 21st birthday, fourth combat mission, and signified his survival under extraordinary circumstances:  

A bombardier, Lt. Love was one of the four survivors of “Powerful Katrinka / Bugs Bunny” / “CC * M”, B-17G Flying Fortress 43-38189, piloted by 2 Lt. Donald T. Drugan.  An aircraft of the 568th Bomb Squadron of the 8th Air Force’s 390th Bomb Group, the plane was struck by flak near Koblenz during the 390th’s mission to Kassel, and, exploding in mid-air, fell to earth in the vicinity of Leutersdorf.  The incident is covered in Luftgaukommando Report KU 3131. 

Born on October 18, 1923, he was the son of Samuel Edgar Wilson and Fannie (Genov) Love of 1717 Parkview Ave. (and 1590 E. 172nd St.?) in the Bronx,

Lt. Love was eventually interned at Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany.  Though his name appeared in a Casualty List released on March 7, 1945, it was absent from the 1947 compilation American Jews in World War II.  He passed away on March 27, 2016.   

This image of Harry, from Ancestry.com (I don’t know if it’s still available there) shows him as an Aviation Cadet, immediately recognizable as such by the two-bladed propeller on his cap.  

From MACR 9484: A/C #189 was hit by flak 6 miles South of Koblenz at 1245 hours.  Hit was between #3 and #4 engines which set his right wing on fire.  No. 4 engine was knocked out.  A/C stayed level for 10 seconds, then made a slow right turn losing altitude, and trailed formation for about ½ mi.es.  A/C then lost right wing, going into flat spin and disintegrating.  One chute was observed, with possibly 4 delayed jumps.

From translated document in Luftgaukommando Report KU 3131:  On 18 oct 1944, 1148 o’clock an American bomber was downed by Flak at Leutersdorf / 9 km northwest of Neuwied (71  PP 3).  Type, factory No., and markings not to be confirmed because craft exploded in an altitude of 3000 m and the fragments are scattered around widely.  Damage 99%.  Crew bailed out and is fugitive.  – (KU 3131).  (Note…  The digital version of KU 3131, accessible via NARA, is incomplete.)

These two Mapple Apps Apple Maps maps show the location of Powerful Katrinka’s loss.  The upper map shows Neuwied in relation to Aachen, Cologne, Koblenz, and Frankfurt am Main…  

…while this map shows Neuwied and Leutersdorf, which lie on the east bank of the Rhine River.  

In 1985, Harry Love’s account of his singular (emphatic understamtent) experience was published in Volume II of the 390th Bomb Group Anthology.  His story follows…

Birthday “Blow Out”
by Harry W. Love
Bombardier, 568th Bomb Squadron

My story begins like so many other bomber crews… at 0400 hours 18 October 1944.

As per schedule, the crews are awakened; the quick wash-up; off to the mess hall for the usual chow-down; back to barracks for completion of dress, storing of personal papers and finally, off to the briefing room.  As rhetoric will have it, this is basically the routine for any bomber crew in the 8th Air Force, flying out of England.

My story, however, departs from the traditional version espoused by so many others on 18 October 1944…  It was my 21st birthday.  My attitude, no different from any other 21 year old; I was happy, had a great crew and festivities were planned for that evening when we returned from the bombing mission.

At the briefing, we received our instructions.  Our mission was to Koblenz, Germany.  (Considerably less difficult or dangerous we thought than Berlin, Regensburg, Augsburg, or so many others.)  During the briefing session, the members of the crew contemplated no unusually heavy problems.  At the completion of the general briefing, the pilots, navigators and bombardiers parted ways for individual briefings.  We then were driven to our assigned aircraft.

The plane we originally had been assigned to was the Silver Meteor.  It was, however, taken out of service for this particular mission because of heavy damage it sustained two days prior, on a mission to Cologne.  Therefore, we were reassigned to a brand new B-17G.  It was a truly magnificent looking craft as we approached it that morning.

Inspection of armament loading procedures (which was my responsibility as Bombardier) was conducted and before too long, it was takeoff time.  Reflecting back I feel a few words are deemed necessary regarding my Pilot, Donald Drugan.  He was a masterful, highly prestigious, military man and competent in all aspects of his assigned field.  Our Co-Pilot, John Mohn, was very astute, tolerant and somewhat more pacific than Donald Drugan.  Our Navigator, Gerald Wasserman, a Brooklyn boy, was very dedicated to his job and an asset to our crew.

Take off was uneventful.  The weather was clear (although dark at the time of departure).  We found our assigned positions at the prescribed altitude.  Not too long thereafter, the British Coast was behind us.

The order to “check your guns, and fire your guns” was given.  The response traditionally heard was, “All guns firing properly and in order.”

We approached the coast of Europe at approximately 0830 hours.  Our target Koblenz was still an hour and a half away.  We encountered no enemy fighters en route, and the flak was light.

The bomb run over the target was considered very successful.  Upon making our turn off the bomb run (after release of bombs), we then headed in a northwesterly direction to meet up with the balance of the Wing which could be seen some 15-20 miles away.  At this time, it was quite apparent that we were some 5 or 6 minutes behind schedule in our rendezvous with the Wing for our trip back to England.  This necessitated our lead crew to change course some degrees further to the north which brought us over a portion of the Ruhr Valley.  On approaching this particular area, some 5 or 10 miles from our rendezvous, we began to pick up massive concentrations of flak fire.  One of the first bursts came within 100 yards of the front of our plane.  This was followed by 5 or 6 more immediately, thereafter, each one closer than the preceding one.  It seemed that we were well tracked down below by the antiaircraft crews.  At this time, I announced to the crew that the bursts were directly in line…  the Pilot, in accord, confirmed my communication.

Some 2 or 3 seconds later, we received a hit in the nose of the plane directly above the chin turret leaving a hole some 15-20 inches in circumference.  I immediately back tracked away from my chin gun position and took up a station to the right (which was the cheek gun).  The cyclonic rush of air that came through was impossible to control.  I recall vividly the Navigator stating over the intercom, “Nobody will know how close the Bombardier came to buying it…  the bursts of flak came through within inches of his right leg.”

The antiaircraft gunners on the ground weren’t finished tracking our plane, for at that instant we received a direct hit in one engine (starboard side) with shocking impact.  Massive vibrations developed and fumes and smoke filled the plane.  The pilot, without hesitation, pulled out of formation, and attempted to put out the flames within that particular engine by sides-lipping the plane.

Upon looking at the right wing, it was obvious that the damage thereto, was extensive.  The entire right wing was oscillating up and down some 20-30 degrees.  On seeing this, I assisted the Navigator Gerald Wasserman in putting on his chest pack.  As Bombardier, I always wore my backpack throughout the entire mission.

I called to the Pilot in the customary technique…  “Bombardier to Pilot, do you have any instructions?”  He replied, “Bombardier, I hear you.”  Looking back at the wing again I could clearly see the oscillation increasing.  The Engineer, Sgt. Parker, dropped down from his position to our station with the Navigator between us.  I instructed the Engineer to open the escape hatch located directly in front of him.  He complied immediately.  I again called to the Pilot asking if there were any further instructions regarding possible bail out.  The Pilot, once again replied, “Bombardier, I hear you,” but no instructions followed.

Looking out at the wing again (which was oscillating even more), it was obvious to me that the wing could not stay on much longer.  At this point, firmly believing the alarm bell and intercom were no longer operating, I directed the Engineer to bail out.  He (Parker) looked up to the Pilot for some expression of guidance…he did not receive any.  He then looked back at me and the Navigator who was directly in front of me.  At this critical point (with little or no time for conversation), a mandated determination had to be directed and carried out.  The Engineer would have to bail out of the plane first, the Navigator second and then myself.  I, in a loud tone (after removing my oxygen mask), ordered the Engineer to bail out… again he hesitated.  I then began to physically push the Navigator in that direction stating, “We have to go, the wing is coming off.”  The Navigator looked at me with quite an acceptable (and understandable) look of doubt, and shook his head.  At that instance, the wing came off!

It is apparent that with one of the wings off of a B-17, it will not fly.  Our plane began to plummet down in a spiraling, leafy fashion to earth.  At this point, I would assume we were in the neighborhood of 20-22,000 feet.  Quite instantaneously, all within the craft were seemingly welded to their specific positions.  I was flung against the starboard cheek gun slamming my neck against it in a rigid fashion, unable to move a muscle due to the powerful centrifugal force exerted during the spiraling effect.  At this moment, I vividly recall thinking of one thing, and one thing only…  “What will Mom say or feel when she hears about me being killed in action?”  There was no question or doubt in my mind that I was to meet “my maker” in a matter of moments.  There was no possible chance for anyone to successfully escape this situation.

Approximately two or three seconds later, there erupted a tremendous, all-encompassing explosive force, I felt my entire body weight being lifted by an unknown force.  I was literally catapulted through the air, head first and out the front plexiglass nose of the aircraft.  The plane had exploded.  The gas tanks (I am assuming), from the other wing or in the body of the craft, had been ignited by the flak we took.  Luckily I did not black out.  I was alert and fully cognizant of the entire situation.  I knew instantly that I was free from the aircraft.  I had the foresight, however, not to pull the rip cord immediately.  As I began to fall to earth, I could clearly see burning debris from our aircraft.  Far to the left, a chute opened; shortly thereafter on my right, another chute; and then a few seconds later, still another chute opened.  This chute (the latter), perhaps opened too soon, and as fate would have it, part of the burning debris struck his chute as it opened.  Which crew member it was, I could not identify.  I held my rip cord with a firm grasp for what seemed to be hours, but I’m sure it was only a second or two before making a move.  I saw clear areas around me.  I then pulled the cord and to my utter surprise, I felt no jerk, as anticipated.  My most prevalent thought at this time was, “The parachute must have been torn from my back when I was blown from the front of the plane.” I looked up and there it was … blossoming beautifully above me.  Perhaps the reason for not feeling the impact of the chute opening, can be attributed to the mental trauma I had so recently experienced, i.e., being blown out of the aircraft.  My thought at this time, “My God, I’m going to be safe.  I’m floating down to earth.”

At this juncture, everything began to go black, or more accurately, red.  I now realized I could not see.  I placed my hands over my eyes, wiped them and realized I did not come away from this situation unscathed completely.  I was bleeding profusely from head wounds received when I was blown through the front plexiglass of the craft.  I also realized that my shoes that were tied to my parachute harness were not there.  They had been snapped, or torn, off when I was blown out of the aircraft.

On descending, I could see a forest area and remembered some of the instructions we received concerning means of generating control over the parachute.  I was able to tug at the harness, thus controlling the direction of the chute so that my landing would be between some very large fir trees.  I landed on a 45-degree slope of a hill.  Not being proficient in parachute landings, I came down extremely hard, striking both legs in a rather awkward position, that later would prove to give me untold pain and discomfort.  The impact of landing so hard and abruptly, caused one of my legs to collapse on the base of my spine.

Reflecting back to military orders and instructions, concealment of the chute after landing was of the utmost concern.  I picked the chute up as quick as I possibly could and dug and scratched a large hole in a leafy area where I buried it under branches, twigs, etc.  I began moving in a westerly direction but soon, thereafter, collapsed.  The injuries I had sustained were not as minor as I initially thought.  Both of my ankles were swollen out of proportion, and the bleeding from my skull wounds were now in a hemorrhaging state.  I took stock of what medications I had and treated myself with sulfur [sulfa] for my scalp wounds and bandaged them the best I could.  I then constructed make-shift crutches and again attempted to move on.  As my arduous journey continued, I further realized I was experiencing pain at the base of my neck.  Later I found that my 2nd Lieutenant bar was bent completely in half.  Something most assuredly had struck it with a great impacting force to have caused it to bend.  The object which had struck the metal bar so precisely, had to have been metal; the 2nd Lieutenant bar undoubtedly saved my life.  I sustained a massive hematoma on my neck where the bar had originally been affixed to my collar.

I placed the time of my landing at 1230 hours.  I continued to move on through the afternoon.  I traveled for several hours in a westerly direction as best I could, and rested part of the night in a thickly wooded area.  I did not know for sure how many of the crew got out, but I had seen two chutes at a distance.  Later I was informed that a fourth airman had in fact gotten out.  There were only four survivors from our B-17G.

The following day, during the early hours after dawn, determined and still limping, I continued to move on.  The wooded area that concealed me began to echo with a terrifying sound; that of track dogs.  The area where I had descended was flooded with civilian and Wehrmacht troops.

I was finally detected and captured by the aforementioned group of people, at approximately 0900 hours on the 19th of October 1944.  I was taken to a town (to the best of my recollection, Oberursel) where my imprisonment began.

Some weeks later, during which time I spent a week of interrogation procedures in Dusseldorf, I had the heartwarming pleasure of seeing three of the enlisted members of my crew.  The Tail Gunner, Conwell, related to me that he was blown out of the tail section.  Raymond Hutt was blown out of the Waist Gunner’s compartment and the Radio Operator, Ledford, was blown out of the top section of the craft’s radio compartment.  I was further informed that the Ball Gunner, Stevens, had not emerged from the ball nor did he have his chest pack on at the time the wing disengaged itself from the aircraft.  Out of a crew of nine, only four survived.

After spending about eight months in prison camps, Stalag Luft 3, Sagan and Moosburg, I was liberated by Patton’s Third Army on 29th April 1945 and returned home in May of that year.

October 18th, Nineteen Hundred Forty-Four, was my day of infamy, it too was my Birthday … my day of Rebirth.

This Is My Story.

Control Tower Log for 18 October 1944 shows one aircraft MIA

0715: All mission a/c off except 325-T – hydraulics out – ship stuck off edge of r/w and field will be u/s (Ed: unserviceable) for landing a/c until at least 1030 – possibly later.

0930: 831-C aborted with #3 feathered, prop run away.  Will circle until 325 is cleared.

1130: 325 off r/w.  Ship 007-M (Lewis) lost a piece of 325 plexiglass nose on t/o.  No damage to 007.

1131: 831 C landed. (Ellis)

1542: All a/c returned except 189-M (Drugan)

J.H. Stafford 1 Lt. S.C.

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On August 9, 2002, Harry spoke about his wartime experiences, and other aspects of life, in an interview available at the New York State Military Museum.  

When Harry passed away on March 27, 2016, he was the last survivor of the crew of Powerful Katrinka / Bugs Bunny.  He is buried at New Montefiore Cemetery in West Babylon, New York.  

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A photograph of Donald Drugan’s crew (contributed by FindAGrave contributor Patootie), taken during training in the United States, is shown below.  The names of the crew members are listed beneath the image. 

Rear (L – R)

Sgt. Jurl Thomas Parker (Flight Engineer – KIA)
Tamaha, Ok.
Ardennes American Cemetery, Neupre, Belgium – Plot D, Row 3, Grave 5

Sgt. Willis T. Ledford (Radio Operator – survived – Died July 3, 1996)
Cleveland, Ga.
Hoschton City Cemetery, Hoschton, Ga.

Sgt. Raymond LaVerne Hutt (Waist Gunner – survived – Died Nov. 19, 2008)
Tecumseh, Ne.
Tecumseh Cemetery, Tecumseh, Ne.

Sgt. Robert Stevens (Ball Turret Gunner – KIA)
Long Beach, Ca.
Ardennes American Cemetery, Neupre, Belgium – Plot A, Row 38, Grave 47

Kaiser (Waist Gunner – did not fly on mission of October 18)

Sgt. Cleon Conwell (Tail Gunner – survived – Died April 6, 2006)
Monticello, In.
Buffalo Cemetery, Buffalo, In.

Front (L – R)

2 Lt. Donald Terrance Drugan (Pilot – KIA)
Portland, Or.
Ardennes American Cemetery, Neupre, Belgium – Plot D, Row 1, Grave 47

2 Lt. Jonathan V. Mohn (Co-Pilot – KIA)
Portland, Or.
Ardennes American Cemetery, Neupre, Belgium – Plot D, Row 5, Grave 30

2 Lt. Gerald M. Wasserman (Navigator- KIA – (See more above…)
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St. Louis, Mo.

2 Lt. Harry Wilson Love (Bombardier – survived – Died March 27, 2016)
Bronx, N.Y.

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Here are four pages from the Missing Air Crew Report (#9484) for Powerful Katrinka / Bugs Bunny comprising postwar reports about the plane’s loss by Lt. Love and Sgt. Conwell.  Because of the nature of the plane’s loss – a mid-air explosion – there was little that could definitively be said about the five crewmen who were killed.

Here’s Harry Love’s account…

When my chute opened, after I was blown out, I saw 2 other parachutes floating down – actually there were 3 besides my own.

Pieces of the plane were falling all around my chute, truthfully there was nothing left of the plane to speak of. 

The out look for the (5) members of my crew that are still listed as missing, seems very bad.  I would say after 16 months that they were killed when the plane exploded.

If I can be of any further assistance, or any additional information is needed, please let me know.  I’ll comply immediately.

Kindly acknowledge by mail, any thing concerning the members of my crew – or upon receiving these forms.

Sincerely,
Harry W. Love, 2nd Lt.

And here’s Sgt. Conwell’s…

I am sorry to say that there is very little that I can tell to shed light on this mystery, because of my position as tail gunner I depended upon the intercom system to keep in touch with the rest of the crew.  Therefore I could not see anything that happened in the forward part of the plane.

The Bombardier Love & Radioman Ledford came together by chance at the transit camp at Wetzlar Germany.  But could not come to any conclusions about the rest of the men.

  ____________________

Here’s the “header” page of Luftgaukommando Report KU 3131, which, typical of most such reports compiled by the Germans for American aircraft losses from early 1944 onwards, includes such data as general type of aircraft, location and time of the plane’s loss, information about the crew where known and established (such as surname and given name, rank, serial number, and status – prisoner, wounded, hospitalized, or killed), and the date upon which the document was completed.  It can be seen that KU 3131 covers only the four survivors of Powerful Katrinka / Bugs Bunny.    

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Also from Ancestry.com (don’t know if it’s still available there), here’s a close-up of Harry Love’s POW identification portrait (“mug-shot”, as it were) from his German Prisoner of War “Personalkarte”, which was probably taken within a few days of his capture.  

And, from KU 3131, his dog-tag.  Note that the tag has been stamped with the single letter “P”, which would ostensibly indicate that its bearer was of the Protestant religion.  Though unfortunately I never had the opportunity to interview Harry Love about his experiences, it would have been interesting to have asked him if he ever pondered the implication of being captured by the Germans (let alone other aspects of being a Jewish soldier during WW II).  I think his dog-tag indirectly answers that question, though such an answer brings forth another question: Harry certainly received his tog-tag months before his assignment to his own crew, as well as – in turn – his crew’s assignment to the 8th Air Force, and thus, service in the European Theater of War.  So, did his choice of the abbreviation “P”, well in advance of the knowledge or certainty that he would be assigned to the European Theater of War, suggest a longstanding, unarticulated concern about the implications of being a Jewish prisoner of war?

Though Harry’s dog-tag would not suggest as much, his name still appeared in the National Jewish Welfare Board’s Bureau of War Records card index of American Jewish servicemen, part of the data from which formed the basis of the state-by-state compilation (Volume II) of American Jews in World War II.  For other examples of NJWB Index Cards, see the three such cards filed for Major Milton Joel.

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This image (WW II Army Air Force Photo 3200 / A45511) is captioned, “Lt. Maurice A. Bonomo, Bombardier, 333 W. 86th St., New York City, 18 daylight missions; holds Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters”.  The picture gives an excellent representative view of the the bombardier’s position in a B-17 Flying Fortress (specifically, a B-17G Flying Fortress). 

Lt. Bonomo, viewed as if looking forward from the navigator’s position, is facing the bombardier’s control panel.  Above the control panel can be seen a nose-mounted “flexible” port M-2 Browning 50 Caliber machine gun, with its ammunition feed chute hanging to the right.  (Another flexible M-2 Browning, out of view of the photograph, is mounted within the right side of the nose.)  The remote control for the aircraft’s Bendix chin turret (housing two M-2 Brownings) is visible – in its stowed position – to the right of Lt. Bonomo.  In front of Lt. Bonomo is the bombardier’s plexiglass nose “bubble”, which – despite variations in design among different versions of the B-17 – is so visually characteristic of the Flying Fortress.

Given that Lt. Bonomo is not (!) wearing his oxygen mask, and is directly touching the control panel without (!) gloves (neither of which would be advisable at altitude…) this is almost certainly a “posed” photograph, taken while the B-17 was on the ground.

Though the date of this photograph is unknown, what is known is that Lt. Bonomo, a member of the 401st Bomb Squadron, 91st Bomb Group, became a prisoner of war on July 20, 1944, during a mission to Leipzig, Germany.  On that date, he was a member of 1 Lt. Arthur F. Hultin’s crew in B-17G 42-102509, which was lost due to anti-aircraft fire.  Fortunately, all 10 crewmen survived as POWs.  The plane’s loss is covered in MACR 7274 and Luftgaukommando Report KU 2560, the latter document being unusually detailed in its description of the plane.

Maurice (serial number 0-754720), the husband of Janet A. Bonomo, of 333 West 86th Street, in New York, was imprisoned in North Compound 2 of Stalag Luft I, in Barth, Germany. 

His name appeared in Casualty Lists published on December 13, 1944, and (as a liberated POW) on June 15, 1945, and can be found on page 281 of American Jews in World War Two.

References

Books

Blue, Allan, The B-24 Liberator – A Pictorial History, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, N.Y., 1975

Davis, Larry, B-24 Liberator in Action (Aircraft No. 80), Squadron / Signal Publications, Inc., Carrollton, Tx., 1987

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

Kulka, Erich, Zide Československém Vojsku na Západé, Naše Vojsko, Praha, Czechoslovakia, 1992

Leivers, Dorothy (Editing and Revisions), Road to Victory – Jewish Soldiers of the 16th Lithuanian Division, 1941-1945, Avotaynu, Bergenfield, N.J., 2009

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

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, World Federation of Jewish Fighters Partisans and Camp Inmates: Association of Jewish War Veterans of the Polish Armies in Israel, Tel Aviv, Israel, 1995

Richard, Wilbert H.; Perry, Richard H.; Robinson, William J., The 390th Bomb Group Anthology – Volume II, 390th Memorial Museum Foundation, Inc., Tuscon, Az., 1985

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

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