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
A Missing Man: Major Milton Joel, Fighter Pilot, 38th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force: III – On Course [Revised post! … December 18, 2023]
A Missing Man: Major Milton Joel, Fighter Pilot, 38th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force: IV (1) – Autumn Over Europe
A Missing Man: Major Milton Joel, Fighter Pilot, 38th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force: IV (2) – Autumn Over Europe – The “Flying Wolf” Identified [Updated post…]
A Missing Man: Major Milton Joel, Fighter Pilot, 38th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force: V – A Monday in November: Major Joel’s Last Mission [Updated Post! – January 14, 2021]
A Missing Man: Major Milton Joel, Fighter Pilot, 38th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force: VI – The Missing Years
A Missing Man: Major Milton Joel, Fighter Pilot, 38th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force: VII – A Battle in The Air [Updated post! – January 14, 2021]
A Missing Man: Major Milton Joel, Fighter Pilot, 38th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force: VIII – A Postwar Search: The Missing of November [Updated Post! – January 14, 2021]
A Missing Man: Major Milton Joel, Fighter Pilot, 38th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force: IX – The Major, Still Missing [Updated]
A Missing Man: Major Milton Joel, Fighter Pilot, 38th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force: X – Fragments of Memory
Next: Part XI – References (No pictures, just lots of citations and links.)
And, these related posts…
The Names of Others: Jewish Military Casualties on November 29, 1943
An Echo of His Final Mission: 2 Lieutenant James M. Garvin, KIA November 29, 1943