Being that my blog’s “Comment” sidebar isn’t working (“aaargh”!), here’s a new post pertaining to Major Milton Joel, WW II 8th Air Force P-38 fighter pilot, based on a comments by Mr. Patrick Wood. Patrick is the son of Robert W. Wood, the 38th Fighter Squadron’s Communications Officer and Executive Officer. I corresponded with his father some decades ago, and his help – though I never anticipated so at the time! – proved to be instrumental in creating this series of blog posts.
And so, here’s Patrick’s comment:
“My Dad, Robert W. Wood, from Sioux Falls, SD, I believe, was Major Joel’s executive officer in England. They became close friends and Major Joel’s death was very hard on Dad. He kept in contact with Mrs. Joel for many years until finally there were no responses to his letters.
Dad was convinced that Major Joel’s death was avoidable but for the unwarranted – in his opinion – decision by another squadron commander to turn back to England sooner than he should have. This left Major Joel and his squadron more vulnerable to Messerschmidts.
My sister has some of Dad’s papers; the next time I visit her I’ll see what else I can find.
One of Dad’s duties was to write letters to the parents and families of the pilots who did not return – “too many empty beds,” he said.”
My thoughts?
Patrick, I was more than happily startled to receive your entirely unexpected message. I immediately recognized your father’s name, for we corresponded with one another in the late 1990s, and he provided information that was essential in unravelling the story of the 55th Fighter Group’s mission of November 29, 1943, let alone shedding light upon Major Joel, himself – simply as a “person”. This information figures in the blog posts: “A Monday in November: Major Joel’s Last Mission [Updated Post! – January 14, 2021]”, and, “Fragments of Memory”.
Your comments bring forth many thoughts and musings. As far as the loss of contact between your father and Major Joel’s widow – she later remarried and became Elaine Friedlich – I think this might be explained by the fact that (as indicated by her obituary at FindAGrave) she passed away in 1981 at the young age of 60, after a long illness of an unspecified nature.
Your father’s relationship to Major Joel is well attested to by the beautiful letter – a form of tribute, really – he wrote to the Major’s parents in January of 1947, which is available and fully transcribed under “Fragments of Memory,”, and, your father’s preservation of diary entries made by the Major during the 55th’s crossing of the Atlantic Ocean to England, in 1943.
Your mention of a contributing factor to Major Joel’s death (and relatedly the deaths of Lieutenants Albino and Garvin of the 38th, and Gilbride of the 343rd, plus the capture of Lt. Carroll of the 38th) having been the decision of a man who at that moment was leading the 343rd Fighter Squadron, is more than alluded to in my post about the November 29 mission. Suffice to say that though I’ve refrained from specifically calling out the man’s name, if one reads the two above-mentioned blog posts thoroughly – from beginning pixel to final pixel – your father’s allusions to the man, and his name (like the names of all the 55th FG pilots on the mission), are present.
In the way of the world, though everyone involved in this story has since passed on, my analysis of the November 29 mission leads me to believe that your father was in essence correct.
Without recapitulating the blog post in these comments (it’s been a couple of years since I wrote it, and like most of my blog posts, it’s really, really (really) long):
Repeated radio calls were made by Major Joel (and maybe others in the 38th) asking for help, which were definitely received by Captain Rufus Franklin of the 343rd. But, the 343rd (I don’t know how far a point that squadron attained over the continent) was by then headed west, back to England. The probability that Franklin was the only man to receive these radio calls would have been, I think, astronomically low. During its return to Nuthampstead, the 343rd went into Lufbery circles twice. Captain Franklin and his wingman, Lt. James Garvin, in an act that to me bespoke of tremendous courage and independence of thought, broke out of the Lufbery and headed back east to help the remnants of the 38th, which were under pursuit by Me 109s of III./JG I.
Regarding the man in question, the historical records of the 38th Fighter Squadron reveal that he joined Major Joel’s Squadron on April 29, 1942, but for a reason left unexplained, transferred to the 343rd on February 2, 1943. His rise through the 38th was in a word meteoric, for he reached the rank of Lt. Col. on April 29, 1945 and received the Silver Star in July of that year. Postwar, his rise within the Air Force continued. Suffice to say that even as early as the 1950s, the P-51s he flew had already gained a measure of attention. I’ll leave it at that.
This was quite unlike the experience of Captain Franklin, who also remained in the postwar Air Force, but only reached Colonel in 1955. I think he more than merited the Silver Star for his actions on November 29, 1943, but as you can see from his obituary, he never received that award. Well, I don’t adjudicate those things (!), and it’s in the past anyway. (But is past is ever really past?) Interestingly, he was transferred out of the 55th to the 20th Fighter Group on February 23, 1944 … three months after the November 29 mission. Echoing Elaine Joel’s life, Capt. Franklin passed away in 1969 at the very young age of 48.
In closing, my review of Missing Air Crew Reports shows about 60 such documents were filed for 38th Fighter Squadron pilots. So I can imagine the impact this would have…
I recently received the following comment from Jim Rubin, concerning Major Milton Joel, commander of the 38th Fighter Squadron of the 55th Fighter Group until his death in combat over Holland with Me 109s of Jagdgeschwader 1 on November 29, 1943. (Among the posts about Major Joel, see here and here in particular.)
Being that – for a reason presently unresolved! (&$#@^&* (!?!)) – comments to this blog are not displayed in my sidebar, I thought I’d share Jim’s comment by turning it into a post. (Extraordinarily brief, by the standards of my blog!) So, herewith:
Maj. Milton Joel was my cousin (my dad’s contemporary, although eight years Pop’s senior). When Pop (now 96 y.o. and going strong) was in the U.S. Army of Occupation in Germany (1945-47), he spent a lot of time trying to track down cousin Milton’s remains, but was unsuccessful. Cousin Milton called my Pop “Little Buddy” and Pop loved and revered him. The Joels, Weinstein’s and the Rubin families were all heart broken over the loss of Milton. By all accounts he was a warm, kind and witty man.
My reply: Thanks very much for your insightful and moving comment, Jim. Trying to ascertain Major Joel’s fate was a noble effort on the part of your father, but given the time-frame – the immediate post-WW II years – such an endeavor would have been utterly daunting, and well-high impossible. For one thing, MACRs (Missing Air Crew Reports) were not declassified until the 1980s, while then-relatively-recently captured German Luftgaukommando Reports were – I think? – in a transitional stage of custody among & between American and British Forces.
In human terms, the only survivor among the P-38 pilots shot down on November 29, 1943 was 2 Lt. John J. Carroll, and the possibility of even identifying him – as a returned POW, in 1945, as a person to interview, as one would do in “our” world of the twenty-first century – would have been miniscule, due to confidentiality of military and other records, unless one previously had an “in” among and familiarity with 38th Fighter Squadron personnel.
As I explained in my series of posts about Major Joel and the other 38th Fighter Pilots lost over eight decades ago in the late November sky over Holland, I believe that Major Joel was shot down over the Netherlands, within or very near the area between Hoogeveen and Zwartsluis, as denoted by the blue oval.
I do not believe his “Flying Wolf” ever (ever) reached a point anywhere near the Ijsselmeer or North Sea.
I base this conclusion on the description of the sequence of events encompassing the shooting down of Lieutenants Albert A. Albino and Carroll, and, the arrival of Captain Rufus R.C. Franklin and 2 Lt. James W. Gilbride(of the 343rd Fighter Squadron, which by then, after having gone into two Lufberry Circles, was heading back to Nuthampstead under the command of a pilot who shall remain anonymous…) over Meppel and Hoogeveen, after they broke from their squadron to come to the aid of Major Joel and Lt. Carroll.
If this is so, certainly a central and entirely valid question is why the wreckage of 42-67020 was never found in this area of the Netherlands – which certainly has hardly been devoid of human habitation! – and reported upon by either the Germans, or, Dutch authorities. To this I can offer no answer. I can only suppose that like Lt. Albino’s Spirit of Aberdeen, Major Joel’s P-38H impacted so very deeply into the Dutch earth, perhaps unwitnessed in an uninhabited locale, as to have obliterated its point of impact, let alone the aircraft itself.
On an unrelated note, I’ve often wondered about the eventual fate of Major Joel’s correspondence – letters and V-Mails – with his parents and family members, let alone documents of an official nature, such as his pilot’s log-book. (His widow Elaine having destroyed their personal correspondence before she passed away many years ago.) Alas, I suppose this invaluable material has been lost to the randomness of time.
Anyway, thanks for remembering Major Joel, and thanks for your comment.
Here are two views of CG * A, Major Joel’s un-named “Flying Wolf”…
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Here are my blog posts about Major Joel…
A Missing Man: Major Milton Joel, Fighter Pilot, 38th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force: I – A Fate Unknown
A Missing Man: Major Milton Joel, Fighter Pilot, 38th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force: II – From Proskurov to Richmond
[Update: Created in November of 2020, this post has been updated to reflect information provided by Andrew Garcia, pertaining to the P-38 that serves as a backdrop for the image of Major Joel and Capt. Joseph Myers, Jr. The picture can be seen towards the (very) bottom of the post.]
Part III: On Course
Now in command of the 38th Fighter Squadron, Milton’s promotion to Major was announced in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, on February 2, 1943.
MAJOR AT 23 – Milton Joel (above) son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Joel, 5 Greenway Lane, is believed to be one of the army’s youngest majors. He completed his civilian pilot’s course at the University of Richmond in 1939 after attending the University of Virginia. He later trained at Tuscaloosa Field, Ala. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in May, 1941, promoted to first lieutenant in February, 1942, and a captain in June. He is now commanding officer of a fighter squadron at Pendleton Field, Ore.
Flying-battle-axe emblem of the 38th Fighter Squadron, digital…
…and physical, as a patch, available from EBay seller EZ.Collect. (Not a “plug” – I simply found this image via duckduckgo!)
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Three and a half months after taking command of the 38th Fighter Squadron, on February 19, 1943, Milton and several of his squadron’s pilots gathered for this group photograph, under what seems (?) to have been an overcast sky.
Interestingly, at least four pilots in the rear row (thus all perhaps in the rear row?) were members of the 27th Fighter Squadron (Milton’s former squadron) and attained aerial victories in the Mediterranean Theater.
Though this image is present in the squadron’s historical records (specifically, in AFHRA Microfilm Roll AO 136) inquiries to the National Archives revealed that it’s absent from the WW II U.S. Army Air Force Photo Collection. Thus, it seems to have remained at squadron level, never having been bureaucratically passed “upwards” to any higher organizational level.
From a technical point of view, the photograph clearly illustrates the counter-rotating propellers used in all P-38 Lightnings commencing with the XP-38, with the exception of 22 of the 143 P-38s which had been ordered by the Royal Air Force as Lightning Mark 1s. As such, viewed from the “front”, it can be seen that the propellers rotate outwards, away from the aircraft’s central gondola and toward the wings.
Another point: It appears that the aircraft’s nose has been painted, perhaps as a form of squadron identification.
…and includes the pilots’ surnames – and their surnames only. However, this clue enables identification of most of these men. They are:
Front row, left to right (All members of the 38th Fighter Squadron)
Wyche, Wilton E., 0-729407 Ayers, Jerry H., 0-659441 Leinweber, Gerald F., 0-659473 Joel, Milton, 0-416308 (KIA 11/29/43 – MACR 1429 – P-38H 42-67020; No Luftgaukommando Report) Hancock, James H., 0-659122 “Meyer” (Myers?), Joseph, Jr., 0-659166 Leve, Morris, 0-791127 (KIA 1/31/44 – MACR 2110 – P-38J 42-67768; Luftgaukommando Report AV 641/44)
Rear row, left to right (The four identified men were members of the 27th Fighter Squadron)
Ellerbee Conn, David M., 0-732171 Meikle, James B. Connors Dickie Crane, Edwin R., 0-728980 McIntosh, Robert L., 0-802054 Harris Smoot Hammond Purvis
Here’s another 38th Fighter Squadron photo, from Robert M. Littlefield’s Double Nickel, Double Trouble. Taken on June 4, 1943 at McChord Field, Washington, these seven men comprise the original squadron commanders of the 38th Fighter Squadron, and, the four officers heading the 55th Fighter Group. Akin to the preceding photograph, an inquiry to NARA revealed that this photograph is absent from the WW II U.S. Army Air Force Photo Collection. Also paralleling the above photo, this P-38’s nose (the plane is a P-38G-15) has been painted – probably – in white or yellow, and bears a (plane-in-squadron?) identification number. Unusually for a stateside warplane, this aircraft bears nose art. This takes the form of Walt Disney’s “Thumper” holding a machine gun, and the appropos nickname “WABBIT”. (Albeit no relation to Elmer Fudd…)
The men are…
…left to right:
Major Richard W. (“R. Dick”) Busching, 0-427516, Commanding Officer of the 338th Fighter Squadron Major Milton Joel, 0-416308, Commanding Officer of the 38th Fighter Squadron Wendell Kelly, Group Operations Officer Colonel Frank A. James, Commanding Officer of the 55th Fighter Group Lt. Colonel Jack S. Jenkins, 0-22606, Group Executive Officer George Crowell, Group Operation Officer Major Dallas W. (“Spider”) Webb, Commanding Officer of the 343rd Fighter Squadron
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This third image, from the collection of 38th Fighter Squadron pilot (and only survivor among the four 38th Fighter Squadron pilots shot down on November 29, 1943 – but we’ll get to that in a subsequent post) John J. Carroll, was taken on July 20, 1943. From The American Air Museum in Britain (image UPL 40377) the photo shows the original members of the 38th Fighter Squadron sent to England in late summer of 1943. (This picture also appears in Double Nickel, Double Trouble.)
Paralleling the above pictures, this photograph is absent from the WW II U.S. Army Air Force Photo Collection. The text on the image as published in Double Nickel, Double Trouble (but not visible on this web image) states:
Shipman, Mark K., 0-431166 Wyche, Wilton E., 0-729407 Ayers, Jerry H., 0-659441 “Meyers” (Myers?), Joseph, Jr., 0-659166 Joel, Milton, 0-416308 (KIA 11/29/43 – MACR 1429 – P-38H 42-67020; No Luftgaukommando Report) Meyer, Robert J. Leinweber, Gerald F., 0-659473 Hancock, James H., 0-659122 Unknown
Rear, left to right
Albino, Albert A., 0-743330 (KIA 11/29/43 – MACR 1428 – P-38H 42-67051; Luftgaukommando Report J 307?) Fisher, D., (“David D.”), (T-1046) (KIA 1/31/44 – MACR 2106 – P-38J 42-67757; Luftgaukommando Report Unknown) Brown, Gerald, 0-740139 Unknown Kreft, Willard L., 0-740219 Erickson, Wilton G., 0-748934 (KIA 12/1/43 – MACR 1430 – P-38H 42-67033; Luftgaukommando Report Unknown) Erickson, Robert E., 0-743324 Gillette, Hugh E., 2 Lt., 0-740169 (KIA 10/18/43 – MACR 1040 – P-38H 42-66719; No Luftgaukommando Report) Steiner, Delorn L., 0-740297 (KIA 1/31/44 – MACR 2105 – P-38J 42-67711; Luftgaukommando Report Unknown) Fisher, (Paul, Jr.), (0-740149) Peters, Edward F., 0-746168 Peters, Allen R., 0-743368 Carroll, John J., 0-743313 (POW 11/29/43 – MACR 1431 – P-38H 42-67090; Luftgaukommando Report Unknown) Unknown Garvin, James M., 0-740164 (KIA 11/29/43 – MACR 1427 – P-38H 42-67046; Luftgaukommando Reports J 338 and AV 513 / 44) Forsblad, Richard W., 0-740153 Des Voignes, Clair W., 0-743425 (KIA 7/13/44 – MACR 6709, 6717 – P-38J 42-28279; Luftgaukommando Report J 1635)
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The 55th Fighter Group departed McChord Field, Washington, for England on 23 August 1943. The Group reached Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, on August 27, remaining there until September 4, when the Group boarded the H.M.T. Orion (a 24,000 ton ocean liner launched in 1934) in New York Harbor, the burned-out wreck of the SS Normandie – renamed the USS Lafayette – visible nearby. The Orion departed the next day, reaching its English base at Nuthampstead on September 14. Milton’s diary verifies these dates and locations.
In this image (U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation photo No. 2009.006.096) a Coast Guard J4F Widgeon flies near the wreckage of the Lafayette, with the Empire State Building faintly visible in the distance. This area is probably the location of the Orion’s departure for England.
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During this hectic interval, Milton kept a diary covering the 18-day trans-Atlantic journey, in which he recorded observations and impressions of people, places, and events, noting the controlled chaos associated with the rapid movement of his squadron and group to a foreign shores. Specifically mentioned (albeit not including first names!) are pilots Willard L. Kreft, Gerald F. Leinweber, Mark K. Shipman, Albert A. Albino, Colonel Frank A. James, and ground officers Octavian R. Tuckerman (Ordnance), and Arthur S. Weinberger (Personnel).
The first two pages of Milton’s diary are shown below, followed by a transcript of all diary entries. Milton’s penmanship was not (!) the best, so the text includes some “gaps” (thus [“_____”]). But, enough of his writing is legible such that the sequence of events, his impressions of people (one observation of human behavior is quite frank by the standards of the 1940s) and sense of activity emerge from the document’s pages, as do his pride in his squadron.
Aug 23-1943 En Route Paine Field to NY P of E
This first entry in the daily record of events and sidelights of my participation in the action toward victory is made with the hope that it will not suffer the ignominity of becoming merely another bit of evidence of slovenly performance & tasks undertaken. At 08:30 AM left Mukilteo Washington in command of the 38th Fighter Squadron. Everyone eager and straining at the bit just as I am. Feel sure we can do a good job of it since I know we are better in a hundred ways than any outfit that has previously left the cont. for foreign duty both in efficiency and spirit. Wish Elaine could have been there to see us off but that would have been an anticlimax. Then too make it a first not to see her after the men were placed incommunicado. What’s good enough for them is good enough for me.
Aug 24 ’43
Trip so far completely uneventful, train shakes so cannot write.
Aug 25th ’43 No change. All serene.
All the men really on the ball – violent bridge game constantly in progress involving _____ _____ [Willard L.] Kreft & [Gerald F.] Leinweber. They have screamed themselves hoarse. Particularly Leinweber now sounds like a fog horn. Sporadic poker games continue on. [Mark K.] Shipman is like a kid just bubbles over with enthusiasm. He wrangled a ride on the engine & stayed there some four or five hours.
Aug 26th Everyone thoroughly encrusted in soot.
We look like miners not soldiers. [Albert A.] Albino & his _____ _____ _____ _____. Shipman worried about poker games _____ as though we should see that pilots learn to take care of their money. Losses haven’t been heavy. _____ (_____) & I talk him out of it. Is indignant when we try to explain that paternalism should not be carried that far. Am proud as pink over the conduct & appearance of the outfit at exercise time at stop by the wayside. Even though they are grimy they are sharp. Leinweber spends waking hour looking for a spoon from his mess kit – 200 pounds of almost _____ _____.
Aug 27th Camp Kilmer, N.J.
– arrived here at 08:05 from then on it was nit & tuck – nip a breath & tuck it away to last for an hour or two when you may or may not be able to catch another. Was met at the station with everything but the brass band. I.F. a billeting officer, a supply officer, a medical man, a rail transportation man & truck transport man and two or three others for good measure. We whisked the men off the train & marched them off to their barracks. I stayed behind with _____ (Exec. Off) & went through the train with a rail officer & train Rep. & a Pullman Rep. to check for damage. There was none. Dashed madly to new quarters while the rain started to pour. Have a piece of paper shoved at me telling me that I and the whole staff report at 9:00 AM for instruction – Do not have time to even wash off the weeks soot & grime or change clothes.
We report, Larry (_____) S-2, _____ S-1, Shipman S-3 & _____ S-4 & I _____ _____ officer _____ who gives us 2 hours instruction & a thousand sheets of paper (S.O.P. – Standard Operating Procedures).
We receive a schedule for the day which is a killer. Return to barracks Four & officers are just settling down. Tuckerman & Weinberger have just returned with the baggage detail & the baggage and it is all stowed away in our building – Rush away to lunch. Return & going to quit as too tired to continue.
Sept 1 Have decided that war is hell.
If the battling will be as rough as the getting to it. We’ve had at least 6 countermanding orders on our load list, we pack them then unpack. Then pack. Then unpack. That’s the way it goes. Everyone is beginning to get thoroughly disgusted but that’s the way they said it would be.
This camp is tremendous place thousands & 10’s of thousands of men pour through here each week. They are practically re-equipped. It’s amazing really. We had a meeting today and there were at least 300 unit commanders and adjutants. This is going to be a tremendous deal, but big rumors are rampant. Morale however is getting very low. Pilots like a bunch of race horses. They’re tense & at each others throats practically. Mainly due to hanging around with nothing to do & hangovers, everyone having gone to New York last night & night before. I went in. Had a big lobster dinner & a fried chicken but was too tired to stay late.
Sept 14 Haven’t had a moment to do more than write a few words to Elaine.
Left Camp Kilmer on the 4th in the morning for Embarkation. Our B-4 bags & packs were so damned heavy don’t know how we made it. Rode the train to ferry & thence off the harbor to the pier and boarded H.M.T. Orion. Saw the Normandie still lying serenely on her side like some tired old man refusing to get up & go to work. As soon as all the men were aboard I managed to drag my raincoat, briefcase, blanket roll, mussette bag, gas mask, pistol, web belt and canteen aboard half carrying & half falling over my B-4 bag to my stateroom. This was pleasantly surprised by a Staff Sergeant Symanoff who brought me four letters from Elaine. She had a hunch – the _____ _____ _____ that I would come to New York and had contacted Gene Symanoff who worked in the port. That was to prove the greatest treat to date aboard this tub.
No sooner did I get on board ship then was I summoned to Col. James’ [Frank James] room – where I found a great stir & dither. I was informed that I was to be Deck Commander of “E” Deck, which at this time didn’t seem so bad. Was soon to find out just what a rough deal it really turned out to be. Col. James was the senior line officer slated to come aboard and was then made troop commander. We were informed that there had never previously been American troops board ship and in addition there were 2000 more of them than the British had ever conceived of placing aboard. I.E. We had 7000 troops placed helter skelter on the ship and no one with us had ever had any experience of either handling troops aboard ship or _____ _____ any permanent _____. Men had been loaded helter skelter like sardines thrown into the can and then lid forced down. There were not even any set instructions orders or the like. This looks like the goddamnedest mess the brass hats could dream up & was. Went below & found my deck was “double loaded” I.E. 1500 men eat & sleep below deck & 1500 sleep & two above on another deck for 24 hours. All eat below in double shifts of 2 sittings each man shifting the _____ _____ for each of the 2 meals and again in the middle of the day. At night there wasn’t room either below or above to move an inch without stepping on someone’s face 1/2 _____ staying below slept on mattresses on the floor and tables the other half in hammocks. Those above decks slept on blankets on hard decks rain or shine – oh rough – To add to it all compartments on all decks had to pass through my deck to go to & from the galley also the twice daily canteen details also went through all the latrines for EMs aboard ship were also located _____. At meal times shift it looked like 42nd & Broadway on New Year’s Eve. How we ever got any organization is still a mystery to me.
To add to it all men consisted of the raunchiest crew I had ever seen. A larger proportion was criminals most of whom had 2 to 3 court martials against them some of whom even brought on board by armed guard. It was utter chaos. For first 3 days there was utter chaos and it took some days to eliminate the confusion. Many groups had one unexperienced 2nd Lt. in command who had just picked them up the day before. There was a group of 80 officers all _____ aboard who much like the men here were as motley as Joseph’s Coat and had an equivalent record. We found the total officers straight aboard to be 700 including eighty very recently commissioned and very eager nurses. These turned out to be as big a problem the 2nd Lts went after them like hound-dogs after a bitch in heat. I believe most of these girls were actually in heat because it seemed they were very cooperative. Ended up by picking a staff from the staff of the squadron & assigning each squadron officer a job with the men. Had about 150 officers assigned me and to other deck commander and took them down into Compartment Commanders and watch officers so that officer would be with the men 24 hours a day.
Morale for the first four days was the lowest I’ve ever seen it. The confusion was unimaginable. At meal time the corridor looked like 42nd & Broadway on New Year Eve. Only thing that made it satisfactory were boat drills weren’t always went over in first order.
There is a Moving Picture version of a British Colonel aboard as permanent Liaison Officer. Had been troop C.O. for two years aboard same ship. Knows every knook and cranny. Knows every argument that comes up with ships company before it comes up. Without his help this tub would have sunk in this chaos. He is one of the shrewdest men I have ever met & just as humorous. Whenever an argument in Staff Meeting is going the wrong way he can draw a red herring through the conversation so fast that it makes your head swim or tell some fantastic typical statement. “Ships officers are dead from 2 PM til’ four. If you attempted to wake one up the ruddy funnel will fall off.”
Took about seven days to get things afoot so that trip became very pleasant U.S.O. shows helped immensely. Billy Gilbert the Hollywood _____ artist is aboard with a troop and his shows have done wonders for morale. After the first three days the men’s spirits raised and remained amazingly high considering the hardships of sleeping in stinking holds & open but cold decks.
No excitement yet other than an incident the seventh night out. A Swedish ship blasted through the entire convoy at perpendicular courses & all ships had to make a sweeping torn to avoid her she was completely lighted & must have completely silhouetted us also made sub contact at the same time & depth charges were dropped well over the place which sit up a “ruddy din”.
About 1/3 of the men were thoroughly sick the second & third day out when it got fairly rough out water has been like a mild pond ever since.
Units were so spilt up _____ Lord knows how we will debark them. Tuckerman has been made garbage disposal officer and has taken a hell of a beating. Trash & garbage has to be disposed of only at a _____ _____ prior to black out to prevent causing a trail so it’s a hell of a job. Carroll is official announcer on P.A. system and as _____ that an official ____ for everyone aboard when he announces _____ time. Typical crack “Dumping time tonight will be at _ _ o’clock. Stick out your cans for the scrounger man. Tuckerman the garbage man.”
Cards & crap games fill every deck & latrine. Officers and men at it 24 hours a day. One EM cleared $ 1300 one day. Some even have set up boards with numbers on them carnival fashion & have this game in the canteen.
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The 55th Fighter Group, the first P-38 equipped 8th Air Force Fighter Group to enter combat with the Luftwaffe, moved to Wormingford, England, on April 16, 1944.
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During the 55th’s movement to England Milton managed to send a single V-Mail letter to his parents in Richmond, in which he commented on the hectic nature of the Group’s inter-continental journey, a sea-food dinner in Manhattan, and expressed pride in his wife, Elaine.
In light of Milton’s then as-yet-unknown future, the letter closes with the unintentionally (or not?…) prophetic statement, “It will probably be some time until you hear from me again so don’t worry. This is my real opportunity. Think of it in that light. I’m really on my way home in a way that this is what I had to get under my belt before I could do that.”
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Joel
1119 Hull Street
Richmond, 21, Va.
Milton Joel, Major AC
38 Fighter Sq 55th Fighter Group
APO #4833 c/o Postmaster New York
Sept. 3, 1943
Dear Folks,
Have been here “somewhere” in New Jersey. Have never had such an exasperating or busy few days in my life. It’s just like recruit camp all over again. Quite an experience. We’ve been held incommunicado so didn’t have time to call anyone in N.Y. Managed to get in one evening long enough for a lobster and a drink. Wonderful to eat Eastern sea food again.
Elaine is in L.A. Got a letter from her yesterday. She’s done a swell job of taking care of our affairs and getting home. Her attitude about this whole thing, I tried to give you a hint about two weeks ago but you couldn’t catch on evidently.
Did Elaine send you some pictures that we took? I’m proud of them particularly the ones taken in the house. Got a swell letter from Elaine’s father. Our two weeks of living together you know showed Elaine to be every thing that I thought her to be plus a great deal.
It will probably be some time until you hear from me again so don’t worry. This is my real opportunity. Think of it in that light. I’m really on my way home in a way that this is what I had to get under my belt before I could do that. Don’t send any thing until I ask for it. Use “V” mail.
Love to all Milton
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This Oogle map below shows the location of Nuthampstead (indicated by Oogle’s emblematic red pointer) in relation to London.
This British Government Royal Ordnance Survey aerial photo shows Nuthampstead Airfield as it appeared on July 9, 1946. Annotations on the photo are from Roger Freeman’s 1978 Airfields Of The Eighth, Then And Now. The original image has been photoshopifically “rotated” from its original orientation such that the north arrow points “up”. As such, the orientation of the airfield is congruent with the area as seen in the contemporary Oogle Earth photo, below.
Here’s a contemporary Oogle air photo view of the area of Nuthampstead airfield and its surrounding terrain. Practically all the land upon which the air base was situated has been turned over to agricultural use.
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Newly arrived at Nuthampstead, the 55th Fighter Group’s Commanders are visited by Major General William E. Kepner (far left), then head of the Eighth Fighter Command.
To General Kepner’s own left in the photo (left to right) are:
Col. Frank B. James Lt. Col. Jack S. Jenkins, 0-22606 Major Dallas W. Webb Major Milton Joel, 0-416308 Major Richard W. (Dick) Busching, 0-427516
Though I don’t recall the specific source of this image as used “here” in this post, this picture can also be viewed at the 55th Fighter Group website. It also appeared in print in the October, 1997, issue of Wings magazine (V 7, N 5, p. 13), where it’s noted as having been part of Jack Jenkins’ photo collection, from which the names above are taken. There, Milton’s name is incorrectly listed as “Walton”. Wings mentions that General Kepner, then in his 50s “…flew his personal P-47D everywhere, including an occasional sortie into combat. Kepner was a strong and successful commander.”
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The following Army Air Force photographs, taken some time between the 55th Fighter Group’s arrival at Nuthampstead in September of 1943, and November 29, 1943 (that sad day will be covered in detail in subsequent posts…) may be well known to those with an interest in the history of Eighth Air Force fighter operations, and, the P-38 Lightning. But, for those newly acquainted with this story:
First, image A1 79829 AC / A14144 1A. The photo caption states:
“Flight leaders of the 38th Fighter Squadron, based at Nuthampstead, England, gather for an informal briefing by Major Milton Joel of Richmond, Virginia just before a mission over enemy territory. They are, left to right: 1st Lt. James Hancock of Sebring, Fla., 1st Lt. Gerald Leinweber of Houston, Texas, 1st Lt. Joseph Myers of Canton, Ohio, and 1st Lt. Jerry Ayers of Shelbyville, Tenn.”
Obviously posed (Lt. Ayers and Major Joel have wry smiles) it’s still a great photo. Notice that Lt. Hancock and Major Joel are – gadzooks! – smoking! (In the world of 2020, how … er … uh … um … ironically, dare I say “refreshing ”… as it were?)
Second, image: B1 79830AC / A14145 1A.
The caption?
“Lt. Albert A. Albino of Aberdeen, Wash., and Lt. John J. Carroll of Detroit, Mich., both members of the 38th Fighter Squadron stationed at Nuthampstead, England, discuss the map of a future target in the squadron pilot room.”
Like the above image, this photo is almost certainly posed, but it’s still an excellent study. While Lt. Albino wears a classic leather flight jacket, it looks as if Lt. Carroll sports a home-made (?) sweater.
By day’s end on November 29, 1943, Lt. Albino would no longer be among the living, and Lt. Carroll would be a prisoner of war.
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After Major Joel failed to return from the mission of November 29, Captain Mark K. Shipman of Fresno, California, took command of the 38th, until replaced in that role by Capt. Joseph Myers.
This image, from The American Air Museum in Britain, shows Captain Shipman in front of his personal P-38, 42-67080, “Skylark IV”, “CG * S”. This photograph appears on page 93 of Roger Freeman’s The Mighty Eighth, albeit in cropped form, and transposed (a mirror-image) from the actual print. Major Shipman was officially credited with 2.5 aerial victories: One in North Africa, and two in Europe.
This image of the aircraft and ground crew was photographed by Sgt. Robert T. Sand, who not-so-coincidentally completed Skylark IV’s nose art. Note that the 20mm cannon has been removed from the plane’s nose.
The below article about Major Shipman appeared in the Pittsburgh Press on February 6, 1943, and pertains to his experience on January 23, 1943, while he was serving as a lieutenant in the 48th Fighter Squadron of the 14th Fighter Group. Accounts of this mission, in which the 48th lost six pilots – of whom Lt. Shipman turned out to be the sole survivor – can be found at emedals.com and Rob Brown’s RAF 112 Squadron.org.
U.S. Flier Walks 2 Days Through Italian Positions
Pilot’s Clothes Stolen, So He Wraps Feet in Rags; Brings Back Valuable Information
By the United Press
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, North Africa. Feb. 6 – For two days Lt. Mark K. Shipman, 22, Fresno, Cal., wandered over desert and mountains, his feet bound with shreds of his uniform, but when he finally reached an American outpost he brought with him valuable reconnaissance information.
The lieutenant told about his experience today.
His Lightning fighter plane was shot down on the morning of Jan 23 when he left formation to help a comrade fighting a cluster of Messerschmitts. Lieut. Shipman said he made a belly landing.
“The ship was practically undamaged,” he said. “I ran about 40 yards away because I knew the Messerschmitts would strafe me. Three of them riddled the plane with three dives. Then I went back to it and took out a helmet, canteen and pistol and started hiking for the mountains.”
Clothes Stolen
Lieut. Shipman said all his clothes except his trousers and undershirt were stolen from him, although he managed to retain a wedding ring and Crucifix which were presents from his wife. (The dispatch did not say who did the looting.)
“I found I couldn’t walk in my bare feet,” Lieut. Shipman continued. “So I cut off my trousers below the knees and wrapped the cloth around my feet. I walked over a mountain knowing by the sun I was traveling toward the American lines. I found a narrow dirt road and started making better time but my feet were getting sore.
Fixes Crude Bed
“So I took off mv trousers and managed to cut off more cloth above the knees, which I added to the strips I already had tied about, my feet. I turned off the trail and went over to a creek bed and fixed a crude bed in a hole. I got kind of warm and rested.
“After a while the moon came up and I got out and started down the creek bed. About 10 o’clock I passed what I believed were some Italian tents and snaked along silently, finally getting into the open.
“I ran along a dirt road for a while and was hiding in a ditch when a motorcyclist came along. He was Italian. I decided it was safer to keep off the road. My feet were so sore I could scarcely stand so I made a sort of fox hole about a hundred yards from the road.
Crosses Road
“When daylight came I positively identified other passing vehicles as Italian. I crossed the road and crept along, finally reaching three Italian road blocks. I took off my white cotton undershirt so I wouldn’t be conspicuous.
“By that time I was getting desperate and I decided on a break. I got into ravines and at times I saw Italian sentries on both sides. After I sneaked along for about five miles I didn’t see any more Italians. About 5 p.m. I approached an American outpost. They recognized me.”
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Capt. Joseph Myers, Jr. and Major Joel stand before a P-38. The date and location of the image are unknown. Thanks to information from Andrew Garcia in November of 2023, I’ve been able to correlate the four-digit Lockheed Aircraft Company factory production number “1526” on the fighter’s nose to its Army Air Force serial: The aircraft is P-38H 42-67015. Being that this aircraft isn’t listed at the Aviation Archeology database and there is no Missing Air Crew Report for it, it seems that it survived the war, I assume to be turned into aluminum siding or pots & pans after 1945. (Photo c/o Harold Winston)
Another image of Capt. Myers, this time in front of his personal aircraft, P-38J 42-67685 “Journey’s End’ / “CG * O”, with ground crew members Sergeants K.P. Bartozeck and J. D. “Dee Dee” Durnin. The image presumably dates from very late 1943, as “Journey’s End” was destroyed during a single-engine crash-landing on January 4, 1944.
This image shows Lt. Col. Joseph Myers, seated in a P-51D Mustang, to which the 55th Fighter Group began converting in July, 1944. He commanded the 38th Fighter Squadron between February 10 and April 22 of that year. This image is from the collection of Dave Jewell.
Maloney, Edwatd T., Lockheed P-38 “Lightning”, Aero Publishers, Inc., Fallbrook, Ca., 1968 (The book includes a table correlating Lockheed Aircraft Company serials to Army Air Force serials.)
I’m presently working on a number of posts which are taking a measure of time to complete. In the meantime, here’s a very brief “interlude”: A short post “segue-ing” from the story of Major Milton Joel, whose all-too-brief life and military career I covered in a series of posts created fromNovember of 2020 thoughearly 2021. Barring the eventual and highly improbable discovery of the Major’s P-38H (42-67020, “CG * A” , the un-nicknamed “flying wolf”) there’s at present little more to tell of his story.
But sometimes, it helps to return to what has gone before…
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Case in point… I recently searched for further information about the pilots involved in the 38th Fighter Squadron’s aerial engagement with the Luftwaffe over the Netherlands on November 29, 1943. And? I was pleasantly surprised to find material pertaining to two of the pilots who were killed in action on that late November Monday: Second Lieutenants Albert Anthony Albino, and, James Michael Garvin, the latter of whom was Major Joel’s wingman. Though there’s no information that actually adds new detail to my account of the events of that day, the pictures are evocative in their own right.
This post specifically pertains to Lieutenant Garvin, and shows images and documents at the “My Mother’s Gordon Heritage” Family Tree at Ancestry.com.
It’s best to begin at the beginning: Here’s Lieutenant Garvin’s Draft Card. It was completed on October 16, 1940, when he was twenty-five years old. While the card lists his date of birth as July 3, 1915, according to the postwar “Application for Headstone or Marker” for his grave, completed by his mother Eliza (I suppose short for Elizabeth?), James Garvin was born on July 4, 1915, and enlisted in the military on January 11, 1941. At the time of his death on November 29, 1943, he was therefore twenty-eight years of age, unusually old (in relative terms!) for a non-career USAAF fighter pilot, and notably older than Major Joel himself, who on that date was twenty-four.
This image of Aviation Cadet Garvin was taken in Arizona in 1943. Based on the news article below the picture, the photo was probably taken at Williams Field, where he was commissioned on March 10 of that year.
I don’t know the name of the newspaper that served the Lieutenant’s home town of Marcus, Iowa, but notice of his “Missing in Action” status appeared there in December of 1943. Given the approximate one-month time lag – for American WW II servicemen – between the date when a soldier or sailor had become a casualty (killed, wounded, or missing) and the release of this information to the news media by the War Department, I assume that this article was published in the latter part of December.
Notice of confirmation of Lt. Garvin’s death appears in the following news article, which probably appeared in mid-March to April of 1944, the War Department having received notice of his death via the International Red Cross, from a communication to that organization by the German government. Though some sources report that he was shot down in the vicinity of the Leda Canal, east of the city of Leer, Germany, in reality, having somehow escaped the air battle which claimed four other 38th Fighter Squadron P-38s, his fighter crashed at Hondschoote, France, while (as I believe) he was attempting to return to England alone, at low altitude, in bad weather. (See here and here.)
Lieutenant Garvin was buried at his home town of Marcus in late June of 1949. (As for Lt. Albino, I hope to show the newly-discovered picture of him in the future…)
The annals of military aviation – at least in terms of popular culture – by definition and nature tend to focus on aerial combat; victories and losses; interactions with the air arms of allied and enemy nations; survival in the face of daunting odds – and the inexplicable vagaries of fate; the technology of flying and aerial combat; camouflage, unit insignia, and “nose art”; living conditions experienced at remote military bases; interactions with comrades from different regions and cultures; interactions with civilians in foreign lands.
It seems that relatively less attention is accorded to human nature: Personal histories, personalities, and perhaps a flyer’s perspective on the very nature and purpose of his military service. Perhaps this is only natural, for we’re talking about a period in a man’s life in a physical setting hardly conducive (!) to deep thought, and contemplation – but then again, not altogether alien to such feelings either. However, I would think that for most men, introspection typically comes later: years, if not decades, after one’s military service.
With that perspective in mind, and in spite of virtually all of Milton’s personal correspondence having been destroyed decades ago; with relatively little of his military documentation surviving, it is still possible to form a general “picture” of him as a “person” as much as a pilot, based upon recollections of friends and family.
These follow below:
Memories of Milton Joel: Virginia
From Maurice L. Strause, Jr., Milton’s friend from the University of Virginia: “(Milton) came to the University of Virginia as a freshman in my senior year. I knew him to be bright and well spoken, but he did not, in retrospect, seem a fighter pilot type. He was pudgy in those days as were most of us, since out $30.00 per month for meals bought mostly bread and potatoes. It was as about as deep as the depression got.”
“I recall that he was an only child – and the apple of his parent’s eyes. He was a child of their old age – at least that is how it seemed to me. I was four or five years older than he and his parents were considerably older than mine.”
From Sara F. Markham, best friend of Milton’s wife Elaine: “I met Milton Joel when I was about fourteen. He and my brother (who was skipper of a sub chaser in World War II) were dear friends and often spent weekends on the Piankatank River at the Joel’s summer cottage in their youth.Often, too, my parents and I were there. Though Leonard knew Milton from childhood (they grew up in the same neighborhood), I became part of “their crowd” when our interest in the opposite sex prevailed. I grew up in a small town twenty-three miles away.”
Memories of Milton’s wife, Elaine (Ebenstein) Joel
Sara F. Markham, “Elaine [later Friedlich] was my best friend in the world and the one person, perhaps, who deserved to share her life with Milton.”
Milton’s cousin Bettie J. Jacobs recollected that Milton and Elaine (from New York City) met in San Francisco. She was,“Beautiful, charming, blonde, thin, regal. Unfortunately, prior to Elaine’s death from cancer, she destroyed Milton’s letters to her, which probably would have shed a little more insight into this unusual and unbelievably brave man.” Milton’s Personality
Leonard Kamsky, a childhood friend of Milton and his Milton’s cousin Harold Winston, and who later served in the 8th Air Force: “My most memorable vacation as a teenager was with Milton on the Piankatank River near the Chesapeake Bay. He went off to University of Virginia while I stayed at the University of Richmond. Milton had the strongest personality of anyone of my early acquaintance, in the sense of being a real leader and doer. At the same time he was the nicest guy you would ever meet. I pretty much lost track of Milton when he went into the service, training as a fighter pilot. I have to admit I envied him that glamorous life. I went into the Air Force (Air Corps at that time) as a lowly ground GI, thanks to flat feet and eye glasses.”
Leonard served in the VIII Fighter Command, where he, “…received reports on all the Squadrons at that time.” He served, “…under General Kepner who, I understood, was a great admirer of Milton as a pilot. I contacted Milton immediately [upon my arriving in England] and a few days later [Sunday, November 28, 1943] when he came to Command HQ.”
“That evening, after taking care of his affairs, he came to stay with my English family, John and Nance Russell and their 2 children. I shall never forget how he got on with the Russells – just great, smoking our pipes. John had an especially aromatic tobacco which he shared with us. But, I was almost an aside. Milton had this fantastic ability at repartee and they had become the best of friends in no time. John was head of an engineering firm that, unknown to me then, was producing the units for the artificial harbour used on D-Day on the Normandy coast. They loved Milton and, as you may know, kept in touch with his parents in Richmond long after the war.”
A Question of Motivation
According to Harold Winston, Milton, “Talked about becoming a pilot, in high school. He did not wish to follow in the jewelry business.” This is corroborated by Bettie J. Jacobs, who recalls that Milton, “…joined the service because he wanted to fly; he didn’t necessarily want a military career.”[His V-mail letter of September 3, 1943, to his parents suggests otherwise.]
Maurice L. Strause, Jr., and Leonard Kamsky expressed the same thought concerning Milton’s identity as a Jew, in the context of his military service.
In Mr. Strause’s words, “…neither Milton or I, or Morton Marks Jr., a member of our same Reform Congregation and a winner of the D.S.C ever thought of ourselves in the context of “Jewish Warriors”. We were just American citizens fighting for our country and whether we were in one theatre or the other was luck of the draw.”
And, Mr. Kamsky’s thoughts, “The bottom line is that Milton was a wonderful human being, highly intelligent and devoted to duty. I don’t buy that he was trying to prove anything in the way of being over-daring as a kind of off-set to being Jewish. He did what he did because it was the right thing to do. He was a great leader of men. He had the bad luck of flying a plane so badly designed that no amount of skill could be of much use.”
[As discussed in the prior post, I respectfully disagree with Mr. Kamsky’s characterization of the P-38 Lightning. And, as revealed by a letter below, there may be more depth to the intersection between Milton’s identity as a Jew, and his military service, than was superficially apparent…] Milton Joel as a Leader of Men
“Major Joel sure is a swell guy. He could just give us orders & not bother to consult us but he’s not like that. Whenever anything comes up, he calls a meeting of the officers & asks our opinion & really wants us to tell him if we disagree with what he says. There aren’t many squadron commanders like him & all the boys are all for him & would do anything for him.” The above comment is an excerpt from a letter penned by 2 Lt. Morris Leve on February 29, 1943, to his parents, Benjamin and Eva (Zisk) Leve, who lived at 1420 Cortelyou Road in Brooklyn, New York. At the time, Lt. Leve was stationed at Paine Field, Washington with the 38th Fighter Squadron.
This photo shows Lt. Leve at Nuthampstead, wearing a B3 sheepskin flying jacket. (Picture via Morris Leve’s nephew, Robert Leve.)
Here’s a contemporary (2014) Oogle Street view of 1420 Cortelyou Road, where the latter intersects with Marlborough Road.
This is Justin O’s photograph of the storefront of King’s County Wines, which now occupies 1420’s Cortelyou Road’s first floor.
Lieutenant Leve was killed in action on January 31, 1944, during a fighter sweep to Venlo and Arnheim, Holland, while flying P-38J 42-67768 on his thirtieth mission. The plane’s loss is covered in MACR 2110 and Luftgaukommando Report AV 641/44.
He had been flying as element leader to 1 Lt. Leroy V. Hokinson, Jr., seen below at Williams Field in 1943, in photo (UPL 19574) from The American Air Museum in Britain. The pair were shot down by FW-190s, probably of Jagdgeschwader 1. Lt. Hokinson, on his sixth mission, shot down two of these enemy planes and then parachuted to safety from his Lightning, P-38J 42-67813 (MACR 2107). He evaded capture and returned to American forces on September 11 of that year, after journeying in a very (very (very!)) roundabout way through various locations in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
I was flying Swindle White 4 on Lt. Leve’s wing after we had been separated from the rest of the group in a fight near the vicinity of Venlo. Returning to our base at deck level, we were bounced by seven FW190’s from above at 7 o’clock near Eindhoven, Holland. Lt. Leve and I broke into them at about the same time, I cutting inside. As the Jerries passed over us and made a sharp turn back, we set up two Luftberries about a thousand yards apart. Lt. Leve became engaged with four FW190’s and I with three. They were making diving passes at us and we were turning with flaps to increase deflection. Lt. Leve made about a turn and a half when I observed that he was on fire in the cockpit. I straightened out of my turn and headed after the 190 that was firing on him, but I was too late to help him for he was already headed for the deck blazing all over. I yelled for him to pull up and bail out but I don’t believe he heard me. Meanwhile, closing to about 100 yards of the FW190, I opened up at about 10 degrees deflection and observed strikes immediately. Closing in closer and still firing I saw the E/A begin to pour out smoke. Then he broke and headed down and crashed. I therefor (sic) claim this FW190 destroyed.
At the same time the above E/A crashed I broke, as another was on my tail firing. As I continued a tight turn to the left, I saw Lt. Leve’s plane hit the ground and explode and smoke coming up from the 190 behind some trees. Another 190 was coming in in a shallow diving turn at 11 o’clock. I rolled out once more and began a head-on attack – both of us firing like mad. I observed strikes on his wing roots and cowling. Then he broke and headed along the deck smoking, apparently out of control. This 190 must have hit my gas line, for my left engine was on fire. Deciding to get out, I pushed the throttle full forward and pulled straight up. 190’s were following me all the way and they blew off my left wing tip and were hitting the cockpit right behind me. At about 2000 ft. I was slowed down to about 150 A S [air speed] and let go the canopy. The Jerries stopped firing as I bailed out and landed safely. Later I was informed by the French that the second plane I had hit also crashed a few miles away. I therefore claim two (2) FW190’s destroyed as a result of the above combat.
The video below, dating from August 18, 2011 – at the YouTube channel of Jacques Braakenburg) – appropriately entitled “The nephew of Morris Leve, the pilot who was killed in Nuenen,” shows Lt. Leve’s nephew Robert (son of Morris’ brother Sol) visiting the crash site of his uncle’s P-38. Unfortunately, the names of the gentlemen accompanying Robert are not listed.
Luftgaukommando Report AV 641/44, pertaining to Lt. Leve and Lt. Steiner, is shown below. (Note that this document is of the same layout and informational format as that used to record information about Lieutenants Gilbride and Hascall.)
Here’s Morris’ matzeva, bearing his Hebrew name Moshe Bar Baruch, at Montefiore Cemetery, in a photograph by FindAGrave contributor RealistState. Note the image of the P-38 Lightning engraved at the upper left of the stone.
Morris’ correspondence with his parents yields fascinating and moving insight into his experiences in England. His letters (Vmails, actually) touch upon such subjects as attending Rosh Hashonah services with Major Joel, his “personal” P-38, and particularly his relationship with a British Jewish family, the Kosmins, who resided at Denmark Hill in London. Her are some excerpts.
Rosh Hashanah services in Cambridge…
9/30/43 (Thursday)
Dear Mom & Pop,
Everything is still going along well & I’m feeling fine. I finally received a letter from you dated Sept. 10 & sure was glad to hear that everything is O.K. We’re all happy cause today was payday. Sure was funny being paid in English pounds. Will have a chance to spend it when I go to London again next week. I went to services [Rosh Hashanah] in Cambridge last night [September 29, Wednesday] with the Major & met some swell people. Should get some good dinner invitations etc. out of it. A home cooked meal really will be a treat.
His “personal” P-38H, the “Flatbush Flash”…
10/15/43
Dear Mom & Pop,
Am feeling fine & having a lot of fun. I can tell you a little about what’s going on now. I have my own plane which I’ve named the “Flatbush Flash”. I have the name painted on the side of my plane & will send you some pictures soon. I also have my own crew chief & armorer. They’re all good men & work hard to keep the plane in shape. I can’t tell you yet about what I’m doing but you’ll be reading about us, I’m sure. Please don’t worry about me & take care of yourselves. Regards to Sol, Henrietta, & family.
Meeting the Kosmin family and their daughter Sheila…
October 19, 1943
Dear Mom & Pop,
I just got back from another 48 hour pass which I spent in London. Had a wonderful time. I met a cute little girl who surprisingly enough turned out to be Jewish. Her name is Sheila Kosmin. I spent one evening at her home & really had a feast. Her mom gave me the best meal I’ve had since I left the States. Her folks insisted I spend the night there & I even got my breakfast in bed. I’m going back there a week from Friday on my next pass. Mrs. Kosmin promised to make “gefilte fish” & fried chicken. They’re all swell people & I’m sure lucky I met them. Give my best to Sol, Henrietta & all.
Hospitality at the Kosmins…
11/12/43
Dear Mom & Pop,
I wrote you about the packages so I’ll tell you about my pass in this letter. As I told you, I spent most of the time with the Kosmin family. I had two wonderful delicious dinners & went out both evenings with Sheila Kosmin, the 18 year old daughter I told you about. I stayed at their house both nights & had breakfast in bed both mornings. I really enjoyed myself very much the whole time. They’re all very nice to me & go to a lot of trouble for me. I’ll give you their address, & you can write them if you like.
The Kosmins resided in Brixton at 175 Denmark Hill.
Here’s a March, 2019 Oogle Street view of that address, where is presently situated a four-story apartment or condominium. I have no idea if this is the building in which the Kosmin family actually resided, or if – as evident from the architectural style of the buildings on the opposite side of the street – it was constructed after the war. But, it is the correct address.
It’s my understanding that postwar, Sheila Kosmin considered a trip to the United States to meet Morris’ parents in Brooklyn. However, that journey never took place.
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This last recollection about Major Joel is of a different sort: It’s a letter by Captain Robert W. Wood, the 38th Fighter Squadron’s Executive Officer and member of the Squadron since its formation. Captain Wood signed the “lead” page of each the four MACRs covering the squadron’s losses (Lieutenants Albino, Carroll, Garvin, and Major Joel) of November 29, 1943.
Written on January 2, 1947, a year and a half after the Second World War ended and over four years since Milton’s death, it was composed in reply to an inquiry by Milton’s father Joseph concerning the nature of his son’s death in particular, and his military career in general. Robert Wood’s thoughts are compassionate and enlightening; inspiring and comforting. Paralleling this, his letter – composed while the events of the war were still relatively fresh in memory; just over three years since Major Joel’s death, is in some respects – how else to phrase it? – quite disillusioning, especially so if the “Greatest Generation” (I’m using the quotes intentionally) is only perceived through the lenses of romanticism and nostalgia, rather than an appreciation of the often disconcerting reality of human nature.
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The text of Mr. Wood’s letter follows, with images of the actual text below. This is followed by a brief discussion, where I discuss his lines of text, and of equal importance, what I believe lies “between the lines”.
Dear Mr. Joel:
Your thoughtful letter reached us just today, and I’d be a very small person indeed to put off the answer to that.
You know from Elaine that to me Milton was rather more than a Squadron Commander, he was a fine example of a true American – above all he was a man. Have you ever read any Western Stories? The heroes are always strong, silent, extremely courageous men – none of those fictional characters ever excelled “The Major” in clear thinking or in a determination to make truth and righteousness triumph. No story hero ever displayed the courage that your son did – that’s not so much blarney, I feel it is absolutely true. I’ve thought that my personal affection for “Gummy” had made his deeds more outstanding than they really were, but time and a greater knowledge of what others did have assured me that if anything I underrated his accomplishments.
His leadership and superb control of his emotions were outstanding – even though there were those who still slurringly referred to him as a Jew. These people never bothered the “The Major”. In fact he seemed glad of the chance to show them that his was a bigger soul than theirs. Here’s a little story about that that will show you what I mean. Upon arriving at our station in England Major Joel informed the Engineering Officer that the crew chief he wanted was a Technical Sgt. who I’ll just call “Shorty”.To this everyone objected and several of us asked “Gum” why he had insisted on a crew chief who had openly stated that he disliked the Major – in fact all Jews. “The Major” replied, “He’s as good if not the best crew chief in the Squadron, isn’t he?” Since this was actually so there was no further arguing that matter and your son proved to us all the truth of his claim that he didn’t care what one of his men thought of him personally as long as they did their job. Shorty crewed (by crewed I mean he took care of the airplane on the ground to make sure it was in fine mechanical condition) the Major’s airplane for 1 ½ months and during that time Shorty didn’t say anything for or against the Squadron Commander – yet, when Major Joel failed to return on that day in November 1943 Shorty broke down and cried and very nearly became a mental case. For Shorty had learned that Major Joel was above all petty likes and dislikes and that his courage and devotion to duty were unexcelled. That story may seem small to you but to me that’s just a typical example from the many such deeds of your son that placed him head and shoulders above the ordinary.
Mr. Joel you’ve asked me a question that I nor any one else can tell you much about. I was not there and neither were any of the heroes of the 55th Group, but I can give you my opinion of Milton’s disappearance. The day’s mission was a bomber escort to Bremen, Germany, and Maj. Joel was flying as Group Leader which meant that he had under his direction his own plus two other squadrons. By following his instructions “Gum” led the Group to the meeting point with the bombers just as large numbers of enemy fighters were attacking. The job of protecting the bombers looked pretty hopeless, but Joel called the bombers to tell them help had come and their answer was, “Thank God!” Gum then instructed the other squadrons of the deployment for attack. At this point a Captain in another squadron, later made a Lt. Col. and quite a hero decided that it was time to go home as the fight looked tough, so he assumed command of the Group (later told that Joel lost contact with the other two squadrons) and with the 338th and 343rd Squadrons returned to England. That noble deed was what a General like Patton would have had a man shot for, but our Group made him a brilliant and heroic pilot – what a lie! From this point Gum drove on to assist the bombers with his 16 ship Squadron, but engine trouble or cowardice caused 8 of his own Squadron’s planes to turn back. Milton and his wingman (2 planes) dove into the attack with Capt. Ayers and a wingman about 300 yards behind. This was the last that was seen of those two planes as all planes came under severe attack from the enemy. Joel’s wingman was Lt. James Garvin and he was reported killed in action on that day. Capt. Ayers kept fighting his way forward but could never catch sight of Joel, and was finally forced to turn and fight his way out of the area. The 38th Squadron lost four of the 8 ships that had courage at their controls that day. – The Capt. who deserted with 2 squadrons with his story of saving the Group, came home and no one killed him. Mr. Joel, believe me, murder was a very attractive thought to me at that time. But he was allowed to go on doing heroic deeds of this nature. I can’t remember how many times he saved his squadron after that, but on Jan. 31, 1944 he saved the day in the same manner – our Squadron lost 6 brave boys that day.And so on. The Air Corps refused to let me fly, for to them I was too old, therefore I never have had the right to anymore than think these things.
That in my opinion is actually what happened. I also had an idea Gum was active in the Underground, for he had information that he told me he dare not divulge that day before the mission. However, there should no longer be any doubt about the War Dept.’s notification. I wish I could tell you more, but there is none to tell.
There was no braver, more heroic soldier in this war than your son. His example of unselfish devotion to an ideal will always be a great inspiration and the ultimate goal for me. His wonderful insight into problems both large and small, and his superb, calculated thinking were in small measure passed on to me – for that I’ll be eternally grateful. The World would be a wonderful place if all men were of your son’s caliber. I can only thank god for the opportunity even though short that he granted me with “Gummy”.
Best wishes to you, Mrs. Joel and Elaine. Don’t think I’d not like to come to Richmond to see you swell people. Do you remember our unlucky fishing trip in Washington? Gee, I wished you could catch a big salmon.
Sincerely, Bob Wood
P.S. Am enclosing some pictures that you may not have copies of.
Okay, here’s the actual letter:
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Some comments…
In the letter’s second paragraph, Robert Wood (by 1947, no longer a Captain) describes Milton’s character as a soldier and leader of men, generally in terms of his interaction with members of his squadron, and specifically in the context of being a Jew.
In his third paragraph, Wood directly addresses what appears to have been Joseph Joel’s obvious and central question: What, actually, happened to his son on November 29, 1943?
Albeit sincere, frank, and well-meaning in his intention of informing Milton’s parents of what transpired that day, some parts of his account – particularly about Milton contacting the B-17s and eliciting a reply of “Thank God!” from them – are incorrect, for none of the 55th Fighter Group’s three squadrons actually made contact with the bombers on that mission. And, I most seriously doubt that a communication of this nature would ever have been transmitted from a bomber formation to its fighter escort.
As for Mr. Wood’s explanation of specifically why the 38th Fighter Squadron had been reduced to nearly half strength (“…engine trouble or cowardice…”) by the time it was intercepted by III./JG I? I addressed the former topic – the performance of the P-38 in the context of its (perceived) suitability for use by the Eighth Air Force – in the post A Battle in The Air, by means of excerpts from Bert Kinzey’s two Detail & Scale books about the P-38, and, Dr. Carlo Kopp’s analysis of the P-38 at Air Power Australia.
In terms of the latter topic – using the term “cowardice” to characterize the pilots who left the 38th’s formation and returned to Nuthampstead “early” – a review of the biographies of those seven pilots based on information at the 55th Fighter Group website shows the following, from which the reader can arrive at a contrary judgement. (Well, John Stanaway’s 1986 book Peter Three Eight: The Pilot’s Story does include a very pointed statement specifically about this topic.)
Lead Section
(Lead Flight)
2 Lt. Ernest R. Marcy – Element Leader (Engine Trouble) 19 missions Returned early three times (twice from engine trouble and once from losing a drop tank) April 1944 – Temporary Duty at Goxhill 9/7/44 – Transferred to Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron VIII Fighter Command Survived War (Final rank 1 Lt.)
2 Lt. Robert F. Maloney – Wingman to Marcy (Unknown) Remained in Squadron Promoted to Captain by January 1945 2.5 victories (air) Survived War (Final rank Capt.)
(Second Flight)
2 Lt. William K. Birch – Element Leader – Engine Trouble 10 missions December 1943 – Promoted to 1 Lt. 12/16/43 – Killed in Action (not directly due to enemy action – probably oxygen problems and / or vertigo) in P-38H 42-67077 (Capt. Jerry Ayers’ “Mountain Ayers” / “CG * Q”) Buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, Ca.
High Section
(Lead Flight)
Capt. James H. Hancock – Element Leader (Engine Trouble) 2 victories (air) 3/15/44 – Crashed on take-off in P-38J 42-67811 (“CG * H”). Aircraft flipped on back and totaled by fire. Crash caused by failure of one engine. Uninjured. Promoted to Major Became commanding officer of 38th Fighter Squadron; Ended tour by 7/16/44 Survived War (Final rank Major)
2 Lt. Edward F. Peters – Wingman to Hancock (Engine Trouble) Shot down 1/5/44 in P-38J 42-67650 (MACR 1746) Survived as Prisoner of war at Stalag Luft I
(Second Flight)
1 Lt. Morris Leve – Element Leader (Blew Inner Cooler) KIA 1/31/44 (see above and below)
F/O David D. Fisher – Wingman to Leve (Escort for Leve) 22 missions December, 1943 – Promoted to 2 Lt. KIA 1/31/44 (see below)
Another point: There is no evidence that Major Joel had any association with the Underground, the possibility of which was – in any event – a moot point by day’s end on November 29, 1943.
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However, there are aspects of Robert Wood’s account that are correct. Lt. Garvin was killed in action (perhaps Mr. Wood learned this through the International Red Cross, or, the War Department); Capt. Ayers did attempt to provide cover to Major Joel (and Lt. Carroll, not Lt. Garvin) until forced to break off upon further attacks by III./JG 1; the 38th Fighter Squadron did lose a total of four planes that day.
And, within Mr. Wood’s account of the November 29 mission, stands an event (or, a “non-event”?) that seems to be consistent with the mission as it actually transpired.
First, the relevant text from Mr. Wood’s letter:
At this point a Captain in another squadron, later made a Lt. Col. and quite a hero decided that it was time to go home as the fight looked tough, so he assumed command of the Group (later told that Joel lost contact with the other two squadrons) and with the 338th and 343rd Squadrons returned to England.
First, compare the above statement with the following excerpt from Captain Franklin’s statement in the Missing Air Crew Report (MACR 1429) for Major Joel:
The main body of the group was proceeding toward home when Major Joel was heard calling for help from far behind us. Lt. Gilbride and I turned back to help but it took several minutes for us to reach the fight.
Second, consider this account in the Missing Air Crew Report (MACR 1272) pertaining to Capt. Franklin’s wingman, Lt. Gilbride. (I’ve broken the text into paragraphs for easier comprehension.):
At approximately 1210 hours, I reported many bandits approaching from below at 3 o’clock; this was about in the target area.
Colonel James had started a right turn to meet the enemy aircraft when we met about 16 enemy aircraft head-on at about 29 to 30,000 feet. The main body of the Group went into a right Lufberry Circle for approximately two complete turns. Colonel James was [not] leading the Group at or from this time, as he was having engine trouble and was below us.
My second element disappeared about this time as Lieutenant Bauer was having trouble losing his belly tanks. Lieutenant Gilbride stayed with me in an excellent manner, calling in enemy aircraft calmly and doing a good job of covering. The main Group stayed in their Lufberry but I would break out momentarily from time to time to get my wing out of the sun so that I could see if another attack was imminent.
About this time, after two complete turns, the main Group started home and I, thinking that the Group Commander had resumed the lead, followed along. As we left the area there were several people calling for help from far behind. The main Group continued on away until we were at least seven miles from this fight.
Just as I had almost decided to go back and help the boys calling repeatedly, the Group started a turn and appeared to be going back but instead made a tight 360 degree turn and went away from the fight again. I could see the fight behind us as the Group made the turn and I broke out – Lt. Gilbride and I went back to help.
Third, this statement by Lt. Erickson, one of the three 38th Fighter Squadron pilots who were saved through the combined efforts of Captain Franklin and Lt. Gilbride:
Captain Ayers called for help and Captain Franklin and Lt. Gilbride of the 343rd came back.
Fourth and last, a summation of this phase of the 38th’s engagement with the Luftwaffe, from the post A Battle in the Air:
Captain Franklin reported that at 1210 (probably an error, the time likely having been 1410) “many bandits” were approaching from a lower altitude in the “target area”. At that point, Group Commander Col. Frank B. James started a turn to meet the German planes. The “main body of the group” (whether by this Capt. Franklin meant the 343rd alone, or, the 343rd and 338th both, is unspecified) then went into a right Lufbery Circle.
Though Captain Franklin had by this time lost his second element, Lt. Gilbride remained with him in an “excellent manner”. The main “group” remained in the Lufbery Circle, but Captain Franklin and Lt. Gilbride would “break out” from time to time to see if another attack was imminent.
After two complete turns, the “group” started back to England.
Captain Franklin and Lt. Gilbride followed, assuming that Colonel James was leading. However, the Colonel was not: Captain Franklin specifically mentions that from this moment on, Colonel James was no longer leading the group (intriguingly, he does not specify who was…), which is consistent with the 338th’s Mission Report of the Colonel having returned to England alone.
Captain Franklin reported that as the main body of planes headed back to Nuthampstead, pilots were heard, “calling for help from “far behind us,” specifically noting Major Joel’s voice. Later, Lt. Erickson, in his own Encounter Report, mentioned that Captain Ayers was also radioing for help.
The rest of “group” continued on its way.
Then, “Just as I had almost decided to go back and help the boys calling repeatedly, the Group started a turn and appeared to be going back but instead made a tight 360 degree turn and went away from the fight again. I could see the fight behind us as the Group made the turn and I broke out – Lt. Gilbride and I went back to help.”
It took Franklin and Gilbride “several minutes” to reach the fight.
As the pair neared the 38th Fighter Squadron’s P-38s, they saw, “five P-38’s engaged and each had from one to three ME 109s on its tail. Just before we went into the fight one P-38 rolled over and went down with its left engine leaving a very long and very heavy trail of black smoke and with a 109 directly behind.” (They had witnessed the fall of either Lt. Carroll or Lt. Albino.)
Franklin and Gilbride flew directly into the midst of the gaggle, the surprised German pilots rolling and climbing away from the P-38s.
Summing up? The group went into a Lufbery, made two complete turns, headed back to England, and then started a third turn as if returning to aid the 38th Fighter Squadron. But, the turn continued for a full 360 degrees. Then – quoting Captain Franklin – the group “went away from the fight again” – by which time the 38th’s engagement with III./JG 1 was visible in the distance.
Then, Captain Franklin and Lt. Gilbride left the safety of the group to go to the aid of their comrades, from which Lt. Gilbride did not return.
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I’ll not comment about Bob Wood’s characterization of the person leading the 55th Fighter Group’s “other squadron” (squadrons?) that day – whether in terms of his actions, or, his eventual “place” in the 55th Fighter Group, other than to say that while problems with the 38th Fighter Squadron’s (and 55th Fighter Group’s) P-38’s undeniably contributed to the Group’s debacle, I think leadership was an equal factor.
For if the sudden, “last moment” arrival of only two pilots saved the remnants of the 38th Fighter Squadron – after that squadron had already been intercepted by the Luftwaffe – then a question arises: What might have happened had the 38th’s brother squadrons gone back to help when calls for assistance had first been radioed?
As an astute reader of this series of posts has suggested, Major Joel died, probably thinking; probably assuming; certainly hoping (while Lieutenants Albino, Garvin, and Gilbride died too), that his squadron would receive support when needed. But, that was not to be.
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Bob Wood mentioned the 55th Fighter Group’s mission of January 31, 1944. Here, it is notable that the 38th Fighter Squadron’ Mission Report for that day (presented in full below) recounts a scenario which parallels that of November 29, 1943: The “main body” of the 55th Fighter Group (this is perhaps deliberately ambiguous – does this mean the 338th and 343rd Fighter Squadrons both? – it seems to; neither squadron incurred losses that day) going into a Lufbery circle, with the 38th Fighter Squadron engaging the enemy alone, and then being numerically overwhelmed by Me 109s attacking from “all angles and altitudes”.
38th Fighter Squadron losses on January 31, 1944, comprised:
So, here’s the verbatim text of Major Mark Shipman’s Encounter Report for the 31 January mission, which chronicles the 38th Fighter Squadron’s engagement with the Luftwaffe (I think JG 1 again; this time around its Second Gruppe) that day in great detail. Note particularly the German tactic of combining the advantages of the greater high-altitude performance of the Me 109G versus the P-38H, and simply the use of altitude per se, in combating the 38th Fighter Squadron. Paralleling this is Major Shipman’s most (* ahem *) vivid (!) description of losing all visibility as canopy froze internally when he rapidly descended from 10,000 to 2,000 feet. While the problem with cockpit heating in early versions of the P-38 has often been remarked upon in popular and technical histories of the P-38, these three sentences make something abstract very real! (The italics are my own.)
I was leading Swindle White Flight in the vicinity of Venlo when 15 smoke trails were sighted at approximately 30,000 ft. or 12,000 ft. above us. At the time we had about 48 P-38’s with us, but all we could do was to start spiralling up to their altitude. With this action, the E/A, later proved to be Me109’s, started losing altitude slightly, but at all times keeping their forces above our own, usually with about 3 to 4,000 ft to spare. As we gained altitude they also went up, until some 15 minutes later we were at about 30,000 ft. with some eight, and with the corresponding difference in altitude between us and the E/A. During this time the Me109’s kept making passes at us when the opportunity was present, but with each pass they would zoom back up to their original altitude. Never at any time did they send down more than 5 at one time, so that during the entire engagement there were always E/A above us. All had rounded wing tips and were painted a shiny silver color.
As stated, during the whole engagement the E/A stayed above us even though we did try to get to their altitude. At one time, about ten minutes after we sighted them, one E/A made a bounce on a P38 so I started after him, closing to about 600 yards. At that time he half-rolled, and since I was still intent on trying to get above the rest of the E/A I did not follow him down. I did not see any strikes on him, but when last sighted he seemed to be somewhat out of control. As stated, I make no claims pending assessment of the combat films.
At this time it was evident that all we were doing was running ourselves out of gas, so I called and told everyone to start home. I tried to get an eight ship section together, but with all the confusion it was not successful.
About that time, when there were then only seven of us left in the area, I looked back and saw eight E/A behind us, four coming in from the right, and five above us so I called and told everyone to hit the deck from our altitude of approximately 18,000 ft. Obviously it was hopeless for us to try to fight our way out with them so down we went with full power. At about 10,000 ft. I got a violent buffet in the ship and had to pull back on the throttle. Then, as we got lower the entire canopy started to ice up from the inside. At around 2000 ft. it got so bad that I absolutely couldn’t see where I was going so all I could do was to level off by the altimeter. After some hectic five minutes of wiping with my gloves I managed to get most of the ice off, at least enough that I could see where we were going; so we went on down to the deck and started home. There was a heavy haze layer at two thousand feet which helped to conceal our position from E/A and so far as I could tell none of those in the engagement area tried to follow us down. At the time when I called to hit the deck the eight E/A in back of us had their backs turned, trying to get around the circle and chase us and the five above us were too high to see us once we started for the deck. As for the four on the right I couldn’t be sure, but I can’t believe an attempt was made to follow us down.
Obviously, the tactics of the E/A were to keep us in there with their limited number of aircraft, try to get the group scattered and then bring in a fresh force. In this attempt they succeeded indeed for when I last looked back there were certainly a lot more E/A than there were to begin with. All the ships were painted with the same colors, and were piloted by a smart bunch of Jerries.
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Finally, here’s an excerpt from the Squadron’s Mission Report for that day; a reproduction of which follows:
Mission: Landfall Onerflakee at 1456 at 22,000 feet, Nelvo at 1615 at 22,000 feet. Out Ostend area at 1625 deck to 18,000 feet. Group of P-47’s sighted at 2 o’clock flying northwest near Asten at 1512. Two squadrons of P-47’s observed enroute to bombing target at coast by Captain Hancock returning shortly before rest of Group. Made port turn at Venlo. Main body of group flattened out and formed a luftberry, Major Shipman led the 38th up into the enemy aircraft, Major Shipman finding himself out numbered by enemy aircraft, gave the order to return on the deck. Some of the squadron returned with the main body of the group, others followed Major Shipman order. Landfall out vicinity Ostend at 1625, deck to 18,000. (Flight Plan Attached).
Action: On southern leg of triangle contrails first sighted approaching high in the distance from 10 o’clock. After making port turn at Venlo these were identified as 13 ME 109’s flying in flights of four. Group started turning and climbing to meet attacks, but enemy aircraft went up with them until latter were at an altitude of 32,000 feet. As main body of group flattened out and formed a luftberry, Major Shipman led the 38th up into the enemy aircraft. In the ensuing engagements, the tactics of the Hun were to send down sleepers to break up the friendly formation, and the reason was soon evident. At approximately 1545, 30 plus additional ME 109’s attacked from all angles and altitudes.
The Mission Report:
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As I mentioned in prior posts, of Milton’s writing, only a single V-mail letter and a few diary entries have survived, for Elaine destroyed her first husband’s letters before she passed away in 1981. Perhaps likewise for Milton’s military papers? His pilot’s flight record survived the war and was given to his parents, but whatever became of that document and the small myriad of other records associated with his military service is unknown.
But, something else has remained: Two letters that Milton sent to the Richmond Times-Dispatch while still a teenager; a few years before he entered the military.
This letter, from May 12, 1939, written six months after Kristallnacht, concerns the admittance of refugees to the United States, specifically within the criteria of American law according to the Immigration Act of 1917. In the latter part of the letter, Milton specifically focuses on refugee physicians, obviously as this pertains to German Jews. Though the word “Jew” does not appear in his letter, his concerns and focus are obvious.
At 19 years of age, here is no question that Milton Joel was cognizant of what was confronting the Jewish people.
The Founding Refugees
Editor of The Times-Dispatch:
Sir, – Recently you published a letter regarding refugees seeking haven within our shores. That letter expressed a type of sentiment which I believe warrants some serious criticism. Following much the same illogical course as do the opinions and propaganda of such questionable patriots as Senator “Bunkum Bill” Reynolds and his vigilantes, the writer suggests that we should lock our nations’ gates to all foreign refugees.
Our republic’s very foundations were built by refugees. As many as eight of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were men in that category and many other of the signers were the sons or more distant descendants of those who had come here to escape religious or political persecution in other lands. Many greater heads than mine have contended that the success and perseverance of our democracy and the concepts of liberty and freedom, which prevail in it, can be attributed to the fact that the great mass of our citizens grew out of an ancestry which knew an opposite sort of life.
The most often quoted argument of the antialienists, is that we have enough of our own public charges without importing more. On the surface this is a logical argument; however, a look at section three of the Immigration Act of 1917 will refute it. This section provides that “persons likely to become a public charge,” in order to receive a visa, must furnish appropriate evidence that he will have sufficient assurance that he will not become a public charge.” The applicant must show that either he has sufficient funds to be self sustaining or furnish an affidavit by which a sponsor takes complete responsibility of his not becoming a “public charge.” The sponsor, in addition, must himself prove that he is financially able to accept that responsibility. The above applies to all immigrants, save those from nations in this hemisphere, and professors and ministers of a religious faith, who desire to enter the country for the sole purpose of carrying on such vocations.
In a recent 12-page pamphlet, sent to all physicians, among other things the senator from North Carolina makes an attempt to show that the medical profession is being seriously threatened by an exaggerated influx of refugee doctors. It is, however, an established fact that rural United States has a crying need for medical men. Rural districts in this country have ample room for more physicians than the demigods of Europe can chase out.
Moreover, to top off the whole matter, our nation has had a negative immigration since 1932, wherein there were more people leaving our shores permanently, than entering. The United States has nothing to lose and everything to gain by humanely offering shelter to minds and bodies which are strong enough to be feared by Europe’s authoritarian states.
MILTON JOEL
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This letter, from December 8, 1939, of a much lighter and perhaps paranormal (!) sort, reveals something a little extra-ordinary: Milton’s curiosity about extrasensory perception, or at least its possibility. Co-authored with fellow University of Richmond Psychology Club officer Austin Griggs, this communication to the Times-Dispatch was itself inspired by a letter by Richmond resident Gaston Lichtenstein, Richmond resident and “researcher, writer, and historian”, whose interests focused on Southern history (his father presumably having served in the Confederate military), and, the history of the Jews of Richmond.
For E.S.P. Please R.S.V.P.
Editor of The Times-Dispatch:
Sir, – Gaston Lichtenstein’s recent letter interested us considerably. This matter of extrasensory perception has been frequently discussed by our Psychology Club hero at the university, and our laboratory has even conducted elementary experiments in this parapsychological field.
Perhaps we might be able to cooperate with Mr. Lichtenstein in testing his psychical powers or those of any whom he might recommend, in order that we might come to some conclusion as to the reality of this mystical phenomenon. We possess the standard parapsychological equipment, and feel that the experiments should prove Interesting to Mr. Lichtenstein or any of his friends.
While we are not ready to admit the absolute plausibility of Rhine’s [Joseph Banks Rhine] theory, and therefore hold some doubt as to the scientific merits of the cases sighted by Mr. Lichtenstein and most others whom we have contacted to date, we stand ready to be convinced and therefore can promise to be unbiased in our testing of any interested party.
AUSTIN GRIGGS MILTON JOEL Executive Officers, University Richmond Psychology Club, Box 17, University of Richmond
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Many names have been mentioned in this series of posts. But, in terms of the mission of November 29, 1943, the most notable is obviously that of Captain Rufus Clarence Franklin, Jr.. Though (fortunately?!) I’ll never have to adjudicate military awards, it seems that he more than deserved at last some kind of recognition – a Silver Star? – for leaving the formation of the 343rd Fighter Squadron with Lt. Gilbride (who was killed for his bravery) and turning back to go to the aid of the beleaguered pilots of the 38th Fighter Squadron. But, in the context of the events of that mission, such recognition would have been impossible: Two Silver Stars in one Fighter Group, for the same mission? Given the circumstances of what actually transpired on November 29, such an award would inevitably have required an explanatory citation which in turn could have been the impetus for a complete and honest explanation of the day’s events. Perhaps it was better just to move on.
Thus for Captain Franklin’s participation in the events of the 29th of November.
He would be promoted from Captain to Major in February of 1944. On the 23rd of that month, after having been a member of the 343rd Fighter Squadron since February 1, 1943, he would be transferred to the 79th Fighter Squadron of the 20th Fighter Group, where I believe he spent the remainder of the war. Postwar, he remained in the Army Air Force and in turn the United States Air Force, ultimately being promoted to Colonel by 1955.
Given his skill as a fighter pilot, physical bravery, sense of responsibility (so amply demonstrated on November 29), I find this to have been very strange. He would by early 1944 – and probably earlier – have become invaluable as a pilot and leader of men. Which begs the question: Why would a person of such skill, embodying such qualities, be transferred out of his squadron, given that he’d probably by this time become solidly integrated into the unit, and, doubtless knowledgeable of the strengths and weaknesses of his fellow pilots, let alone the squadron’s operations and activities as a military unit?
I can only offer conjecture: Could Captain Franklin’s departure from his squadron have been because, and not in spite, of his obvious value as a combat pilot, let alone – and this I think may be critical – the singular independence of thought, action and leadership he demonstrated on the 29th of November? The answer, perhaps, could be best addressed in terms of fiction, for fiction has its own way of elucidating fact.
Some images of Rufus C. Franklin, Jr., appear below.
When other men went in one direction, he went in another: He looked back to where help was needed, and gave that help.
– Rufus C. Franklin, Jr., probably as a Lieutenant or Captain, in the cockpit of a P-38G or H Lightning. The plane is identifiable as such by its canopy configuration, most obviously the pane of armored glass mounted below the windshield. In Lightnings from the “J” version on, the canopy was redesigned to incorporate armored glass as the central, forward window. (This image also from the American Air Museum in Britain.)
– ____________________
– The Captain has become a Major: Rufus C. Franklin, Jr., serving in the 79th Fighter Squadron, 20th Fighter Group, in front of his P-38J 42-68037 “Strictly Stella’s Baby” / “MC * F”. The aircraft was presumably named after Major Franklin’s wife (or girlfriend or fiancee?): Stella. (American Air Museum in Britain photo UPL24002.)
–
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– Standing before his F-86 Sabre Jet, Colonel Rufus C. Franklin, Jr., and Airman 1st Class Juxor Carr, possibly photographed when Franklin commanded the 4520th Combat Group Training Wing. (Photo UPL 23998 from American Air Museum in Britain)
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–Born in 1921, Colonel Rufus Clarence Franklin, Jr., passed away at the very young age of 48 in July of 1969. He is buried at Del City, Oklahoma. During the war and especially (especially!) after he received nowhere near the attention of some other pilots (and another pilot) he served with, but that is “in the way of the world”. Then again, there have always been other scales in which the deeds of men are measured. And, remembered.
The memory of man is ever fickle and fleeting, but there are other forms of memory, that even if silent, are permanent.
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Sometimes, the nature and outcome of a man’s life – and the impact he leaves upon those around him – makes sense only in retrospect: after the fact. Sometimes life confronts us with situations that on the human scale; that on any honest scale – whether intuitive or intellectual; whether in terms of morality and justice – are by any understanding simply unfair; simply not right; simply unamendable to reason.
For some situations and events, we can only have questions, and for some questions, we can only answer in silence. But perhaps in its own way, that silence provides its own answer. Well, one would hope so.
When I learned about Major Joel’s story, I could not but be be struck by the inherent unfairness of the tale: A husband and wife, at a point in their lives when children no longer seemed a possibility, were blessed with a son who would be their sole progeny. Their son grew into a man of great potential, in terms of intellect and leadership; courage and promise.
And, then their son was taken from them.
And then, their son would never have a place of burial.
And here, I am reminded of the tale of Rabbi Meir (one of the Rabbinic sages who lived during the time of the compilation of the Mishnah) and his wife Beruriah, from the Midrash Proverbs 37 (76-29). To quote the Jewish Encyclopedia, “This story, which has found a home in all modern literatures, can be traced to no earlier source than the Yalḳuṭ [13th century]. (Prov. 964, quotation from a Midrash).”
The tale follows:
The most touching and most famous story about the piety, wisdom and courage of Beruriah describes the death of her two beloved sons. One Sabbath while Rabbi Meir was in the Beth Hamidrosh, sudden sickness struck their children and they passed away before anything could be done for them.
Beruriah covered them up in the bedroom and did not say a word to anyone. After nightfall Rabbi Meir returned from the House of Learning and asked for his sons.
Casually, Beruriah remarked that they had gone out.
She calmly prepared the Havdalah, the cup of wine, the light and the spices. She also distracted him while she prepared and served the Melaveh Malkah, the evening meal with which a Jew accompanies the departing “Sabbath Queen.” Then, after Rabbi Meir had finished eating, Beruriah asked him for an answer to the following problem:
“Tell me, my husband, what shall I do?
Some time ago something was left with me for safe-keeping.
Now the owner has returned to claim it.
Must I return it?”
“That is a very strange question indeed.
How can you doubt the right of the owner to claim what belongs to him?” Rabbi Meir exclaimed in astonishment.
“Well, I did not want to return it without letting you know of it,” replied Beruriah.
She then led her husband into the bedroom where their two sons lay in their eternal sleep. She removed the bedcovers from their still bodies. Rabbi Meir, seeing his beloved sons, and realizing that they had passed away, burst out into bitter weeping.
“My dear husband,” Beruriah gently reminded him. “Didn’t you yourself say a moment ago that the owner has the right to claim his property? G‑d gave and has taken away; blessed be the name of G‑d.”
Milton Joel was one of the several hundred Jews who served as fighter pilots in the aerial arms of every one of the major (and some “minor”) Allied combatant nations in the Second World War. May this account this account stand for all of them: All who were killed or missing in action, and all who survived. Those who are known, and those who are unknown.
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Having come to the end – for now – of the story of Major Milton Joel, there are many other subjects I hope to address here, at TheyWereSoldiers. But (? – !) for the time being, I plan to return to my other blogs – WordsEnvisioned, ThePastPresented, and TheVisibleWorld – to bring you images, imaginations, investigations – and a thought or two (or three or more?) – of another nature.
[This post, created on November 20, 2020 and updated on December 1, has been updated yet again. The post now includes: 1) An area map and formation diagrams that provide a more accurate and clearer representation of the nature of the 55th Fighter Group’s encounter with the Luftwaffe on November 29, 1943, and 2) Specific information about what befell three pilots of 7./JG 1, one of the four Luftwaffe Gruppen that intercepted the 55th. Where necessary, other parts of the account have been corrected, updated, or otherwise fixified. Scroll on down for a look…!]
Part VII: A Battle in The Air
What befell the 38th Fighter Squadron and 55th Fighter Group on the mission of November 29, 1943?
For this question, there is an answer.
What happened to Major Joel on that date?
For this question, there is conjecture.
And, for both questions, the best approach lies in understanding the day’s events through information in Squadron Mission Reports, and, Missing Air Crew Reports. By correlating and arranging information from these two sets of documents, it’s possible to create a chronology – that does not exist within any single document – of the Lightning pilots’ encounter with the Luftwaffe, which is presented, below. On reading it, you might want to refer to the post covering the account of the 55th Fighter Group’s bomber escort mission of November 29, 1943.
But first, a digression about the performance of the P-38 Lightning…
Why?
This comes by way ofpostwar recollections of Major Joel from three people who either knew him “in person” or indirectly: two family friends, and, a relative:
From Sara F. Markham, the best friend of Milton’s wife Elaine (Ebenstein) Joel…
“I want to thank you for all the material you sent, especially the MACR report. All these years later [writing in 1990s], I still find it disquieting to read this sort of thing. Funny, the report I had from the Joels at the time … and from Elaine Friedlich (Elaine’s surname after she remarried) was that Milton, heading back from his mission, saw one of his Lightnings being strafed by two German fighters and he turned back to help that plane.”
From Milton’s friend, Arthur Kamsky…
“He had the bad luck of flying a plane so badly designed that no amount of skill could be of much use.”
From Bettie J. Jacob, Milton’s cousin…
“Milton lived and breathed as a fighter pilot. … We were told after he was declared missing in action that most of the planes in the squadrons broke ranks and fled the scene when the nearly 100 German planes attacked. There were only four planes left to fight, and one of the pilots states he saw Milton get hit. He felt that Milton was killed outright, as he felt Milton could have bailed out otherwise. No trace of Milton was ever found.”
A central “take-away” from the above comments, especially in light of the events of the 29th of November, is the number of P-38s that aborted the mission. This raises a question about the P-38’s very quality as a fighter plane in general, and its use in the European Theater of War – specifically as a bomber escort fighter by the Eighth Air Force – in particular.
To address this issue, fitting answers can be found in Bert Kinzey’s two Detail & Scale volumes on the aircraft (both published in 1998), which summarize the design, technical development, and combat use of the Lighting. The most relevant comments from these books are given below, with the most pertinent passages italicized:
Part 1: XP-38 Through P-38H
“In England, General Ira Eaker did not want fighters escorting his bombers, and they were left with little to do. Within a few short months, the 1st, 14th, and 82nd Fighter Groups were sent to North Africa to support the Allied forces battling Rommel’s Afrika Corps. The 78th Fighter Group arrived in England in January 1943, but it too was sent to North Africa, mostly to replace combat losses in the first three groups. Initial fighting in North Africa was against some of the best pilots and equipment in the Luftwaffe, and the unseasoned Lightning pilots initially suffered heavy losses as they gained valuable experience in combat. Finally, they began to turn the tide and provide an excellent account of themselves. Later, the 1st, 14th, and 82nd Fighter Groups would be relocated near Foggia in southern Italy and reassigned as part of the Fifteenth Air Force when the Allies moved from Sicily on to the Italian mainland.
“Back in England, it became evident that the USAAF was losing bombers at an unacceptable rate. Early P-47 Thunderbolts simply did not have the range to escort the B-17s and B-24s all the way to their targets and back. As a result, the Luftwaffe’s fighter pilots simply waited until the Thunderbolts had to turn back to their bases, then they attacked the unescorted bombers with devastating results.
“In October 1943, the 55th Fighter Group became the first Lightning unit to enter combat with the Eighth Air Force. The 20th, 364th, and 479th Fighter Groups were also assigned to the Eighth Air Force while flying Lightnings, and in the Ninth Air Force, the 474th, 367th and 370th Fighter Groups flew P-38s. At the height of its deployment to the ETO, thirty fighter squadrons and twelve reconnaissance squadrons flew Lightnings at one time or another.
“In England, the Lightning proved to be a very capable aircraft, and in the hands of a skilled pilot, it was as good or better than the Luftwaffe fighters it encountered. But it was also plagued with mechanical difficulties. The cockpit heating and defrosting were inadequate on early versions, and there were digestive problems with the engines at high altitudes. It has been argued by other authors that this was due to the cold damp European weather conditions, but temperatures and humidity are generally the same around the world at altitudes greater than 25,000 feet where these problems occurred. In the Pacific, Lightnings established a great record for reliability regardless of altitude and temperature. Based on all the facts, it is evident that the poor quality British fuels were to blame, because they proved unsuitable for use in turbo-supercharged inline engines. Power-plants with two-speed, two-stage, mechanical superchargers, and even radial engines with turbo-superchargers did not have the same ingestive problems with the British fuels, but the combination of an inline engine and a turbo-supercharger always did. To correct the problem in Europe, Kelly Johnson proposed replacing the turbo-supercharged Allisons with Merlins and mechanical supercharging. While this undoubtedly would have resulted in a fighter of superior performance, the Merlins were considered more valuable for other fighters.”
Perhaps Mr. Kinsey’s comments were addressing the following statement, which appears in Roger Freeman’s 1970 The Mighty Eighth.
“The P-38, supposedly a proven fighter, had been dogged with mechanical failure on these first missions. The extremely low temperatures encountered at altitudes above 20,000 ft was the primary cause of the engine trouble. At -50° lubricating oil became sluggish and the sudden application of full power, particularly in a climb, could cause piston rod bearings to break up with dire consequences. Above 22,000 ft the Allison engines would also begin to throw oil, in fact, oil consumption rose from an average 1 to 2 quarts an hour at lower altitudes, to 4 to 8 above 22,000 ft. This reduced engine life to average 80 odd hours – almost half normal operating time at lower altitudes. Turbo-supercharger regulators also gave trouble, eventually traced to moisture from the vapour trail, gathering behind the engine exhaust stubs, getting into the balance lines and freezing. The vapour trails were also a tactical handicap for they marked the passage of a Lightning through the upper air by distinctive twin trails, that could be discerned up to 4 miles away. Whereas Luftwaffe pilots could not distinguish between the single trails made by Spitfires or Thunderbolts, or their own 109s and 190s, they were able to recognise Lightning formations in this way.”
Part 2: P-38J Through P-38M
“… the Lightnings did a good job in Europe, and because of their distinctive design, they were easily distinguishable from other aircraft. This feature made them excellent escorts, because gunners in the bombers could easily tell them from the enemy fighters. On June 6, 1944, when the invasion of France began, P-38s were assigned to provide air protection over the fleet and beaches, so that the sailors on the ships and the soldiers on the ground could quickly recognize them as friendly.
“Once Jimmy Doolittle relieved Ira Eaker as commander of the Eighth Air Force, he openly stated his desire that all fighter groups transition to the P-51 Mustang. The P-51B, C, and D versions of the Mustang were equipped with a Packard Merlin engine with a two-stage, two-speed supercharger that did not have a problem with British fuels. These Mustangs also offered the necessary range capabilities to escort the bombers to targets that only the P-38 could reach previously. At war’s end, only the 56th Fighter Group was still flying P-47 Thunderbolts in the Eighth Air Force, and no P-38s remained. In the Ninth Air Force, only the 474th Fighter Group was still flying Lightnings on VE day.
“In the Pacific, it was a completely different story. General George Kenney demanded more and more P-38s at the exclusion of all other fighters, much as General Doolittle did with the P-51 in the 8th Air Force. The Lightning, with its significant range capabilities, was ideally suited as a land-based fighter throughout the Pacific from Australia to the Aleutians. Its heavy firepower could knock down a Japanese aircraft in a matter of a few seconds, and as a result, the P-38 scored more aerial victories in the Pacific than any other USAAF fighter. Using high grade American fuels, its performance and reliability were exceptional.”
Want to learn more about the P-38 in combat in the European Theater of War? For a deeper technical and historical analysis of the Lightning in combat, with particular coverage of the aircraft’s unappreciated service as a bomber escort fighter in the 8th Air Force – with particular attention to the plane’s service in the 55th and 20th Fighter Groups, much more than can be presented “here” – I very (very!) highly recommended Dr. Carlo Kopp’s Der Gabelschwanz Teufel – Assessing the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, at Air Power Australia. (Technical Report APA-TR-2010-1201.)
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And so, to return to the mission…
[Updates to this map from its initial version include the following: 1) The crash locations of three Me-109G-6sof the Seventh Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 1, lost (directly or indirectly) as a result of III./JG 1’s engagement with the 55th Fighter Group’s Lightnings, 2) An adjustment to the easternmost “leg” of the 55th Fighter Group’s intended course into Germany (the 55th Fighter Group never actually entered Germany), 3) The crash locations, as much as they can be pinpointed on this ultra-small-scale digital map, of 38th Fighter Squadron pilots Lieutenants Carroll and Gilbride, 4) The serial numbers of the lost P-38s and the three above-mentioned Me-109G-6s. Information about the three 7./JG 1 losses, and the crash locations of Lieutenants Carroll and Gilbride, comes from Part 2 of Teunis Schuurman’s WW II – Research by PATS blog.]
Maps symbols and colors indicate the following:
Bright blue lineextending west to east across the Netherlands to a point near the Dutch-German border indicates the approximate or intended course of the 55th Fighter Group for a rendezvous with 8th Air Force bombers.
Black triangle shows the approximate area where the Luftwaffe initially assumed it would intercept the 55th Fighter Group’s P-38s, as explained in the book Jagdgeschwader 1 und 11: Einsatz in der Reichsverteidigung von 1939 bis 1945 (Jagdgeschwader 1 and 11: Used in the Defense of the Reich from 1939 to 1945).
Blue ovals with names adjacent indicate the last reported or assumed location of P-38 losses, based on information in Missing Air Crew Reports.
Red ovals with names adjacent indicate the actual locations where the P-38s were lost. Notice that there’s no blue oval for Lt. Hascall, because his P-38 was last sighted over the North Sea, at a point “west” of (to the left of) this map view, and Lieutenant Garvin, Major Joel’s wingman, because he definitely crashed at Hondschoote, France (again, well “off the map”). More information will be presented about Lt. Garvin’s fate in subsequent posts.
The location of Major Joel’s loss remains unknown. Some sources suggest the crash location was Marken Island in the Markermeer, indicated by a yellow oval.
In subsequent posts, I’ll discuss why I believe this location is incorrect.
Black ovals with names adjacentindicate the loss locations of three Me-109G-6s of 7./JG 1. (More about this below.)
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To return to the story…
Let’s start with the central points from the records of the 38th and 338th Fighter Squadrons, and to a much lesser extent, the 343rd squadron history, for the November 29 mission:
38th Fighter Squadron…
1) The 38th Fighter Squadron was depleted to a little over half its strength – from sixteen to nine aircraft – by the time it was intercepted by Me-109s. The seven planes that left the squadron returned to Nuthampstead between 1344 and 1549; 2) The squadron was attacked head-on, from a higher altitude, by over forty enemy aircraft: a ratio of over four to one; 3) Interception by German fighters commenced at 1410, with the Squadron being engaged in combat through 1440 – at least a half-hour. 4) Major Joel was reportedly shot down at @ 1440. (Oddly, this is contradicted by Lt. Wyche’s account, which suggests that the Major was shot down at 14:15.); 5) There is no evidence – at least, nothing was recorded – to the effect that the 38th was ever able to rendezvous with the B-17s it had been assigned to escort; 6) The continent was overcast at 27,000 feet.
338th Fighter Squadron…
1) The 338th, comprised of fourteen aircraft, departed Nuthampstead after the 38th, at 1259 hours; 2) The squadron was depleted from fourteen aircraft to eight by the time it was intercepted, thus substantially reducing its strength; 3) Like the 38th, the 338th was intercepted by a large number of German fighters (in this case, over 30). The enemy planes attacked the squadron – flying at 31,500 feet – head-on, from the slightly higher altitude of 32,000 feet; 4) The 338th lost contact with the other “squadron” (squadrons?) of the 55th during combat with German fighters; 5) The squadron was unable to rendezvous with the B-17s it was assigned to escort; 6) A significant observation: “Enemy attack seemed definitely intended as interception of our squadron and other E/A were observed in distance to each side and above.” And, this, “One P-38 observed by several members of squadron going into overcast shortly after initial engagement apparently out of control.”; 7) Weather conditions ranged from half to nearly complete cloud cover over the English Channel, to complete overcast over the continent.
343rd Fighter Squadron (what is known…)
1) This squadron was unable to rendezvous with the B-17s; 2) The squadron was outnumbered by enemy planes.
All records combined:A chronological summary of the 55th Fighter Group’s mission of November 29, 1943…
Departure from England…
The 38th Fighter Squadron departed Nuthampstead first, followed by the 338th Fighter Squadron, and lastly the 343rd Fighter Squadron. The horizontal and vertical “spacing” between the three squadrons, and locations of the the squadrons relative to one another aren’t known, but the squadrons eventually arrived over continental Europe: specifically Northern Holland, in an area bounded by the cities of Groningen, Emmen, Zwolle, and Leeuwarden.
The 38th and 338th Fighter Squadrons are depleted by over half their strength…
Between 1344 and 1549, seven planes of the 38th returned to Nuthampstead.
Between 1351 and 1425, six 338th aircraft also returned.
As for the 343rd, based on Capt. Franklin’s statement in MACR 1272 (pertaining to his wingman, 2 Lt. James W. Gilbride), the Captain’s second element – comprising an unidentified pilot accompanied by 2 Lt. Harold M. Bauer – returned to England, diminishing the 343rd from fourteen to twelve aircraft.
In sum, though the 55th Fighter Group began this mission with 42 aircraft, by the time it was intercepted by German fighters, it had been diminished to 27 planes, or somewhat over 60% of its original strength, primarily – as far as is known – among the 38th and 338th Fighter Squadrons. This assumes that only two P-38s returned from the 343rd. This number does not include the 55th Fighter Group’s spares, or, Second Lieutenants John S. Hascall, Robert D. Frakes, and eight other pilots of the 77th Fighter Squadron (20th Fighter Group), the ten of whom tacked on to the 55th as spares for operational experience. It’s unknown if any of the latter eight 77th FS P-38s returned to England early.
The Luftwaffe intercepts the 38th and 338th Fighter Squadrons. This possibly (possibly) occurred over Borger, in the Netherlands (about halfway between Assen and Emmen, at the middle of the right leg of the “triangle” mapped above) based on a P-38 victory claimed by Oberleutnant Erich Buchholz of 9./JG 1 at 15:15. Thus, the vicinity of Borger may have marked the farthest “reach” of the 55th Fighter Group on this mission.
The 38th Fighter Squadron was intercepted by Me-109s between 1410 and 1415.
The 338th was similarly intercepted by Me-109s. The specific time of this event is not given, but is it known that the squadron was over the continent by 1347. So, the 338th’s interception occurred not long after, and probably at the same time as that of the 38th. As the 338th Mission report observed, “Enemy attack seemed definitely intended as interception of our squadron.”
The German fighters (Me-109Gs) attacked both squadrons head-on from a higher altitude, and in a general sense from the east: out of the sun. However, it’s notable that in the MACR for Lt. Albino, Capt. Thomas E. Beaird states that the German planes also attacked from “8 o’clock”. This would indicate a simultaneous attack – at least, against the 38th – from both front and rear.
The depleted and outnumbered 38th and 338th were engaged in combat with the Me-109s from this time on, with the 338th reportedly losing contact with the other “squadron” (the 38th, or, the 38th and 343rd both?) during the engagement.
Major Joel and his wingman (Lt. Garvin), and Lieutenants Wyche and Carroll break into the attack…
By this time, it appears that Major Joel was attempting to reform his nine remaining planes into two flights. Then, at the moment of III./JG1’s attack (14:15) from the 38th’s three o’clock position, the Major ordered a “break” into the Germans’ bounce, the Major and Lieutenant Garvin making a 90-degree turn to the right. They were followed by an element led by Lt. Wilton E. Wyche and his wingman, Lt. John J. Carroll, who were at first situated 300 yards to the right of Joel and Garvin. As the flight turned, Lt. Wyche wound up to the left of the Major and his wingman. Then – alone, after losing sight of Joel, Garvin, and Carroll – Wyche saw six Me-109s coming into attack from their rear (7 o’clock) position. He called a left break, but entered an accelerated stall and spun out of the ad-hoc formation, recovering below.
(Wikipedia’s definition of an aerial combat “break”? “Spotting an attacker approaching from behind, the defender will usually break. The maneuver consists of turning sharply across the attacker’s flight path, to increase AOT (angle off tail). The defender is exposed to the attacker’s guns for only a brief instant (snapshot). The maneuver works well because the slower moving defender has a smaller turn radius and biggerangular velocity, and a target with a high crossing speed (where the bearing to the target is changing rapidly) is very difficult to shoot. This can also help to force the attacker to overshoot, which may not be true had the turn been made away from the attacker’s flight path.”)
Captain Ayers has a last glimpse of Major Joel and Lt. Carroll, and then shoots down an attacking Me-109…
From a different vantage point, Captain Jerry Ayers reported that as his own flight followed Major Joel and Lt. Carroll in an effort to provide cover for them, his flight’s planes were, “bounced by units from a group of about 40 enemy aircraft from one or two o’clock out of the sun,” and he broke into the attack to engage the German planes. As stated in the MACR, “At the time of the first break was the last time that I saw Major Joel and his wingman, Lt. Garvin, that I could recognize them.”
This was the last moment when Lieutenant Garvin was witnessed with any certainty.
While defending the two P-38s, Captain Ayers shot down the leader of a pair of Me-109s which attempted to attack the Major and Lt. Carroll from their two to three o’clock position. As he closed from 350 to 250 yards and fired from approximately 90 to 45 degrees deflection, the German fighter caught fire and went into a spiral out of control, witnessed by Ayers’ wingman, Capt. Thomas E. Beaird, Jr. This was the only victory officially credited to the 55h Fighter Group that day, the other having gone to Captain Chester A. Patterson of the 338th Fighter Squadron.
Ayers was forced to break off his attack because of four Me-109s approaching from behind, thus losing sight of Major Joel.
Major Joel and Lieutenant Carroll form up and attempt to rejoin the rest of the 55th Fighter Group…
As Lt. Carroll wrote after the war, Joel, Garvin, and Wyche were “cut off by a gaggle of Me-109s and the group was headed away from us in a westerly direction”. Separated from other 38th Fighter Squadron planes, Major Joel and Lieutenant Carroll presumably flew west, gong into a defensive maneuver dubbed the “weave formation”. This refers to the Thach Weave, a nice explanation of which van be viewed in the video (below) from Brian Young’s YouTube channel, which pertains to the use of the Thach Weave by F4F Wildcats in defense against Mitsubishi Zeros.
Lt. Carroll witnesses the loss of Lt. Albino…
After the first weave maneuver “pass by”, Lt. Carroll witnessed a P-38 – pilot unknown; he surmised Lieutenant Albino or Garvin – descending, trailing smoke, “minus a section of tail”. (As I discovered while researching this battle, Lt. Carroll was correct in his assumption: The burning P-38 was Lt. Albino’s Spirit of Aberdeen. Based upon the location where the Spirit of Aberdeen crashed, this event definitely occurred directly over the city of Hoogeveen, evidence for this being presented in the next post.
The last sight of Major Joel…
At the crest of his third turn in their “weave”, at a point between Hoogeveen and the farm community of Zwartewatersklooster, Lt. Carroll witnessed a P-38 at a point in space where Major Joel’s “flying wolf” was to have been expected, “seemingly to disintegrate”.
A moment later, Lt. Carroll came under attack. His right engine aflame and instrument panel damaged, he rolled his badly damaged plane over, went into a vertical dive, and, recovering below, took a heading for England using his still operating magnetic compass.
Captain Rufus Franklin and his wingman, Lt. James Gilbride, as a team break formation from their Squadron (the 343rd) to go to the aid of the outnumbered remnants of 38th Fighter Squadron. They arrive just in time to disrupt the attack of III.JG/ 1, saving the lives of at least three (and almost four) 38th Fighter Squadron pilots…
Captain Rufus C. Franklin of the 343rd Fighter Squadron reported in detail about the loss of both Lt. Gilbride and Major Joel. (The following account is a composite from his statements in the MACRs for Major Joel and Lt. Gilbride.)
Captain Franklin reported that at 1210 (probably an error, the time likely having been 1410) “many bandits” were approaching from a lower altitude in the “target area”. At that point, Group Commander Col. Frank B. James started a turn to meet the German planes. The “main body of the group” (whether by this Capt. Franklin meant the 343rd alone, or, the 343rd and 338th both, is unspecified) then went into a right Lufbery Circle.
Though Captain Franklin had by this time lost his second element, Lt. Gilbride remained with him in an “excellent manner”. The main “group” remained in the Lufbery Circle, but Captain Franklin and Lt. Gilbride would “break out” from time to time to see if another attack was imminent.
After two complete turns, the “group” started back to England.
Captain Franklin and Lt. Gilbride followed, assuming that Colonel James was leading. However, the Colonel was not: Captain Franklin specifically mentions that from this moment on, Colonel James was no longer leading the group, which is consistent with the 338th’s Mission Report of the Colonel having returned to England alone.
Captain Franklin reported that as the main body of planes headed back to Nuthampstead, pilots were heard, “calling for help from “far behind us,” specifically including Major Joel. Later, Lt. Erickson, in his own Encounter Report, mentioned that Captain Ayers was also radioing for help.
The rest of “group” continued on its way.
Then, “Just as I had almost decided to go back and help the boys calling repeatedly, the Group started a turn and appeared to be going back but instead made a tight 360 degree turn and went away from the fight again. I could see the fight behind us as the Group made the turn and I broke out – Lt. Gilbride and I went back to help.”
It took Franklin and Gilbride “several minutes” to reach the fight.
As the pair neared the 38th Fighter Squadron’s P-38s, they saw, “five P-38’s engaged and each had from one to three ME 109s on its tail. Just before we went into the fight one P-38 rolled over and went down with its left engine leaving a very long and very heavy trail of black smoke and with a 109 directly behind.” (They had witnessed the fall of either Lt. Carroll or Lt. Albino.)
Franklin and Gilbride flew directly into the midst of the gaggle, the surprised German pilots rolling and climbing away from the P-38s.
The four surviving P-38s headed back to England, even as Franklin and Gilbride made a 180-degree turn to join them.
Then, a (then) unidentified 38th FS P-38 “ran away” from the other Lightnings. The other three P-38s, along with Capt. Franklin, and Lt. Gilbride, were given chase by five Me-109s as the little group of American planes headed west. As will be seen in the next post, the P-38 that pulled away was piloted by Lieutenant Garvin, Major Joel’s wingman.
Lieutenant Gilbride is shot down…
The P-38s attempted to outrun their pursuers, but could not.
Captain Franklin’s left turbosupercharger stopped working and his port engine began to lose oil, and, two of the other P-38s weren’t fast enough to pull away from the German planes. The five Me-109s closed upon Franklin and Gilbride to a distance of 800 yards while remaining to the side and above, with one particular Me-109 alternately latching onto the tail of the element leader and his wingman, moving laterally between the two, approaching to with 400 yards of each.
Eventually, all five Me-109s moved up abreast of Franklin, Lt. Erickson and Lt. Gilbride, and then turned into the American planes. These three P-38s then broke into the Luftwaffe fighters.
As Captain Franklin made a 100-degree turn into the German planes, his port engine quit. By the time he completed the turn, Lt. Gilbride had vanished. As will become evident in the next post, this happened over De Wijk and Koekange, in the Netherlands.
During this running battle, Captain Thomas E. Beaird, Jr., and Lt. Robert E. Erickson fire at and observe hits on two of the pursuing Me-109s, with the implication and possibility (albeit without any confirmation) that the pilots were injured or killed, and the enemy planes thus destroyed by strikes on or near their canopies…
As reported by Captain Beaird, “I looked over my left shoulder and saw one ME 109 right on the tail of the P-38 to my left and behind. I called for Major Joel’s wingman [Lt. Garvin] to break (I thought I had joined Major Joel’s flight). I broke left to meet the ME 109 head on. The P-38 ahead of me to my left also broke left. The ME 109 dove for the clouds. I continued in a left turn to take up my original heading and came out almost directly behind a ME 109 with one P-38 off to my right. I started closing on the ME 109 that seemed to be in a very steep climb for that altitude. I fired one fair burst; saw a flash on his canopy and observed him pull his nose straight up hang on his prop and then spin under my left wing. I turned to the left to clear my tail, looked back and saw him spin into the overcast. I believe this plane was destroyed by my strikes on the canopy.”
And, as recounted by Lt. Erickson, “Captain Ayers and myself were two of five P-38’s at the rear of the group. We observed three enemy aircraft catching us from the rear. At this time I was at 33,000 feet. Captain Ayers called for help and Captain Franklin and Lt. Gilbride of the 343rd came back. At this time one enemy aircraft came behind Captain Franklin and two behind me. We broke left, I completed my turn and came down on the second ME 109 and fired observing hits on wings and near canopy. These two immediately rolled and dove for the clouds.”
Unsurprisingly given the circumstances, there were no witnesses to the results of these two attacks, and the two accounts did not eventuate in officially credited victories for either pilot. USAF Study 85 gives Captain Beaird credit for one victory on February 5, 1944, and there are no official victories for Lt. Erickson.
Captain Franklin, Lieutenant Gilbride, and three surviving 38th Fighter Squadron P-38s are pursued by Me-109s to the Dutch Coast. The four surviving P-38s return to Nuthampstead…
Fortunately able to restart his engine and still pursued by Me-109s, Captain Franklin was rejoined by Lt. Erickson, the pair remaining abreast with the enemy planes following. The German fighters remained behind the P-38s until just beyond the Dutch coast. Then, they left.
Captain Franklin’s conjecture about the fate of Major Joel, and Lieutenants Gilbride and Garvin…
Captain Franklin surmised that Lt. Gilbride had been shot down by the particular “bait” Me-109 that followed himself and the lieutenant and moved laterally back and forth between them. (He put the time at 1240 hours, but I believe this to have been in error, probably having been 1440 or later.) The three surviving 38th FS P-38s which Captain Franklin and Lt. Gilbride aided returned, the two pilots besides Erickson having been Captains Ayers and Beaird. (Lt. Erickson’s Encounter Report places the altitude of this pursuit as between 31,000 and 35,000 feet.)
At the time the MACR was filed, the pilot of the P-38 that “ran away” remained unknown, as did the pilot of the plane that was seen burning and descending into the undercast. However, Captain Franklin did note that, “After we saw the one P-38 go down smoking I did not again recognize Major Joel’s voice on the radio. In view of the circumstances it is my personal opinion that the P-38 we saw shot down was piloted by Major Joel and the one that ran away from us was piloted by Lt. Garvin.” Captain Franklin was wrong about the burning plane having been Major Joel’s “flying wolf”, but this error was understandable given the circumstances. As mentioned above, the burning was P-38H was either Lt. Albino’s 42-67051 or Lt. Carroll’s 42-67090. However, the Captain’s other assumption was correct: The P-38 that “ran away” was piloted by Lt. Garvin.
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Taken as a whole, the one certainty that emerges from these Reports is a sense of uncertainty: Due to the nature of this aerial engagement – in terms of its suddenness, the great disparity in the number of P-38s versus Me-109s, the speed of the opposing fighters, the solid undercast, the inability to distinguish one P-38 from another amidst a series of fleeting combats (“…five P-38’s engaged and each had from one to three ME 109’s on its tail…”) let alone the impossibility of visually identifying and following each and every P-38 through the duration of the battle – whether the plane crashed to earth or returned to England – the fate of each and every missing plane and pilot was, at least when these accounts were compiled, uncertain.
But, with information available now, a clearer picture can be seen of events that occurred in the Dutch sky nearly eighty years ago. Some aspects of this “picture are presented above, and others will be presented later.
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Such is the American perspective of the engagement. But, every battle has two (and sometimes more) sides, one of which is – by definition – that of the enemy. In this sense, an account of the Luftwaffe’s perspective of this aerial engagement can be found in Part 1 of the book Jagdgeschwader 1 und 11: Einsatz in der Reichsverteidigung von 1939 bis 1945.
But to start, here’s an illustration: This is a Messerschmitt 109 of III./JG 1 during the time period in question: late 1943. The fighter is “white 20”, the aircraft of Hauptmann (American equivalent of Captain) Friedrich Eberle, who commanded the Gruppe from October 9, 1943 through April 27, 1944. This image is actually box art for the Eduard model company’s 1/48 “Bf 109G-6 late series”, kit number 82111, by Shigeo Koike.
Notably, Koike’s painting shows a damaged P-38H of the 338th Fighter Squadron (squadron letters “CL”) in the background. (A minor quibble about the otherwise dramatic painting: Propeller spinners were painted red for 15th Air Force (Mediterranean Theater) P-38s, not those of the 8th Air Force.) As such, unlike plastic model “box art” which typically is visually arresting yet neither specific in time or place, the juxtaposition of a 338th Fighter Squadron Lightning and this particular Bf 109G is historically valid, and reflects two possible dates: November 13, 1943 – when the 338th lost six P-38s (three pilots survived as POWs), or December 22, 1943 – when the 338th lost two planes (neither pilot survived).
So here’s the book’s account (original German text) of the 55th Fighter Group’s interception by fighters of III./JG 1:
Bereits drei Tage später, am 29. November, erfolgte ein weiterer schwerer Tagesangriff auf Bremen; an diesem Tage waren 360 B-17 der 1 und 3 BD eingesetzt, die von 352 Begleit Jägern geschützt wurden. Das schlechte Wetter sorgte allerdings einmal mehr dafür, dass nur 154 Viermotorige ihr Zielgebiet überhaupt fanden, wo die rund 450 t verstreut abgeworfener Bomben kaum Schaden anzurichten vermochten.
Die deutsche Abwehr erfolgte durch den Einsatz von zehn Jagdgruppen sowie Teilen eines Zerstörergeschwaders und des Erprobungskommando [EKdo.] 25; die JG 1 und 11 waren wiederum mit allen sechs Gruppen zur Abwehr der Viermotorigen eingesetzt.
Nachdem der Einflug der Viermotorigen beizeiten erfasst worden war, erfolgte gegen 13.40 Uhr bei allen Gruppen der Alarmstart, nach dem sie an die feindlichen Verbände herangeführt wurden 3). Als erste bekam offenbar die III./JG 1 Feindberührung; sie wurde auf den amerikanischen Jagdschutz angesetzt und stieg nach dem Sammeln in nördlicher Richtung, wo sie um 14.00 Uhr auf die 38 Lightnings der 55 FG stiess. Über dem Westrand des Ijsselmeeres kam es daraufhin zu einer erbitterten Kurbelei, in die bald auch einige P-47 sowie auf deutscher Seite Teile der II./JG 3 eingriffen. In der Meldung der III./JG 1 hiess es dazu:
“Üm 14.00 ühr bekam die Gruppe Feindberührung in 9000 m mit 20 – 30 Lightnings im Dreieck Groningen / Leeuwarden / Meppel (genaue Angabe nicht möglich, da geschlossene Wolkendecke). Ende des Luftkampfes über Zuidersee. Die ausfliegende Spitze wurde vermutlich noch weiter in Richtung West durch eigene Kette unter Führung von Oberleutnant [Olt.] Klöpper verfolgt.” 1)
Acht Abschüsse meldete die III./JG 1 anschliessend 2), erlitt dabei jedoch selbst mit drei Gefallenen, die alle der 7. Staffel angehörten, empfindliche Verluste: Alle drei Messerschmitts der Führungskette mit Oberleutnant [Olt]. Heinrich Klöpper, dem Kapitän der 7./JG 1, seinem Rottenflieger Oberfähnrich [Ofhr.] Manfred Spork und Oberfeldwebel [Ofw.] Hermann Brackhagen stürzten bei der Rückkehr von diesem Einsatz ab – dazu noch einmal aus der Meldung der III./JG 1:
“Vermutliche Todesursache aller drei Flugzeugführer: Herausfallen aus niedriger Wolkenuntergrenze bzw. ausgedehnten Schauern infolge unkontrollierbaren Flugzustandes beim Durchgehen durch dicke Dunstschicht und Wolken ab 8.000 m. Diese Annahme wird erhärtet durch Aufschlag aller drei Flugzeuge mit grosser Geschwindigkeit und Durchdringen tief in den Boden. Flugzeug Oberfahnrich [Ofhr.] Spork aufgeschlagen in Rückenlage in FN 4/1.” 3)
Rund 50 Minuten nach dem Alarmstart kam es bei den anderen Gruppen über dem Raum nördlich Meppen zur Feindberührung mit mehreren grossen Boeing-Pulks und ihrem Begleitschutz. Dabei konnte die II./JG 1, die mit zwölf Fw 190 und zwei Bf 109 sowie 26 Bf 109 der II./JG 27 im Einsatz war 4), zwei B-17 ab- und eine weitere herausschiessen; dem gegenüber standen zwei Gefallene – …
…
Die Stabsstaffel und alle drei Gruppen des JG 11 trafen über dem Oldenburgischen Land auf die Viermotorigen; der amerikanische Jagdschutz verwickelte die deutschen Jäger in heftige Kurbeleien und verhinderte dadurch, dass sich die Guppen des JG 11 geschlossen an die Viermots heranmachen konnten. So gelangen am Ende nur zwei Viermot-Abschüsse sowie der Abschuss von zwei P-47, während das Geschwader selbst drei Gefallene und zwei Verwundete sowie fünf Totalverluste verzeichnen musste. …
…and, in English translation, my comments appearing in parenthesis “[…]”:
Just three days later, on November 29, another heavy day attack on Bremen took place; that day, 360 B-17s of the 1st and 3rd Bombardment Divisions were deployed, protected by 352 accompanying fighters. However, the bad weather once again ensured that only 154 four-engines(heavy bombers)found their target area at all, where the approximately 450 tons of bombs scattered could hardly do any damage.
The German defense was carried out through the use of ten hunting groups and parts of a destroyer squadron and Erprobungskommando [EKdo.] (EKdo: “special-purpose unit tasked with the testing of new aircraft and weaponry under operational conditions”)25; JG 1 and 11 were again used with all six groups to defend against the four-engines.
After the arrival of the four-engines had been recorded in good time, all groups started the alarm at around 13:40 hours, after which they were introduced to the enemy units. III./JG 1 apparently got the first enemy contact; it was put on the American fighter protection and after collecting, it rose in a northerly direction, where at 14:00 hours it came across the 38 Lightnings of the 55th Fighter Group. As a result, there was a bitter dogfight over the western edge of the Ijsselmeer, which soon involved some P-47s and parts of II./JG 3 on the German side. In the report of III./JG 1 it said:
“At 14:00 hours the group got into enemy contact at 9000 m with 20 – 30 Lightnings in the Groningen / Leeuwarden / Meppel triangle (exact information not possible, because of closed cloud cover). The aerial battle ended over the Zuider Zee. The outgoing tip was presumably pursued further west by an outgoing chain [kette] under the command of Oberleutnant [Olt.] Klopper.” 1)
III./JG 1 subsequently reported eight kills 2), but suffered significant losses with even three fallen, who all belonged to the 7th Staffel: All three Messerschmitts in the leading chain [kette] with Oberleutant [Olt.] Heinrich Klopper, the Captain of 7./JG 1, his wingman Oberfahnrich [Ofhr.] Manfred Spork and
III./JG 1 subsequently reported eight kills, but suffered significant losses with even three fallen, who all belonged to the 7th Staffel: All three Messerschmitts … crashed on return from this mission – again from the report of III./JG 1:
“Probable cause of death of all three pilots: Falling out of a lower cloud base or extended showers due to uncontrollable flight conditions when passing through thick haze and clouds from 8,000 m. This assumption is confirmed by the impact of all three planes at high speed and penetration deep into the ground. …
[Ofw.] Hermann Brackhagen crashed on return from this mission – again from the report of III./JG 1:
“Probable cause of death of all three pilots: Falling out of a lower cloud base or extended showers due to uncontrollable flight conditions when passing through thick haze and clouds from 8,000 m. This assumption is confirmed by the impact of all three planes at high speed and penetration deep into the ground. The aircraft of Oberfahnrich [Ofhr.] Spork crashed upside down in FN 4/1.” 3)
Around 50 minutes after the alarm started, the other groups above the area north of Meppen came into contact with several large Boeing groups and their escort protection. II./JG 1, which was in use with twelve Fw 190s and two Bf 109s and 26 Bf 109s of II./JG 27, shot down two B-17s and once more, there were two fallen – …
I./JG 1 had meanwhile reached the four-engines above the area south-west of Bremen; two kills were then faced with four losses – …
The headquarters staffel and all three groups of JG 11 met the four-engines above the Oldenburg region; the American fighter protection involved the German fighters in violent dogfights and thereby prevented the groups of JG 11 from being able to approach the four-motors. In the end, there were only two four-engine and two P-47s kills and, while the squadron itself had three dead and two wounded and five total losses. …
Data in Jagdgeschwader 1 und 11: Einsatz in der Reichsverteidigung von 1939 bis 1945 reveals that in combat with VIII Fighter Command fighters and B-17s on November 29, 1943, JG 1 and JG 11 incurred the following losses:
JG 1
7 pilots killed; 3 wounded
Aircraft recorded as 100% losses: FW-190 A-4 – two (both in aerial combat) FW-190 A-6 – four (all in aerial combat) Bf-109 G-6 – three (weather)
JG 11
3 pilots killed; 2 wounded
Aircraft recorded as 100% losses: FW-190 A-5/Y-4 – one (aerial combat) Bf-109 G-5 – one (belly landing) Bf-109 G5/U-2 – one (aerial combat) Bf-109 G-6 – one (aerial combat)
The following is a list of the enemy pilots who claimed victories against Eighth Air Force P-38s on this day. This information is derived (also) from Jagdgeschwader 1 und 11: Einsatz in der Reichsverteidigung von 1939 bis 1945, the Luftwaffe Victories by Name and Date database at Aircrew Remembered, and, 12 O’clock High Forum record number 45307, and, another document – which I copied some years ago, but which now seems to be unavailable (the title escapes me!) – which includes the clock (local) time at which the aerial victory occurred.
Each record comprises (first line): the name of the pilot, his rank, Staffel and Jagdgeschwader, and (second line), the location (place name, alpha-numeric Luftwaffe jagdtrapez map coordinates, altitude in meters) of his claimed victory, and local time of day.
The eight pilots listed above reported aerial victories as having occurred over the following countries / locations:
Netherlands: Six Germany: One Somewhere between Germany and Netherlands: Two
Seven Eighth Air Force P-38s were actually lost on November 29, not nine as claimed. Of the seven, six (Albino, Carroll, Gilbride, Hascall, Joel, and Suiter) were actually shot down in aerial combat. The loss of the seventh – 42-67046 piloted by Lt. Garvin – occurred in France, but this was not directly due to enemy action. You can read more about Lt. Garvin in the post The Missing of November.
Altitude..
All victories occurred at altitudes between 8500 and 10000 meters (roughly 28,000 to 31,000 feet), which is of a notably lower altitude than that given in the 38th’s and 338th’s Mission Reports.
“Where?”
The Oogle map below, based on information in from Part 2 of Teunis Schuurman’s WW II – Research by PATS blog, shows the approximate crash locations of the the three pilots reportedly lost while descending in bad weather. All flying Me-109G-6 aircraft, they were Oberfeldwebel Hermann Brackhagen (“white 5” – 510285; crash location unverified), Oberleutnant Klöpper (in “white 1” – 410106), and Oberfahnrich Manfred Spork (“white 3” – 510930).
A Double Ambiguity: Victories and Losses…
Typical of the nature of chronicles of aerial combat, there are both notable similarities and perplexing differences in American and German accounts of aerial combat between P-38 Lightnings and Me-109s on November 29, 1943.
First, Hauptmann Eberle attributed the loss of the three above-mentioned pilots to weather; specifically, descent through “extended showers due to uncontrollable flight conditions”. Perhaps this was thought so based on information available to Eberle at the time. In this interpretation, a relevant question would be: “Why would an experienced pilot like Klöpper lead two other pilots through undercast without knowing where the cloud base was? A sensible answer would be: Perhaps one or more of the group were running out of fuel, and needed to get under the clouds as quickly as possible to find a place to land.”
There is an alternative possibility, based on the post-battle accounts of Beaird and Erickson, and information at WW II – Research by PATS: Aerial combat.
The following statement concerns the crash of Klöpper’s Me-109G: “According to Mr. Van Benthem, the aircraft was shot and caught fire at a fairly low altitude, after which it fell down with the nose downwards straight from the sky. “He fell down perpendicularly, and not in a gliding flight.” And similarly for Spork, “Plane was on fire while it crashed, pilot in cockpit was burned.” This would suggest that the loss of these two pilots may indeed; may actually, have been attributable to the defensive attacks of Captain Beaird and Lt. Erickson. Albeit, given the fleeting nature and speed of the engagement, it would have been impossible for them to fully observe the eventual results of their strikes on the two Me-109s.
Second, Captain Ayer’s credited aerial victory occurred relatively “early” (as it were) in the course of this brief battle, certainly before the loss of Brackhegen (?), Klöpper, and Spork, who crashed relatively close to one another. Jagdgeschwader 1 und 11: Einsatz in der Reichsverteidigung von 1939 bis 1945 attributes the other Me-109 losses of JG 1 that day to combat with P-47s and B-17s, with JG 11 losing two Me-109s in combat with American planes (not P-38s) at locations quite some distance from Hoogeveen and Meppel. So, it is difficult to correlate the probable location of Captain Ayers’ confirmed victory with that of the three aforementioned pilots.
Regardless of the 55th Fighter Group’s casualties of November 29 – the 38th Fighter Squadron having lost Major Joel, and, Lieutenants Albino, Carroll, and Garvin; the 343rd Fighter Squadron’s suffering the loss of Lieutenant Gilbride; Lieutenant Suiter having gone missing from the 338th Fighter Squadron – combat operations for the 55th Fighter Group by nature and purpose; by raison d’etre, continued.
However, Operations Officer and squadron historian Captain Robert Wood still felt the need to record the significance of Major Joel’s loss in the 38th Fighter squadron’s history for the subsequent month: December, 1943. Therein, he then described the transition of squadron command from Major Joel to North-African combat veteran Major Mark K. Shipman, the death of Lt. Birch on a non-combat flight, and on a much lighter note, the Squadron’s Christmas and New Year’s Eve parties.
A transcript of this document follows…
NARRATIVE SQUADRON HISTORY, DECEMBER
Major Milton Joel, the Squadron’s fourth Commander failed to return from the escort mission over Bremen on 29 November 1943. December, the Christmas Month, began its thirty-one day existence in a far from joyous mood; however, War could not long exist were it not for its anesthetic effect upon men’s minds which makes them forget quickly and bend their efforts toward the job at hand.
Major Mark K. Shipman, better known as “Mark”, assumed command of the Squadron 1 December 1943. His ability and leadership in the air were unquestioned, but his realization of the great responsibility of Squadron Commander was slight. Major Shipman, aware of the fact that he was on trial before the Squadron wasted no time in accepting the challenge to his ability. With deed and act, both in the air and on the ground, he answered the question in everyone’s mind, “Can he take Major Joel’s place?” The affirmative answer grew like a snow ball rolling down hill, and the middle of December saw three changes firmly entrenched as a part of the Squadron. Major Shipman was in the language of slang, “In” as the C.O. Pilot strength had grown to thirty-three with the addition of ten new pilots. Captain Joseph Myers became the Operations Officer. These things made the picture bright for the future, when on 16 December while “letting down” through an overcast, Lt. W.K. Birch crashed. Birch’s death in such an apparently useless manner slowed but did not stop the upswing in Squadron morale. Two other pilots claim Lt. Birch’s home town for their own, and this duo now carries on just as the trio did before.
Everyone expected Christmas Eve to be rather dull, but spirits appeared from unknown hiding places to liven the evening. Captain Ayers, Lt. Erickson, Lt. Forsblad, and Lt. Marcy were unable to return to this Station from the day’s mission, but the party went on regardless. Lt. Boggess, the adjutant was carefully stowed in bed at 1815 hours. Captain Myers and Captain Hancock collapsed at 2045 hours. Many others became deathly sick, yet all made the mess hall for a wonderful dinner on Christmas Day.
A fitting climax to a rather dreary month was provided by Captain Myers on the 31 December when he scored a victory over an M.E. 109. In the words of Lt. Penn who watched from a higher altitude as Myers attacked, “We just drove around and watched the pranging of Herr Mueller.” Lt. Des Voignes in his encounter report stated that the ME-109 became aerodynamically unsound as Captain Myers’s guns scored hits, and the pilot abandoned ship to parachute down to his ersatz turkey dinner.
New Year’s Eve a party was held at the Officer’s Club. More need not be said for the final convulsion of 1943.
Robert W. Wood ROBERT W. WOOD Captain, Air Corps Squadron Historian
The original document…
________________________________________
During the Second World War, information about the casualty status of servicemen in the American armed forces typically appeared in the news media (here we’re talking newspapers – remember those?) approximately one month after a soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine was wounded, missing, or confirmed killed. This interval allowed time for notification of next of kin prior to the release of news to the general public.
As such, news about Major Joel’s “Missing in Action” status was no different. The following article appeared in the Richmond Times-Dispatch on December 20, 1943, less than a month after the November 29 mission to Bremen.
Major Joel is Missing In Action
December 20, 1943
Major Milton Joel, 24-year-old Richmond squadron commander and a veteran P-38 Lighting pilot with the Eighth Army Air Force, has been reported missing in action, according to word received yesterday from his base in England.
The report said the Richmond flyer failed to return from a recent bomber-escort trip over Bremen, Germany.
Major Joel is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Joel, of 5 Greenway Lane. His wife, Mrs. Elaine E. Joel lives in Beverly Hills, Calif.
During the short time the group has been in operations, Major Joel was credited by his base with chalking up two victories over enemy planes, plus two probable victories and one damaged aircraft.
His record was made with the first Lightning group to see action from an English base and was scored on both fighter sweeps over enemy airfields and on bomber-escort missions, including flights over Bremen, Munster, Wilhelmshaven and numerous other “hot spots” on the European continent.
Awarded Air Medal
He has been awarded the Air Medal and in addition, has been recommended to get two Oak Leaf Clusters.
Before going to England, Major Joel served in antisubmarine patrol work on the West Coast, for which he received the American Theater of Operations Ribbon.
He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Air Forces May 29, 1941, and was promoted to first lieutenant Mach 5, 1942. He became a captain in June of last year and was elevated to major last January.
He attended Thomas Jefferson High School, the University of Richmond and the University of Virginia, graduating from the latter with a degree of bachelor of science in economics.
________________________________________
Not long after, Major Joel’s parents received a condolence letter from VIII Fighter Command commander Major General William E. Kepner, albeit at a time when Milton’s status was still “Missing in Action”. Given the gravity and magnitude of Major General Kepner’s responsibilities, let alone the sheer level of activity he maintained as a military commander (he was over fifty at the time, ultimately passed away at age eighty-nine), it’s impressive that he would personally communicate with the next of kin of pilots lost while serving under his command. His letter is compassionate and inspiring, yet in terms of the possible outcomes connoted by the very phrase “Missing in Action”, unflinchingly realistic.
HEADQUARTERS EIGHTH FIGHTER COMMAND A.P.O. 637 ETOUSA OFFICE OF THE COMMANDING GENERAL
22 December 1943.
Mr. J. Joel, 5 Greenway Lane Richmond, Virginia.
My dear Mr. Joel,
It is my sad portion to write that your splendid son is now missing. While this is not official, I hasten to extend my heartfelt and personal sympathy. He was a superior man and son of his great country. We shall miss him and the strong help he always gave in full, more and more as our battles become increasingly difficult. His comrades have only the deepest affection and respect for the memory of such a man. Our country is being preserved for all of us by such men as Milton. May it be of some solace for me to say that he went as a red blooded man, his colors flying and in honor; with his eyes fixed forward on a great ideal. We pilots know that his blood, and indeed the blood of each of us when it happens, will not be spilled in vain. The memories held by those we leave behind make it worth while, for they – our loved ones – will keep us alive until we meet again.
I personally want you to know that I, as his Commanding General, am thinking of you with the hope you may find courage and fortitude to bear your great loss. With deep sympathy, I am
Most sincerely, Milton was a fine boy W.E. Kepner W.E. KEPNER
Major General, U. S. Army
Commanding.
However…!
The Joel family was not alone in receiving a communication of this nature, for it seems that General Kepner corresponded similarly with the families of other missing VIII Fighter Command pilots. Thus, the letter below, received by the family of 2 Lt. Royal D. Frey, of the 55th Fighter Squadron, 20th Fighter Group, who was MIA on February 10, 1944 (in P-38J 42-67855, “KI * W” – see MACR 2156). Like Lieutenants Carroll and Suiter, Lt. Frey spent the remainder of the war as a POW in Stalag Luft I.
This copy of the General’s letter appeared in Royal Frey’s article “General Kepner’s One and Only Goof”, in the Spring, 1992, issue of Kings Cliffe Remembered (V 10 N 1).
So, even if the text of the two letters (and more?) was identical, it was the thought and gesture that mattered most.
________________________________________
A few months later, Major Joel was awarded the Silver Star for the mission of November 29, as reported on in the following (1944) article, probably from a Los Angeles area newspaper. (More about his Silver Star award in a later post.)
Missing Pilot Wins Silver Star Medal
For courageous and inspiring conduct in air combat over Europe, the Army today announced the award of the Silver Star medal to Maj. William Joel, of 153 S. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills.
Major Joel, who is reported missing in action, was cited for “gallantry, aggressive fighting spirit and devotion to duty” in protecting a depleted squadron of P-38 fighters savagely attacked over Germany Nov. 29 last year, according to Associated Press dispatches. “Because of a fast diminishing fuel supply,” the citation continued, “the group leader gave the signal to withdraw.
As the group headed for base, the enemy continued to press vicious assaults on the tail aircraft and with disregard for his own safety, he attacked the enemy head on. When last seen Major Joel was still engaged in combat.”
After the mission of November 29, leadership of the 38th Fighter Squadron passed to Major Mark K. Shipman. Captain Joseph Myers took command of the squadron on February 10, 1944, followed by Captain James H. Hancock on April 22, Major John D. Landers on July 3, and Captain Clayton L. Peterson on October 12. Captain Peterson remained in command until succeeded by Captain Donald M. Cummings on May 23, 1945.
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The past recedes and the future moves on: The following letters, from the Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) for Major Joel, span 1944 through 1950. A presumptive Finding of Death for him was established as September 3, 1945 (based on Public Law 490), and by May 2, 1949, this date was amended to November 29, 1943. Ultimately, his case was deemed as non-recoverable, on September 13, 1951.
The location of Milton Joel’s aircraft and remains are unknown.
________________________________________
The following letter, from Milton’s wife Elaine, is probably the only surviving example of her correspondence relating to her husband. According to Sara Markham, prior to Elaine’s passing in 1981, she destroyed all the correspondence between herself and Milton.
This is it; it’s all that’s left.
Note that Elaine specified that any of Milton’s belongings should be sent to the address of her in-laws (the Joels) in Richmond, rather than to herself in Beverly Hills.
May 26, 1944
Dear Sir,
My husband, Milton Joel, Major, Air Corps (0-416308), of the 38th Fighter Squadron 55th Fighter Group, APO #637, c/o Postmaster, New York, N.Y., has been missing in action since 29 November, 1943.
Recently I received word from one of the officers in the aforementioned squadron that my husband’s possessions had been forwarded to your Bureau in Kansas City.
I am writing at this time to request any information which you may be able to give me: I am very anxious to obtain my husband’s possessions at the very earliest possible date and trust that you will notify me if this is possible with your office – as if this is impossible, any information with which you may furnish me as to when these belongings will be forwarded to me will be greatly appreciated.
At the present time I am located and can be reached at 5 Greenway Lane, Richmond – 21, Virginia. However, I would wish the aforementioned possessions to be sent to my home at 153 South Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, California.
Thanking you in advance for any consideration you may give this matter, I am,
Very truly yours, Elaine E. Joel (Mrs. Milton Joel)
________________________________________
The following letters, all penned between 1945 and 1950 and written by Milton’s father Joseph, speak for themselves: What they directly express is immediately obvious. What they do not express – in terms of uncertainty, anger, an almost Job-like sense of unfairness, sadness, an overall air of pathos – is perhaps by nature inexpressible; perhaps, best so. After all, in the lives of all men there arise events for which words are inadequate.
The first letter, of August, 1945, was written to the Army’s Notification Section. Note that Joseph has astutely expressed concern about the possibility of Milton having been captured. Having lost a sister in the Shoah, he may have been sensitized and cognizant – perhaps more than other American Jews of his generation – to the implications of a Jewish soldier or aviator being a POW of the Germans.
Aug 26 1945
Re. Major Milton Joel 0-416308 Missing in action over Germany Nov. 29th 1943
Col. Claude B. Acra [sic] Washington DC
Dear Sir
The above was my only child and for this reason I am more than any other average bereaved parent, interested to know whatever possible what really occurred to him, i.e., was he seen to bail out – and if so, was it over sea or land – Did he fall in the hands of the German beasts or was he burnt up with his plane – My friend a former officer Capt. Daniel Burke suggests I should write to you and I hope you will be able to give me this information.
Assuring for my appreciation
Very truly yours Joseph Joel
____________________
This letter, penned less than two months later, reveals that Joseph was at least nominally aware – as much as one relying on second-hand information could be – of the general course events during the mission of November 29. His line of questioning is direct and focused, while the text of his letter – the word “we” – reveals that he was writing on behalf of both Minnie and himself.
Oct. 4 1945
Office of the Quartermaster General Washington, D.C. Re. Major Joel Milton S.N. 0-416-308 Q.M.G.M.F 293
Dear Maj Coombs
I duly received your appreciated reply of the 23rd of September, but this does not serve me with any of my requested information.
Though I realize that not every request can be favored, I do think mine can, because it was seen that 2 ships were falling, presumably one plane was one in which my boy was in, and as the planes were seen falling you should know about where they landed and if it was ocean or enemy or friendly territory. – This is my question. – This is the information I want. – Did my boy’s plane land in water or on land and if land whereabouts and what are you doing to make the Germans tell us what was done with him. Milton was my only child and we want to know what really happened to him – The Germans should be made to talk. His ship was seen falling so he must have landed and I want to know where and what was done with him or his remains – I hope you will try to favor me with this reply
Thank you sincerely Yours Truly Joseph Joel
____________________
Though the original document is not preserved in Major Joel’s IDPF, this transcript of a letter by Joseph, penned about one year later, again focuses on the lack of information about the central and unresolved aspects of his son’s case. Note that Joseph again emphasizes concern about the possibility of Milton having been captured.
Joseph Joel 5 Greenway Lane Richmond, Virginia
Oct. 3, 1946
RE: A.G.P.D. – R 201 Milton Joel 0 416 308
Maj Gen E.F. Witsell War Dept. Washington, D.C.
Dear General:
Your letter of April 30, 1946 regarding my sons decorations reached me. Of course I am proud of his distinguishments, yet as I received no explanation, I would like to know what does the government know about him.
1. Did anybody see what happened to his plane? 2. Did anybody see him bale out? 3. Was anything found out when we went into Germany if his body was found or if he was taken prisoner.
You see I was told once that 2 planes were seen falling toward the ground. One of them must have been his and I want to know, what happened to his body.
Please answer me fully.
Very truly yours, Joseph Joel
____________________
Though in May of 1944 Milton’s wife Elaine expressed solid interest in obtaining her missing husband’s possessions from the Army, by 1947, things had changed. This letter, from September of that year, pertains to Elaine having instructed the Army Effects Bureau to give her husband’s flight record to her former in-laws, and communicating such to Joseph Joel. Note the date of September 17: Elaine had remarried about a week earlier. (More about that below.)
This document would be of tremendous historical and sentimental value, but I have absolutely no idea if it still exits.
MEM/CB/lh 17 September 1947
Mr. Joseph Joel 5 Greenway Lane Richmond 21, Virginia
Dear Mr. Joel:
The Army Effects Bureau has received a flight record belonging to your son, Major Milton Joel.
This Bureau contacted Mrs. Elaine Joel, the widow of Major Joel, the appropriate recipient under the 112th Article of War. However, she advised us to forward the flight record to you.
In compliance with her request, the flight record was forwarded to you on 11 September 1947 in an envelope.
If for some reason, it has not reached you at the expiration of thirty days from the date of this letter, please notify this Bureau so that tracer can be instituted.
Extending every sympathy, I am
Sincerely yours,
M.E. MOHR Major, QMC Effects Quartermaster
____________________
January 10, 1948
Re. QMGMF 293 Joel Milton
S.N. 0416308
The Quartermaster General Washington, D.C.
Dear Sir
I am in receipt of yours of the 7th relating to above req. re my son. I realize that your office is doing everything possible yet I cannot understand the War Departments policy of not answering me my question and complying with my request. All I want to know is WHERE DID MY SON COME DOWN. WAS IT OVER LAND OR OVER WATER – Isn’t my question plain enough and understandable? You seem to know where abouts he was shot down as you say in your above letter that you are making extensive search of the area. I am tired of writing to the various department and receiving unrelating replies You people know where abouts he was shot down tell it. If you don’t know then say so. Stop giving me answers meaningless. If you know where he was shot down I want to know, was it over German territory or not – over land or water
Yours truly Joseph Joel
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1951: Almost eight years have passed. In Joseph’s final letter to the Army, he has posed a question as pertinent in 2020 (assuming it can ever be answered) as seventy years ago: Has his son’s plane, the “flying wolf”, ever been located?
Sept. 28, 1951
Dept. of the Army Office of the Q.M. General Washington, D.C.
Attention Col. James B. Clearwater
Dear Col. Clearwater
I have your letter of 21 Sept. Q.M.G.M.F. 293 Joel, Milton S.N. 0-416-308 and noted its contents Will you please do me this favor and advise me whether the plain number 42-67020 in which he was flying was ever discovered. Should you not be able to give me this information, will you be so kind to furnish my request to the department that can give me this information. I am very anxious to know this.
Thanking for you – the trouble taken.
Sincerely Yours Joseph Joel
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The Army’s reply to the above letter arrived two weeks later. P-38H 42-67020, the flying wolf, had never been found.
12 October 1951
QMGMF 293 Joel, Milton SN 0 416 308
Mr. Joseph Joel 4509 Bromley Lane Richmond, Virginia
Dear Mr. Joel,
This will acknowledge receipt of your letter of 28 September 1951 concerning your son, the late Major Milton Joel.
In response to your inquiry, I regret to inform you that the personnel of the American Graves Registration Service were unable to locate the wreckage of your son’s plane.
Sincerely Yours,
JAMES B. CLEARWATER Colonel, QMC Chief, Memorial Division
CDB / lop
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For those acquainted with Individual Deceased Personnel Files, this form may be well-familiar: Typically one of the chronologically or sequentially “final” forms within an IDPF, it denotes the memorialization of servicemen whose remains were determined to be non-recoverable.
Having officially been determined on May 2, 1949, to have been “Killed in Action” on November 29, 1943 and having received the Purple Heart, as well as having been awarded the Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, and three Air Medals, Milton’s name was incorporated into the “second” volume of the two books comprising the 1947 publication American Jews in World 2. This “second” book, which has been referenced and referred to in many prior posts, comprises a (48) state by state list of American Jewish servicemen who received military awards, or were wounded or killed in action. (Thus, ironically, if a soldier was a POW but was uninjured and received no awards, his name would not necessarily – if at all – have been included in the book.)
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And so, seven decades ago, the search for Major Milton Joel officially ended.
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Milton’s name appears on page 578 of American Jews in World 2, appropriately under “Virginia”. The asterisk adjacent to his name denotes “killed in action”.
Three such cards were filed for Milton. The first card, dated December 30, 1943, denotes his Missing in Action Status.
The second card, of May 12, 1944, records his military awards.
The final card, filed in January of 1946, pertains to determination of his “Killed in Action” status.
While these cards are invaluable in terms of military and genealogical information, the only information they carry pertaining to military operations (if at all) is a vague, one-word designation of the relevant theater of war. American Jews in World War 2 only incorporated name, rank, military awards (if any), home town / state of residence, and casualty status, doubtless for reasons of space and length.
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Nearly four years after the official determination of Major Joel’s death, his widow, Elaine, Married Doctor Allan Lloyd Friedlich, Jr., a graduate of Dartmouth and Harvard who later became a preeminent cardiologist. Their engagement and wedding announcements were published in the New York Times, both items specifically mentioning Major Joel.
Mrs. E.E. Joel Engaged
Widow of AAF Major to Be Wed to Dr. A.L. Friedlich Jr.
March 19, 1947
Announcement has been made by Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Richard Ebenstein of New York and Beverly Hills, Calif., of the engagement of their daughter, Mrs. Elaine Ebenstein Joel, to Dr. Allan Lloyd Friedlich, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Friedlich of 75 Central Park West.
Mrs. Joel is the widow of Maj. Milton Joel, AAF, who was lost in action over Germany in 1943. She was graduated from the Scoville School in New York and from Marot Junior College.
Dr. Friedlich was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1939, and from the Harvard Medical School. During the war he served as a flight surgeon with the Air Transport Command in the China-Burma-India Theatre.
Dr. A.L. Friedlich, Jr., Mrs. E.E. Joel Marry
September 8, 1947
Mrs. Elaine Ebenstein Joel, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Richard Ebenstein of the Pierre and Beverly Hills, Calif., was married yesterday in the Pierre to Dr. Allan Lloyd Friedlich Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Friedlich of this city. Jerome Nathanson of the Society for Ethical Vulture performed the ceremony.
Mrs. Bart van Berg of Scarsdale, N.Y., was the bride’s only attendant, and Bruce Friedlich was his brother’s best man.
Mrs. Friedlich, the widow of Major Milton Joel, who was lost in action over Germany in 1943, was graduated from the Scoville School in this city and Marot Junior College in Thompson, Conn. She served as a nurse’s aide during the war.
The bridegroom, an alumnus of Dartmouth College, class of ’39, was graduated also from the Harvard Medical School in 1943. He served with the Medical Corps as a flight surgeon in the C-B-I theatre with the rank of major.
Elaine and Dr. Friedlich had three sons. She passed away at the young age of sixty on November 17, 1981. Her place of burial is unknown. A transcript of her obituary, provided by researcher Inmand15 to her biographical profile at FindAGrave, follows:
Elaine Friedlich, 60
Active on behalf of retarded
A memorial service will be held Saturday, Nov. 28, at 2:30 p.m. in the Harvard University Memorial Church, Cambridge, for Elaine (Ebenstein) Friedlich, who died Tuesday in her Belmont home after a long illness. She was 60.
Born in New York City, Mrs. Friedlich was a graduate of the old Marot Junior College in Connecticut. She had lived in Belmont for 25 years and had previously lived in Beverly Hills, Calif., and New York City.
Active in the community, Mrs. Friedlich was instrumental in establishing the CODE House, Belmont, now known as the Belmont Community Resource Center. She served for many years as the educational chairwoman of the Belmont Chapter of the Greater Boston Assn. for Retarded Citizens and in 1973 received the association’s Community Service Award.
She also served on the Metropolitan-Beaverbrook Area Mental Health and Retardation Board of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health and was appointed to represent the board on the department’s regional mental health council.
Joseph continued to operate his jewelry store – the aptly named Virginia Jewelry Store (which had been in business for about four decades) – through the early 1960s, when he relinquished actual operation of the establishment to his business partner. Paralleling this, he remained intellectually engaged through the rest of his life. An autodidact in Jewish history and Zionism, he contributed nine letters about these topics (could there have been more?) to the Richmond Times-Dispatch between 1946 and 1960, his last letter being published eight months before his death.
The “titles” of Joseph’s letters, as published in the Times-Dispatch, comprise:
“Holocaust in the Holy Land” (July 18, 1946) – British Policy vis-à-vis Jewish inhabitanta of the Yishuv “Ford and the Jews” (April 16, 1947) – Influence of the Dearborn Independent on pre-war antisemitism “Why the Jews Fight” (September 15, 1947) – Zionism and Jewish nationalism
“Anti-Jew? Pro-Arab?” (March 13, 1948) – Support for anti-Zionism by Lessing J. Rosenwald “A Solution” (March 26, 1948) – The fate of Jewish Displaced Persons “Denies that the U.S. Has Favored Israel” (August 21, 1958) – Attitude of the American foreign policy establishment towards Israel during the 1948 war; the status of Arab-Moslem citizens of Israel “A Pro-Israeli View of Mideast Problems” (September 10, 1958) – History of continuing Jewish connection to Eretz Israel “Germans Blamed for Anti-Semitism” (January 29, 1960) – Responsibility for the Shoah (a term not actually used in the letter): The German leadership, or, the German people as a whole?
“Reiterates Criticism of the German People” (February 8, 1960) – As above
Here are some of Joseph’s letters…
Why the Jews Fight September 15, 1947
Editor of The Times-Dispatch:
Since no Zionist leader of this city’s organization or other Jews replied to your editorial [“Reprisals Contain No Solution for Jews,” Sept. 9] I am trying to do so.
The Zionist question is no more a fanatical national question than any other people’s. This going on in Palestine is not as you call it an “inflammation of the brain,” but a trouble purposely instigated by Britain. The extremist groups are not mad and reckless, but a brave group of young men who prefer to die with their boots on than to endure toleration.
Why do you and others play it up as terrible that someone had the courage to-tell the uninformed British people by pamphlets what is really going on? What harm is there in this? They have no other way of getting this message to the people. The English press will not print it. Even you haven’t informed the Richmond public of the suffering of the Jews and the brutality of the British government.
And why are you so afraid that if our government should show sympathy to the Zionist movement this will let loose the anti-Semites? Why, weren’t you afraid when the United States acted in Ireland or in Greece and so many other places?
The solution of the Palestinian question does not as you say call for cool-headed diplomatic finesse. This is the trouble; there is too darn much politics in it. The world is ready to exterminate the Jews for oil, but the oil magnates will have the profits.
How do you expect to solve this Jewish question? Germany, Poland, Romania, Hungary – in fact every European country – was slaughtering them and even the United States, England and France are but tolerating us. Shall we wait for-the Jewish Council of Judaism in a diplomatic way to accomplish equal citizenship rights for us Jews? Have we got it, even in the United States? Is anybody protesting against the limitations in the colleges, industrial fields, etc.?
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Anti-Jew? Pro-Arab? March 13, 1948
Editor of The Times-Dispatch:
Why do you pick a time such, as the present, when Richmond Jewry has this drive (UJA) to write editorials like the one in today’s paper, “reconsider the Palestine Problem”? Who is Lessing Rosenwald? Is Mr. Rosenwald’s opinion to be more considered than that of 95 per cent of the Jews in Richmond and, the world? Why are you influenced by him and not by Rabbi Wise and Rabbi Hillel Silver, who are among the 95 per cent and not belonging to the about 5 per cent of the Council of Judaism? Why are you taking sides with the Arabs and not with the worldwide suffering Jews?
It certainly is not a matter of justice, for if so, you would be hollering against oppression of the Indonesian, Manchurians, Koreans and many other small peoples in Africa, Asia, etc, by the Dutch, British and Russians and even the United States, for we are in places with our armies where we are not wanted.
No Jew, whether in the United States, England, or any country where he enjoys citizenship rights, is not loyal to his country. His being a Zionist does not divorce him from his loyalty. He is a Zionist as a German, Irishman, or Britisher is a German, an Irishman, or a Britisher. A Zionist is merely in favor of establishing a Jewish homeland so world-oppressed Jewry can have a place where it can rest its tired; aching bones.
The Nazis in Germany and other countries have done a good job, and they do not need your aid to help to exterminate what is left of them in the DP camps in Cyprus and the few in Palestine.
Even in Palestine, the Arabs do not need your aid. The British government and ours have supplied the Arabs with plenty of arms and officers to train them to murder the Jews. Your pen is not needed! There are enough Jewish blood-shedders, and you don’t need to incite the Arabs, Germany’s allies of World Wars I and II.
JOSEPH JOEL Richmond
[Editor’s Note: The editorial to which our correspondent refers appeared March 8, and contained the statement: “There has never been any question of the loyalty of American Jews to America. There never will be.”]
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A Pro-Israeli View Of Mideast Problems September 10, 1958
In the VOP of August 27, Mary Beaty quotes figures of the Palestine Commission and government bulletins. I am an average citizen, I do not subscribe to government statistical reports or bulletins from the Palestine Commission, but I do know one thing for sure, that our government did not give Israel arms, where the various Arabian nations, who are surrounding Israel like a pack of wolves from Egypt to S. Arabia, did receive all kinds of arms and Lebanon will now be given the army’s arms when they pull out.
Re the land. Again, I state that Israel paid plenty for every acre of land which the people bought even when Palestine belonged to the Turkish government and to this date. Of course, she couldn’t buy when the refugees left the country and refused to sell. Israel is willing to permit a certain percentage to resettle and those that do not want to return, to pay them more than the value for every inch of land.
Re the rights of the Jews not only to be part of what is now Israel but to all of Palestine, for none of the present Arabs now resisting are the ancient people. The present Arabs residing in Israel and in the newly-created states are squatters or settlers who were settled in Palestine by the nation’s conquerors or by Nomads who decided to settle in cities. The last ones were settled there by Vespasian.
The Romans destroyed in the year 70 etc., only the holy Temple, Jerusalem and the city of Antioch-Herodium-Mechaerus Masada but not the rest of Palestine. Jews, i.e. the ones that did not flee or were killed or carried away into slavery, lived in Israel from the time when Moses brought them out of Egypt on God’s command to this day. Proof of this is that the Roman governor permitted Rabbi Jochanan[Yochahan ben Zakkai – see here,here, and Rabbi Henry Abramson’s lecture here] with his disciples to leave Jerusalem after he was smuggled through the lines, to settle in Jamnia [“Yavneh” – see here, here, and the contemporary city of Yavneh here], which is on the Mediterranean near the port of Joppa now known as Jaffa. There was even a Lynhedria [mis-spelling or mis-print – should be “Sanhedrin”!] in Jabna [Yavneh]and there too the Palestine Talmud came into existence in the Yeshira [should read “Yeshiva”], which is a Jewish theological college. Yes Jews lived to this day without interruption in all of Palestine including Jerusalem.
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Joseph and Minnie, probably in the 1950s(c/o Harold J. Winston)
Joseph died on October 15, 1960. As reported in the Times-Dispatch:
Joseph Joel, Jeweler, Dies at 78
Joseph Joel 78, of 4509 Bromley lane, a retired jeweler, died Saturday at a local hospital
He operated the Virginia Jewelry Store here for about 40 years, and although he was a part owner of the store at the time of his death, he retired from active operation of it several years ago. Mr. Joel was a member of the Beth Ahabah Congregation.
He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Minnie Joel, his mother, Mrs. Bertha Joel of Chicago; a sister, Dr. Clara Fleischer of Chicago and three brothers, Herman Joel of New York and Robert K. and Ephraim Joel both of Richmond.
A funeral service win be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at Joseph W. Bliley Funeral Home, with burial in Hebrew Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to the Milton Joel Memorial library at the Richmond Jewish Center.
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Joseph having passed on, Minnie’s life continued in Richmond. In early 1961, only three short months after Joseph’s passing, she endured a very disconcerting experience, which – fortunately – had a fortunate outcome: Milton’s medals and other possessions were stolen. Well, temporarily, as it were. As reported in the Times-Dispatch:
Thief Here Steals World War II Medals January 14, 1961
A thief who broke into-a car in Richmond’s West End early yesterday morning took four or five small packages that can never be replaced by money. He took medals belonging to Mrs. Joseph Joel of 4613 Wythe ave. They were won by her son, Maj. Milton Joel, during World War II. Major Joel, a fighter pilot, was killed over Germany on Dec. 20. 1943.
Mrs. Joel, who lives with her brother-in-law, Louis Rubin, said she believed the medals were the Silver Star, Distinguished Service Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross with either one or two gold clusters.
AIso Stolen
Also taken from her car were some miscellaneous papers, a picture album and the spare tire.
The papers were found at Staples Mill rd. and Grace st. about an hour after the theft by Patrolman D.W. Drudge. The album was found later in the day in the 1300 block Claremont ave.
Patrolman J.A. Windsor, a detective, said the same thief broke into a car belonging to Ernest J. Mladinich of 4615 Wythe ave. The thief got a spare tire and jack.
4 Stolen Military Medals Reappear Mysteriously January 15, 1961
Four military medals were returned to their owner yesterday, under as strange a set of circumstances as those under which they disappeared.
Mrs. Milton Joel of 1500 Sauers Ave. said that on August 13 the medals were stolen along with several other personal items from her car. The medals were awarded her son, Maj. Milton Joel, an air force pilot who was killed in 1943 on a mission over Germany.
A week ago last Thursday Mrs. Joel’s car developed a flat tire. She called a service station which sent a man around to switch tires and take the damaged tire to be fixed.
Yesterday, she said, she went to pick up the tire. When the trunk of her car was opened, there sat the four medals, each in its individual white box, on the trunk floor.
Mrs. Joel said the boxes had not been there when the tires were changed nor when police searched her car when the theft was discovered.
Some of the other items, which included a photograph album and Major Joel’s college annual, were recovered the same day the theft was discovered. They were scattered around a three block area in the city’s North Side.
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Minnie Joel, postwar(c/o Unknown)
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Minnie – Birthday Party? (c/o Harold J. Winston)
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On the fourth of February in the year 1981, a little over twenty years after the passing of her husband, Minnie Joel died. She was 93. Her former daughter in law, Elaine, passed away a little less than a year earlier.
Minnie’s obituary:
Joel Mrs. Minnie Weinstein Joel, widow of Joseph Joel, died Wednesday, February 4, 1981. She is survived by her sister, Mrs. Janet Weinstein Rubin; daughter-in-law, Mrs. Allan Friedlich of Belmont, Mass.; a number of nieces and nephews. Her remains rest at the Joseph W. Bliley Funeral Home, 3rd and Marshall Sts. where services will be held Friday, 11 a.m. Interment Hebrew Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Milton Joel Library of the Jewish Community Center or the Beth Sholom Home. The family will receive friends at the home of Mrs. Joan R. Schoenes, 1507 Largo Rd., No. 104.
Minnie and Joseph are buried next to one another, at Hebrew Cemetery in Richmond, as seen in this image by FindAGrave contributor JimB.
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But, what of Milton’s military records and memorabilia; the material that was almost (!) lost in 1961? In the latter part of 1981, not long before Elaine’s passing, it seems that she, her close friend Sara Markham, and various members of the extended Joel family realized the necessity for the preservation and safekeeping of documents pertaining to Milton. To that end, it was arranged that Temple Beth Ahabah of Richmond, with which the Joel family had long been affiliated, and where the Milton Joel Judaic Library was opened in October of 1961 (the initial core of its holdings having been a collection of books donated by Joseph) would be the recipient of this material, where – I think? – it is still held, today.
Thus, a letter from Elaine’s friend Sara Markham to Saul Weiner (Chairman of the Congregation Beth Ahabah Museum and Archives Trust), written only a few weeks before Elaine’s passing:
September 29, 1981
Dearest Saul,
I thought it wise that I turn over the letter from Elaine to you. I have loaned these war decorations to Irving Joel – as he hopes to copy them for the Milton Joel Library at the Center. I do hope he can arrange this as this library was subsidized regularly by funds that David and I raised from “Aunt” Minnie and “Uncle” Joe – and a few members of their family, the Joels (all) – and from Milton’s fraternity brothers – However, Elaine and I talked this over in depth – and concluded that Milton would prefer to have them in the Beth Ahabah Archives. I personally feel they would be best cared for there, that Milton had a long relationship with the temple – that the historical reference is more appropriate to our Archives.
I turned the medals – and the written testaments over to Irving Joel in June, so I am sure he will be ready soon – to turn them over to the Archives Committee. I will be sending Irving a copy of Elaine’s notes.
I regret that you and Jackie never knew Milton Joel. He was a truly special young man – totally enchanting – and a gem – in the crown of our Jewish Community. That Elaine – had two splendid human beings share her life with her – each in a very unique way – tells us a great deal about this woman, Elaine – who stands apart – not just for me, but for anyone whose life touched hers.
I entrust the safe-keeping of this memory herewith to you, Saul. I feel comfortable about this.
I blow you and Jackie a New Year’s kiss – May this be the year of the _____ – where their deepest dreams come true. David joins me in all this.
Fondly, Sara F. Markham
And, Saul’s reply to Sara:
Dear Sara:
Furthering our recent conversation regarding the Major Milton Joel medals which you have been helping Mrs. Elaine Friedlich transmit for safekeeping to the Temple Archives, we are grateful for your interest in our work.
Please rest assured that upon receipt of the medals we shall make proper provision for their storage pending the completion of building renovations. We are proud to have such items housed in the Beth Ahabah Archives.
With every good wish for the New Year to all concerned.
Sincerely, Saul Fisher Chairman
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And here, in one sense, is where Milton Joel’s journey ended.
If a tale is most directly told in the “first person”, what better way to present the nature of aerial combat in the P-38 Lightning over Europe, than in the words of Major Joel himself?
To that end, this post presents the following information and documents:
1) A list of Major Joel’s combat missions;
2) His accounts of aerial engagements with the Luftwaffe – recorded in documents known as “Pilot’s Personal Encounter Reports” – specifically for missions on November 3, 5, and 13, of 1943;
3) Encounter Reports filed by other 38th Fighter Squadron pilots on those same dates;
4) “Mission Reports” (albeit not specifically entitled as such) filed by the 38th Fighter Squadron for the above missions (well, such Reports were recorded for all missions, even the most uneventful), encompassing the names of pilots on the mission, the nature and destination of the mission, a summary of events during the mission, and finally, the planned organization of the squadron in terms of the arrangement of its aircraft.
Speaking of the latter… The 38th Fighter Squadron, akin to its brother squadrons (and I suppose in a general sense, other VIII Fighter Command squadrons?), organized its aircraft in units dubbed “elements” and “flights”, comprised of two and four aircraft, respectively, with a flight consisting of two elements. For organizational and communication purposes, the flights were designated by colors, with the lead flight being “white”, followed (sequentially) by “red”, “yellow”, “blue”, and “purple”. (These terms did not mean that the aircraft were physically marked or painted in these colors!) As such, Major Joel generally lead the 38th Fighter Squadron as flight leader of “white” flight.
For the three missions during which Major Joel engaged in combat with German aircraft, copies of all relevant squadron Mission Report, and Encounter Reports filed by participating pilots are included.
Due to the poor legibility of the these documents (at least as 16mm microfilm) Encounter and Mission Reports are here presented as reproductions of the originals. These were created using a 50s-era manual typewriter (remember those?) which fortuitously had same font as that of the original Reports: Times New Roman. So… As such, these recreated Reports – scroll below – are identical in format and layout to the originals.
The main text of these Reports is presented here, as well.
Major Joel’s Combat Missions
The 55th Fighter Group’s first mission took place on October 15, 1943. This was a fighter sweep of Dutch coastal islands, the first of the nineteen missions that Major Joel would fly until his death nearly a month and a half later. One of these missions (October 16) was a practice mission, and another (October 30) was recalled by the mission Controller – and thus aborted for the entire 55th Fighter Group – after take-off. Major Joel’s other missions comprised six fighter sweeps, and, three escorts of medium bombers (B-26s Marauders), the remainder having been fighter escorts of B-17s and B-24s
During this time Major Joel was credited with destroying 2 ½ German planes, damaging 3, and probably destroying 2.
A list of the Major’s missions appears below. While this compilation is primarily based on the historical records of the 38th Fighter Squadron, it’s supplemented by information in Major Joel’s biographical profile at the 55th Fighter Group, and, information about the 55th Fighter Group via the American Air Museum in Britain.
Each entry includes the date of the mission, the 8th Fighter Command’s alpha-numeric designation of the mission, and the type and / or destination of the mission. The names of Major Joel’s wingmen and the names of the other two pilots in his flight’s second element are also listed, along with the “color” designation of Major Joel’s flight.
On those missions where Major Joel destroyed or damaged German aircraft, the number and types of the enemy warplanes are also listed. Reviewing this list reveals that with one exception, he flew with the same wingman no more than twice. The exception? 2 Lt. James M. Garvin, who was also killed on November 29, the third occasion on which the Major and Lt. Garvin flew as element leader and wingman.
And so, Major Joel’s missions…
1) October 15, 1943 – VIII Fighter Command Mission FO-157 or FO-158 Fighter Sweep – Dutch Islands (Squadron organization was not recorded.)
2) October 16, 1943 Practice Bomber Escort – England (Orfordness and Great Yarmouth) (Joel & F/O David D. Fisher; Capt. Joseph Myers & 2 Lt. Willard A. Kreft) (White Leader)
3) October 16, 1943 – VIII Fighter Command Mission FO-159 Fighter Sweep – Netherlands (Amsterdam) Red Leader (Joel & 2 Lt. Richard W. Forsblad; Capt. James H. Hancock & 2 Lt. Hugh E. Gillette)
4) October 17, 1943 – VIII Fighter Command Mission FO-161 Fighter Sweep – Northern France / Dutch Islands White Leader (Joel & 2 Lt. James M. Garvin; Hancock & 2 Lt. Ernest R. Marcy)
5) October 18, 1943 – VIII Fighter Command Mission FO-162 Fighter Sweep – Dutch Islands (Mission profile changed by Controller from Withdrawal Cover to Fighter Sweep) Red Leader (Joel & 2 Lt. Edward F. Peters; Hancock & Marcy)
6) October 19, 1943 Fighter Sweep – France (Amiens Area) White Leader (Joel & Capt. Thomas Beaird; Myers & 2 Lt. Paul Fisher, Jr.)
7) October 20, 1943 – VIII Fighter Command Mission FO-163 Withdrawal Fighter Escort – Netherlands (Duren / Schouwen) Yellow Leader (Joel & 2 Lt. William K. Birch; 1 Lt. Gerald F. Leinweber & 1 Lt. Wilton E. Wyche)
8) October 22, 1943 – VIII Fighter Command Mission FO-165 Medium Bomber (B-26) Escort – France (Cambrai) White Leader (Joel & 2 Lt. John J. Carroll; Leinweber & Wyche)
9) October 24, 1943 – VIII Fighter Command Mission FO-166 Fighter Escort – France (Saint-Andre-de-l’Eure) White Leader (Joel & Forsblad; Leinweber & Wyche)
10) October 30, 1943 Fighter Escort (Mission Aborted – “Mission was recalled soon after take off.”) Yellow Leader (Joel & 2 Lt. Clair W. Des Voignes; Leinweber & Wyche)
11) November 3, 1943 – VIII Fighter Command Mission FO-168 Fighter Escort – Germany (Wilhelmshaven) White Leader (Joel & Kreft; Hancock & 2 Lt. Robert E. Erickson) One FW-190 destroyed – half-credit shared with Lt. Kreft (Westerholt-Wittmund) Two FW-190s damaged (north of Wilhelmshaven)
12) November 5, 1943 – VIII Fighter Command Mission FO-170 Fighter Escort – Germany (Gelsenkirchen) White Leader (Joel & Carroll; Myers & Forsblad) One Me-109 destroyed (west of Arnheim)
13) November 7, 1943 – VIII Fighter Command Mission FO-173 (?) Medium Bomber (B-26) Close Support – Belgium (Ostend) / France (Saint Omer) Yellow Leader (Joel & Kreft; Capt. Jerry H. Ayers & Erickson)
14) November 7, 1943 – VIII Fighter Command Mission FO-173 (?) Fighter Sweep – France (Lille) White Leader (Joel & 2 Lt. Gerald Brown; Myers & 2 Lt. Allen R. Peters)
15) November 10, 1943 – VIII Fighter Command Mission FO-175 Medium Bomber (B-26) Escort – France (Montdidier Airdrome) White Leader (Joel & Garvin; Ayers & 2 Lt. John A. Stacker)
16) November 11, 1943 – VIII Fighter Command Mission FO-177 Fighter Escort – Germany (Munster) White Leader (Joel & Des Voignes; Leinweber & Wyche)
17) November 13, 1943 – VIII Fighter Command Mission FO-180 Fighter Escort – Germany (Bremen) Yellow Leader (Joel & Stacker; Leinweber & Wyche) One Ju-88 destroyed (Bremen) One Ju-88 probable (Bremen) One Me-109 probable (Bremen) One Me-109 damaged (shared with Lt. Stacker) (Bremen)
18) November 26, 1943 – VIII Fighter Command Mission FO-191 Fighter Escort – Germany (Bremen) White Leader (Joel & 2 Lt. Robert F. Maloney; Beaird & Des Voignes)
19) November 29, 1943 – VIII Fighter Command Mission FO-192 Fighter Escort – Germany (Bremen) White Leader (Joel & Garvin; Marcy & Maloney)
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This image, from World War Photos, shows Major Joel’s P-38 before it actually became his P-38: Note that the plane lacks the 38th Fighter Squadron’s “CG” squadron code on its tail boom, and bears a hastily chalked “20” (probably based on the last two digits of its serial number) on its port rudder. This suggests that the image was taken prior to or immediately upon its actual delivery to the Army Air Force. Unfortunately, the source of the image isn’t given.
The plane’s nose art, which has very much of a Walt Disney look, was – like most (all?) of the 38th Fighter Squadron’s P-38 nose-art – painted by Sergeant Robert T. Sand, who, seemingly having an ample supply of Kodachrome film (remember film?), created an invaluable photographic record of the English countryside, villages, and towns near Nuthampstead, as well as 55th Fighter Group aircraft and personnel. Other examples of his artistic skill include – in the prior post – Jerry Ayers’ “Mountain Ayers” and Major Mark Shipman’s “Skylark IV”, and in a future posts, Lt. Albert A. Albino’s “Spirit of Aberdeen”.
“Sergeant Robert T. Sand, a pipe-smoking member of ground crew of the 55th Fighter Group, wearing an apron for carrying hand tools. Handwritten on slide:”1-32″”
As for Major Joel’s aircraft, Sergeant Sand completed the insignia about 18 November, eleven days before Major Joel was shot down. Paralleling the central mystery of what actually happened to Major Joel, there lies a minor mystery: The specific “identity” – the squadron identification letter – of the flying wolf. Unfortunately, typical of the great majority of MACRs for 8th Air Force fighter losses (the 355th Fighter Group being a notable exception), MACRs for 55th Fighter Group planes did not record specific aircraft squadron letters. Similarly, while the Squadron’s Mission Reports list the full names and serial numbers of pilots and their “positions” in squadron formations, both aircraft identification letters and aircraft serial numbers are absent from these documents.
Another view of the flying wolf in a photograph by Sgt. Sand. 42-67020, with engines running, prepares for take-off with other 38th Fighter Squadron P-38s. This photograph appears in Robert Littlefield’s Double Nickel, Double Trouble.
Here’s the Air Force Historical record card for Major Joel’s P-38. The aircraft, at a 1943 cost of nearly $99,000 (nearly 1.5 million in 2020 dollars (to put it another way, 1/52 the cost of an F-35A Lighting II)), was delivered to the Air Force in Newark, N.J., on July 30, 1943.
Before we go to Mission and Encounter Reports, here are two brief films from Critical Past pertaining to the 38th Fighter Squadron’s first combat mission, the films also including views of P-38s of the 338th Fighter Squadron.
Though a description of the film is available at Critical Past, here’s a much more detailed breakdown of the scenes in the film:
0:04 – 0:08: General view of 55th Fighter Group P-38s
0:08 – 0:12: General view of 38th FS P-38s being prepared for a mission. 0:13 – 0:28: Close-up of a P-38. Ground crewman loads parachute and dinghy in cockpit, another attends to .50 machine guns, another closes canopy, another examines engine plumbing and buttons up access panels. 0:28 – 0:34: An armorer cleans the barrel of the P-38’s 20mm cannon. 0:34 – 0:36: Finishing touches on the P-38. 0:36 – 1:12: Group Commander Colonel Frank James briefs 38th Fighter Squadron pilots prior to the mission. This scene was filmed from two different angles. The first view, from the “side” at 0:44 to 1:01, shows the entire group of pilots with P-38H “C” in the background. The “second”, from the “front” at 1:01 to 1:13, shows Colonel James at left, and fourteen pilots who are facing the camera directly.
In the “first” view – a screen-grab of which at 0:48 appearing below – there’s something interesting about the bare-headed pilot standing third from right (the only pilot not wearing a flight helmet, and, one of the two pilots in the group who is not wearing a leather jacket). Allowing for the screen-shot’s distorted perspective and very low resolution, notice that this man’s shoulder insignia appears round-ish – like a Major’s oak-leaf viewed from a distance. More importantly, he seems to be relatively short in stature. Given Milton Joel’s military rank and physical description – he was five feet six; his nickname “Gum” or Gummy” – this person may indeed be the Major himself.
In total, 21 (?) pilots are visible besides Colonel James, and, the man who appears to be Major Joel. Though it would be challenging to correlate “names to faces” 77 years later (as if anyone would be remembered by now!), the ten other 38th Fighter Squadron pilots definitely are:
Capt. Mark K. Shipman 1 Lt. Jerry H. Ayers 1 Lt. James H. Hancock 1 Lt. Joseph Myers 1 Lt. Gerald F. Leinweber 1 Lt. Morris Leve 1 Lt. Wilton E. Wyche 2 Lt. Gerald Brown 2 Lt. Hugh E. Gillette (replaced on the mission by 2 Lt. Allen R. Peters) 2 Lt. Delorn L. Steiner …along with… Lt. Colonel Jack S. Jenkins
…thus, the other pilots are presumably members of the 338th or 343rd Fighter Squadrons, or the 20th Fighter Group.
Other scenes show:
1:13 – 1:20: A pilot (probably Lt. Colonel Jenkins) climbs into Texas Ranger. 1:20 – 1:22: The “business end” of Texas Ranger. 1:23 – 1:26: Lt. Colonel Jenkins fires up Texas Ranger’s engines. 1:27 – 1:32: P-38H CG * O taxies out. 1:33 – 1:44: Texas Ranger taxies out.
0:04 – 0:35: P-38s taxi to take-off. (Lt. Jerry Ayers’ P-38H 42-67077 CG * Q (Mountain Ayers) and Lt. Stanley Richardson’s 338th Fighter Squadron P-38H 42-67057 CL * X (Miss Mona)). 0:36 – 0:45: 38th FS P-38s take off 0:46 – 1:06: 338th Fighter Squadron P-38s take off 1:07 – 1:19: 38th FS P-38s take off (Jerry Ayers in CG * Q) 1:20 – 1:43: 55th FG P-38s overfly Nuthampstead as flights of four (or three) 1:44 – 3:00: 55th FG P-38s as viewed from 91st Bomb Group B-17s 3:00 – 3:12: P-38s return to Nuthampstead 3:13 – 3:24: P-38s land (CL * P at 3:23) 3:24 – 3:33: While landing, P-38 releases 165 gallon tank (3:28-3:29), which almost strikes his wingman. (Verily: “Whoops.”) 3:34 – 3:40 – A 338th Fighter Squadron P-38 lands (CL * O)
And so, here are accounts for the missions of November 3, 5, and 13, of 1943.
November 3, 1943
From Roger Freeman’s The Mighty Eighth
Two days later the three squadrons of the 55th, despatched from Nuthampstead, were accompanied by eight aircraft of the 20th Group all being flown by 79th Ftr. Sqdn. pilots. Not long after take-off some Lightnings experienced mechanical troubles and were forced to abort, leaving 47 to climb up through the overcast towards their rendezvous with Liberators bound for Munster. These became separated in the bad visibility, and 50° temperature at 25,000 ft caused further aircraft to turn back with engine trouble. At the rendezvous point they found no sign of the bombers and only one squadron, the 38th, finally contacted them – near the target at about the same time as a strong force of Me109s and rocket-carrying Do217s launched an attack. Outnumbered, perhaps three to one, the sixteen remaining Lightnings led by Major Milton Joel set about breaking up the enemy attacks. Most combats were inconclusive as pilots did not let themselves be drawn away from the bombers. Even so, claims of 5-3-4 were made on return to Nuthampstead, for no loss to the 55th. Their escort value was also evinced by only three of the B-24s failing to return from the mission.
One FW-190 destroyed – half-credit shared with Lt. Kreft (Westerholt-Wittmund)
Two FW-190s damaged (north of Wilhelmshaven)
Mission Report
Extract from Mission Report
Mission: Landfall out at 1200 and landfall over Dutch Coast at 1245 at altitude of 29,000 feet. R/V with bombers Task Force made at 1245. 38th Squadron was on the starboard side, conducting 1st box of task force over target, bombs away in about 8 minutes later than scheduled. Escort was at 26,000 feet. Bombers escorted back out to coast, landfall over England north of Norwich at 1415. (Flight plan attached.)
Action: On making landfall about 10 E/A seen at about Sneek, about 7,000 feet below, shortly afterwards 3 E/A observed about 3 miles behind coming in from 5 o’clock but did not press attack. In nearing target area, 13 to 20 E/A type FW 190 observed below climbing in spirals. 5 minutes later a series of fighters in groups seen below and a flight of P-38’s seen to go down after them. Over target area 5 FW 190’s approached formation from 2 o’clock and 2000 feet below, Major Joel broke into them and fired at about a 600 yard range, one A/C half rolled and was last seen my Capt. Myers disappearing through the overcast in vertical rolls, time about 1310. About same time Capt. Myers and Lt. Brown at 25,000 feet observed formation of five FW 190’s in “V” formation attacking bombers from 4 o’clock and some 2000 feet below. Capt. Myers and Lt. Brown attacked and E/A broke 3 to the left and 2 to the right. Lt. Brown attacked group of 2 and Capt. Myers attacked group of 3 giving a 2 second burst dead astern at range of 100 yards. Lt. Brown fired 60 rounds at 100 yards range result unobserved. On returning to target area 4 or 5 FW 190’s were seen on the tail of 1 P-38 behind the bomber formation. Major Joel dove down to intercept E/A which broke and Major Joel fired at one, damage unobserved, the next minute he observed in his rear view mirror an FW 190 behind in flames. Major Joel and Lt. Kreft met with 4 FW 190’s well above and approaching from 6 o’clock, the E/A pulled up and away when pulled into. Light flak inaccurate for altitude and behind flights encountered just after landfall over coast also meager and inaccurate flak encountered over target area.
Pilot’s Personal Encounter Report – Major Milton Joel
Transcript of Pilot’s Personal Encounter Report – Major Milton Joel
As we were about to leave the bombers, I, leading Swindle White Flight, heard a call for help giving position as behind rear box of bombers. As we reached the rear box we saw a single P-38 in a steep dive being closely followed by four or five FW190’s. At about 17,000, the P-38 pulled up and started turning with the enemy aircraft. We dove in to help. As we started in, my second element saw enemy aircraft turning and firing at the single P-38, break off and dive away. I pulled up thinking the P-38 would join in, but he did not. I made a climbing turn to 22,000 feet, leveled off, and began a shallow left turn to orient myself. We were then attacked by enemy aircraft from 10 o’clock out of the sun. I turned into him in a tight chandelle and fired as he closed almost head on. At the time the enemy aircraft was in a diving right turn. Enemy aircraft passed close enough for me to see oil streaming out of his cowling, which was painted red. Enemy aircraft passed just below me. Using my rear-vision mirror to see my wing man, I saw the plane crossing my path, behind Lt. Kreft, at 90 degrees in flames and disintegrating. When the enemy aircraft appeared in my mirror, there seemed to be an explosion, and the enemy aircraft seemed to stop in mid-air. As there were other enemy aircraft in the area, I did not try to watch him farther.
Pilot’s Personal Encounter Report
Major Milton Joel and Captain Jerry H. Ayers
Transcript of Pilot’s Personal Encounter Report
Major Milton Joel and Capt. Jerry H. Ayers
A formation of 5 FW-190’s approached bomber from 2 o’clock flying parallel to course at about 2000 feet below us. I began a parallel dive toward them from astern. Two FW 190’s pulled off into half rolls to right and one to left leaving two who started gentle turn. I fired from behind with about 10 degrees deflection, range about 500 yards and closed seeing what I believed to be strikes. Before I could close within good range, one of them half rolled and the one I was firing at pulled up and did what appeared to be vertical rolls at the ground. I pulled up to rejoin bombers. Capt. Ayers states ship spun through clouds.
I saw Major Joel’s flight engage some FW 190’s below me, 1000 or 1500 feet. After completing a 260 degree turn, I looked behind and below me and saw a FW 190 spinning down and smoke was coming from the cowling. I saw the FW 190 spin through the overcast.
Pilot’s Personal Encounter Report
2 Lt. Robert W. Forsblad
Transcript of Pilot’s Personal Encounter Report – 2 Lt. Robert W. Forsblad
When Major Joel started his attack on the E/A, I turned inside of him getting on his right wing well forward in a line abreast position. I saw Major Joel open fire at about 400 yard range, I was then trying to take a lead on the same E/A. The E/A went into a dive, I followed for about a second after Major Joel broke off the attack. I saw black smoke come from the E/A’s engine. I then broke off and got back in formation.
November 5, 1943
From Roger Freeman’s The Mighty Eighth
The Lightnings were not always so fortunate in combat. In another, two days later, the 55th was assigned to escort Marauders bombing Melun airfield in France. Here Focke-Wulfs slipped out of the cloud and attacked elements of the 20th Group that had gone along. One Lightning was severely damaged, the pilot baling out over the Channel and another failed to return to base, its fate unknown.
One Me-109 destroyed (west of Arnheim, Holland)
Mission Report
Extract from Mission Report
Mission: After crossing Dutch Coast, Bombers sighted 10 miles North East at 1316. Bombers were late. Orbited to meet bombers. R/V 1346/25,000 as planned. Flights 1 and 2 covered forward part of formation, Flights 3 and 4 covered rear of formation. They escorted the bombers all the way to and from the target.
Action: Three ME 190’s in midst of bomber formation at time of R/V, one pass made at them and they left. A few fighters seen to right of formation as going over target. Five minutes after leaving target, 3 ME 109’s came in on straggler at 12,000 feet. Major Joel’s flight went down to help. By this time the B-24 exploded and rolled over, one parachute seen. Turned into attackers at least 5 times helping stragglers out to coast. Two ME 109’s and 1 FW 190 attacked B-24’s in area of Arnhem. Major Joel fired at one and No. 4 man saw smoke pour out and No. 2 man saw a parachute bloom. Three FW 109’s seen at about 14,000 making attack from 3 o’clock position area of Arnhem. Capt. Myers opened fire, numerous hits especially 3 direct 20 MM blasted large holes in side of one. Pilot bailed out and plane went down in flames. In same engagement, Lt. Forsblad damaged an ME 109. At R/V time, 12 to 15 e/a were observed above bomber formation took off when turned into. Another 4 ME 109’s driven off just after passing over target. Beyond target about 15 FW 190’s with rocket guns observed above the bombers and about 3 twin-engined ships, DO 217’s with rockets behind at 1500 yards. Capt. Myers scored hits on one DO 217 and it was seen going down with left engine on fire, seen by Lt. Wyche. Lt. Steiner fired at another DO 217 at close range but did not observe results. Between Wintersvijk and Doetinchem about 3 Squadrons of FW 190’s came up behind the bombers. Capt. Shipman bounced one and observed hits and smoke. Two others attacked by Capt. Shipman and Lt. Des Voignes, one seen by Capt. Ayers to have large pieces falling off and in flames, the other blew up. All combat 20,000 to 25,000 feet. Attacks were constant but not aggressive towards fighters. Near the coast, in area of Rotterdam, Lt. Leinweber and flight attacked five e/a from dead astern. Engine of one e/a exploded with considerable smoke and large flames. Flak very heavy over target, accurate for altitude. No tracers.
Pilot’s Personal Encounter Report
Major Milton Joel and 2 Lt. James M. Garvin
Transcript of Pilot’s Personal Encounter Report
Major Milton Joel and 2 Lt. James M. Garvin
Flying parallel and behind #2 bomber box at 26,000 ft. when I saw 2 stragglers about to be attacked by three 190’s. Stragglers were behind first two boxes about 2 miles at 18,000 ft, approximately. We were just in front of stragglers. E/A were about to make a diving head on pass from 2 o’clock on the bombers. I attempted to head them off by making a diving right turn firing at the lead 109 at about 400 yards or more at about 15-20 degrees deflection, trying to close from behind. Two E/A did a rudder roll downward into a vertical dive as I opened fire. Before I closed much beyond 300 yards, the leader went into a vertical dive and I could no longer hold my lead and head nearly reached compressibility, I pulled up and over the bombers. E/A got no closer than 1000 yards to bombers. My wing man Lt. Forsblad claims seeing heavy black smoke come from E/A though I saw no results while firing. Lt. Garvin in cover flight above saw parachute break out below us.
At the time of Major Joel’s encounter with a 109, I was above and behind the two straggling bombers about 2,000 ft. Shortly after, 1/2 to 1 minutes, of the approximate time of encounter, I saw a parachute about 2,000 ft. below these two stragglers. This chute was in about a 10 o’clock position to me, and would have been about a 2 o’clock position to the two bombers. No E/A were seen.
The following article, by Philadelphia Inquirer correspondent Paul W. Ramsey, appeared in that newspaper on November 29, 1943 – ironically, the very day on which Major Joel and Lt. Garvin were killed. (The article was found at FultonHistory.)
Old Newspapers
Transcript of Article…
Lightning Fighters Squadron of 16 Has Battle-Filled Hour Protecting Bombers on Muenster Raid
By Paul W. Ramsey Inquirer War Correspondent The Philadelphia Inquirer November 29, 1943
AN AMERICAN FIGHTER BASE, SOMEWHERE IN ENGLAND (Delayed)
THE squadron of Lightning Fighters roared along high over Germany. It was Friday, Nov. 5, a rare, sunny day and the job was to escort Liberators over Muenster and bring them home
Leading the squadron was a Richmond, Va., boy – 23-year-old Major Milton Joel, a slightly pudgy, good-natured and very capable pilot and officer. His young wife and some of his closer friends call him Gummy.
As the squadron of fast, twin-engined fighters neared the rendezvous point where Lightnings were to take over the escort task from the single-engined Thunderbolts, the pilots scanned the sales anxiously for the other squadrons which should have joined up much earlier.
They could see for many miles in all directions but there was no sign of the other Lightnings. Gummy led his men on toward the rendezvous. When one of his pilots suddenly called over radio phones, “There are our big friends at 11 o’clock,” Joel knew his 16 Lightnings would have to do the escort job alone – 16 Lightnings to protect more than 300 Liberators!
His squadron, with one exception, had had less than a month of combat experience. The job ahead was a large order.
Splits Squadron
Joel split up his squadron and led his own section of eight planes forward to protect the leading “box” of heavy bombers. The Liberators were strung out for miles. They looked like great flocks of birds when first seen, but grew larger rapidly as the Lightnings sped toward them.
As Joel took up his position over the forward box his second section, commanded by Captain Mark Shipment [Captain Mark K. Shipman], a carrot-haired veteran of the African campaign, dropped behind to cover the rear formation.
German fighters showed up at once and so began a furious running fight which lasted nearly a full hour. The 16 Lightnings raced up and down the skies, now over the formation, now darting far below to protect stragglers, now racing to the sides to fight off flank attacks.
The long-range Lightnings dropped their belly tanks when the first enemy craft appeared. Joel’s section was cruising along, protecting the forward box, when one of his pilots called out:
“Three bandits at 12 o’clock attacking the lead formation.”
Always Fight in Teams
American fighter pilots always fight in teams. Joel had eight planes in his section. Now he must further divide his forces. He could, with prudence, take only four of his eight planes into the attack at once because top cover must be maintained.
Leading his second flight of four planes was Captain James H. Hancock, of Sebring, Fla. So when Joel called over radio phone, “Joel to Hancock, I’m going down,” Hancock knew what to do.
From an altitude of five miles Joel led his four Lightnings forward in a fast, gradual dive at three Messerschmitt-109s which were attacking the toad formation head-on.
As soon as the 109s saw the Lightnings the rolled on their backs and dived away right through the middle of the formation. The bombers blazed away at the Germans as they streaked down.
Quickly Joel took his four planes back up over the formation and rejoined Hancock’s flight. But almost immediately they spotted a flight of Germans attacking two straggling Liberators which had dropped four miles back of the front box and 3000 feet below.
Disperse Germans
Joel’s flight dove immediately to the stragglers’ rescue and quickly dispersed the Germans, who apparently have orders to attack bombers an often as possible while generally avoiding action with our fighters.
Once more Joel led his men back up to their position over the rear of the front box of Liberators. They had hardly gotten back there when a third straggler, which had fallen farther behind than the other two, was attacked by three 109s from dead astern.
Major Joel took his four planes down at grant speed but it looked like a lost race from the beginning. The three 109s were coming in on the tall of the lone Liberator with machine-guns and cannon blazing.
The Liberator returned the fire until the very last. Her guns were still firing – and the Lightnings were within 5000 yards – when the big bomber suddenly exploded and spun down in earth. Joel and his men did not see any parachutes open. It was the only bomber lost to enemy fighters. [Possibly B-24H 42-7490, EC * U-, “Big Ass Bird”, of the 578th Bomb Squadron, 392nd Bomb Group, piloted by 1 Lt. Douglas R. Steinmetz. There were no survivors.]
Stricken Fortress Appears
Then an odd thing happened. A stricken Flying Fortress which apparently had started out with other B-17s on the Gelsenkirschen raid that day flew over, trying to reach the protection of the Liberator formation. The Fortress was obviously crippled and losing altitude.
By this time the Liberators had dropped their bombs on the Muenster railway yards – but the Lightning pilots bad no opportunity to observe results – and were on the long haul home. The lone Fortress was 12,000 feet below the first box and about 10 miles to rear.
Hardly had the Lightning pilots spotted the big bomber when three ME-109s, which were flying high, saw it too and went for it.
Leaving Hancock’s four planes to cover the B-24s, Major Joel took his four down. They had been flying about 20,000 feet and it looked like a toss-up whether the Lightnings or the 109s would get to the crippled B-17 first.
Major Joel flipped on his back and went down in a screaming dive with his wingman close beside him. Following them came Captain Joseph Myers, 24, of Canton, O., and his wingman.
Closing in Fast
The three 109s were closing in fast, approaching the Fortress from the port quarter and flying in a line astern. It looked like the Germans would get there first, so Major Joel led his men down at terrific speed, hoping to scare them away before they had lined up their shots.
Captain Myers gave his plane all it would take. At 20,000 feet he saw the Messerschmitts turning into the Fortress. At 17,000 feet when going nearly 600 miles an hour in an almost vertical dive, so fast that his ship was buffeting and shaking, the German plane second in line came Into Myers’ sights
At that moment the German was beginning a left turn Into the Fortress. Myers kept the German In his sights.
Now Myers was still diving almost vertically and at speed far beyond the margin of safety. When he had closed to 300 yards the German was at the middle of his 90-degree turn, which meant he was “standing” on his left wing. At that precise moment Myers pressed the triggers of his machine-gun and cannon.
Cannon Shells Hit
It was a shot in a thousand, but he hit the German squarely and more than once. There were three distinct flash-blasts as three cannon shells hit – the first struck the ceiling, the second hit the pilot’s compartment, literally blowing the pilot out of the plane, the third blew most of the plane’s tail off.
The other two 109s fled. Myers and Joel and the other two fliers then saw that the B-17 was still flying and apparently had not been hit by any of the 109s.
They climbed sharply back up then and Joel was just about to lead them over to check on the main formation when they saw four Germans going for straggling Liberators which were cruising several thousand feet below and to the rear of the main formation.
As the four Lightnings swooped down the four Nazis were making a turn in toward the bombers. Two of the Germans flicked over and dived away but the other two continued their turn.
Major Joel fired a long burst at German Number Two, who did a rudder roll and went down, in flames. Shortly afterwards one or the Lightning pilots saw a parachute come out of the diving, blazing plane.
Rout Six Planes
Back up for altitude went the Lightnings again and this time they drove off a flight of six enemy planes which was attacking the formation from left front.
By this time more Germans were attacking the stragglers. This time Joel and his flight maintained top cover while Hancock took his men down. Hancock’s flight had made several attacks on Focke-Wulfs and Messerschmitts but the enemy always broke and fled before his approach.
As his flight dove to aid the straggling bombers, four more enemy planes dove out of the sun. Hancock saw them coming in time to turn his flight into them. They broke and fled. Then the four Lightnings proceeded to chase off Germans who were after crippled bombers.
By this lime the running fights had been on nearly an hour and the bombers were nearing the coast. The other eight Lightnings had been just as busy as Joel’s section. But that’s another story.
November 13, 1943
From Roger Freeman’s The Mighty Eighth
The 13th was certainly an unlucky day for the 55th. In typical English November weather, damp and overcast, forty-eight P-38s set out to escort bombers on the target leg of a mission to Bremen; one turned back before the enemy coast was crossed and two more aborted later. At 26,000 ft over Germany pilots shivered in bitterly cold cockpits; flying conditions were unusually bad, and the probability of mechanical troubles at that temperature did not help. Again outnumbered, the 55th was heavily engaged near the target as it strove to defend the bombers, for which it paid dearly. Seven P-38s fell, five to enemy fighters and the others to unknown causes; it was suspected that engine troubles might have made some of the P-38s lost easy prey for enemy fighters. Sixteen returned with battle damage: one, pitted with over a hundred small calibre bullet holes and ripped from five cannon shell bursts, came back on one engine. The Group had sustained grievous losses, but there was some consolation to be found in the protection they had afforded the bombers which, after all, was their object. Worse was to follow.
One Ju-88 destroyed (Bremen) One Ju-88 probable (Bremen) One Me-109 probable (Bremen) One Me-109 damaged (shared with Lt. Stacker) (Bremen)
Mission Report
Extract from Mission Report
Mission: Over English Coast at 1049. Landfall over Dutch Coast at 1110 at 20,000 feet. Bombers first observed at 1127 at 24,500 feet on vector 150, 30 miles NW of target, fighters at that time 3 o’clock position 20 miles away, joined bomber formation 10 miles NW of target. Over target at 1130 at about 27,000 feet, tanks dropped at R.V. Out over Dutch Coast at 1330. One flight escorted bombers over channel leaving them around 1245. 13 A/C landed at home at 1350.
Action: One flight returned ahead of the bombers without incident until they reached Dutch Coast in area of Amsterdam-Ijmiuden, where intense flak was encountered, all four ships of the flight were hit with varying degrees of damage, but returned to base, one piloted by Lt. Col. Jenkins crash landed at Debden.
E/A apparently arrived at the same time as our fighter escort in target area. A group of JU-88’s were observed towards the rear of the bombers, Major Joel closed in from the rear, fired just as JU 88 discharged his rockets. Major Joel closed to about 100 yards and saw both engines on fire as JU 88 broke, climbing out he observed a group of ME-109’s at side of bombers, and with wing man, Lt. Stacker attacked one ME-109 then pulled into the sun, observed 3 JU-88’s in strength at the tail of B-17’s, Major Joel and his wingman attacked the last of the JU-88’s, as he fired he looked back and saw his wingman, also intent on E/A, being attacked by a twin-engine A/C, presumably JU-88 or possibly ME-410. Major Joel called wingman to break, the P-38 turned over and spun down smoking. Major Joel believes he saw parachute open. Major was then out of ammunition and streaked for home being pursued for some ten minutes by a ME-109 who he was able to outrun. Blue Flight reports E/A all over the sky in the sun in front of the bombers. Just after target, one FW-190 at 3 o’clock to the bombers driven off, flight moved back to B-24’s at 24,000 feet. Attacked FW-190, were in turn attacked by the E/A, broke and rejoined the bombers and observed about 15 E/A under bombers. These E/A were kept below the bombers by repeated bounces. Just after target Red Flight No. 3, Lt. Brown, had out engine knocked out by E/A. They were diving from 29,000 feet at JU-8 at about 25,000 feet, and as they were attacked another JU-88 came in on Red leaders tail, he was in turn attacked by Lt. Brown, element leader, who saw him smoking. Flight turned up to left. During this attack an ME-109 had dived out on Lt. Brown after attacking him from the rear breaking off at about 50 yards, attaining numerous bursts. Capt. Myers shot this E/A down in flames. Lt. Brown returned from target area on one engine. One other P-38 engine feathered joined formation. There was a B-17 straggler at about 19,000 feet. Lt. Brown and the other crippled P-38 joined in with this bomber and Capt. Myers escorted the 3 A/C from the target area to the coast. On the way out there were continuous attacks for about ten minutes from 8 ME-109’s.
They made alternating attacks on the B-17 and on the two damaged P-38’s. Capt. Myers maneuvered behind the E/A and kept chasing them off by repeated passes, until the Dutch Coast and then escorted Lt. Brown home. Lt. Maloney separated from his Red flight at R/V due to inability to drop belly tanks, and in individual encounters, before joining an element from yellow flight shot down one FW 190 and damaged one other FW 190. It is estimated that there were a total of 300 E/A involved in the encounters, they were extremely aggressive towards fighters. Among the types observed were ME-109’s, FW-190’s, Do-217’s, JU-88’s, and ME-210’s, these later ships appeared to be exceptionally maneuverable and may be an ME-410.
Weather: Scattered to broken cumulus clouds over the channel. 7 to 8/10th cloud cover at target and cirrostratus at 20,000 feet over target. R/T was good.
Claims: 1 JU-88 destroyed – Major Joel, 1 JU-88 probably destroyed, 1 ME 109 damaged, shared with Lt. Stacker, and 1 ME-109 damaged. 1 FW-190 damaged – Capt. Beaird. 1 ME-109 destroyed – Capt. Myers, and 1 JU-88 probably destroyed – Capt. Myers. 1 JU-88 damaged – Lt. Brown. 1 FW-190 destroyed and 1 FW-190 damaged – Lt. Maloney.
Pilot’s Personal Encounter Report – Major Milton Joel
Transcript of Pilot’s Personal Encounter Report – Major Milton Joel
I was leading the second section of Swindle Squadron as Swindle Yellow Leader, when we crossed the top of the bombers just prior to reaching the target. About _____ thousand feet above the top of the second box of bombers, vapor trails were very heavy. As we crossed on the port side, on which side we were supposed to pro- vide close support, I saw my second flight, led by Captain Myers, being attacked by many ME 109’s. He was about 500 feet below. As he went down to turn into the attack, I went over to cover him and saw about 8 ME 109’s coming down on us from 2 o’clock. I turned into the attack and the 190’s seemed to overshoot us. However, one ME 109 approached me on the same level from 5 o’clock. I took about 15 degrees deflection and followed him, firing all of the time as he passed. I believe that Lt. Stacker, who was flying on my wing, and firing also. I saw strikes, smoke, and flame. The E/A seemed to fall over on one wing and go into a dive. I broke immediately upward.
In the course of the engagement my second element became separated. I then noted a twin-engined aircraft coming down from above, closing in on the rear of the middle box of B-17’s, turning in behind them. I held my fire until I had closed within 300 yards, and fired from dead astern. I saw two great flashes of flame and pieces flying off, and what appeared to be the JU 88, now smoking, heavily, did a very slow half turn and began to spin to the right.
I broke upward and saw some ME 190’s coming down on us from two o’clock. I turned into them and fired a deflection shot from about 300 yards at 10 degrees, at the last plane as he passed, noting strikes, but no further results.
I then realized that I had lost my second element and found myself and my wingman toward the rear of the bombers. We started to head across the bombers path to the forward section of the formation in an attempt to join up with someone, when I noted three twin-engined fighters coming down from above on the tail of the bomber formation to attack. All three of them appeared to be carrying rockets. I looked around, and I saw nothing above. I decided to attack the last one, and closed in to about 250 yards. Began firing and noted strikes on engine and rudder.
I then looked in my rear vision mirror and saw a twin-engine fighter coming down from 7 o’clock and about half a mile away, apparently intent on attacking my wingman. I called to him several times, telling him to break, but he apparently didn’t hear. I wanted him to break first in order to get the enemy aircraft between him and myself. As he did not break, I pulled up to the left in a Chandelle, hoping he would follow me. The JU 88 that we had been firing at by this time had broken to the left and headed down in a steep dive, smoke and flames coming from one engine. Lt. Stacker apparently tried to follow the first EA down further, because when I got to the top of my Chandelle, I saw that he had not followed me, but was in a dive with a twin-engine fighter closing on his tail. Still calling to him to break, I turned to try to close on the twin-engine fighter. At that moment Lt. Stacker pulled up, turning to the left at the same time. At the same time I was able to pull my turn tighter and close within 300 yards of the twin-engine fighter. I fired with about ten degree deflection, but my guns fired only about five or ten rounds and stopped. I saw Lt. Stacker’s airplane turn over on its back at the top of his climb, smoke coming out from both engines with pieces falling off. A large black object came out of the cockpit, which I assumed was the pilot.
I looked behind me and saw five 190’s about to attack me from out of the sun. I gave it full throttle and broke downward in an attempt to run away and join up with the other ships in the area. The ME 109’s seemed to be closing on me so pulling about 55 inches I pulled upward in a very steep climb, and after about 5,000 feet they seemed to give up as they were falling back all the time.
Before I could join any other P-38’s, I noticed one ME 109 coming out of the sun (this was at 30,000 feet from about 5 o’clock about 500 yards behind me). With throttle full open and my nose slightly down, I finally managed to out-distance him after about 10 minutes. I lost 5,000 feet, and the ME 109 had closed within range of me, and at one time managed to get a it on my propeller with 20 MM. I finally lost him flying straight and level at 26,000 feet, pulling 60 inches, and indicating 300 miles per hour. Each time that the E/A fired I skidded the plane violently and corckscrewed. I could not do anything else as I was out of ammunition, and was afraid that if I turned into him, I wouldn’t have enough gas to get back home, even if I did evade him.
I joined six P-38’s at the Dutch Coast. Upon landing I found that I had had stoppages in two machine guns and also in the cannon. My right prop had been pierced by a 20 MM shell about one-half the distance from tip to hub.
Missing Air Crew Report for 2 Lt. John A. Stacker
The centrality of Missing Air Crew Reports (MACRs) in chronicling combat losses in the Army Air Force of WW II, and their secondary use in genealogy, have been evident since these documents were declassified in the mid-1980s. They’re available in digital format via Fold3 at varying degrees of quality. It’s unfortunate that the original paper documents – as such – have not been scanned and made available to the public, in the way that equally valuable archival records of other countries (such as Australia – the National Archives of Australia; such as England – the Commonwealth War Graves Commission; such as others) have been made freely available to the public at relatively high levels of resolution.
During a visit to NARA some time ago (in the era before the great COVID Coup of 2020) I was able to scan the MACR (# 1438) for Lt. Stacker. As such, an image of Major Joel’s original account of his wingman’s loss appears below.
Transcript of Missing Air Crew Report for 2 Lt. John A. Stacker
My wingman and I had already become separated from the other elements of the flight in previous encounters, and had fallen back towards the rear of the last box of bombers. I observed three JU 88’s coming in for an attack on the rear of the bombers.
My wingman and I attacked the last JU 88 of the three. As I closed in and fired, I chanced to look back and saw a twin-engine fighter coming in from 5 o’clock about half a mile away. I called to Lieutenant Stacker, my wingman, telling him to break first with the idea that I could then break and possibly get behind the E/A. My wingman was apparently intent on pressing home his attack on the E/A which had winged over with engine smoking.
I must have called him about five times without result. Meanwhile, the E/A was closing. I made a definite break to the left and up, hoping my wingman would follow. At the top of my break, I saw the E/A on my wingman’s tail at about 300 yards and firing. I pulled my turn short to close in on the E/A, and at that time my wingman apparently saw him for he pulled straight up. The E/A pulled up inside. I closed to three or four hundred yards of the E/A and tried to fire. I got only a few rounds out when my guns stopped. My wingman at that time had pulled up steeply. I saw pieces fly off the aircraft. He rolled on his back with both engines smoking, and I saw some dark object leave the cockpit. I was then attacked by four ME 109’s from behind and had to break. Later, while still pursued by E/A, I looked back and saw what could have been a parachute or a burst of white smoke.
This photograph, date and location, from the J Cook Photo Collection & Archives (image UPL29593), at the American Air Museum in Britain, shows Lt. Stacker (full name John Arthur Stacker) seated in the cockpit of a P-38. He appears to be performing a ground test of his oxygen mask. Text with the photo states, “Best friend of Col Bud Anderson 357th FG ace”.
Here are two articles from the Richmond Times-Dispatch reporting on Major Joel’s experiences on November 13, as published in that newspaper on the 14th.
A transcript of the article…
Major Joel Reports Running Into Heavy German Opposition
The first of the returning flyers from a United States attack on Northern Germany today reported they had run into the heaviest of recent German fighter opposition, according to an Associated Press dispatch. The contingent of airmen included a Richmonder who distinguished himself.
“The Germans had hundreds of fighters in the sky,” said Major Milton Joel, of 5 Greenway Lane, Richmond, a pilot of one of the escorting Lightning fighters.
“They had everything from ME-109s to JU-88s, and all the JU-88s were firing rocket shells,” he said. “Wherever you turned there was an enemy plane at your side. That’s how I got shots at so many.”
He was credited with one destroyed, two probables and one damaged.
And, another article, also published on November 14.
A transcript of the article…
Richmonder Blasts Nazis Over Bremen
Major Joel Leads Lightning Squadron
Major Milton Joel, 23-year-old Richmond leader of a Lighting squadron, was credited in an Associated Press dispatch with destroying a JU-88 and probably destroying another, as well as a ME-109, in yesterday’s raid on Bremen by the United States Eighth Air Force.
“The Germans had hundreds of fighters in the sky,” the dispatched quoted the major, who was among the first of the fliers to return to London from the raid.
“They had everything from ME-109s to JU-88s and all the JU-88s were firing rocket shells,” he said. “Wherever you turned, there was an enemy plane at your side. That’s how I got shots at so many.”
Yesterday’s attack on the great German industrial and shipping port results in the biggest American loss since the great daylight raid on Schweinfurt, October 14. Nine fighters and 15 heavy bombers were lost in yesterday’s attack.
Major Joel, one of the contingent of airmen to distinguish themselves yesterday has been a pilot since 1939, having completed the pilot’s course at Richmond University, where he graduated with a B.S. degree. He also attended the University of Virginia. Major Joel received his second lieutenant’s commission in May, 1941, and his major’s commission and appointment in commander of a fighter squadron in October, 1942.
Before going overseas, Major Joel was stationed at Pendleton Field, Oreg., where he had the distinction of being the youngest major.
Major Joel is the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Joel, of Greenway Lane.
This article about the November 13 mission appeared in the Burlington Free Press on December 10. Captain Eugene E. Ryan, referred to in the last paragraph, served in the 343rd Fighter Squadron. According to USAF Credits for the Destruction of Enemy Aircraft, World War II, he was credited with one aerial victory for the mission.
Bombers Do Escort Duty For Fighter Planes Usual Procedure Reversed After Raid on Bremen By FRANKLIN BANKER
AT A U.S. FIGHTER BASE IN ENGLAND, Nov. 23. (By Mail) (AP) – It’s the job of American fighter planes to escort bombers to their targets – but sometimes it works in reverse.
Suck an incident was described by Lt. Col. Jack S. Jenkins of Levelland, Tex., who led a group of P-38 fighters escorting Flying Fortresses and Liberators during a raid on Bremen.
The twin – engined Lightnings, running into plenty of German fighter opposition on the Nov. 13 mission, had a tough day. Several got back on one engine. A number of others were shot down over Germany.
Two Lightnings with one engine shot out had Fortresses to thank for escorting them home. Without their normal speed they would have been easy targets for German fighters. The Lightnings were piloted by Lts. Peter Dempsey of Tacoma, Wash., and Fleming W. Suiter of Chesapeake, Ohio.
Stuck Close To B-17s
“They just stuck close to some B-17’s, who protected them all the way home,” said Col. Jenkins. “The Fortresses did a good job bringing them around rain-clouds and showers.
“When a B-17 straggles, we help it. When a fighter plane is knocked out of formation, the B-17s help it. We work closely together.
“When a fighter pilot sees one of those big, queenly B-17s go down in flames, it gives him a terrific desire to get in there and do his job.”
The fighter pilots also must be quick at assisting fellow fighters.
Heroic Action
During another part of the aerial battle, Dempsey and Lt. Gerald Brown of East Ashland St., Phoenix, Ariz., were saved from German fighters by Capt. Joseph Myers of Canton, Ohio, a P-38 pilot. One of Brown’s engines was shot out and his plane was peppered with bullet holes.
“Capt. Myers did a heroic thing,” said Jenkins, air executive officer of this base. “He tucked them (Dempsey and Brown) in close together and shepherded them away from the target. He probably warded off 20 fighter attacks in all. Joe shot down an Me 109 which would have gotten Brown in another second or so.
“I don’t know how he ever got them out of there. I recommended him for a decoration.”
Jenkins, whose Lightning was named the “Texas Ranger”, went to the defense of Lt. Morris Leve of 1,420 Cortelyou road, Brooklyn, N.Y., but wound up with Leve helping him out.
A Long Way Home
Heading back over the English Channel on one good engine, Jenkins ran into a 140 miles-an-hour headwind. It took him an hour and a half to fly what normally would have taken 20 minutes. Running low on gas and with his hydraulic brake system shot up, he had to make a belly landing at an away-from-base airfield.
During the homeward trip, the crippled P-38s of Jenkins and Capt. Jerry H. Avers of Haley, Tenn, were escorted by two Lightning pilots.
One of the day’s high “scorers” at this base was Capt. Eugene E. Ryan of Box 502, Darien, Conn., formerly of Lake Ave., Greenwich, Conn. It was the first raid on which he got a good shot at enemy planes. He destroyed two of them.
War, whether in terms of international politics, economics, strategy, tactics, or the actual conduct of military campaigns, is by nature a collage of uncertainties. However, there is another uncertainty inherent to war: one that can occur within the immediacy of battle, or, persist after (sometimes, long after) a conflict has actually ended, and the attention of men and nations has moved on.
That uncertainty revolves around the fate of those who have not returned:
The missing.
Ever since the long-forgotten advent of organized human conflict, it has been inevitable that the fate of each and every soldier who fails to return from battle cannot be resolved with certainty. This can be attributable to a number of factors: The physical setting of a battle; the circumstances – specifically, the nature of the weapons, ordnance, craft, or vehicles – by which a soldier has become a casualty and “missing”; the geographic remoteness of a clash with the enemy; the loss of military records, or, the inability to actually record the history of a battle in the first place; the faulty and fleeting memory of witnesses to a soldier’s fate, or, the not infrequent absence of such witnesses – whether immediate or long surviving – to begin with; a society’s desire – from the combined effects of psychological and spiritual exhaustion, economic prosperity, and simple apathy – to put the memory of the past to rest. *
All these factors – and more – in varying combination and degree, can stand in the way of definitively establishing the ultimate fate of a missing soldier.
In terms of the historical memory of the American public, the central conflict in terms of collective memory – though that memory is steadily withering in the face of time, cultural change, and the oxymoron of “information technology” – during recent decades has been the Second World War. Perhaps the collective memory of that war among the other Allied nations that participated in the conflict is undergoing a parallel transformation – albeit for factors unique to those societies.
In terms of American servicemen Missing in Action (MIA) from the Second World War, Wikipedia’s entry states, “As of October 9, 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, there were still 72,562 U.S. servicemen and civilians still unaccounted for from World War II.” State by state lists of the names of these men can be found at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
Though I don’t have precise figures at the moment, a significant proportion of these missing servicemen is, I think, comprised of naval personnel and aviators who were lost at sea, the chances of their physical recovery and identification probably being miniscule. Other MIAs, however – army ground forces personnel as well as aviators – lost, or presumed to have been lost among the islands of the Pacific, Continental Europe, and perhaps other theatres of war, may in time still be found.
One such man was Major Milton Joel of Richmond, Virginia. A P-38 Lightning fighter pilot and squadron commander in the United States Army Air Force – specifically the English-based 8th Air Force – he was lost during aerial combat with the German Luftwaffe during a bomber escort mission over northern Europe on Monday, November 29, 1943.
He was one of some 750 Jews who served as fighter pilots during the Second World War. Roughly 500 of these men were Americans – primarily in the United States Army Air Force, and secondarily in the Navy and Marine Corps – while some 250 others served in the air arms of other Allied nations. Since these numbers are mainly based upon documents pertaining to casualties, per se, there were doubtless others whose names are unknown.
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Major Joel has never been found.
This series of posts presents his story.
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Milton Joel as a Lieutenant or Captain, during his service with the 27th Fighter Squadron of the 1st Fighter Group.
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A Lockheed P-38 Lighting (Same aircraft in both pictures.)
The aircraft illustrated in this pair of photos (P-38H 42-67079) was not Major Joel’s “personal” fighter plane. Rather, these are excellent representative images, in that they very clearly display the P-38’s twin-engine / twin-boom / twin-tail / central fuselage pod / in-line-engine configuration, the design of which was a remarkably successful blend of function, performance, and dare I say? (yes, absolutely I say!) aesthetics.
The black & white picture is from the P-38 Lightning History at TheWorldWars, while the color photo is a postcard (remember those?) that was manufactured some decades back by “John Fry Productions” of San Diego, California, the actual card having been printed by MCA Color Graphics of Kansas City. The postcard’s very simple caption states “LOCKHEED P-38H “Lightning” (Lockheed Photo)”, thus verifying the origin of the image.
On close examination of the pictures, you can see that the pictures display the P-38 from slightly different angles. The relative position of the mountain (in the black and white image, you cans see that it’s receded behind the plane) shows that upper (color) image was taken first, followed by the black & white photo.
The absence of any unit insignia on this aircraft – implying that it had not yet been transferred to the Army Air Force – and the mountainous terrain over which the plane’s flying, suggest that the photographs were taken during a post-manufacture test / publicity flight over southern California. The light-colored (red) surround to the national insignia verifies that the pair of images were taken between late June and mid-August of 1943.
P-38H 42-67079 would eventually be assigned to the 338th Fighter Squadron of the 55th Fighter Group, where it would bear the squadron code “CL * T” of the 338th Fighter Squadron, coincidentally a brother squadron of the 55th Fighter Group’s 38th Fighter Squadron, the latter having been commanded by Major Joel. Given the absence of a Missing Air Crew Report, or, Accident Report for “CL * T”, the warplane presumably survived its combat missions, probably having eventually been salvaged for parts, or scrapped. Its components – aluminum and steel; pleixglass and bakelite; and more – perhaps in a small way eventually became became part of the postwar world.
And, even if the memory of that “world” and the era before it is now vanishing, we can still remember it. At least, for a little while.
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*And now, as we’re experiencing in the “West” during the early decades of the twenty-first century, an antinomian, secularized religious frenzy, paralleling the millennarian social unrest that persisted in central and western Europe from the eleventh through the sixteenth centuries, as described in great depth and tremendous insight by Norman Cohn in The Pursuit of the Millennium. The ultimate outcome of this phenomenon (it’s far more than a mere phenomenon!) – partially arising from the intellectual, social, and physical detachment from “reality” of much of the atrophying Wests’s secularized, credentialed, “professional” classes – is thus far unknown.
Well, for the moment.
Now, that could be the subject of interesting post! But, since that topic continues to be addressed elsewhere, back to the subject at hand…
