Category: Second World War

The Flight of JEWBOY: A Jewish Fighter Pilot in the Second World War

A photographic image can evoke different things. 

It can evoke a place, and a time.

It can evoke a mood, and a moment.

Sometimes, upon a single glance, a photograph can serve as a symbol and reminder of an era that – while having passed into history – resonates within the present. 

Such is the image that is the “header” image of this blog, and now, the subject of this post:  A picture of a World War Two era Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter plane, nicknamed “JEWBOY”, before which stands a fighter pilot – Philip M. Goldstein – and the aircraft’s ground crew.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, in August of 1920, one of six brothers and sisters, Philip Goldstein was the son of Abraham Solomon and Clara Violet (Burns-Graham) Goldstein, both of whom were at one time heavily involved in vaudeville.  His family moved to Trappe, Pennsylvania, after his second grade of elementary school, and then successively lived in Collegeville and Norristown; like Trappe, all communities on the outskirts of Philadelphia. 

Life became especially challenging for the family after Phil’s father died in the midst of the Great Depression.  After a period of uncertainty following his 1938 high school graduation, Phil enlisted in the army in 1940, with the general but uncertain ambition – arising from his love of music, inspired by Damon Holton, band leader at the Chain Street School in Norristown – of serving in the Army Band. 

His musical plans came to fruition in short order, albeit in a roundabout way.  He was assigned to a machine-gun company of the 12th Infantry Regiment.  He was soon transferred to the Regimental Band, in which he played the French Horn at ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery.  In October of 1941 the Regiment was transferred to Fort Gordon, Georgia, where it was attached to the 4th Motorized Division.  (The 4th Motorized Division was reconfigured and redesignated as the 4th Infantry Division on August 4, 1943.)

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Corporal Joe Martino and Phil (with french horn) (Company D- Machine-Gun Company).  (Image from Bass Entertainment Pictures website.)

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Throughout this time, and even earlier, Phil was focused upon other military horizons.  After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he took the exam for Army Air Corps pilot training.  He passed.  During and after his successive stages of flight training he was assigned to the following locations:

Pre-Flight: Santa Anna, California – Squadron 39
Primary: Oxnard, California (Mira Loma Flight Academy)
Basic: Lemoore, California (Flew BT-13 and BT-15)
Advanced: Williams Field, Chandler, Arizona – Graduated in Class 43-G (Flew AT-6, AT-9, and AT-17)
P-38 Conversion Training: Muroc, California
West Coast Interceptor Command / 4th Air Force (329th Fighter Group): San Pedro, California

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Phil during primary flight training, at Mira Loma Flight Academy, Oxnard, California.  (Image from Bass Entertainment Pictures website.)

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Phil’s portrait as an Aviation Cadet.  (Image from Bass Entertainment Pictures website.)

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Phil atop the wing of P-38G 42-13352, while he was serving in the 4th Air Force in California.  This P-38 was assigned – as was presumably Phil – to the 332nd Fighter Squadron of the 329th Fighter Group, which was a component of the 4th Air Force.  The plane was lost at Orange County Airport, California, on June 21, 1943, when pilot Franklin H. Monk (later an ace in the 475th “Satan’s Angels” Fighter Group) was forced to bail out due to mechanical failure. 

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Phil’s assignment to West Coast Interceptor Command did not last long.  In October of 1943, he departed for overseas aboard a Liberty Ship from Hampton Roads, Virginia.  Initially stationed at a North African airfield where he trained French pilots to fly P-38s (he had four years of high school French) Phil was soon assigned to the 49th Fighter Squadron of the 14th Fighter Group, at which he arrived on January 16, 1944. 

He was accompanied by two friends from Williams Field Class 43-G:  Lieutenants Earvie T. Cloyd and Edgar G. Hemmerlein. 

Earvie, assigned to the 37th Fighter Squadron, would be shot down and captured on May 7, 1944.

Phil and his very close friend Edgar would be assigned to the 49th Fighter Squadron.  Edgar did not survive the war.  While taking off for his 38th combat mission from the island of Corsica, his aircraft crashed.  He died the following day.  He was twenty-four years old. 

All of Phil’s combat missions were flown during 1944; his first mission on January 20, and his fiftieth and last mission on June 28. 

He had three aerial victories:  An Me-109 on April 2, during a fighter escort of B-17s to Steyr, Austria; an Italian Fiat G-50 on May 7, during a fighter escort of B-17s to Bucharest, Romania (Actually, it is far more likely that this aircraft was a Romanian IAR-80); a Focke-Wulf 190 on May 25, during a fighter escort of B-24s to Piacenza, Italy, and, four Ju-88 bombers destroyed by strafing during the 14th Fighter Group’s mission against a German airfield complex in the vicinity of Aviano and Villaorba, Italy, on May 14, 1944.  He also claimed an Me-109 damaged on March 30, during a fighter escort of B-24s to Sofia, Bulgaria. 

He left for the United States on July 9, returning from Naples via a merchant ship that arrived at Hampton Roads, Virginia.  After a two-week period of rest at the Cadillac Miami Beach Hotel, he was sent to Santa Rosa Army Air Base in California, where – under the command of Lt. Col. John W. Weltman, formerly of the 1st Fighter Group – he served as a flight instructor, with a specific focus on aerial gunnery. 

In the meantime, during a dance at Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco, he had the very good fortune to meet the woman – Jane – who, then a physics student at University of California in Berkeley, would become his wife.   With a new and very happy direction life, and already having accumulated more than enough “points” for separation from the military, Phil was discharged at Camp Beale, California, in June of 1945.   

Soon, he was studying musical composition at Mills College under the direction of Darius Milhaud.  However, Phil still found himself highly uncertain about his future.  His father-in-law introduced him to a friend in the insurance business.  In time, this would become – at the Allstate Insurance Company – his lifelong career, while California would become his lifelong home.

Akin to the many other Jewish WW II servicemen who received awards for military service, or, were military casualties (wounded or killed), Phil’s name does not appear in the two-volume 1947 publication American Jews in World War Two.

He was one of the many Jewish aviators who served in the Second World War. 

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Phil and his granddaughter, in the early 1990s.  (c/o Phil Goldstein)

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In 2013, Frank Cronin met Phil “in person”, and the two discussed Phil’s life and experiences.  Frank presented Phil with a model of his P-38, constructed from Academy’s 1/48 kit.  This image of Frank and Phil, from iModeler.com (Social Scale Modelling) is a memento of their meeting.  (Frank’s other completed models can be see at the iModeler webpage Modeling by Frank Cronin.)

References

(Books)

Freeman, Roger A., Camouflage and Markings – United States Army Air Force 1937-1945, Ducimus Books Limited, London, England, 1974

Goldstein, Philip M., JEWBOY vs The Luftwaffe, Privately printed via Blurb.com, 2016.

Green, William, Famous Fighters of the Second World War, Hanover House, New York, N.Y., 1958.

Kinzey, Bert, P-38 Lightning Part 1 – XP-38 through P-38H, Squadron/Signal Publications, Carrollton, Tx., 1998

Kinzey, Bert, P-38 Lightning Part 2 – P-38J through P-38M, Squadron/Signal Publications, Carrollton, Tx., 1998

Maloney, Edward T., Lockheed P-38 “Lightning”, Aero Publishers, Inc., Fallbrook, Ca., 1968

Rust, Kenn C, Fifteenth Air Force Story …In World War II, Historical Aviation Album, Temple City, Ca., 1976

Shenahan, Anthony, Lockheed P-38 Lightning – A Pictorial History, Historian Publishers, John W. Caler Publications, Sun Valley, Ca., 1968

Stanaway, John, Peter Three Eight – The Pilot’s Story, Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, Missoula, Mt., 1986

(Books – No Author)

USAF Credits for the Destruction of Enemy Aircraft, World War II – USAF Historical Study No. 85, Albert F. Simpson Historical Research Center, Air University, Office of Air Force History, Headquarters USAF, 1978

Pilot’s Manual for Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Aviation Publications, Appleton, Wi. (undated)

Archival References (Microfilm)

Historical Records of Headquarters Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, AFHRA Microfilm Roll BO 079 – GP-12-SU-OR-F 5/45 through GP-14-Hi 12/44

Historical Records of 49th Fighter Squadron, AFHRA Microfilm Roll AO 742 – SQ-FI-48-HI 1/45 through SQ-FI-51-SU 12/42-8/45

Websites

Kopp, Carlo (Air Power Australia), at Der Gabelschwanz Teufel – Assessing the Lockheed L-38 Lightning (Technical Report APA – TR – 2010 – 1201).

P-38G 42-13352 accident history (AviationArcheology.com) at http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbasn.asp?SN=42-13352&Submit4=Go

P-38J 42-104107 accident history (AviationArcheology.com), at http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbasn.asp?SN=42-104107&Submit4=Go

Triolo, at Abandoned, Forgotten & Little Known Airfields in Europe” (ForgottenAirfields.com), at http://www.forgottenairfields.com/italy/apulia/foggia/triolo-s567.html

4th Infantry Division (Wikipedia), at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)

12th Infantry Regiment (Wikipedia), at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)

329th Fighter Group History (armyaircorps.com), at http://www.armyaircorps.us/329th_Fighter_Group.cfm

Soldiers from New York: Jewish Soldiers in The New York Times, in World War Two

Throughout the Second World War, The New York Times, like other American newspapers, published official Casualty Lists issued by the War (Army) and Navy Departments.  These documents followed the same format for both military branches, presenting a serviceman’s surname, first name and middle initial, military rank, and the name and address (whether residential, or place of employment) of the person – usually his next-of-kin – designated to be contacted if he were to become a casualty. 

The names which appeared in these lists were only supplied to the news media after notifications had already been sent to their next of kin.  Generally, roughly through the summer of 1944, the name of a casualty would appear in a Casualty List approximately one month after the actual date on which he was wounded, declared missing, or known to have been killed in action.  In many cases,a serviceman’s name might appear on multiple Casualty Lists.  For example, a soldier might be reported missing in action, then confirmed as a POW, and finally – at the war’s end – liberated from a POW camp.  In such a case, his name could appear on three Casualty Lists, each pertaining to verification of these successive changes in his status.  

A notable difference between Army and Navy Casualty Lists was the Army’s policy of listing casualties by the theater of military operations.  Such designations included Africa, Asia, the Central Pacific, Europe, the Mediterranean, North America (during the Aleutian campaign), and the Southwest Pacific, the theater varying with the progression of the war.  However, Navy Casualty Lists did not present mens’ names by combat theater.

As issued to the press, Casualty Lists encompassed military casualties from all (then 48) states, as well as the Territories of Alaska and Hawaii.  Accordingly, very early in the war, the War and Navy Departments instituted a policy such that newspapers should only publish lists of casualties pertaining to the geographic area of their established news coverage.  For example, a newspaper in Saint Louis would not publish names of casualties from Denver or New Orleans; a newspaper in Phoenix would not publish names of servicemen from Nashville or Beaumont; a paper in Denver would not publish names from Lexington or Duluth.

Like other newspapers, such too was the case for The New York Times.  In a general – and very reliable – sense, casualty lists in the Times encompassed the five Boroughs of New York (Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx), Nassau and Suffolk Counties; the metropolitan areas of northern New Jersey; and, southwestern Connecticut. 

The lengthiest list, which occupied most of two successive pages, was published on March 29, 1945, based on a nationwide Casualty List that listed the names of 14,443 soldiers and 221 sailors.  This list is shown below. 

The last Second World War Casualty List carried by the Times, published on June 9, 1946 and illustrated below, was issued by the Navy, and comprised the names of five sailors from New York and two from Connecticut.

Though – at the moment of creating this blog post – the pertinent reference is not immediately at hand, Casualty Lists covering the above-mentioned areas of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut probably encompass an unusually large proportion of the 407,316 American military casualties incurred during the war, due to the density and distribution of the American population in the 1940s.

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There is much more that can be said about this topic, which may be discussed in a future blog post.  Or, posts.

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And so we arrive at an accidental intersection:  Between The New York Times, Jewish military history, and Jewish genealogy.

Related to its publication of Casualty Lists and its reporting of New York Metropolitan area news, the Times published – with a frequency that sadly; inevitably increased as the war progressed – full and often detailed obituaries of military personnel who lost their lives in combat, or, in non-combat related military service.  Though obituaries of servicemen would on occasion be published as “stand alone” items in the main section of the paper, they were much more often published within Casualty Lists. 

Such obituaries typically included a serviceman’s photographic portrait, whether as a professional studio image, or, a snapshot taken in a more casual setting.  Depending on the media and format in which you view back issues of the Times – 35mm microfilm, or PDFs – these images vary greatly in quality.  This is due to the quality of the original photograph supplied to the Times, and, the technical limitations then inherent to printing photographs in newspapers.  Digital images and 35mm microfilm have unique advantages and disadvantages, depending on the physical nature of these formats themselves, the equipment used to view them, and, equipment and material used to copy and reproduce digital or print (physical) images from them.

Such obituaries were published well into 1946, the “last” such item, for Second Lieutenant Burton H. Roth – a navigator in the 600th Bomb Squadron of 8th Air Force’s 398th Bomb Group, whose B-17 bomber was shot down over Germany on April 10, 1945 – appearing on April 25, 1946.

The criterion – or criteria – the Times used in selecting soldiers who were so covered is unknown.  Perhaps some soldiers were chosen at random.  Perhaps others had connections – professional; academic; familial – with the Times; perhaps some were members of established and prominent New York area families.  (Well, not all seem to have been…) 

In any event, what becomes readily apparent upon surveying the Times is at first startling, and then – after a moment’s contemplation – entirely unsurprising:  Given the population distribution of American Jewry in the 1940s, many, many of these obituaries pertain to Jewish servicemen in the Army ground forces, Army Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps.  As such, these news items provide a moving and illuminating sociological “window” upon Jews of the New York metropolitan area in particular, and Jewish military service in general, in the 1940s.

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There are ironies in the lives of nations; there are many ironies in the lives of peoples; ironies abound in the lives of men.   

An irony about the appearance of so many obituaries for Jewish servicemen in the Times’ during the Second Wold War is that these news items were published – through a confluence of genealogy, geography, and history – in a periodical whose publisher adhered to a system of belief – classical Reform Judaism – that negated the concept of Jewish peoplehood, and which in terms of the historical legacy of the Times, animated the nature of his newspaper’s reporting of the Shoah.

A vast amount of research and insight – much ink and innumerable pixels – has been generated about this topic.  Probably the most outstanding such work is Laurel Leff’s Buried By The Times (prefigured by her American Jewish History article “A Tragic “Fight in the Family”: The New York Times, Reform Judaism and the Holocaust in 2000″).  However, the attitude of the Times was obvious to some even as the Second World War was occurring, for it merited scathing coverage in the Labor League for Palestine / Jewish Frontier Association’s publication The Jewish Frontier, through William Cohen’s February, 1942 article “The Strange Case of the New York Times”.

In light of this mindset, the abundance of Jewish military casualties whose obituaries appeared in the pages of the Times may have been perceived by the newspaper’s staff as a simple coincidence, at best.  In all likelihood, however, it probably was not perceived – intellectually or emotionally – at all. 

Then again…  Then again… 

Why did the Times, between 1942 and 1951, accord at least 36 news items – including on occasion front-page coverage – to the life, death, and legacy of one specific Jewish serviceman – Army Air Force Sergeant Meyer Levin?   

Could this have been because the life and example of Sgt. Levin – at a time when much of American Jewry, even and especially among the most assimilated Jews, perhaps uncertain of the viability of their status as Americans – was viewed as validation of their own patriotism, and a harbinger of their eventual – postwar – acceptance? 

Could this have been because the Sergeant’s military service, though he lost his life in the Pacific Theater of War, was perceived as an indirect symbol of Jewish resistance against Germany?

Perhaps both reasons; perhaps more. 

Perhaps this, as suggested by Gulie Ne’eman Arad in America, Its Jews, and The Rise of Nazism:  “The Americanization experience played a more powerful role in determining American Jewry’s response to the atrocities in Europe than the events themselves, and it is to their American context that American Jews resonated and responded most readily.  Their need and desire to conform to their environment were more powerful than other factors, and, once established, the patterns of the behavior that resulted could not be breached until after the apocalypse.”

Much more could be written about this topic; perhaps I’ll do so in the future. 

But for now, I hope to bring you posts about Jewish military casualties who were reported upon in The New York Times.

References

Books

Arad, Gulie Ne’eman, America, Its Jews, and The Rise of Nazism, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, In., 2000.

Leff, Laurel, Buried by the Times: The Holocaust and America’s Most Important Newspaper, Cambridge University Press, New York, N.Y., 2005

Journal Articles

Leff, Laurel, A Tragic “Fight in the Family”: The New York Times, Reform Judaism and the Holocaust, American Jewish History, V 88, N 1, March, 2000, pp. 3-51.

Other Articles

Cohen, William, The Strange Case of The New York Times, Jewish Frontier, V 9, N 2, February, 1942, pp. 8-11.

Grodzensky, Shlomo, United Front Against Zionism, Jewish Frontier, V X, N 1, January, 1943, pp. 8-10.

Tifft, Susan E. and Jones, Alex S., The Family – How Being Jewish Shaped the Dynasty That Runs the Times, The New Yorker, April 19, 1999, pp. 44-52

Other References

DeBruyne, Nese F. and Leland, Anne, American War and Military Operations Casualties (Congressional Research Service Publication 7-5700 / RL 32492), at https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf

World War II Casualties (Wikipedia), at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties#cite_note-ConResRep_AWuMOC_2010-298

Wing Commander William Weiser’s Award of the Distinguished Flying Cross, as seen in the Forward (Forverts), in December of 1944

The recent posts about Royal Canadian Air Force Wing Commander William Weiser elicited moving and interesting comments from Dr. Patricia Easteal, Caroline Mitchell, and Libby Weiser.  From them, I learned that – alas – sadly; ironically – W/C Weiser passed away on March 26. 

Only four days earlier, the article about him from The American Hebrew of May, 1944, was posted on this blog, under the title “Words of the Wing Commander”.

Given his accomplishments, it’s unsurprising that news items about W/C Weiser appeared in other publications during WW II, specifically the well-known Yiddish-language newspaper, the Forward (or, “Forverts“).  Dr. Easteal kindly contributed an article – published in that newspaper on December 21, 1944 – which shows her late father receiving the British DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross) award from King George VI.

The article appears below…

(As an aside, note that the Forward presents the Wing Commander’s surname as “Weyser“.  (!))

According to Wikipedia, “The Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC),” established on June 3, 1918, “is the third-level military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, instituted for “an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against the enemy”. 

Here’s an image of the DFC…

The date of publication of this article prompted further curiosity.  Namely:  What other pictures did the Forward publish in its issue of December 21, 1944? 

The answer was (and is!) readily at hand, at the National Library of Israel’s website of the Historical Jewish Press. The NLI allows visitors access to the content – as images – of over 120 historical Jewish periodicals – among them the Forward – published in a variety of languages.  A search of their well-designed website yields an image of the entirety of the page where the photograph of W/C Weiser was published, and this is presented below.  (The picture of W/C Weiser and King George VI appears in the upper-left corner of the page.)

As for the other pictures? 

Clockwise, from left to right, the illustrations depict: Edward von Steiger, the newly elected President of Switzerland for 1945; Privates First Class (and brothers) Abe and Sid Schneider of the Bronx; Major General Harry L. Twaddle of the American 95th Infantry Division, with soldiers Pvt. Alfred Page of Chattanooga and PFC Max Frankel of Denver; the late Mexican-born film star Lupe Velez (sad story about her…); Lupe’s pet dogs “Chips” and “Chops” at the entrance to her Beverly Hills home; and at bottom, delegates to the 8th National Convention of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation in Montreal. 

Reference

Distinguished Flying Cross (British), at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distinguished_Flying_Cross_(United_Kingdom)

 

 

 

Soldiers from New York: Jewish Soldiers in the Long Island Star Journal – I: Jacques W. Bloch

Though my blog posts have thus far covered Jewish soldiers who served in “The Great War” (World War One), this post covers a soldier in another war:  Sergeant (T/4) Jacques W. Bloch, who served in the United States Army during the Second World War.

His picture is presented below:

This image of Sgt. Bloch (serial number 32805985) was published in the Long Island Star Journal on April 11, 1945.

The article accompanying the image appears below:

Born in Germany in 1921, he was the son of Maurice Bloch, and resided at 37-53 62nd St., Woodside, Queens, New York.  Sgt. Bloch served in the 422nd Infantry Regiment of the 106th (“Golden Lion”) Infantry Division, and was captured in the Ardennes during what is popularly known as “The Battle of the Bulge”, on December 16, 1944. 

He was interned at Stalag 11B (Fallingbostel). 

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The names of other Jewish POWs interned at Fallingbostel – derived from a variety of sources – are presented below, with information in the entries appearing in the following format:

Name, rank, and serial number;
Military organization to which the soldier was assigned when he was captured;
Date captured;
Name and residential address of next of kin, and, date and place of birth;
Date when the soldier’s name appeared in casualty lists published in local or regional newspapers;
Did the soldier’s name appear in the 1947 publication American Jews in World War Two (“AJWW2”)?  If so? – The abbreviation “AJWW2” appears, followed by a number representing the page where the soldier’s name is listed.  If not? – The abbreviation “NL” (meaning “not listed”) appears instead.

Artin, Philip                        Pvt.                       42138150
45th Infantry Division, 157th Infantry Regiment
1/21/45
Mrs. Rose Artin (?), 2114 Mapes Ave., Bronx, N.Y.; N.Y.; 2/16/19
AJWW2 – NL

Barlas, Benjamin                              Pvt.                       42138568
45th Infantry Division, 157th Infantry Regiment
1/21/45
1817 Tenth Ave., Bronx, N.Y.
4/20/45
AJWW2 – NL

Bayarsky, Joseph                            S/Sgt.                   32248209; PH
28th Infantry Division, 110th Infantry Regiment
12/20/44
Mr. and Mrs. Morris and Rebecca (Krepp) Bayarsky (parents), 654 Hinsdale St., Brooklyn, N.Y.; N.Y.; 10/30/10
3/29/45, 5/31/45
AJWW2 – 271

Benjamin, Stanley                           PFC                       15308294
3/26/45
Mr. and Mrs. Aron and _____ (Peters) Benjamin (parents), 418 13th St. SE, Canton, Oh.; Oh., Canton; 8/5/24
AJWW2 – NL

Bernstein, Paul                 Pvt.                       42063032; PH
106th Infantry Division, 423rd Infantry Regiment
12/21/44
Mrs. Rebecca B. Bernstein, 236 Milford St., Brooklyn, N.Y.
4/14/45, 5/19/45
AJWW2 – 276

Cohn, Albert D.                                Pvt.                       13126322
94th Infantry Division, 301st Infantry Regiment
1/21/45
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel and _____ (Shander) Cohn (parents), 5443 Wyndale Ave., Philadelphia, Pa.; Pa.; 12/14/22
AJWW2 – NL

Deitch, Daniel J.                               Pvt.                       12110534
79th Infantry Division, 314th Infantry Regiment
1/20/45
Mr. and Mrs. Herman Deitch and Sophie (Hoffman) Cohen (parents), 1487 College Ave., New York, N.Y.; N.Y., New York; 3/26/22
5/2/45, 6/20/45
AJWW2 – 296

Fineblum, Solomon S.                    PFC                       33731236
94th Infantry Division, 301st Infantry Regiment (Scout)
1/21/45
Mr. and Mrs. Morris and _____ (Rochlin) Fineblum (parents), 2501 Manhattan Ave., Baltimore, Md.; Pvt. Jerome Fineblum (brother); Md.
4/21/25
BJT 5/4/45
AJWW2 – NL

Gang, Sol                           Pvt.                       32544465
79th Infantry Division, 314th Infantry Regiment
1/20/45
Mr. and Mrs. Alexander and Ann Gang (parents); Sister at 44 Bowery, New York, N.Y.; N.Y.; 6/12/18
4/20/45
AJWW2 – NL

Goldman, Harold                            PFC                       32809834
99th Infantry Division, 394th Infantry Regiment
12/18/44
Mr. Maurice Goldman (father), c/o Mrs. Marian Schare, 975 Walton Ave., Bronx, N.Y.
4/12/45, 4/26/45, 5/17/45
AJWW2 – NL

Goldsmith, Wilburt D.                    Sgt.                       12087440; PH, 2 OLC
9th Infantry Division, 39th Infantry Regiment
12/22/44 (wounded previously on ~ 2/17/43 and ~ 6/26/44)
Mr. and Mrs. Aaron and Sadie (Sanders) Goldsmith (parents), c/o Donnelly, 95 Brandt Place, Bronx, N.Y.; 12/7/21
6/5/43, 8/26/44, 4/21/45, 4/24/45, 6/1/45
AJWW2 – 327

Goodkin, Jerome                            PFC                       19119583
84th Infantry Division, 333rd Infantry Regiment
11/22/44
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence and _____ (Dan) Goodkin (parents), 211 S. (Hammond?) Drive, Beverly Hills, Ca.; Il.; 2/6/22
AJWW2 – NL

Hinden, Philip                    PFC                       32022244; PH
2nd Infantry Division, 9th Infantry Regiment
12/17/44 (wounded previously; see ~ 9/8/44)
(wife), 622 Stone Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y. (or) 498 Stone Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y.
11/8/44, 5/14/45
AJWW2 – 345

Hirsch, David H.                Pvt.                       39049852
84th Infantry Division, 333rd Infantry Regiment
11/25/44
Mrs. Kathryn Hirsch (wife), 876 North Orange Grove, Pasadena, Ca.
6/18/45
AJWW2 – NL

Kaplan, Milton                  PFC                       32598178
94th Infantry Division, 301st Infantry Regiment
1/21/45
Mrs. Sarah Kaplan (mother), 126 Ridgewood, Newark, N.J.; 507 Belmont Ave., Newark, N.J.; N.J.; 9/8/20
6/25/45
AJWW2 – NL

Kraus, Jerome S.                              Pvt.                       36536695
84th Infantry Division, 334th Infantry Regiment
11/19/44
Mr. and Mrs. Morris and Hanna Kraus (parents), 9307 Broad St., Detroit, Mi.; Mi., Detroit; 5/22/21
6/13/45
AJWW2 – NL

Lempert, Moe                   PFC                       32969933; PH
35th Infantry Division, 320th Infantry Regiment
9/28/44
Mr. Joseph W. Lempert (father), 1700 Crotona Park East, New York, N.Y. (or) Apt. 5-1, 1055 Jerome Ave., Bronx, N.Y.; N.Y.; 12/13/24
12/28/44, 3/20/45, 5/14/45
AJWW2 – 375

Mandel, Sidney D.                           Cpl.                       12147427
1/6/45
Mr. Benjamin Mandel (father), 342 2nd Ave., Jersey City, N.J.; N.J., Jersey City; 9/18/23
6/19/45
AJWW2 – NL

Narodick, Norman                          PFC                       36958612; PH
106th Infantry Division, 423rd Infantry Regiment
12/21/44
Mr. and Mrs. Harry and Rebecca (Levine) Narodick (parents), 1504 South Kildare St., Chicago, Il.; Pvt. Gilbert Narodick (brother); Il., Chicago; 1/13/23
5/24/45
AJWW2 – 111

Novick, Alvin                     PFC                       42037918; PH
94th Infantry Division, 301st Infantry Regiment
1/21/45
Mr. and Mrs. Irving (“Isadore”?) and Lena (Janowitz) Novick (parents); Miss Rosalind Novick (sister), 145-11 33rd Ave., Flushing, N.Y.; 6/27/25
5/23/45, Long Island Star Journal 5/22/45
AJWW2 – 400
(Studying physics at Columbia University)

Resnick, Alleck A.                            PFC                       13156499; BSM, 1 OLC, PH
84th Infantry Division, 333rd Infantry Regiment
11/25/44
Mr. and Mrs. Max and Ida (Bass) Resnick (parents), 3714 Belle Ave., Baltimore, Md.; R.I., Providence; 10/28/22
AJWW2 – 143

Roossin, Arnold                               Pvt.                       32802179; PH
101st Airborne Division, 907th Glider Field Artillery Battalion
9/19/44
Mrs. Sylvia Roossin (mother), 2201 Caton Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y.
4/3/45, 6/25/45
AJWW2 – 415

Rothenberg, Irving                         T/5                        20301306; PH
8th Infantry Division, 28th Infantry Regiment
12/22/44
Mr. Max Rothenberg (father), 858 Fox St., New York, N.Y.
4/26/45, 6/12/45
AJWW2 – 421

Rubin, Jack                        PFC                       34543743
84th Infantry Division, 334th Infantry Regiment
11/21/44
Mr. Isadore Rubin (father), 215 23rd St., Miami Beach, Fl.
6/10/45
AJWW2 – NL

Rubin, Morris R.                              Pvt.                       42060778; PH
106th Infantry Division, 423rd Infantry Regiment
12/21/44
Mr. and Mrs. Henry and Mollie (Fahn) Rubin (parents), 2918 West 24th St., Brooklyn, N.Y.; N.Y., Brooklyn; 10/2/25
4/5/45, 5/25/45
AJWW2 – 423

Satz, Leo                            S/Sgt.                   32787957; PH
1st Infantry Division, 18th Infantry Regiment
12/17/44
Mrs. Edythe Satz (wife), 1325 Nelson Ave., Bronx, N.Y.
4/12/45, 6/20/45
AJWW2 – 427

Schreier, Nathan                             PFC                       32867570
84th Infantry Division, 334th Infantry Regiment
11/9/44
Mr. Charles Schreier (father), 23 East 3rd St., Mount Vernon, N.Y.
4/17/45, 6/11/45
AJWW2 – NL

Shapiro, Seymour                           Pvt.                       32649328; PH
45th Infantry Division, 157th Infantry Regiment
1/21/45
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel and Millie (Deskin) Shapiro (parents), 665 Riverdale Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y.; N.Y.; 4/4/22
1/1/45
AJWW2 – 062

Siegel, Hyman                   PFC                       32517708
2nd Armored Division, 66th Armored Regiment
1/16/45; POW at S 11B Fallingbostel, and, S 5A Malsbach / Ludwigsburg
Mr. and Mrs. Ike and _____ (_____) Siegel (parents), 482 Grand St., New York, N.Y.; N.Y., New York; 12/7/07
AJWW2 – NL

Solomon, Isaac                               PFC                       42055485; PH
45th Infantry Division, 157th Infantry Regiment (Medical Corps)
1/21/45
Mr. and Mrs. Max and S. (Sidransky) Solomon (parents), 190 E. 52nd St., Brooklyn, 3, N.Y.; N.Y.; 4/26/45
AJWW2 – 419

Weiner, Morris                                PFC                       36752698
1st Infantry Division, 16th Infantry Regiment
1/5/45
Mrs. Ada Weiner (wife), 4652 North St. Louis Ave., Chicago, Il.
6/15/45
AJWW2 – NL

Weingarten, Sol                              PFC                       42034540
94th Infantry Division, 301st Infantry Regiment
1/21/45
1496 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y.
4/20/45
AJWW2 – NL

Ziring, Sidney M.                              PFC                       12129473; PH
106th Infantry Division, 422nd Infantry Regiment
12/16/44
Mr. Sigmund Ziring (father), 2987 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y.
5/29/45
AJWW2 – 478

____________________

Sgt. Bloch’s name appeared in the War Department Casualty List published on April 7, 1945, while notice of his liberation appeared in the Casualty List of May 15, 1945. 

The “title” of the latter – as published in The New York Times – is shown below. 

Sgt. Bloch’s name appears first in the list of Liberated POWs:

For the purpose of this post, I’ve only shown the “title” of the Casualty List, and, the list of liberated POWs.  Though the summary paragraph denotes the report of 3,172 and 356 Army and Navy casualties, it’s important to realize that the Times only published the names of soldiers hailing from the New York Metropolitan area, northeastern New Jersey, and southwestern Connecticut, not the Casualty List as covering the United States in its entirety. 

This was based on and consistent with a policy established earlier in the war by the War Department (or, Office of War Information?) instructing news outlets – newspapers and radio stations (remember, this was before the ‘Net!) – never to release a “full”, nationwide Casualty List, thus limiting news releases about casualties only to names of soldiers who resided in the geographic area of a newspaper’s established coverage.

Like many (many) American Jewish soldiers who were casualties during the Second World War (wounded, injured, or killed) or who received military decorations, Sgt. Bloch’s name does not appear in the aptly titled 1947 book American Jews in World War Two, the central and primary work (precisely because it is the only such work!) listing the names of American Jewish servicemen who served in that conflict.

Reference

Long Island Star Journal, at http://www.astorialic.org/starjournal/starjournal_p.php

Biography of Wing Commander William Weiser – From “Canadian Jews in World War II”

The prior post about RCAF Wing Commander William Weiser presented him in an informal – yet highly informative, very expressive! – literary context, in the format of excerpts from letters he’d sent to his wife, Sophie Weiser, between May of 1942 and February of 1944.  These letters were published in The American Hebrew in 1944.

However, another view of Wing Commander Weiser’s WW II military career appeared only three years later – in 1947 – in an entirely different setting.  That year, the Canadian Jewish Congress published a two-volume set of books covering the military service of Canada’s Jews in the recent war, aptly and simply titled Canadian Jews in World War Two.  The “first” of the two books, “Decorations” (Part I), comprises biographies of all Canadian Jewish servicemen who received awards for their military service.  The “second” volume, “Casualties” (Part II), covers Canadian Jewish servicemen who were killed, wounded, or captured.

Viewed within a larger context, both during, and especially since the Second World War, numerous works have been published describing – in widely varied formats and styles – Jewish military service in WW II.  Among these works, Canadian Jews in World War II easily stands out as – far and away – the very best.  Though varying in length and content, the biographical profiles are typically extremely detailed, almost always including nominal genealogical information, photographic portraits of excellent quality, and – for those men who were casualties – the circumstances under and dates when such events occurred, sometimes even with mention of the military unit to which they were assigned.  Some profiles include lengthy extracts and quotes from official correspondence, or, letters from friends and comrades. 

In sum, these two books are both very nicely produced “as” books, and, they are superb stand-alone historical reference works. 

A biography of Wing Commander Weiser can be found on page 6 of Part I.  Like the majority of profiles in both books, his entry includes a formal photographic portrait, which happens to be identical to (and better than!) the image presented in the prior post, the latter of which is actually a digital image from 35mm microfilm.

His picture is presented below, along with a verbatim transcript of his biographical entry.

____________________

WING COMMANDER WILLIAM WEISER, J-10822, R.C.A.F., of New York City, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on Oct. 4th, 1943, the Bar to his D.F.C. in May, 1944, and named a member of the Order of the British Empire on Jan. 25th, 1946.

The citation with his D.F.C. states:

“Flying Officer Weiser has flown on operations against some of the enemy’s most important targets and has always displayed great determination to complete his mission successfully.  By his courage and devotion to duty he has set an excellent example to his crew.”

The citation accompanying the Bar read:

“This officer has completed two tours of operational duties.  Most of the sorties completed by him have been accomplished in the face of heavy enemy action over such targets as Berlin, Hamburg, and Essen.  As a Flight Commander, S/Ldr. Weiser has displayed skill, courage, and devotion to duty of a high order.  His enthusiasm and organizational ability have been valuable assets to his squadron.”

Wing-Cmdr. Weiser learned to fly at Floyd Bennett Field, New York, and came to Canada to enlist in the R.C.A.F. eight months before the United States entered the war.  He won his wings and commission and was posted overseas in May, 1942.  There he was attached to a Pathfinder Squadron with which he completed two tours of operations.  While he continued to command a bomber on raids over Germany, he was also in charge of the training of new pilots assigned to his squadron.  Later he was posted to the staff of a Canadian bomber group.

Returning after a heavy raid on Germany in May, 1943, Wing-Cmdr. Weiser’s bomber crashed.  Wing Cmdr. Weiser was severely injured and was confined to the hospital for more than a month.  The other members of the crew escaped with slight wounds.

Born in Newark, N.J., in 1919, William Weiser is the son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Weiser of 971 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, N.Y.  Shortly before going overseas in 1942 Wing-Cmdr. Weiser married the former Miss Sophie Goldberg who lives at 1475 Grand Concourse, Bronx, N.Y.

Reference

Canadian Jews in World War II – Part I: Decorations, Canadian Jewish Congress, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1947, p. 6.

Words of the Wing Commander: The Letters of William Weiser, World War Two Royal Canadian Air Force Bomber Pilot, as Published in “The American Hebrew”

In prior blog posts, we have seen accounts of the experiences of Jewish servicemen in the First World War, as reported in periodicals such as The Jewish Chronicle and The Jewish World (England), and, l’Univers Israélite (France).  The common aspect of these stories has been the presentation of accounts of military service in a serviceman’s own words, whether composed by the serviceman himself, or adapted within the format of an article by a reporter or editor.

I hope and plan to present more accounts of Jewish military service in “The Great War” in the future.

For now, however, we’ll move “ahead” some two and a half decades and westward across the Atlantic to Manhattan, to The American Hebrew of mid-1944.

In a two-part article, “From the Diary of Wing Commander Weiser”, published on May 19 and 26 of that year, the magazine published extracts from letters sent by Wing Commander William Weiser of the Royal Canadian Air Force, to his wife, Sophie (Goldberg) Weiser, then residing at 1475 Grand Concourse, in the Bronx.  (His father Jacob lived at 971 Fulton Street, in Brooklyn.)

Encompassing May of 1942 through February of 1944, by which time the Wing Commander – a Halifax bomber pilot in Number 405 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) – had completed his second tour of combat missions over German-Occupied Europe, the letters are entirely candid, in terms of his attitude and feelings about flying in combat; very descriptive, in his description of the events in which he participated and witnessed; and perhaps even nostalgic – at least from the vantage of 2017! – in his accounts of life and scenery in wartime England.  It’s surprising that Mrs. Weiser was willing to share private correspondence of this nature with the general public, but then again, likely she was more than proud of her husband’s accomplishments in overlapping terms of personal achievement, patriotism, and solidarity with the Jewish people, let alone his expressiveness with the written word.

According to his biography (presented at the end of this post) at the website of the RCAF Association, William Weiser remained in the RCAF as a career officer, eventually rising to the rank of Air Commodore.  He was also mentioned (in passing) in The Jewish Chronicle on June 2, 1944, and, in The Brooklyn Eagle on October 1, 1943 and January 29, 1945.

A PDF version of this article is available here. 

____________________

The picture of Wing Commander Weiser presented below appeared in the May 19 issue of The American Hebrew.

May 19, 1944

Wing Commander William Weiser at 25 holds a Canadian rank the equivalent of which in American usage is that of Lieutenant Colonel.  Known formerly as “the boy pilot of Brooklyn”, he grew up to become one of the most gifted airmen in the Canadian Air Force.  When he was to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross, bestowed upon him in person by the King of England, at Buckingham Palace, he cabled his wife: “The King is going to give me a nice medal.  All’s well.  Love, Bill.”  His wife, Mrs. Sophie Weiser, the recipient of the interesting and informative letters here, has been active in the Zionist Organization helping refugees.  Wing Commander Weiser is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Weiser of Brooklyn, and they have another son, Hyman, in the Navy.  The flyer enlisted in May, 1941, at Halifax, Nova Scotia.  He is a graduate of Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, and used to run away often as a boy, to fly a plane.

May 1, 1942, Aboard boat.

Somewhere on the Atlantic tonight there is a very lonely young man…your husband…sitting down…writing and thinking.  We were together for so little time, my sweet.  And already reality is gone and I am living on memories…living every moment of the precious past over again.  This is not reality surely; this vast expanse of black water stretching on every side as far as the eye can see… hemming in us.  The ocean is horrible; lonely and tormented – in ceaseless convulsion.  Now the fog has surrounded us – closed us in completely and we are moving noiselessly through a black void as far removed from reality as the stars.  Only the slow interminable rolling of the ship and hissing foaming water along the sides bring a sense of motion.  Time is suspended.  I rise, eat four meals a day, talk to people and retire…  Today is different.  For the first time in three days – the sun.  The sea has been calm throughout.  It is nice to stand on the top deck and the ship and glance out over the water as the other ships keep pace is perfect formation.  The sea has a long slow swell which causes quite a pitching motion.  First the nose rises high, high into the air and then slowly down until it buries itself into the spray of sometimes blue, sometime green water.

…We should be getting pretty close to England by now.  The anti-aircraft is really out in force; you can’t move about deck without stumbling over some kind of anti-aircraft armament.  The decks literally bristle with guns.  So far we haven’t had any excitement of any kind.  The sea has been calm all the way over and except for a few depth charges dropped at one point there has been no sign of enemy activity…

May 23, 1942

I am now on leave for seven days.  I left my station on the 20th and spent one day in London just looking around.  I feel quite cosmopolitan now having trod the pavements of Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, the Strand and a dozen other places.  I would have liked to stay in London longer but right now it is probably one of the most crowded and expensive places to stay in the world.  I stayed pretty well around home base in London and got away with about 30 bob ($6.75).  Right now, I am spending six days in the country in the northwestern corner of England.  The country is very beautiful; all mountains and lakes.  The organization which handles the whole business has gotten us an invitation from a doctor and his family.  They are really awfully nice people.  England is really a beautiful country and the English in their native habitat are quite nice people.  They can’t be exceeded for hospitality at any rate.  Before I go, one last observation.  Our impressions of the English are quite overly exaggerated.  The English don’t speak like the English at all.  They speak in a perfectly understandable fashion!

June 5, 1942

Incidentally I had my first brush with enemy aircraft the other day and learned just what it feels like to hear a bomb come screeching down at you from the sky.  It isn’t a nice feeling at all.  But anyhow my good luck ring and Mogen Dovid are in full operation and all I got was a very dirty face out of it all.  My kit is completely intact.  Some of the boys didn’t fare quite so well.  I’m rather pleased with my reactions under fire.  No sign of fear or excessive excitement.

July 3, 1942

Flying in England is work, damned hard work.  It is raining in some part or other all the time; not a steady downpour but little individual rains from separate clouds.  Flying is a series of immersions in these rains and the first few times I hit them while moving at high speed, I had the impression of having struck something solid and unyielding.  The rains pound at the “glasshouse” with terrific force and rapidity almost as though it would destroy the fragile man- made machine which dares challenge its fury.  It requires all one’s strength and skill to maintain the aircraft on a reasonably even keel.

July 16, 1942

Had my first brush against the man with the scythe, not counting the air raids, and my lucky ring sure scared him off.  Was my own fault too; showing off to some people whom I knew were watching on the ground.  Ship fell into a spin from a vertical turn and I pulled out just brushing the tree tops.  I learned a lesson from that one though, won’t be doing any exhibition flying again unless it’s for the Jerries.

July 22, 1942

I have trouble writing to you when I am not in a hurry because the combination of circumstances puts me into a reverie from which it is hard to bring myself back into the reality of putting words on paper.  I find myself thinking of New York and the things we used to do.  There are little incidents which come into my conscience; like the breakfast boxes at the Barbizon-Plaza and the coffee that was invariably too cold.  The crowds on Pitkin Avenue on a Saturday afternoon and the taste of a pastrami sandwich and beer.  Carnegie Hall and the Philharmonic playing Tchaikowsky or Brahms…

August 15, 1942

One of these days I am actually going to stay in one place long enough to get my stuff unpacked.  I’m getting out of trunks and duffle bags.  One consolation about hopping all over the place is that you certainly get to see the country.  In one town I was at for ten days, I had beer in a pub that was built into a cave next to a castle.   The Crusaders on their way to Jerusalem in 1200 A.D. stopped at this same pub to take care of their thirst – and I’ll bet the beer was much better then.  I’ve been into London twice this past week to attend the BBC Prom concerts at Albert Hall.  Albert Hall is a tremendous place and the concerts are quite popular; the average audience is about 4000.  The concerts start at 6:00 P.M. and are somewhat longer than what we are accustomed to.  During the intermission everyone goes to one of the restaurants in the hall for beer or tea and sandwiches.

September 9, 1942

The flying is coming along fine.  My crew is shaping up swell now that we are becoming more experienced and I am getting good reports both as pilot and as skipper.  I am becoming well known throughout camp and getting along fine with people owing to my social activities and also because I am the only American left on the station since the other one cashed in his chips the other night.  I’ll probably get nabbed for funeral detail tomorrow.  The boys get a good send-off anyhow; flag draped coffin, rifleman firing volleys and all the works.  I’ve already served on one funeral party last week so I know what it’s like.  Darling I’ve started becoming morbid again, so we had better call it quits for now.

October 1, 1942

I think I have matured a little bit since last night and that my sense of values has become a little more practical.  I spent a very hot thirty minutes last night; a half hour where the life of myself and four other men teetered on a thin edge.  The Weiser luck came through and everything came out all right.  I think I now know why pilots have been known to kiss the earth when they come down.  At any rate I believe I have won the respect of my crew with regard to my flying ability and my ability to co-ordinate the working of each individual in the crew.  Thank God I am a pilot; in an emergency I am so busy that I have no time to pay any attention to my personal feelings and sensations.  It must be pure Hell to just have to sit there doing nothing and wait.  Anyhow, I know now that if the time does come when I have to pack up, I’ll go like a man, unafraid.

October 24, 1942

I have been through quite a lot since my last letter.  As you can tell from my new return address, I am now at a squadron.  On leaving my last station, I was granted eight night’s leave in order to have a last fling.  It reminded me of the last sumptuous meal which is given to a prisoner before he is led off to execution, but that didn’t prevent me from having the nicest time I’ve had since I came to England.

November 9, 1942

I am very tired right now.  I have been doing a lot of flying and I’m just sick; mentally and physically.  I wish I could get away from here for a week.  I want to sit in a living room of a private home in front of a fire in a nice comfy chair with my feet up.  Not a care in the world and with my contentment made secure by the knowledge that the woman in my life is standing right next to me.  All I have to do is open my eyes and I can see her.  I don’t even have to do that; I can just feel her presence right next to me.  God!  What a dream – what a feeling.  I guess I shouldn’t have impossible dreams like that.  I’m going to sleep now; I’m very tired darling.  Please keep up a steady stream of prayers.

December 11, 1942

At long last I have gotten to the stage where I am taking an active part in the argument going on.  I have been out many times already and it isn’t really so bad.  I was a little scared at first but the feeling went away quickly.  I have too much to do to pay attention to my own feelings.  My crew took it very nicely as well and my navigator proved his worth and skill by bringing us home under very adverse conditions.  English weather is known the world over, particularly in winter, and it certainly has lived up to its reputation.

About the only time I see the sun is when I climb up over the clouds.  I’m not worked very hard.  We have a few days off every week and a twelve day leave every three months.  My aircraft is right off the line and the ground crew keep it in tip-top order.  So taking everything into account, I consider that we have a good chance of a reunion one of these days.

January 28, 1943

Everything is coming along OK now although we are kept very busy seeing what we can do about the U-boat menace.  I have been out on quite a few bombing raids lately and I am beginning to feel tired out.  I am due for seven days leave within a few weeks, I hope, and I am planning on laying up in the country for a good rest.  The raids my squadron are doing are very long ones, over ten hours, and the major problem is keeping awake.  Orange juice, caffeine tablets and oxygen do the trick.  I don’t have any trouble keeping awake over the target however.  Searchlights, flak and nightfighters really keep you on your toes.  Flak look pretty coming up; like a tremendous fireworks display.  Vari-colored tracers seem to drift up slowly and then they suddenly go by with express train speed.  Heavy flak shells explode with a vivid orange flash and if perchance the explosion is close, the aircraft shakes and trembles like a live thing.  And then the bombing run-up, when the aircraft must be flown straight and level for 45 seconds come what may.  The feeling of relief when “bombs gone” comes over the inter-communication and we start to get the hell out.  I wouldn’t trade it for anything though.  The thrill of living dangerously gets into your blood.  I have a long time to go yet because after I finish this tour of “ops” I will get a “rest” and then back for another tour.

May 26, 1944

Sometimes when you’re out about ten o’clock in the evening, the chances are that at that exact moment your husband will be in the sky, in the hell over Western Germany.  I’m not good at descriptive writing.  I can’t tell you what it is like to fly straight and level through a barrage thrown up by a hundred heavy flak guns and hundreds of light ones while the bomb aimer says, “right, left-left, steady”.  Innumerable searchlights sway back and forth, looking for the tiny speck way up, a tiny speck, but potent with destruction.  Seven pairs of eyes ever watching the enveloping blackness in the game of vigilance and wits which is necessary to avoid sudden death in the form of a night fighter.  For every egg we’re throwing the Jerries now, we’re giving them back only part of what we owe them…

March 16, 1943

Before I go, I must tell you about the circumstances which caused me to be returning to my station on the night of the 13th by train.  I don’t tell you much about my flying because firstly, the censors don’t like it and secondly because it smacks too much of “line-shooting”, but this is really something.  If you read your daily paper, you probably know that practically every night the RAF is out taking a smack at some part of Germany or occupied territory.  Well, I’ve been on most of these jaunts recently and I’ve had a good bit of experience and close shaves, but on the night of the 12th I came closest.  As your paper will tell you, the target that night was Essen, in “Happy Valley” (the Ruhr Valley).  I’ve seen plenty of hot targets in my time; Hamburg, Bremen and Berlin are not exactly picnics, but I’ve never seen anything like Essen that night.  After we dropped our eggs the flak boys gave us a little attention with the following results:

One engine dead, another one dying, hydraulics shot sway so that bomb doors would not close, four petrol tanks holed, electrical wiring severed, rudder control rod hanging on by a hair, aerials shot away.  A piece of flak came in one side, passed under the bomb aimer’s belly and out the other side.  The tailgunner’s right boot had a piece of flak cut a grove in the leather.  We landed at the first ‘drome we saw in England and the next morning I went out to survey the damage.  I counted 112 holes and I’ll bet that I missed some.  Talk about luck!  I certainly hope I don’t get anymore like that.  Your prayers must have been with me that night!

April 22, 1943

Since my last letter I’ve packed up my kit and moved again.  The reason for this last move is a deep dark military secret.  I can only say that because of our previous success as a crew on bombing raids and because of the outstanding ability of my navigator, we have been selected to train for a very special job; a job which, while it entails a slightly greater degree of risk and a much greater degree of skill on the part of several members of the crew, is imperative to the success of our raids.  If we can prove ourselves adept at the work, promotion and recognition should be rapid.  Personally I have the greatest confidence in my crew.  I only hope that I won’t fail them in carrying out the increased burden which will fall upon my shoulders.  The responsibility, in the final analysis of taking a quarter million dollar bomber and a crew of seven out over Germany and bringing them safely back rests on the sound judgment, common sense, and flying skill of the captain…and also Lady Luck (blessed be she!).

May 12, 1943

I HOPE you received the cable I sent last week.  I didn’t know for sure whether the Air force would advise you that I had been injured while on operations, but I didn’t want you to worry needlessly.  Here is what happened – as much as I can tell you.  I was on my way back from … and I couldn’t land anywhere because a thick fog had closed in.  After awhile my petrol got very low so I told the boys it looked like a blind crash landing.  The boys could have baled out, but they elected to stay.  The last thing I remember was one helluva big tree coming up.  I came to and found myself lying alone on the ground.  It was black as pitch, but I could hear the crew getting out of the kite.  I couldn’t get up because there was something wrong with my right leg, so I called to them and they made me comfortable.  After awhile an ambulance came and took us all to a hospital.  After they got me out of the tatters of my uniform and got some of the plowed field off my hide, a survey was made.  They found concussion (mild), gashes on head, right hand and both legs.  Six x-rays were taken of my spine because I couldn’t move my right leg before somebody discovered that the only trouble was a bad sprain.  Well, I’ve been in bed for a week now.  The rest of my crew have all been discharged some three days but I haven’t been allowed out of bed yet.  By the way, my face is quite intact.

The incident referred to above occurred during a mission to Dortmund, Germany, on the evening of May 4 – 5, 1943, and is described in Volume IV of W.R. Chorley’s Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War.  (Midland Publishing, Hinckley, England, 1996.)  According to Bomber Command Losses, W/C Weiser (then a Flight Officer) and his crew, in Halifax II JB897 (individual aircraft code LQ * T), “Ran low on fuel and while trying to land in misty weather conditions at Wyton, collided with trees and crash-landed 0430 in a field near the airfield.  Four crew members received slight injuries.”

Along with F/O Weiser,  the crew comprised:

Geary, T., Sergeant
Ellwood, G.B., Flight Officer
Baker, R.E., Pilot Officer
Mayou, F.D., Sergeant
Colburn, L., Flight Sergeant
Banks, H.C., Flight Officer

Yesterday I flew for the first time since my accident and it was just as though I hadn’t been away.  It was interesting to note that the squadron leader and wing commander were obviously worried that I had lost my nerve.  They needn’t have concerned themselves; my nerve and mental attitude are just the same as they ever were.  So if the old Weiser luck continues to hold out, I’ll be home in time and we’ll see if we can battle the problems of life together!

June 24, 1943

It’s funny how attached the aircrew and the ground crew become.  When speaking of the kite, it’s always ”ours”.  We’ve been together for a long time now and we’ve been through four ‘v’s; I honestly don’t think those boys sleep at night when we go out on an ‘op until they know that we are safely back.  They are a good bunch of boys, competent and keen because they know that in a large measure our safe return will depend on the excellence of their work.  The chief engine man, Pop, is about 44, an old hardened ex-soldier of the last war.  The four engines are his children, his joy in life, and he talks to them and babys them and tunes and adjusts until those engines are as near perfect as humans can get them.  The rest of the ground crew are younger but the same in type, so that when “V” takes off to have a slap at the Ruhr, we know that we have a machine which will be dependable when the night fighters start looking for customers and the searchlights and flak are coming too close.

June 26, 1943

Well, there’s another trip to record in the log book.  It was an interesting trip – and a tough one.  I had a feeling of acute depression before take-off – for the first time in all my ops.  Frankly, I had a feeling, that all would not go well; I even thought I might not come back.  It was unaccountable – maybe I’m getting psychic.  Anyhow I communicated my feelings to one of the station switchboard operators, a devout Catholic girl as Irish as they come.  I didn’t know her, but she made me wear one of those Catholic medallions around my neck.  The next day one of the other operators told me that the girl had been up several times during the night and – of all things – praying for me.  It kind of re-establishes one’s faith in human nature when a complete stranger does that for you…  I got back all right, but it was my second toughest trip – (hardest one was the first time I went to Essen).  The funny part of it all was that after being fired at without respite for more than two hours and going from searchlight cone to searchlight cone, a careful examination of the aircraft failed to show so much as a scratch.  The queerest part of the whole damned business was that after we got back the navigator, mid-upper gunner and engineer individually told me that they had each had exactly the same feeling.  And yet everyone kept his mouth shut and carried on – a swell bunch of boys.

August 19, 1943

I have done 50 per cent more trips so far this month than I have done in any of the four preceding months.

After four days ago I landed away from the base after a trip and I slept for three hours before flying to base.  I arrived at base in the afternoon just in time for briefing, for that night’s operations.  No wash, no shave, no nothing.  Luckily I had a second pilot that night and slept most of the time.  I can stand the pressure as well as the next guy, but I’m afraid it will leave permanent marks.  The lines on my face are getting deeper but at least my hair isn’t getting gray like some of the boys.  I am really looking forward to my two weeks’ leave at the beginning of Sept.  I intend to get a good rest.

October 4, 1943

We’ve been working pretty hard lately; long trips that leave one absolutely exhausted.  I don’t know whether you can remember the spirit in which you write your letter, but I feel exactly the same way.  “Browned off” we call it.  My trips are mounting up; the end of my tour is getting into view.  I don’t know what the Air Force plans on doing with me if I do finish my tour.  The probability is that I will have to do 6-12 months of duty as a flying instructor over here imparting my operational knowledge to green crews.

I have always been reluctant to discuss the future in this racket because all too often there isn’t any.  And then again, the censor strongly disapproves of people saying too much.  But I see that I’ve been unfair; you deserve to know what the score is.

The score is this: I am not doing an ordinary tour of operations; I am not doing ordinary operations.  The work I am doing is confined to a small number of crews who have shown themselves above the average and have been entrusted with the special work which determines whether or not our bombing raids shall be successful or failures.  I am now fully trained in my work and because it is practically impossible for any crew to be replaced, we have to carry on beyond the normal number of operations.  We do almost twice the normal American number.  My crew and I are proud of the responsible work we are doing and we are not looking for “angles” to find a way of quitting before we have to…  The score is this: I am terribly homesick and I miss you very much.  Hang on for a while longer and if all goes well I’ll be back.

October 29, 1943

I hope you received my cable telling you of my appointment at Buckingham Palace.  The King is going to pin a Distinguished Flying Cross on my flat chest.  You should really be quite proud of me because in this outfit medals aren’t handed out as part of one’s weekly clothing ration.

October 29, 1943

My next promotion has just come through and I now find myself  with the rank of Squadron Leader – this is equivalent to the rank of major in the army.  One thing about operational aircrew in the RCAF; if one can manage to live long enough, there’s plenty of promotion.

The crew has gone on leave today but it looks as though I won’t be able to get away for more than a day or two later in the week.  That’s what comes of being a flight commander and having to bring a lot of crews through their teething stage and seeing to it that they have a decent chance of survival when they begin their “ops”.  The hard part is having to do that and operations besides.  I have only a very few more left to do now though.  As a matter of fact I’ve finished my tour and I’m doing a few extra to finish the crew off.  It’s the least I could do after we’ve been together so long and through so much.

December 22, 1943

Here is your Xmas present.  Frankfurt, 20th Dec. was my last raid.  I’m finished with operations now.  I’ve done two complete tours at once so that I cannot be called back unless I wish it.  I’m still in a whirl of shaking hands and receiving congratulations from all sides.  It really is an occasion for the squadron because it is rather rare for a complete crew to complete two tours.  After we landed on the last trip and I cut the engines, the ground crew came swarming in with bottles of beer and there was bags of hand shaking and back slapping all around.  Last night I arranged a party for the aircrew-ground crew unit and I’m afraid that the circumstances, together with the alcohol, made us quite sentimental.  After all we’ve been together for more than a year and through more than most people ever go through in a life-time and now we’re splitting up.

February 19, 1944

Now that there is some possibility of my getting home some time this year I want to be in good shape – physically and financially.

Evenings have become somewhat of a problem now because I don’t feel like going out to the nearest town, but what with the gym, a bit of reading, some letter writing and surprise inspections of sections under my control after personnel think I have relaxed for the day, I manage to fill in my time fairly well.

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RCAF Personnel – Honours and Awards – 1939-1949

WEISER, F/O William (J10822) – Distinguished Flying Cross – No.405 Squadron – Award effective 4 October 1943 as per London Gazette dated 15 October 1943 and AFRO 2610/43 dated 17 December 1943.  Born in Newark, New Jersey, March 1919.  Home in The Bronx, New York.  Enlisted in Ottawa, 9 June 1941.  Trained at No.1 ITS (graduated 25 September 1941), No.20 EFTS (graduated 5 December 1941) and No.16 SFTS (graduated 27 March 1942).  DFC and Bar both presented by King George VI, 11 August 1944.  Repatriated to Canada, 1944, serving with both Western and Eastern Air Command; remained in postwar RCAF, rising to Air Commodore by June 1963.  Postings included CEPE (1947), US Armed Forces Staff College (1947- 48), AFHQ (1948-50), CJS Washington (October 1950-August 1952), Training Command Headquarters at Trenton (1952-53), No.2 Fighter Wing in Grostenquin (July 1953-October 1955), Air Defence Command Headquarters (October 1955-October 1959), AFHQ (1959-63), and NORAD. Awarded Queen’s Coronation Medal, 23 October 1953.

Women at War: Driving Through the Desert – Women of the A.T.S. (Auxiliary Territorial Service) – As Depicted in Parade – Middle East Weekly

An essential aspect of all military endeavors is the provision of the material and logistical support – transportation; supply; repair; maintenance; communications; medical services, and more – that can enable a force of combat arms (land, sea, or air; singly, or more often in combination) to conduct offensive or defensive military activity.  The centrality of this aspect of military operations has been manifest in practically every conflict of the twentieth century (and certainly far earlier), by the armed forces of practically every nation engaged in military conflict.

A related aspect of this facet of military service has been – especially during period of mass conscription – the mobilization and conscription of citizens who would not typically not be subject to military service, “freeing up” other citizens to directly serve in combat positions.

A noteworthy example of this was Britain’s Auxiliary Territorial Service, or “A.T.S.”, which, established in September of 1938, was the women’s branch of the British Army during World War Two.  A.T.S. members served as cooks, clerks, storekeepers, drivers, postal workers, and ammunition inspectors.  Though A.T.S. members were prevented from serving in battle, some members of the Service eventually did serve in such tasks as radar operators, anti-aircraft gun crews, and members of the military police.  The nature of such assignments was not without risk, as – according to the Wikipedia entry on the A.T.S. – the A.T.S. incurred 717 deaths during the war out of a total mobilized force of over 190,000 women.

During World War Two, some 30,000 men from the Yishuv served in the British armed forces, at the behest of the Jewish Agency.  Eventually, this recruitment effort extended to women, due to an agreement between British authorities and the Council of Women’s Organizations.  Eventually, some 4,350 women from the Yishuv would serve in the A.T.S. and W.A.A.F. (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force). 

A group of A.T.S. drivers from the Yishuv became the subject of a photo essay which appeared in the British military newspaper Parade – Middle-East Weekly, on February 12, 1944, under the title “Convoy Girls of the A.T.S.”

First published in mid-August of 1940, Parade – edited by A.W. Parsons and Captain D.H. Flockhart – was published by the “Inter-Service Publications Directorate for the Joint Publications Board”.  The publication was printed in Cairo by Al Hilal, which was – according to the masthead – the “Sole Distributor for Egypt, Sudan, Syria, “Palestine” and Cyprus”.  As indicated by its title, Parade’s news coverage focused upon – but was certainly not limited to – British military activity in North Africa, the Middle East, and Mediterranean, in time expanding in scope to encompass news from other theaters of war, and the armed forces of other Allied nations, such as United States, Soviet Union, and other European countries.  The magazine frequently presented photographic essays about national, ethnic, and religious groups throughout the Middle East, as well as military, cultural, and social news from the British Isles.  Likewise, the back page of many issues featured a full-page-size pin-up of a prominent (or not so prominent?!) actress. 

In its day, Parade provided news for Commonwealth military personnel.  In our day, it offers a fascinating, retrospective view of the British military, as well as an “image” (quite literally, considering the abundance of illustrations in each issue!) of the early 1940s, as seen through and portrayed by British military and political leadership during that decade.

The images from “Convoy Girls of the A.T.S.” appear below. 

I hope to bring you further posts based upon images and articles in Parade, in the future.

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Brief and to the point, the following is the entirety of the text that accompanies the photos:

A Corporal poses beside her truck.

Parade - 1944 02 12 - Convoy Girls of the ATS 4A BWA group of drivers receives a briefing.

Parade - 1944 02 12 - Convoy Girls of the ATS 1A BWThe following image, showing a line-up of Dodge D15 GS trucks, is notable in two respects.

1) A British “roundel” – intended to provide rapid air-to-ground recognition to forestall “friendly-fire” by Allied aviators – is visible on the upturned hood of the middle truck.

2) Note that the face of the driver kneeling in front of her truck (the woman wearing heavy gloves) has been obscured, unlike her comrades.  This leads to conjecture…  Did she request anonymity to protect any family who still might be living in German-occupied Europe?

Parade - 1944 02 12 - Convoy Girls of the ATS 2A BWA Dodge is driven to an assembly point.

Parade - 1944 02 12 - Convoy Girls of the ATS 3A BWA group of drivers receive rations at a rest point.

Parade - 1944 02 12 - Convoy Girls of the ATS 5A BWThe same group as above.

Parade - 1944 02 12 - Convoy Girls of the ATS 6A BWWhether posed or genuine, this photo gives an indication of accommodations (or, lack thereof!) to be found in the desert!

Parade - 1944 02 12 - Convoy Girls of the ATS 7A BW____________________

The American Hebrew of January 19, 1945, in an article covering military service of volunteers from the Yishuv in the Allied armed forces, featured a photo (certainly posed) of a Yishuv A.T.S. driver in Italy.  Her cap badge is quite obvious. 

Here’s a much (!) better view of an A.T.S. cap badge, displayed at the website of the Historama Online History Shop:

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Curiously, in place of its typical weekly back-page pin-ups of actresses, during 1943, three issues of Parade featured pin-ups promoting enlistment in the A.T.S.  These pin-ups are shown below.

Two of the pin-ups – by the Austrian artist A. Sevek – are idealized portraits of A.T.S. servicewomen, both wearing service caps bearing the organization’s badge.  Given the differences in the women’s facial features, Sevek’s drawings very likely depicted actual A.T.S. personnel.  Unfortunately (and quite understandably), Parade did not reveal their names.

The third A.T.S. pin-up isn’t – really! – a pin-up at all.  It’s actually a full-page photo (probably posed) of an A.T.S. servicewoman working on the engine of a Ford truck, intriguingly nicknamed “Partisan”.  The ad presents a more realistic – hence less idealized – depiction of an A.T.S. servicewoman in the Yishuv, or, Egyptian desert.  An unspoken message of the ad would seem to be, “Are you ready for the challenge?”

A notable aspect of the ad are the four “blurbs” promoting enlistment in the A.T.S., which answer the lead statement, “She has released a man…”  These are:

  • No – he wasn’t trapped under the bonnet.  He was doing a job, but could have been more usefully employed elsewhere.
  • By joining the A.T.S. this girl has enabled him to be released for more important duties with fighting troops in forward zone.
  • Girls are needed for the A.T.S. in the M.E. as drivers, clerks, storewomen, hospital orderlies, draughtswomen and ‘phone operators.
  • If you join the A.T.S. you will be helping soldiers with their jobs.  You will find the training interesting and conditions good.

The pin-up also includes the locations of A.T.S. recruiting offices.  These were located at:

In Egypt:

114, Rue Fouad, Alexandria
Kasr el Nil Barracks, Cairo
Sarafand

In the Yishuv:

Allenby Street, Tel-Aviv
Princess Mary Avenue, Jerusalem
Kingsway, Haifa

In closing… 

…a restored Ford F60L truck (1941 vintage), from the Wheels and Tracks website.  Just to give you an idea…!

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As a part of this research, I’ve attempted to identify the Jewish servicewomen – from the Yishuv and elsewhere – who died while serving in the A.T.S. Their names are listed below.

A list of abbreviations follows each record, representing the following sources of information:

Gelber II – Jewish Palestinian Volunteering in the British Army During the Second World War – Volume II – The Struggle for A Jewish Army, by Dr. Yoav Gelber, Yav Izhak Ben-Zvi Publications, Jerusalem, Israel, 1981

TJC – The Jewish Chronicle

“WWRT I” and “WWRT II” – Volumes I and II of We Will Remember Them – A Record of the Jews Who Died in the Armed Forces of the Crown 1939-1945

____________________

Jewish Casualties in the Auxiliary Territorial Service
  In the Second World War

– .ת.נ.צ.ב.ה. –

Bat Shalom, Sara                                           Pvt.                       W/PAL/195678
5/29/42 (“Died in Egypt as the result of an accident.”)
Tel-el-Kebir War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt – 3,C,8
Gelber II – 318; TJC 8/13/43; WWRT I – 060, 238; WWRT I as “Bat-Shalom, Sara”; CWGC as “Ben Shalom, Sara”

Ben Baruch, Rachela                                     Pvt.
Israel, Rishon-le-Zion; 1925
Died on Active Service (Illness)
TJC 11/23/45 (Cannot identify in CWGC database)

Berger, Cornelia                                             Pvt.                       W/PAL/203704
9/3/44 (“Died in Egypt as the result of an accident.”)
Tel-el-Kebir War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt – 5,J,6
Gelber II – 318; WWRT I – 239

Best, Ruth                                                        Pvt.                       W/PAL/195938
4/29/43
Ramleh 1939-45 Memorial, Ramleh, Israel            
Gelber II – 318; WWRT I – NL; WWRT II – NL

Blank, Sara Rachela Shoshana                    Sgt.                       W/PAL/203880
12/20/44 (“Died in Israel as the result of an accident.”)
Ramleh War Cemetery, Ramleh, Israel – W,32
TJC 1/12/45; Gelber II – 318; WWRT I – 064, 239; WWRT I as “Blank, Shoshanah”

Butovitzky Stein, Chava                               Pvt.                       W/PAL/221031
3/24/43 (“Died in Egypt as the result of an accident.”)
Tel-el-Kebir War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt – 4,N,5
WWRT I – 240; WWRT I as “Butovitzky-Stein, Chava”; CWGC as “Stein Butovecky, Haya”

Courtman, Stefahia                                       Pvt.                       W/PAL/203386
10/4/45
Brookwood 1939-1945 Memorial – Panel 23, Column 1
Gelber II – 330; WWRT I – NL; WWRT II – NL

Epstein, Milada                                               Pvt.                       W/PAL/195790
6/14/43 (“Died in Egypt from Illness.”)
1906
Mr. Emil Epstein (husband), Northampton, England
Mr. and Mrs. Tomas Chytil and Frantiska Chytilova (parents)
Suez War Memorial Cemetery, Suez City, Egypt – 3,A,14
Gelber II – 317; WWRT I – 242 (WWRT I as “Epstein, Milda”; CWGC as “Epsteinova, Milada”)

Ettlinger, Dora Leslie                                     Pvt.                       W/PAL/245610
10/14/45 (“Died in Egypt.”)
Heliopolis War Cemetery, Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt – 4,F,22
Gelber II – 316; WWRT I – 242

Kantorowicz, Chana                                      Pvt.                       W/PAL/245725
1/23/44 (“Died in Israel from illness.”)
Ramoth Hashovim Cemetery, Israel
Gelber II – 331; WWRT I – 247 (WWRT I as “Kantorowicz, Chana”; CWGC as “Kantorowitz, Hanna”)

Katz, Rosel                                                       Pvt.                       W/PAL/245671
Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, 2nd Base Workshop
7/15/43 (“Died in Egypt from Illness.”)
Tel-el-Kebir War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt – 4,K,4
Gelber II – 325; WWRT I – 248 (WWRT I as “Katz, Rozelle”; CWGC as “Katz, Rosel”)

Kelman, Lola                                                   Cpl.                       W/PAL/195297
12/24/42
Tel el Kebir War Memorial Cemetery – 1,B,10
Gelber II – 331; WWRT I – NL; WWRT II – NL

Krausz, Bertha                                                Pvt.                       W/88628
1904
5/13/42
Birmingham (Witton) Jewish Cemetery, Warwickshire, England – Section C, Row, 1, Grave 316
WWRT II – 17     

Krotovetsky, Chaia Stein
Tel-Aviv, Israel
TJC 4/16/43 (Cannot identify in CWGC database)

Levavi, Uhma                                                  Pvt.                       W/PAL/245414
1923
11/25/44            
Mr. and Mrs. Meir and Sonia Levavi (parents), Kibbutz Merhavia, Israel
Heliopolis War Cemetery, Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt – 6,L,11
Gelber II – 325; TJC 12/22/44; WWRT I – NL; WWRT II – NL (TJC gives name as “Ochama Levavi“)

Loewenthal, Anna                                          Pvt.                       W/57556
1921
8/19/43              
Mr. and Mrs. Paul and Selma (Shoenfeld) Loewenthal (parents)
Miss K. Loewenthal (sister), c/o Mrs. Eber, 18 Hamilton Ave., Leeds, 7, England
Bristol Jewish Cemetery, Gloucestershire, England
TJC 9/3/43; WWRT I – 124

Mark, Tamar                                                   Pvt.                       W/PAL/220958
3/25/43 (“Died in Egypt as the result of an accident.”)
Kvutzat Avukah, Israel
Tel-el-Kebir War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt – 4,N,3
TJC 4/16/43; Gelber II – 326; WWRT I – 251

Neuberg, Miriam                                            Pvt.                       W/PAL/195720                 504th Company
6/22/42 (“Died in Egypt as the result of an accident.”)
Tel-el-Kebir War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt – 3,B,11
TJC 8/13/43; Gelber II – 327; WWRT I – 136, 253

Ostrogursky, Ilse                                            Pvt.                       W/PAL/245813
7/3/44 (“Died in Egypt [Alexandria] as the result of an accident.”)
Germany, Leschnitzer; 1915
Alexandria (Hadra) War Memorial Cemetery, Alexandria, Egypt – 6,E,14
Aufbau 12/8/44; WWRT I – 254 (WWRT I as “Ostrogursky, Ilse”; CWGC and Aufbau as “Ostrogorski, Anneliese”)

Vilenchook, Pnina                                          Pvt.                       W/PAL/245229
9/17/43
Tel Aviv (Nahlat Yitzhak) Cemetery, Tel Aviv, Israel – Plot 15, Row 9, Grave 5
Gelber II – 322; WWRT I – NL; WWRT II – NL

Weiss Politzer, Shoshana                              Pvt.                       W/PAL/203932
8/19/45 (“Died in Egypt as the result of an accident.”)
Heliopolis War Cemetery, Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt – 4,G,20
Gelber II – 322; WWRT I – 261 (WWRT I as “Weiss-Politzer, Shoshana”; CWGC as “Weiss Politzer, Berse”)

Wirth, Bracha                                                  Pvt.                       W/PAL/221085
5/28/45 (“Died in Israel as the result of an accident.”)
Ramleh 1939-45 Memorial, Ramleh, Israel
Gelber II – 322; WWRT I – 262 (WWRT I as “Wirt, Bracha”)

Yahaloumy Chizik, Bat-Ami                         Pvt.                       W/PAL/203376
3/24/43
Metulah, Israel
Tel-el-Kebir War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt – 4,N,4
TJC 4/16/43 (TJC lists name as “Yahalomi, Batami”); Gelber II – 324; WWRT I – NL; WWRT II – NL

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References – Books

Gelber, Yoav, Jewish Palestinian Volunteering in the British Army During the Second World War – Volume II – The Struggle for A Jewish Army, Yav Izhak Ben-Zvi Publications, Jerusalem, Israel, 1981

Kessler, Oren, “In Israel and Palestinian Territories, British Still Tend Memory of 16,000 War Dead”, Tablet, November 11, 2013, at http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/151916/british-war-graves-in-israel (Accompanying photograph shows matzeva of Sara Rachela Shoshana Blank, at Ramle War Cemetery)

Medoff, Rafael, “Lag B’Omer 1942, ‘Jewish Amazons,’ And The Pyramids”, The Jewish Press, May 15, 2014, at http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/lag-bomer-1942-jewish-amazons-and-the-pyramids/2014/05/15/

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, 1989, Brassey’s, United Kingdom, London (See “The Palestinian Jewish Volunteers”, pp. 235 – 263)

Morris, Henry, Edited by Hilary Halter, We Will Remember Them – A Record of the Jews Who Died in the Armed Forces of the Crown 1939 – 1945 – An Addendum, 1994, AJEX, United Kingdom, London

References – Web

A. Sevek (website of Dr. Bex Lewis)

Auxiliary Territorial Service (Wikipedia), at Wikipedia

ATS and WAAF in World War Two, at Jewish Women’s Archive

A.T.S. Remembered

A.T.S. Hat Badge (Historama Online History Shop), at Historama.com 

Dodge D15 GS Truck (Canada at War), at Canada At War 

Canadian Military Pattern Trucks, at Wikipedia 

Ford F8 and Ford F60 Trucks, at Wheels and Tracks 

“Jewish Parachutists Join British Forces; Jewish Artillery Unit Formed in Palestine”, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, February 26, 1942, at JTA 

“Parade – Middle-East Weekly” (Westleton Chapel Books), at ChapelBooks 

“The Face Behind the Poster [Leah Seidmann] – Website also presents ATS recruiting posters, and, images of ATS personnel – (World Zionist Organization – Central Zionist Archives)”, at ZionistArchives 

Convoy Girls of the ATS, Parade, February 12, 1944

Pacific Pesach: The Guam Haggadah – V (References)

References

Books

Finkelstein, Noah and Sadie G., Memorial Album – Dedicated to the Boys of the 20th Air Force, Noah and Sadie G. Finkelstein, Los Angeles, Ca., 1951

Herbert, Kevin, Maximum Effort: The B-29s Against Japan, Sunflower University Press, Manhattan, Ks., 1983

Izawa, Yasuho; Holmes, Tony; Laurier, Jim, J2M Raiden and N1K1/2 Shiden/Shiden-Kai Aces (Aircraft of the Aces), Osprey Publishing, Oxford, England, 2016

Kaufman, Isidor, American Jews in World War II – The Story of 550,000 Fighters for Freedom – Volume I, The Dial Press, New York, N.Y., 1947

Marshall, Chester, and Stallings, Scotty, The Global Twentieth – An Anthology of the 20th AF in WW II – Volume II, Marshall Publishers, Memphis, Tn., 1987

Newman, Irving S., ETA Target 1400 Hours, or Hi Ma, I’m Home, 1945 (unpublished manuscript)

Tanakh – A New Translation of The Holy Scriptures – According to the Traditional Hebrew Text, The Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, 1985

The Chumash – The Stone Edition – The ArtScroll Series, Mesorah Publications, Ltd., Brooklyn, N.Y., 1997

Magazines

Mapping Japan for the Bombers, Popular Mechanics, December, 1945, pp. 24-25

Newspapers

(No author), The Jewish Post (Indiana), May 3, 1946 (Brief note concerning Chaplain Cedarbaum’s anticipated creation of a book about Jews in the 20th Air Force.)

Clark B. Bassett, Jr. – The Evening News, North Tonawanda, N.Y., June 6, 1945; December 1, 1948; December 27, 1948; November 2, 1982

Jewish Concept of Freedom

Commentary on Parshas Metzora, by Rabbi Dovid Zauderer, at http://www.ourvillageshul.com/single-post/2016/04/15/Zmail-Parshas-Metzora

Commentary on “Freedom”, by Rabbi Benjamin Blech, at http://virtualjerusalem.com/holidays.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3266:freedom-without-limits&catid=56:passover&Itemid=3266

Military Units

949th Engineer Aviation Topographic Company guidon, at http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/194394-949th-engineer-aviation-topographic-co-enola-gay/

949th Engineer Aviation Topographic Company organization within 20th Air Force, at http://www.cbi-history.com/part_xv.html\

Pesach and Haggadot

The Haggadah, at AISH website, at http://www.aish.com/h/pes/h/Haggadah-An-Introduction.html

The Haggadah, at Chabad website, at http://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/1735/jewish/The-Haggadah.htm

The Haggadah, at Ohr Somayach website, at http://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/188/Q2/

The New Haggadah

Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordecai_Kaplan.

The New Haggadah, at phy6.org/outreach/Haggadah/Haggadah notes.rtf

Crew of B-29 42-93953

B-29 42-93953, Missing Air Crew Report 14364

B-29 42-93953, at http://aomorikuushuu.jpn.org/B29-42-93953.html

Fate of Crew of B-29 42-93953, Case File 36-305, concerning B-29 #42-93953 (No Nickname), Crash at Miyazaki-ken, Nobeeka city on 5 May, 1945

Web Sites and Other Information

Go Down Moses, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Down_Moses.

Guide to the Papers of David Cedarbaum (1903-1987), undated, 1944-1951, 1955, 1959, 1989 (bulk 1944-1946), at http://findingaids.cjh.org/?pID=1358852

Jewish servicemen and women celebrate Passover, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/center_for_jewish_history/

Navy Nurse Corps Insignia, at http://www.blitzkriegbaby.de/nnc/nnc3.htm.

Greenspan, Marvin J., Cpl., USAAF, NARA Records Group 331, Investigation Report 1834

Greenspan, Marvin J., Cpl., USAAF, War Crimes Trial Record 296

Kronick, Archer S., biography at http://www.findagrave.com/

Pacific Pesach – The Guam Haggadah – IV (Major David I. Cedarbaum, Rabbi)

Is one picture is worth a thousand words?  – Well…?  Maybe.

Is one picture is worth a memory? – Hmmm…?  Definitely.

Given Major Cedarbaum’s efforts on behalf of the Jewish servicemen on Guam, it is more than fitting to present an image of the Major, himself.  The picture below, from his Jewish Welfare Board Chaplaincy Record (available at Ancestry.com) is a fitting denouement to the prior posts covering Pesach on Guam in 1945.* 

Intriguingly, due to the quality of the photo, which clearly shows two newspapers in the Rabbi’s library, the image can be approximately dated.

At the left is The Jewish Floridian, of July 13, 1945.  (This newspaper is available in digital format at the Florida Digital Newspaper Library of the University of Florida George A. Smathers Library, via the Florida Jewish Newspaper Project.)

At the right is The Jewish Post, of August 3, 1945.  (The Post is available in digital format at the website for the – appropriately enough, Jewish Post – of the Indiana Historic Newspaper Program.)

Digital images of the first page of each newspaper are presented below.

Given that Major Cedarbaum was stationed on Guam between March and October of 1945, this suggests that the photo was taken in mid to late August of that year.

Major David Isadore Cedarbaum, Rabbi, ASN 0-529289

The Jewish Floridian, July 13, 1945

The Jewish Post, August 3, 1945

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And, a possible segue for a future blog post… 

…of particular note in The Post is the item “Fighting For America”, by artist Leon Blehart.  Fighting for America was issued by the Jewish Welfare Board and depicted – through cartoon vignettes – actions (sometimes involving wounds, or worse) by Jewish servicemen which resulted in military awards.  The series appeared from (at least?) – May through October of 1945.  The sketches in each release presented actions by four to five soldiers, from all branches of the American military. 

This “Fighting for America” item in The Jewish Post of August 3, 1945, appeared in The Jewish Exponent (Philadelphia) on the same day, and is shown below:

The actions depicted in the first two, and fourth vignettes, pertain to the following servicemen:

PFC Jerome Rubin, 75th Infantry Division; Incident occurred January 18, 1945; Mother (?), Marion Rubin, of 5502 14th Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y.; In Casualty List published in New York Times on 3/17/45; Story reported in Chicago Jewish Chronicle 8/10/45

1 Lt. Robert Burton Paris, 342nd Bomb Squadron, 97th Bomb Group, 12th Air Force; From Memphis

“Cpl. Isidore Goldberg” is probably Pvt. Isidore Goldberg; Father Ben Goldberg, of 1311 Grant Ave., New York, N.Y.; In Casualty List published in New York Times on 9/10/44

Pacific Pesach: The Guam Haggadah – II

0-haggadah-000-2_edited-1Title Page: SEDER IN THE MARIANAS – PASSOVER – 5705 – 1945

0-haggadah-00_edited-1Acknowledgements and Officiating Chaplains

0-haggadah-01_edited-1Page 1: Kiddush Blessing

0-haggadah-02_edited-1Page 2: Kiddush Blessing (continued); Blessing over Greens (Parsley); Dividing the Matzah (Among 2,700 servicemen, who was the lucky Private First Class who found the afikomen?!)

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     Page 3: A noteworthy section of the Guam Haggadah – an uneasy if not irresolvable balance between particularism and universalism – is found under the heading “Let My People Go”.

     The text obviously, pointedly, and directly address Jewish peoplehood, Zionism (albeit without that word), and a sense of collective pride, through the text, “Men can be enslaved by intolerance.  When Jews are forced to give up their Jewish way of life, to abandon their Torah, to neglect their sacred festivals, to leave off rebuilding their ancient homeland – they are slaves.  When they must deny that they are Jews in order to get work – they are slaves.  When they must live in constant fear of unwarranted hate and prejudice – they are slaves.”

     The thrust of that text is curiously counterweighted by setting Pesach in the form of a generalized yearning for “freedom”, but “freedom” defined as an individual, if not philosophical, if not universalistic value of the Enlightenment – rather than a particularistic and covenantal concept – set in the frame of the war effort of the United States, and the Allies, in general.  

     This is evident in such statements as, “Peoples have suffered, nations have struggled to make this dream come true.  Now we dedicate ourselves to the struggle for freedom.”  “It means liberation from ail those enslavements that warp the spirit and blight the mind, that destroy the soul even though they leave the flesh alive. For men can be enslaved in more ways than one.”  “Pesach calls us to be free, free from the tyranny of our own selves, free from the enslavement of poverty and inequality, free from the corroding hate that eats away the ties which unite mankind.”  “Pesach calls upon us to put an end to all slavery!  Pesach cries out in the name of God, “Let my people go.”  Pesach summons us to freedom.”

     Though I do not have access to the 1942 edition of Rabbi Kaplan’s New Haggadah, I wonder if this text – perhaps reflective of the hopes, aspirations, and ambivalence pervasive among early and mid twentieth century American Jewry (and still today?…) – is derived from that work.   

0-haggadah-04_edited-1Page 4: “Let My People Go” (continued); Art depicting Moshe Rabbenu in the wilderness

0-haggadah-05_edited-1Page 5: “Go Down Moses”; Art depicting Moses and Aaron confronting Pharaoh

0-haggadah-06_edited-1Page 6: Presentation of Matzah; The Four Questions

0-haggadah-07_edited-1Page 7: The Four Questions (continued); Pesach narrative

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Page 8: Pesach Narrative (continued)

0-haggadah-09_edited-3Page 9: Dayenu!

0-haggadah-10_edited-1Page 10: Dayenu (continued); “In every generation do men rise up against us, and God delivers us from their hands.”

0-haggadah-11_edited-2Page 11: Display of Symbols of Pesach (Shankbone and Matzah)

0-haggadah-12_edited-2Page 12: Display of Symbols of Pesach (maror (bitter herbs))

0-haggadah-13Page 13: Call to Hallel; Hymn “Praise the Lord”

0-haggadah-14_edited-3Page 14: Benediction over Matzah; Blessing over Bitter Herbs

0-haggadah-15_edited-2Page 15: The Pesach Meal is Served; Opening the Door for Elijah

0-haggadah-16_edited-1Page 16: Opening the Door for Elijah (continued); Eliyahu Hanavi

0-haggadah-17_edited-1Page 17: Closing Benediction; Singing of America

0-haggadah-18_edited-1Back Cover: Printed by 949th Engineer Aviation Topographic Company

     Your PDF version of the Guam Haggadah can be found here.