At War – Page 6 – World War 2 History Short Stories

Boike Flies WWII B-17 “Mascot” Position with the 306th Bombardment Group

**Boike photographed still in his parachute after a jump from a WWII B-17 Flying Fortress over England.**

State of Nebraska native Boike joined the United States Army Air Force in October 1943. He flew “Mascot” position with the WWII B-17 Flying Fortress “Weary Bones” Lieutenant Walter H. Keilt crew, 306th Bombardment Group, 368th Bomb Squadron, stationed in Thurleigh, England.

Boike’s story below as told by Walter Keilt.

Who was Boike?

Boike was a dog. He was also the crew mascot for my gang which flew “Weary Bones” …. Boike first made his appearance one October 1943 evening in the BOQ [Bachelor Officers Quarters] at Grand Rapids, NE [Nebraska]. He was accompanied by six assorted crew member sergeants and a mysterious looking flight bag.

“Lieutenant [Keilt], this is Boike, our new mascot.”

Five-Pound Wonder

He didn’t look like much, being of doubtful lineage. He was all black except for a small white patch on his chest and white paws. He weighed all of five pounds. Somewhere in his background was Scotch terrier blood.

“Are we correct in assuming he is flying to the UK [United Kingdom] with us?” the four officers questioned.

“Oh, yes. He is definitely flying over with us and will be a full-fledged member of the crew.”

“What happens to Boike when we have to go to altitude and have to put on oxygen masks?”

“No problem, sir. We have all that taken care of.” Whereupon the mysterious flight bag was opened and eager hands produced a standard oxygen mask which had obviously been modified by an additional strap.

“But does it fit?”

“Oh, yes. As you can see it fits securely over his snout.” And indeed it did with no apparent leaks.

“Ah, yes, but what happens if we have to jump out and hit the silk [bail out]?”

Boike’s Own Parachute

Back to the bag again and out came a small parachute and special “dog” harness made by some sympathizing parachute packer. It was very tiny but fit snugly around his chest, stomach, and front legs. The chute diameter was alleged to be about six feet. And so it was agreed that Boike was indeed an official crew member and was going to war with us.

One afternoon months later [in England], during a “stand down,” into the officers’ quarters come the enlisted crew with determined looks on their faces.

“Lieutenant,” someone said, “we have decided that Boike is not a real member of our crew as he has not even flown a single mission. All he does is eat and get fat.”

“So what?” we asked. “What can you expect of a mere dog?”

“We have a mission planned for him,” was the answer. “He is going to make a parachute jump, and then he will be a real crew member.”

“And how is he going to make this jump?” we asked.

“Very simple, sir. In two days, as you know, we are scheduled to ‘slow time’ a new engine on ‘Weary Bones.’ We, including Boike, will be on board, and you will fly over Thurleigh with flaps down, as slow as you can fly, and we will drop Boike out of the tail gunner’s hatch.”

“You have to be kidding” was our incredulous answer. “If the chute doesn’t open, we will all be murderers, and I could get court-martialed for ‘dog murder’.”

Can’t Fail, Says Crew

“But sir, we have done everything to make this a ‘no fail’ mission. We have enlarged the harness, installed a static line on the chute, and tested the whole thing by dropping it attached to a rock from the control tower. We can’t fail, and Boike will be as safe as it is possible to be.”

“Besides,” they continued, “we will have a photographer on the ground taking pictures. We will take pictures of him just before he hits the ground. We’ll send the pictures to Stars and Stripes [an American newspaper reporting war news], and we’ll all be famous.”

No amount of protesting from us could deter the crew from going through with this doubtful event. And so, on 5 June 1944 at 1000 [10 am] hours, “Weary Bones” was seen flying at 1,000 feet over Thurleigh with half flaps at 120 mph [miles per hour]. Aboard was the entire crew with the exception of the bombardier who was on the ground traveling with a base photographer in a jeep.

Boike was all harnessed up with his static line attached and ready to go!

Out Came Boike!

After the third pass the fateful deed was done! Out came Boike. The static line did its job and down came Boike the chute blossoming over his head. Upon wracking [banking] the ship over on its left wing, we could all see Boike rapidly speeding to the ground with hind feet dangling, suspended by a chute that seemed too small.

Down, down he went and after some thirty seconds Boike hit the ground, hind feet first. He let out a yip and at full speed headed for the nearest patch of trees some thousand feet west. The jeep was unfortunately on the wrong side of the field, but someone took note that Boike ran to the woods and lifted his leg on the first tree he came to.

In the meantime, up in the air, over the radio came the question, “Ship flying over Thurleigh, what are you doing throwing a dog out of the aircraft?”

“Thurleigh, this is ‘Weary Bones’ 943 [B-17 tail number 42-37943], we are just testing a parachute.”

“Roger, 943, Thurleigh tower out.”

Colonel Williams, … , who just happened to be in the [control] tower at the time, grabbed a telephone and called 368th squadron operations, “What are you crazy guys doing, throwing a poor, defenseless dog out of an airplane?”

“It’s o.k., Colonel, that was Boike’s seventeenth jump!”

“O.K., 368th, we were just wondering what was going on.”

And so that was the end of Boike’s famous jump, and he was now an official member of Keilt’s crew.

While no photographs were taken of the descent, Boike was picked up by the jeep and driven to 368th headquarters where the accompanying picture of him [above] was taken before his parachute was removed.

Boike continued to live near the mess hall and reached a weight of thirty pounds. As far as anyone of the crew knows, Boike remained at Thurleigh long after my crew went home.

If anyone knows of descendants of Boike still living in England, please contact …………. all your friends. It is a great story.

For information about the 306th Bombardment Group Historical Association visit 306bg.us. The link to the above story is http://306bg.us/Echoes%20files/90jan151.pdf.

In God I Trust: The Story of WWII B-17 Ball Turret Gunner Frank Perez

**Frank Perez WWII and 2010 kneeling next to the ball turret of a B-17 Flying Fortress.**

Frank Delgado Perez was born in Los Angeles, California, on January 14, 1924. Growing up near an aircraft manufacturing plant, he became interested in airplanes. Drafted in 1943 he requested assignment to the United States Army Air Force (USAAF).

Upon induction into the USAAF Frank reported to Keesler Army Air Field at Biloxi, Mississippi, where he went through basic training and then received specialty training at the Airplane and Engine Mechanics School there. Graduates of the school became a B-24 Liberator Flight Engineer. After gunnery school at Laredo Army Air Field, Texas, and ten days leave, Sergeant Perez reported to Salt Lake City Army Air Field, Utah, where flight crews were being formed. Expecting to be assigned to a B-24 crew but due to the “needs of the service,” Frank was assigned to the Lieutenant (Lt) John J. Connolly crew of a B-17 Flying Fortress. The B-17 crew already had a flight engineer, so Frank was selected for the ball turret gunner position. The Connolly crew then went to Sioux City Army Air Base in Iowa for advanced overseas crew training.

In April 1944 the Connolly crew with other recently formed B-17 crews ferried new B-17s over the Atlantic Ocean northern route and landed in Prestwick, Scotland. Sadly, a number of B-17s and crews were lost enroute.

Transported from Scotland to England the Connolly crew was assigned to the 401^st Bomb Group (BG), 613^th Bomb Squadron, Deenethorpe. The base was about two miles east of Corby, Northampshire, England.

Due to scheduling and additional training received by some members of Frank’s crew, he flew his first combat mission as a ball turret gunner with the Lt Dow C. Pruitt crew on April 18, 1944. The primary target was Oranienburg, Germany. The city was the site of a Nazi nuclear energy project. Cloud cover over the city that day forced cancellation of the mission, and a secondary target was chosen. The secondary target was the Kumarkische-Zellewolle Viscose Fiber factory at Wittenburg, Germany.

April 19, 1944, Frank’s second combat mission, he rejoined the Connolly crew. The target that day was Kassel, Germany. Kassel targets included aircraft, heavy tank, locomotive, engine, and motor transport plants as well as railway works.

In 2012 oral history interviews * **, Frank spoke of the anxiety and fear felt by many men flying combat missions. He was a devout Catholic and wore a crucifix on the chain with his dog tags. Frank said before a combat mission a priest was available to those men who wanted to receive Absolution (part of the Sacrament of Penance). It offered them a sense of peace in knowing that they may not return. Frank did not drink alcohol but said if he did he would rather have had the shot of whiskey before the mission instead of during the interrogation when they returned to their base.

After the Connolly crew June 6, 1944, D-Day mission to Caen, France, Frank was hospitalized with pneumonia. He spent almost a month recuperating and then was grounded for weeks. He started flying with his crew again on July 28, 1944, with the target being the synthetic oil and ammonia plant at Merseburg, Germany. [Frank would later fly with other crews to reach his required number of combat missions. Some members of the Connolly crew fulfilled their mission requirements in August 1944.]

All combat missions were fraught with danger, but Frank spoke of a particular mission to Ludwigshaven, Germany, that became a test of his faith. Ludwigshaven was the site of large marshalling (railway) yards and a railroad depot. The bombing run that day was completed, and the B-17s turned to fly back to their base in England. Frank’s B-17 was hit by flak and began tumbling and rolling out of control as it quickly lost altitude from about 30 thousand feet. They were still over Germany. Frank could not get out of the ball turret due to the centrifugal force created as the plane fell from the sky. He saw the ground getting closer and closer. Frank called the pilot on the intercom. No answer. Then he called “anyone.” No answer.

During the oral history interview Frank asked for a moment to collect his thoughts. Even decades later, he said he felt “tongue-tied” and emotionally “thrown back” to that mission.

After a pause Frank continued his story. He thought he was going to be killed and started to pray. He prayed, “Well, God, if this is the way it has to be, let it be.” Frank said, “I was under tension and wanted to live. But when I said that, at that instant, everything was just as peaceful as it can get. [I] had my whole life flash before me … from the time I was a little kid to that moment. I mean just like a movie, but going like that [he snaps his fingers]. It’s hard to explain … like if you get killed, so what … you just don’t care.”

And then the B-17 pulled up.

The plane was flying at treetop level with only two of the four engines working. The crew began throwing unnecessary equipment and supplies out of the plane to lighten the load. Frank was still in the ball turret and was there for the entire mission. After what seemed like an eternity, he saw the White Cliffs of Dover on the English coastline. He knew they were going to make it. The B-17 landed at a B-24 base in England.

As fate would have it, Frank knew many of the military personnel at the B-24 base. After all, he had trained with them in Biloxi, Mississippi. Frank and the crew stayed there for a few days while the B-24 mechanics repaired the B-17 engines. He recalls at the B-24 base that they ate out of mess kits unlike Deenethorpe where they ate from plates. They flew the B-17 back to Deenethorpe.

Frank’s last combat mission (Mission #32) was to a synthetic oil plant in Politz, Poland, on October 7, 1944. He flew with the Lt Albert L. Hanson crew. Five B-17 crews were lost that day; three planes were shot down, but two reached neutral Sweden where the crews were interned until the end of WWII.

Frank sailed home to the United States (US) after completing his required combat missions. He was back in the US before the Battle of the Bulge began on December 16, 1944. His assignment on the ship while crossing the Atlantic Ocean was to guard German prisoners of war (POW) who would be interned in stateside POW camps.

Staff Sergeant Perez was stationed at Amarillo Army Air Field, Texas, as a B-17 Inspector when WWII ended.

Frank returned to California and earned a Degree in Agriculture from California Polytechnic University. He always had a passion for life and considered every day a blessing. Frank was very active in his church and his community. Between the ages of 78 and 88 he went hang gliding, parasailing, skydiving, and paragliding. He never lost his childhood love for flight.

**Frank’s crucifix is pictured at the bottom left of the photograph. Years later it still remained with his dog tags.**

Frank died January 16, 2015, two days after his 91^st birthday.

One can hope that other flyers experienced the “feeling of peace” that Frank felt before they died.

Faith in God was of great importance in the hearts and minds of many people, both military and civilian, who lived through WWII. Another story on this web site, “WWII Camp Shanks, New York: And a Visit by Archbishop Spellman,” addresses the comfort that faith in God provided the men and women who fought and died in the war. In 1943 the Ground Echelon of the 401st BG stayed at Camp Shanks before boarding the Queen Mary in New York City to cross the Atlantic Ocean to England. The link to the story is https://www.ww2history.org/war-in-europe/wwii-camp-shanks-new-york-and-a-visit-by-archbishop-spellman/.

Thank you to Josie Navarro, Frank’s niece, for her help in researching this story, sharing family memories, and for permission to post the photographs.

* Thank you to Reagan Grau, Archivist, at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas.

** Thank you to Dr. Vernon L. Williams, Military Historian and Professor of History, at Abiliene Christian University. As Director of the East Anglia Air War Project, he interviewed Frank Perez and many WWII Eighth and Ninth Army Air Force veterans and also members of British communities who grew to know and love (and sometimes marry) the “Yanks.” The link for information about the project is http://www.angliaairwar.org/.

Parachuting into Occupied France: B-17 Tail Gunner Starzynski Evades Germans with Some Help from the French Resistance

okonski-11 — **Staff Sergeant Robert J. Starzynski B-17 Flying Fortress tail gunner assigned to the 306th Bombardment Group, 367th Bomb Squadron, based at Thurleigh, England, in WWII.**

Robert (Bob) Starzynski from Chicago, Illinois, enlisted in the Army on January 16, 1943. He was 18 years old. By June of that year he was in England assigned to the 4^th Station Complement Squadron of the 306^th Bombardment Group (BG) located at Thurleigh, England. After numerous requests to be reassigned to a combat unit, he was trained as a B-17 Flying Fortress gunner and attached to the 306^th BG, 367^th Bomb Squadron. His first mission was a bomber raid over Berlin, Germany, on March 6, 1944. After flying several missions as a crew replacement, he was assigned to the Virgil W. Dingman crew as a tail gunner after their tail gunner was killed in action.

June 17, 1944, Saturday. After a mission delay due to weather conditions and cloud cover over the primary target, a secondary “visual target of opportunity” was selected. The target was the bridge at Noyen, France. Takeoff was 0945 (military time). Anti-aircraft fire over the French Coast hit the number three engine of the Dingman B-17, and a fire broke out. Flames from the engine went into the slipstream of the aircraft, and fire was threatening the tail of the plane. Pilot First Lieutenant Dingman ordered the crew to bail out.

According to B-17 bail out procedure, the first person to bail out is the tail gunner. Staff Sergeant (S/Sgt) Starzynski’s parachute had slipped into the rear landing wheel compartment of the aircraft. To retrieve the parachute he had to take off his oxygen mask. After finding the parachute, putting it on, adjusting one of the parachute hooks, and having some difficulty opening the escape hatch, he jumped out of the plane.

According to an eye witness account from another B-17 in the formation that day, the Dingman aircraft was last seen at 1113 southeast of Dieppe, France, with the right wing on fire. Five parachutes were observed. [All nine crew members did survive. Five became Prisoners of War, and four were Evadees.]

After he jumped S/Sgt Starzynski found himself alone surrounded by clouds. With the lack of oxygen while preparing for bail out he felt groggy, but the snap of the parachute opening brought him back to consciousness. As he floated down between some clouds, an American P-51 Mustang fighter plane appeared and saw him. The P-51 flew around him a couple of times, S/Sgt Starzynski waved at the pilot, and the plane dipped its wings before departing. He hoped the pilot would report his position.

S/Sgt Starzynski’s descent became faster, and he could see trees, hedgerows, and a farmhouse on the ground. He crashed through some trees and landed on his back in a field with no serious injuries. Bob had landed in enemy occupied France. The time was about 1115.

Bob hid his parachute and inspected his escape kit. After deciding to stay in hiding until dark, he checked his mini compass (an item in the escape kit) and began walking about 2330. Still in his flight jacket, flight suit, and flight boots he approached a farmhouse and knocked on the door. After identifying himself as an “Aviateur Americane” and after intense scrutiny by the occupants of the farmhouse, Bob was allowed inside. Using a French/English translation card (another item in his escape kit) he was able to communicate with them although in a limited way. The Helpers (those who provided aid to downed Allied airmen) provided him with some food, civilian clothes, and a pair of too small shoes. He was told they could not hide him or contact the French Resistance because there were too many Germans in the area. They suggested he head west to LeHavre, France, where they thought he would be able to find a place to hide. Bob offered them French francs for helping him (an item in the escape kit), but they refused. Checking his map (also in the escape kit) Bob knew he was in the Normandy region and was about 43 miles from LeHavre. After midnight he left the farmhouse and started walking in the direction of Buchy, France.

June 18,1944, Sunday. Bob had a few close calls with Germans on the road to Buchy. His feet hurt in the ill-fitting shoes, but he kept walking. He arrived in Buchy after midnight.

June 19, 1944, Monday. In Buchy Bob found a place to hide in a bomb damaged farmhouse with a courtyard and other surrounding buildings. He discovered later that it was the location of a makeshift German barracks. He decided then to walk by day instead of by night. At dawn he started walking towards Rouen, France. By dusk that day he arrived in Barentin, France, and spent the night sleeping in a field. His feet by then were swollen and bloody.

June 20, 1944, Tuesday. When an older German soldier on a bicycle stopped Bob on that day and asked him for his papers, Bob pointed to a sign to Bolbec, France, and only said the name of the town a couple of times. By that time Bob said he was looking like a tramp and that was probably why the German let him go. By day’s end he determined he was halfway to LeHavre.

June 21, 1944, Wednesday. His fifth day of evading the Germans and looking like a tramp Bob decided to take a risk and chose to stop and get a haircut and shave at a barber shop near Bolbec. He hoped he would better blend in with the local population. While getting his shave a German soldier came in and asked the barber if he could get a haircut before Bob. After the German exited for a short time he returned to find Bob getting his haircut. The soldier sat impatiently next to Bob’s jacket not knowing there were maps and other papers in it which would have identified him as an American. Bob got his haircut and made a quick exit.

Walking and limping down the road to LeHavre in those very tight shoes Bob stopped at a farmhouse and again using the French translation card from his escape kit he asked for help. They provided him with food, bathed his feet, and then gave him the bad news. The Germans had a roadblock into LeHavre. They let him spend the night. Knowing his escape plan wouldn’t work, Bob started walking back to Bolbec the next day.

June 22, 1944, Thursday. At Bolbec Bob then headed south to Lillebonne, France. At one point he was refused sanctuary and kept walking. That day he met a ragged Brazilian junk peddler who had been stranded in France when the war started. The peddler knew a few words of English so was able to tell Bob that the Germans controlled the ferry boat across the Seine River. He took Bob to a Frenchman (who Bob later discovered was a member of the French Resistance), and the Frenchman rowed him across the river. He was now in Quillebeuf, France.

Sometime after his arrival in Quillebeuf he dove to the ground as two American P-38 Lightning fighters were on a strafing and bombing run in the vicinity of the ferry boats.

Later in an old farmhouse and seeking a place to “rest his feet” Bob encountered a German soldier who was more interested in getting a ladder from the farmhouse than in him. He guessed the German soldier wanted to repair some communication lines after the “visit” by the P-38s.

On that day in Quillebeuf Bob met a Frenchman named Charles Lamour who spoke English and contacted the French Resistance. He learned that his crossing of the Seine River was well-timed as the Gestapo had been inquiring about someone who matched his description. After six days on his own Bob found some new friends in the French Resistance.

Ten weeks in Quillebeuf. During his stay in the area he was hidden in various locations and got a new pair of shoes. They actually fit his feet but had wooden soles. [Leather during the war was in short supply.]

On a few occasions Bob helped the French Resistance in cutting German communication lines and stealing a couple of cows and beans from a field for food.

dad-001 — Bob Starzynski in center of photograph with members of the French Resistance. Charles Lamour is standing to Bob’s right and Emile (last name unknown) to Bob’s left. Photographs of Allied airmen with members of the French Resistance or with their Helpers are rare. Their identification could result in execution or internment in a concentration camp for them and their families.

okonski-2-1 — Bob Starzynski with Helper Joseph Szumanski and his son. He stayed for three weeks on the Szumanski farm while hiding in locations around Quillebeuf. This photograph hangs in the Escape and Evasion Exhibit at the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force in Pooler, Georgia.

The Allied Canadian Army liberates Quillebeuf. Bob was able to come out of hiding. An Allied unit picked him up, and he was transported to Cherbourg, France. He flew to London, England, on an American C-47 Skytrain transport plane, was interrogated at Allied Headquarters, and returned to his base at Thurleigh in September 1944. It was at Thurleigh that he met his co-pilot Second Lieutenant Wilbur Pensinger. He had been picked up in France almost immediately by the French Underground after the crew bailed out.

Back in the United States (US). As was the policy at the time, military personnel who had escaped or evaded the enemy in occupied countries were not allowed to rejoin air crews flying missions over Europe. If they were captured, they may have been able to identify those foreign nationals who had helped them.

Bob returned to the US in September 1944. On March 17 (Saint Patrick’s Day), 1945, he celebrated his 21^st birthday. Was it Irish luck or Polish luck that helped save Bob’s life?

As people reflect on their life there is often a memento they wish they would have kept as a remembrance. Bob once told me he wished he would have kept those French shoes with the wooden soles.

To my Polish friend Bob Starzynski: “Dziekuje Ci za służbę wojskową dla Stanów Zjednoczonych Ameryki Północnej w czasie Drugiej Wojny Światowej.” [Translation: “Thank you for your service to the United States in WWII.”]

After WWII Bob joined the Chicago Police Department and retired after 39 years. In 1982 he travelled to France and was able to thank some of the people who had helped him evade the Germans in 1944.

In 2011 Bob and his wife Louise attended the graduation of their great-granddaughter Jessica Kirstein from the US Air Force Basic Military Training Course at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. After graduation Airman Kirstein received advanced training and was assigned to an in-flight refueling unit. Another generation serving our country in the air.

100_67121 — **Bob Starzynski and Airman Jessica Kirstein at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, in 2011.**

An article about Bob Starzynski’s experiences in German occupied France (with additional stories) was published in the July 1990 issue of the 306^th BG newspaper the Echoes. The link is http://306bg.us/Echoes%20files/90jul153.pdf.

This story and photographs are posted with the permission of the Starzynski family.

Thank you to Jerzy Michalec for the English to Polish translation.

Thank you to WWII 306th BG veteran William Houlihan, Cliff Deets (306^th BG Historical Association Historian), Nancy Huebotter (Editor of the Echoes), Barbara Neal (Secretary, 306^th BG Historical Association), and Dr. Vernon Williams for their assistance in my research for this story.

Last Flight of a B-17 Named “Combined Operations”: And Emily Harper Rea

3674323665 — During WWII an American aircraft ground maintenance crew salvaged the front of a badly damaged B-17, the tail end of another damaged B-17, and “built” the B-17 Flying Fortress pictured above that was named “Combined Operations.” The aircraft was attached to the 306th Bombardment Group, 367th Bomb Squadron, based in Thurleigh, England, and flew more than 80 combat missions over Europe.

On April 14, 1945, “Combined Operations” was on a flight from Thurleigh, England, to Belfast, Ireland. The end of the war in Europe was in sight. That particular day the B-17 was on a training flight and “whiskey run” to purchase supplies for a party to be held at Thurleigh. In bad weather and fog, it crashed in a field on the southern coast of the Isle of Man which is located in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland. All aboard the B-17, ten men and one woman, were killed.

After a two day weather delay, a B-17 from the 367^th Bomb Squadron at Thurleigh flew to the Isle of Man to gather crash information and to identify the bodies. The plane was flown by the 367th Bomb Squadron Commander, Major Earl Kesling. The three man military accident investigation team consisted of Major Kesling, the 367^th Flight Surgeon, Captain Arthur Weihe, and the Lead Enlisted Medical Technician Staff Sergeant William Houlihan. Personnel from the Royal Air Force (RAF) Aerodrome based at Jurby, Isle of Man, had already collected the remains at the crash site. The bodies were in eleven wooden coffins lined up in the RAF base gymnasium when the Americans arrived. Major Kesling, Captain Weihe, and Staff Sergeant Houlihan personally knew many of the crash victims.

Emily Harper Rea. *Photograph courtesy Wm. Houlihan WWII Collection.*

Emily Harper Rea had been posted to the American Officers Red Cross Club at Bedford, England, near Thurleigh, in 1943. Her thoughtful and caring nature had endeared her to both American military personnel and the British community. She had been chosen to pin Major’s oak leaves on the newly promoted American big band leader Glenn Miller in the summer of 1944. In appreciation, Major Miller gave Emily his Captain’s bars.

Later in 1944 Emily was posted to the American Red Cross Club in Paris. She had returned to Bedford in 1945 to visit her many friends. Scheduled to be on the April 14, 1945, flight was Sergeant George Kellogg who packed parachutes for the 367^th Bomb Squadron. Emily was chosen to take his place on the flight.

The bodies of those killed in the crash of “Combined Operations” were flown back to England and buried in the WWII temporary cemetery at Madingley near Thurleigh.

walking-into-madingly1 — **A formation of American military marching to the graveside service at Madingley Cemetery.**

graveside1 — **The graveside memorial service for the eleven people killed in the crash. The flag-draped coffins are lined up on the left of the photograph.**

The temporary cemetery at Madingley is now known as the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial. It was dedicated in 1956 and is the only permanent American WWII cemetery in the British Isles.

Emily Harper Rea and a number of the others killed in the plane crash on April 14, 1945, are still buried there.

Postscript to this October 27, 2016, story. Giselle Williams of Yaxley, England, contacted me regarding her October 22, 2020, visit to the WWII Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial northwest of Cambridge, England. Walking through the cemetery her attention was drawn to a headstone with roses and a small American flag placed on the grave. It was the grave of Emily Harper Rea.

Grave of Emily Harper Rea October 22, 2020, at the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial. *Photograph courtesy of Giselle Williams.*

A photograph in the above story taken at the 1945 funeral for Emily and those killed in the crash of the B-17 “Combined Operations” shows many flowers placed by her coffin. A much admired member of the American Red Cross in WWII, the memory of Emily Harper Rea lives on 75 years later.

A special thank you to William “Bill” Houlihan for sharing his remembrances of the crash of “Combined Operations.” His photographs of the graveside memorial service are used with his permission.

In remembrance of those killed in the crash on April 14, 1945 …

The Crew of “Combined Operations”

First Lieutenant Robert Vieille, Pilot, 23

Second Lieutenant Collins Liersch, Co-Pilot, 22

Flight Officer Howard LeCompte, Jr., Navigator, 24

Technical Sergeant Earnest Gallion, Engineer, 21

Staff Sergeant Chester Smalczewski, Radio Operator, 21

The Passengers

Captain Wilber Butterfield, 24

Captain George Cubberly, 32

Second Lieutenant Austin Parrish, 28

Master Sergeant Derrell Jones, 35

Technical Sergeant William Starbuck, 27

Emily Harper Rea, American Red Cross, 33

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission: And the Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, Bita Paka War Cemetery

Rabaul Bita Paka War Cemetery

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The Bita Paka War Cemetery was established by the Army Graves Service in 1945 and is managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. There are 1,120 WWII Commonwealth burials in the cemetery.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) cares for WWI and WWII cemeteries and memorials in 154 countries in 23,000 locations. Members of the Commission are Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

Sir Fabian Ware, the commander of a British Red Cross mobile unit in WWI, had the vision to commemorate the men and women who had sacrificed their lives in WWI. In 1917 a Royal Charter established the Imperial [now Commonwealth] War Graves Commission.

The Commission established high standards as work began to design and construct memorials and cemeteries. A literary great of the day, Rudyard Kipling, advised in the selection of inscriptions for the Memorials.

The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres, Belgium, was inaugurated on July 24, 1927, by Field Marshal Lord Plumer. In his speech to those assembled he said,

“… One of the most tragic features of the Great War was the number of casualties reported as ‘Missing, believed killed’. To their relatives there must have been added to their grief a tinge of bitterness and a feeling that everything possible had not been done to recover their loved ones’ bodies and give them reverent burial. …

But when peace came and the last ray of hope had been extinguished the void seemed deeper and the outlook more forlorn for those who had no grave to visit, no place where they could lay tokens of loving remembrance. … It was resolved that here at Ypres, where so many of the ‘Missing’ are known to have fallen, there should be erected a memorial worthy of them which should give expression to the nation’s gratitude for their sacrifice and its sympathy with those who mourned them. A memorial has been erected which, in its simple grandeur, fulfils this object, and now it can be said of each one in whose honour we are assembled here today: ‘He is not missing; he is here’.”

Over 54,000 names of the missing are engraved on panels of the Memorial.

The CWGC later extended its responsibility to include the war dead of WWII.

The CWGC has ensured that 1,700,000 men and women lost in WWI and WWII will not be forgotten.

In the United States there are 1,026 graves in 47 States that are commemorated by the Commission.

For more information about the Commonwealth War Graves Commission visit website http://www.cwgc.org/about-us.aspx.

Rabaul, a town in East New Britain, Papua New Guinea, was a Australian naval base that was captured by the Japanese in 1942. It became a major Japanese air and naval installation and was the most heavily defended Japanese fortification in the South Pacific. It was the assembly point for convoys of ships, known as the “Tokyo Express,” that would race south to bring troops and supplies to areas of conflict in the Solomon Islands such as Guadalcanal.

Operation Cartwheel (1943 – 1944) was a major Allied plan to neutralize and then to isolate and bypass Rabaul as the Allies moved northward towards Japan. Allied bombers and fighters first attacked Rabaul in December 1943. Continuous Allied air attacks on Rabaul rendered it essentially useless in February 1944. Bombing runs over Rabaul continued until August 1945 when Japan surrendered.

In Memory Of … Don Jones WWII US 2nd Marine Division

MARINE[1] — **Private First Class James Donald Jones, US Marine Corps.**

On a 2005 WWII in the Pacific cruise I met many WWII veterans who shared their personal experiences in conversations, lectures, and veteran round table discussions. The trip began in Honolulu, Hawaii, made stops at Midway Island, Majuro, Guadalcanal, Rabaul, Guam, Saipan, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Nagasaki, and ended in China. This post is about one of the WWII veterans I met on that trip.

James Donald “Don” Jones was born in Eastland County, Texas, on November 14, 1923. He enlisted in the United States (US) Marine Corps days after the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. By the end of WWII Don was a veteran of Tulagi (August 7- 9, 1942), Guadalcanal (August 7, 1942 – February 9, 1943), Tarawa (November 20-23, 1943), Saipan (June 15 – July 9, 1944), and Tinian (July 24 – August 1, 1944).

These are some of the stories Don shared on the trip.

Tulagi, Guadalcanal, and Savo Island, Solomon Islands

Background. On August 9, 1942, in the aftermath of the catastrophic defeat of the US Navy at the Battle of Savo Island, US transport ships carrying men, rations, ammunition, gasoline, and other supplies left for safer waters to protect US carriers. Supply lines to US troops on Guadalcanal were cut off for months as a result.

After first landing on the island of Tulagi, Don and the 2nd Marine Division were sent to Guadalcanal to defend a ridge perimeter around the airfield.

Don spoke of the hardships on Guadalcanal due to malaria, dysentery, tropical diseases, jungle rot, and malnutrition. The Marines nicknamed the island “Survival Island.” Before US supplies began arriving again, they were surviving on rice stolen from the Japanese and native island food sources such as heart of palm. Don said he never ate heart of palm again after that.

Don spent much of his time on Guadalcanal in a foxhole on Bloody Ridge (also known as Edson’s Ridge) overlooking the airfield (Henderson Field). The extreme heat and humidity resulted in leather boots rotting off the feet of some Marines. While in his foxhole Don made a promise to himself; if he lived through the war, one day he would return to Guadalcanal and smoke a cigar on Bloody Ridge.

100_0576[2] — **June 9, 2005, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Don smokes a cigar on Bloody Ridge.**

Saipan, Mariana Islands

100_0994[2] — June 16, 2005, Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Don and his daughter, Nancy, at the American Memorial Park. During the stop in Saipan there was a program at the Memorial honoring WWII veterans. Don spoke at the ceremony and afterwards was interviewed by a Japanese news crew.

On June 15, 1944, Don landed with the 2nd Marine Division on “Green Beach” along the southwest coast of Saipan.

When moving up the west side of the island, while crawling on his stomach across a field, Don found a watermelon. He ate the entire thing while bullets flew overhead. His thought at the time was, “Nothing ever tasted so good.”

Continuing north Don saw the overwhelming aftermath of the largest Japanese Banzai charge (suicide attack) of WWII on July 7, 1944. He said there were thousands of dead Japanese soldiers. The flies there were so thick that a plane had to spray DDT over the area.

On the northern tip of Saipan at Marpi Point Don witnessed civilian men, women, and children commit suicide jumping off the cliffs.

Tinian, Mariana Islands

The island of Tinian is visible from Saipan. Don landed there in July 1944.

When Don landed on Tinian, he had three 2nd Marine Division replacements with him. He told them, “Don’t get out of the sugar cane. Cross the field in the cane.” Two of the replacements were killed by Japanese machine gun fire when they stepped out on a road. At a Marine reunion years later the third replacement told Don, “For days I only followed you. You knew what to do.”

Don was wounded on Tinian and evacuated to a battalion aid station. He said the flies were so bad there that he asked to return to the front lines.

By the time Don left Saipan and Tinian, he had seen civilians jump to their deaths on both the northern cliffs of Saipan and the southern cliffs of Tinian.

Back in the US

After three years in the Pacific Theater, Don was stationed in Washington, DC, standing guard outside the office of Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, Chief of Naval Operations in WWII. Don was in Washington, DC, when the war ended.

Nancy, Don’s daughter, wrote, “James D. Jones was discharged in October 1945. On his way to the bus stop he nearly cried. He had only been a Marine. For the last four years it wasn’t easy, but everything you needed, they provided. He had a wife and baby waiting in Texas. What would he do now?” It was a shared sentiment felt by many who survived the war and were returning to the challenge of reentering civilian life.

A Last Tour in the Pacific

Don Jones went on a second WWII in the Pacific cruise in 2008 with his son-in-law, Joe. Nancy wrote, “For my dad it is more a matter of saying goodbye this time to memories he has lived with for 60 years. Last time it was an emotional reliving of his war experiences.”

James Donald “Don” Jones died in 2008 and is buried in his hometown of Eastland, Texas. He was a proud Marine his entire life.

Semper Fi, Marine.

“Midway Atoll: WWII and Present Day,” a story about the first stop on a 2005 WWII in the Pacific cruise, was posted on this website in November 2015. Story link is https://www.ww2history.org/war-in-the-pacific/midway-atoll-wwii-and-present-day/ .

100_0816 (1)[1] — **Our Valor Tours group at dinner table 32 on the Pacific Princess cruise ship. We were strangers when we started the trip in Honolulu, Hawaii, and family when we disembarked in China.**