Wellington HZ355 from 429 Squadron

Skipper,

You have taught me well, Master! Ha Ha

Gotta run...Grandson Up and wants to play...Dirty Diaper Duty!

Be Back later!

Jo Ann

 

Erich,

They got quite a few during the night on June 11th and 12th. Kollack got 3 within a couple of hours actually closer to an hour and a half!

Jo Ann

 

Jo Ann I see several members of NJG 1 are not listed that had claims as well as Baake that I mentioned confirmed. a big problem is that Reinhard Kollak is not in service on this date with NJG 1 at all only during 1941.

sorry to spoil the fun but it was another LW pilot/crew and please be careful with Lost Bombers if you would, as his info is direct copies for Allied losses from the multi-volumes of Chorley which are not complete works

Kollaks claims are at :

00.41
01.00
01.24

 

I better check on that then.....Thank you. I will go back to the other site and see.

Jo Ann

 

Kollack was at 7/NJG4 at the time of the crash. He later transferred to 8/NJG4. The reason why some sites mention NJG1 despite his transfer is because there is a confusion: 7/NJG4 was formed with elements from 1/NJG1 in 1942. This is why people keep saying he flew with them. see the ww2 dk air site for more details.

 

a light bulb went off in my head when the date was mentioned and upon further search in my data : this was the first combat mission flown by the prototype He 219 with Werner Streib at the controls. the crew shot down 5 RAF bombers and then crashed on landing tearing the cockpit free away from the fuselage at Venlo, Holland. Two of the bombers were from the 78th sqdn., 1 of them from the 115th sqdn.

too bad there is quite a bit of time frame expended Skipper these chaps need to get their records updated

 

Erich and Skipper,

Ok so, I don't speak "Plane" Lingo....Still learning!

No really, what was the final outcome here on the Wellington HZ355.

Kollack yes? Or more research needed.

Jo Ann

 

Kollack is still the best candidate but Erich is right to say that nothing should be taken for granted, there were several other claims and candidates, but the Doetichghem crash is near Arnhem Holland, so it is not the claim we are interested in. There is a nice phrase often used by Chorley with says "it is believed that" this generally suggest that there is never a 100% probability, unless we were sitting in the fighter ouselves and even then, there are overclaims.

The "translation" of Erich's info. The DO 219 Uhu has been used a nightfighter and was used that night for the first time as a prototype. He is not saying they claimed your uncle's aircraft, but they are among the candidates too. What it is interesting to note that this rather rare aircraft flew in the skies for the first time that night. It was a clumsy aircraft, but it was remarkebly fitted witht he first ejectable seat, but that's another story, maybe Erich and I should open a special thread for the UHU.

 

Skipper and Erich,

I will explain this to my Uncle and still show him the information and picture of Kollack to him. He will want to learn a lot about it. He wants me to find out what happened to the men that he told me about (the names of the ones he met along the way and in the camps). So far I have not found anyone that is still with us, but I will keep looking. He knew that the Biernaux family that helped him in the Comete line were arrested and Raymond Biernaux (Olympe and Florent Biernaux's 20 year old son) died in a Camp, from the letter he received from Olympe in 1946 but he doesn't know the whole story. It will be hard to tell him the details about what happened to the people.

 

Found info on Sharp, Whitney and Ford

B-17F #42-3113 (F)
379th Squadron (US)
Shot down on May 29, 1943 near Pontivy, France
All 10 Crew survived and became POW's
Lt. Aurthur P. Hale
2Lt. Stuart M. Sharp (Stalag 7A - Work Camps Krumbachstrasse and Munich. NARA)
2Lt. Bernard Adruskiewicz
2Lt. Jerry B. Ahern
T/Sgt Charles M. Ford (Stalag Luft 3 - moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser. NARA)
Sgt Joseph E. Lasitor
S/Sgt Chester A. Whitney (Stalag 17B. NARA)
S/Sgt Chester T. Moore
Sgt Lee S. Hilton
Sgt Lawrence E. Josselyn

 

Any Master Internet Sufer here?

I have tried to locate a picture of F/Sgt. John J. M. Smith (636817)
From: Dolverton, Buckinghamshire
RAF Bomber Squadron 218
Stirling BF505
Shot down May 4 or 5, 1943
Neerpelt
Crashed: 5km south of Dokkum, Friesland, Netherlands
F/S J.M.J. Smith in Camp 4B, PoW No.222555

Went through Comete Line, Arrested by Gestapo on July 9, 1943, with my Uncle.

Any suggestions? I have searched and searched.

 

Searching and I found this.... Someone else probably has it too!




Ancestry.com. Canadian Soldiers of World War I, 1914-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Original data: Soldiers of the First World War (1914-1918). Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Canada.

I put a copy in my Gallery.

 

Hi Jo Ann, I was away for the day, looking for militaria at a local flee Market. I made a couple of great finds. In the meantime I see you have posted many more fine stories. You did the rigt thing about John Smith, hopefully someone will read your note and post a picture. It's the first time I see the de De witter info. It confirs what i said about his borth place in Paschendaele, but what's new is his temporary address in France near LE MANS. I know there were many resistants there, some were actually betrayed and arrested, no wonder if De Witter was among them!
When are you leaving to visit your uncle? Do I have time or not?

 

Skipper,

I have to stay home (prior commitments), my husband is going tomorrow morning and will be up near my Uncle all week with his work. Hubby gets email on all of his computer gadgets so I can send him anything as I find it. Besides, he took French! He can spell the words much better than me.

I have pictures of DeZitter, Flore, Dessoubrie, and the False houses. It appears that My Uncle travelled to Paris with Sgt. Frank Hugo and Sgt. William E. Cole. I have a good picture of Sgt. Frank Hugo but the one I have of Sgt. William E. Cole is not as clear. I made them as large as I could without distortions. I found a website that had a story written about Hugo and Cole, I sent an email but it came back undeliverable. Website is from 2004 I think. F/Sgt. John M. J. Smith "Smitty" my Uncle remembers very much so it's not that important but just in case. Wish I could find a picture of Jean-Marcel Nootens. He worked with DeZitter and would have been the one that took my Uncle to get his picture taken.

I am still trying to find out information on a "M. A. Lenssen of Grand Route, Eisden." On the letter I found, it says that Lenssen lodged my Uncle in his/her house. I think the "M" is for Mr. It is used elsewhere in the letter where I know that the name does not have a "M" in it.

Jo Ann

 

After next week, I will be spending a lot of time with my Uncle on the phone going over things but I do have a question...

He told me that after one of his escapes he was sent to the "Cooler". He has used the term "Clink" also. I am guessing it is the same.

When I was little and my Uncle came to visit, of course I had to go to bed early, I didn't...I listened to my Uncle talk with my mother (I was hiding) and remember him saying that he was put into a small box/cage. He was hungry and ate a grasshopper. He said that he was able to grab a small dog and ate it too. I remember this so much because it scared me. I will try and ask him about it after next week but I was wondering if this was the "Cooler or Clink".

 

regarding the Lenssens I would give it a try at wittegids.be | Vind adres, gsm, telefoon nummer en stratenplan van alle abonnees in België there are 5 Lenssen there, they are possibly descendents of the person you are looking for.

On the home page type the name in the "WIE" section and the Town in the "waar" section. They are Flemish.

 

Skipper,

Thank you very much I will check it out.

I finally am getting some time to do some reading on everything that I found. Reading about how the Comete Line worked and all that had to be done. Amazing, especially during such hard times.

From my understanding, the Comete line started somewhere in the vicinity of Liege/Hasselt. My Uncle landed North of there and was assisted to get to the Comete Line. Were these people that assisted him before the Comete Line of a different organization/Line of the Resistance? Or special contacts that were established in various areas? Were any of these special contacts caught by the Gestapo?

Sorry for so many questions? I crave to know all! I need a good book that details everything!!!!! And also time to read it! I have not had time yet to watch the DVD "Last Best Hope."

Jo Ann

 

Many of the Comete line agents were caught. A few however managed to escape to France, I am thinking of the Baron J. de Blommaert de Soye who managed to set up a new network there in June 1944.
As I told earlier, the Belgian branch is not my speciality, but among the names of famous members you could check Mme Fernand de Greef (tante Go) who was the link in Bayonne and Mme Michou Ugeux who commuted from Belgium to Bayonne with the airmen. Both here parents were arrested. Maybe your uncle has met Mme Ugeux?

 

Skipper,

I will check that out too. Thank you!

Jo Ann

 

NOOTENS Jean-Marcel, born 12 September 1899 in Uccle. Was "agent de liaison" of intelligence network ISTAS during 14-18. Taken by the Germans, interned in Saint-Gilles until 1917. Policeman from 1922 to 1928 in Brussels, then mechanic at the STACA. Married Maria Devuyst in 1939 and live in Kortenberg. Indirect victim of sabotages, proposes his services to the Reich. Contacted by Kohl (GFP), whom he knows from before WWII. Kohl becomes his "agent-traiteur" and contracts him at the Erztstelle Lager of Etterbeek, where he makes 25 to 30 Reichsmark per month for inquiries as stool-pigeon. Black market, probably with a Pass from Kohl. He infiltrates an evasion network in Namur for Jews and allied soldiers in early 41 (Organistaion of Louise 'Lisette' Carlier de Herchies). Arrested in Bamberg in 1946. (From Comete Line)