Well, who would have guessed that when I sat down at the computer this morning to drink my coffee, that I'd end up breaking down a significant portion of the hardest brick wall I've ever encountered?
Certainly not me, or I'd have brewed up a whole pot.
Two years ago, I lamented on the difficulties I encountered while researching Michael Joyce.
This latest chapter of the story actually started last week, when I knew I'd have a three day weekend with nothing planned. I "got off my wallet" and plunked down the $28 for monthly access to an Irish records database. I was searching for Michael Joyce, b. abt 1829 in County Galway, to "Pat Joyce" and "Rose Maden." I came up empty handed. No birth records, no baptismal records, no parents of anyone listed as Pat Joyce and Rose Maden. I searched every way I could think of. I did come to the conclusion, as I had expected, that "Maden" was actually "Madden," but learned little else. Because I couldn't quite give up, I left the browser, with several potentially pertinent tabs, up.
This morning, I decided I'd putz around on the computer while I drank my morning coffee. I took a look at some of those browser tabs I'd left up last week, and started following links here and there, eventually ending up at FamilySearch. For kicks, I typed in Michael Joyce, and didn't get anything too exciting, but before I started the laundry I decided to type in "Patrick Joyce" and "Rose Madden" as parents, and left all other fields blank. I got one return - a death certificate for Bridget Cummings. Bridget's parents were listed as Patrick Joyce and Rose Madden. I dug into the life of Bridget Cummings a little deeper, and realized she was just six years younger than our Michael. My hopes began to rise, but when I realized that she lived and died in Clinton, Massachusetts, where our Michael lived after his arrival in the U.S., I had a strong hunch that I was on the right track.
After collecting a fair amount of information on Bridget Joyce Cummings, I turned to Ancestry family trees. While I am cautious about information listed there, I like to get an overview of the family I'm researching, and potentially some clues. I saw on Bridget's timeline that she had a brother, Thomas, in Berlin, Wisconsin. I nearly fell off my chair - several years ago, we made a research trip to that area, as Michael lived in Berlin, and later moved to nearby Ripon, Wisconsin. In our research, we ran across records on this Thomas Joyce, but could not make a connection despite feeling that there had to be one somehow.
The family tree I found listed the children of Patrick Joyce and Rose Madden - and among them was Michael, with no information other than that he died in North Dakota. Our Michael died in South Dakota. If you ask people who don't live in either area, it's all interchangeable! :)
Now, the hard part. I sent off a message to the tree owner, and I now am waiting for a response, although I think I already have the answer. I will dig out the information I saved on Thomas Joyce from Berlin, and try to find more documentation that he and Michael are of the same family.
There's still more work to do, but it's good to know that Michael Joyce did NOT just drop out of the sky.
Oh, and I'm going to brew up another cup of that coffee. And I'll do the laundry tomorrow.
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Friday, April 1, 2016
Log Books and Flight Summaries, Oct. 10 - 29, 1943
The following are excerpts from the Pilot's Log book of 1st Lt Joseph Elden Leonard and flight summaries from “417th NFS Illustrated History," edited by Dan Whitney.
1st Lt. Leonard and his radar observer Flight Officer Raymond Christensen, were night fighters for the 417th NFS, U. S. Army Air Force. Both were killed in action when their plane was engaging a Nazi night fighter over the Tyrrhenian sea. Their plane disappeared from radar and presumably crashed into the sea after being shot down. F/O Christensen was my great-uncle.
Much of the work of the 417th NFS was to protect boat convoys as they transported allied suppies and soldiers. As you can imagine, these convoys were prized targets of the Nazis. Also, the 417th were sent on missions to check out "bogies" that showed upon their radar, and if found to be an enemy plane, engage in combat.
These excerpts resume in Tafaraoui, Algeria. F/O Christensen was radar observer for all of these flights, so I have not mentioned him specifically. Other passengers are noted. The quotes are from the flight summaries of 1st. Lt. Leonard. Notes between brackets are mine. All crews from the 417th are named "Bishop 50, Bishop 51," etc. Note the crazy hours these guys fly!
Oct. 10, 1943.
Beau #843. Practice interceptions. 11:00 pm - 1:10 am. "Ran a PI with Bishop 70 and made two interceptions. Bounced twice on first attempt to land, so I went around-starboard engine three fire when I gave it the gun. The mechanics checked up and found two stacks out."
Oct. 11, 1943.
Flight 1: Beau #806, Night Fighter Training. 2:05 pm - 3:05 pm. "NFT with Bishop 70 who ran interceptions."
Flight 2: Beau #822, Night Practice interceptions. "PI on Fishbone [ground control group] with [Bishop] 53, made 5 interceptions and controller was pretty damned good. 822 is still the best ship on the line except that the throttles are out a little. Beautiful night!!"
Oct. 13, 1943.
Beau #822. Formation and Night Fighter Training. 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm. "Formation with [Bishop] 53, 56, 70 and it stunk! Ran NFT with [Bishop] 59 and checked canary with Stalecrust [ground control group]. A/C [air craft] fine."
Oct. 14, 1943.
With Lt. Fitzgerald along as well. Beau #822. Practice interceptions and S/L [?]. 6:50 pm - 10:05 pm.
"PI with [Bishop] 70 and Fishbone [ground control]and they made 6 interceptions - all gone but one. Both 70 and I went over to S/L and flew for about an hour. We both had S/L officers as passengers. S/L can really hold on to you if they find you."
Oct. 16, 1943.
Flight 1: Beau #831. Night Fighter Training. 3:00 pm - 3:50 pm. "Finally found Bishop 55 for target and ran one interception. Set was very good. Beautiful clouds about 6500 ft. so I did a few steep turns and a buzz job on them, stooged around for awhile, then came in. At last - a good landing."
Flight 2: Beau #831. Practice Interceptions with Perform [ground control group]. 6:50 pm - 10 pm. "PI with Perform with Bishop 65 as playmate. Al Withers did a very good job of Controlling, making 7 interceptions. Perform on the ball. (Al Withers). Pancaked [landed] at 2200."
Flight 3: Beau #831. Capt. Lathrop joined. Practice interceptions with Fishbone [ground control]. 4:10 am to 7:10 am. "Bishop 63 [acted] as target. [Bishop] 65's set went out so he flew target for me. The controller made 5 interceptions that weren't too hot. Cloud layer at 10,000. Plane and AI [airborne intercept radar] Ok."
Oct. 17, 1943.
Beau #743, practice intercepts with Stalecrust [ground control]. 11:05pm to 1:40 am. PI on Stalecrust with Bishop 59 and had three interceptions apiece. My stbd [starboard] transmitter had a squeal in it so I used it to signal the controller with. The port tachometer was fluctuating from 200-700 rpm. And after landing it went out. Beautiful night."
Oct. 20, 1943
Flight 1: Beau #831, with two additional passengers. From Tafaraoui [Algeria] to Reghaia [Algeria]
Flight 2: Beau #831, from Reghaia to Tafaraoui, 2:30pm - 5:40pm. "X-C [cross country] Reghaia and return time 1430-1740. Had two passengers going up and came back with observer only. The trip was uneventful and came back the water route which is pretty nice scenery. Radio and A/C [air craft] both in good shape. Logged 2:30."
Flight 3: Beau #831. Practice interceptions with Stalecrust [ground control], 10:55pm to 1:40 am. "PI with Bishop 60 and Stalecrust. They were breaking in some new controllers and things were rather rough. My interceptions were without incident as the target did not use any evasive action. A/C [air craft] and R/T [radio transmitter] OK.
Oct. 22, 1943. Beau #822. Convoy patrol, then landed at Reghaia. 12:55 am. to 3:40 am.
"On patrol with Perform [ground controllers] and was told to return to base. 80 miles from base Bradshaw [Tafaraoui RAF Aerodrome control] told me to go to Blida and Perform vectored me for there but Blida had me to go Reghaia. No damn sleep and a lousy breakfast. Sector said our field was closed in and I finally got fed up and took off anyway."
Oct. 23, 1943.
Flight 1: Beau #822. Flew from Reghaia back home to Tafaraoui, 9:40 am to 11:00 am. "Reghaia to Tafaraoui, very uneventful. ceiling 1200 ft. over field."
Flight 2: Beau #822. Night Fighter Training. Flew from 1:50-2:50 pm. "NFT with Bishop 59. Very uneventful. My canary checked very weak with Stalecrust] ground control]. A/C [air craft] and R/T [radio transmitter] both OK.
Oct. 25, 1943. Beau #822. Convoy Patrol with Perform [ground control], Flew from 11:20pm to 2:40 am. "Convoy patrol with Perform giving the vectors. Ran two interceptions but neither Bishop 59 or myself was on the ball so we called the whole thing off. Lots of oranges [?]."
Oct. 26, 1943.
Flight 1: Beau #822, Night Fighter Training, 1:40pm - 2:40 pm. "Checked Canary with Stalecrust and Fishbone [ground controllers]. Unsatisfactory on both stations. Had a practice homing by puncture which turned out OK. Radio, AI [airborne intercept radar], and R/T [radio transmitter] were OK."
Flight 2: Beau #822, Practice Intercept (Stalecrust ground control), 10:00pm - 1:10 am. "PI with Stalecrust, Bishop 57 was playmate but went back with a rough engine so I stooged around until he got another plane. 57's I/C [intercept control??] went out on the first interception so he ran target for me. The control was very good, visuals at 1000 ft. Landing poor, very poor show."
Oct. 28, 1943. Beau #806. Night Fighter Training. 2:30 pm t0 4:00 pm. "NFT with [Bishop] 59, his weapon was bent*, ship, R/T [radio transmitter] and AI [airborne intercept radar] OK."
* something wrong with the plane or a component of it
Oct. 29, 1943.
Flight 1: Beau #819. S/L. 9:10pm - 9:50 pm. "Flew S/L with Bishop 53, A/C [air craft] seemed to run rough - control cable caught when turning port, R/T [radio transmitter] very bad so returned to base."
Flight 2: Beau #760. Practice Interceptions with Stalecrust [ground control]. 10:00pm - midnight. "Flew PI with Bishop 53 whose weapon was bent* so he flew target. Joe Howard did a pretty good job of controlling but the night was dark as hell and I lost three visuals the first interception [required to visually confirm the target plane as "enemy"] Completed about 4 with target's altitude varying from 10,000 - 7,500. A/C [air craft] OK, R/T [radio transmitter] noisy."
* something wrong with the plane or a component of it
1st Lt. Leonard and his radar observer Flight Officer Raymond Christensen, were night fighters for the 417th NFS, U. S. Army Air Force. Both were killed in action when their plane was engaging a Nazi night fighter over the Tyrrhenian sea. Their plane disappeared from radar and presumably crashed into the sea after being shot down. F/O Christensen was my great-uncle.
Much of the work of the 417th NFS was to protect boat convoys as they transported allied suppies and soldiers. As you can imagine, these convoys were prized targets of the Nazis. Also, the 417th were sent on missions to check out "bogies" that showed upon their radar, and if found to be an enemy plane, engage in combat.
These excerpts resume in Tafaraoui, Algeria. F/O Christensen was radar observer for all of these flights, so I have not mentioned him specifically. Other passengers are noted. The quotes are from the flight summaries of 1st. Lt. Leonard. Notes between brackets are mine. All crews from the 417th are named "Bishop 50, Bishop 51," etc. Note the crazy hours these guys fly!
******
Oct. 10, 1943.
Beau #843. Practice interceptions. 11:00 pm - 1:10 am. "Ran a PI with Bishop 70 and made two interceptions. Bounced twice on first attempt to land, so I went around-starboard engine three fire when I gave it the gun. The mechanics checked up and found two stacks out."
Oct. 11, 1943.
Flight 1: Beau #806, Night Fighter Training. 2:05 pm - 3:05 pm. "NFT with Bishop 70 who ran interceptions."
Flight 2: Beau #822, Night Practice interceptions. "PI on Fishbone [ground control group] with [Bishop] 53, made 5 interceptions and controller was pretty damned good. 822 is still the best ship on the line except that the throttles are out a little. Beautiful night!!"
Oct. 13, 1943.
Beau #822. Formation and Night Fighter Training. 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm. "Formation with [Bishop] 53, 56, 70 and it stunk! Ran NFT with [Bishop] 59 and checked canary with Stalecrust [ground control group]. A/C [air craft] fine."
Oct. 14, 1943.
With Lt. Fitzgerald along as well. Beau #822. Practice interceptions and S/L [?]. 6:50 pm - 10:05 pm.
"PI with [Bishop] 70 and Fishbone [ground control]and they made 6 interceptions - all gone but one. Both 70 and I went over to S/L and flew for about an hour. We both had S/L officers as passengers. S/L can really hold on to you if they find you."
Oct. 16, 1943.
Flight 1: Beau #831. Night Fighter Training. 3:00 pm - 3:50 pm. "Finally found Bishop 55 for target and ran one interception. Set was very good. Beautiful clouds about 6500 ft. so I did a few steep turns and a buzz job on them, stooged around for awhile, then came in. At last - a good landing."
Flight 2: Beau #831. Practice Interceptions with Perform [ground control group]. 6:50 pm - 10 pm. "PI with Perform with Bishop 65 as playmate. Al Withers did a very good job of Controlling, making 7 interceptions. Perform on the ball. (Al Withers). Pancaked [landed] at 2200."
Flight 3: Beau #831. Capt. Lathrop joined. Practice interceptions with Fishbone [ground control]. 4:10 am to 7:10 am. "Bishop 63 [acted] as target. [Bishop] 65's set went out so he flew target for me. The controller made 5 interceptions that weren't too hot. Cloud layer at 10,000. Plane and AI [airborne intercept radar] Ok."
Oct. 17, 1943.
Beau #743, practice intercepts with Stalecrust [ground control]. 11:05pm to 1:40 am. PI on Stalecrust with Bishop 59 and had three interceptions apiece. My stbd [starboard] transmitter had a squeal in it so I used it to signal the controller with. The port tachometer was fluctuating from 200-700 rpm. And after landing it went out. Beautiful night."
Oct. 20, 1943
Flight 1: Beau #831, with two additional passengers. From Tafaraoui [Algeria] to Reghaia [Algeria]
Flight 2: Beau #831, from Reghaia to Tafaraoui, 2:30pm - 5:40pm. "X-C [cross country] Reghaia and return time 1430-1740. Had two passengers going up and came back with observer only. The trip was uneventful and came back the water route which is pretty nice scenery. Radio and A/C [air craft] both in good shape. Logged 2:30."
Flight 3: Beau #831. Practice interceptions with Stalecrust [ground control], 10:55pm to 1:40 am. "PI with Bishop 60 and Stalecrust. They were breaking in some new controllers and things were rather rough. My interceptions were without incident as the target did not use any evasive action. A/C [air craft] and R/T [radio transmitter] OK.
Oct. 22, 1943. Beau #822. Convoy patrol, then landed at Reghaia. 12:55 am. to 3:40 am.
"On patrol with Perform [ground controllers] and was told to return to base. 80 miles from base Bradshaw [Tafaraoui RAF Aerodrome control] told me to go to Blida and Perform vectored me for there but Blida had me to go Reghaia. No damn sleep and a lousy breakfast. Sector said our field was closed in and I finally got fed up and took off anyway."
Oct. 23, 1943.
Flight 1: Beau #822. Flew from Reghaia back home to Tafaraoui, 9:40 am to 11:00 am. "Reghaia to Tafaraoui, very uneventful. ceiling 1200 ft. over field."
Flight 2: Beau #822. Night Fighter Training. Flew from 1:50-2:50 pm. "NFT with Bishop 59. Very uneventful. My canary checked very weak with Stalecrust] ground control]. A/C [air craft] and R/T [radio transmitter] both OK.
Oct. 25, 1943. Beau #822. Convoy Patrol with Perform [ground control], Flew from 11:20pm to 2:40 am. "Convoy patrol with Perform giving the vectors. Ran two interceptions but neither Bishop 59 or myself was on the ball so we called the whole thing off. Lots of oranges [?]."
Oct. 26, 1943.
Flight 1: Beau #822, Night Fighter Training, 1:40pm - 2:40 pm. "Checked Canary with Stalecrust and Fishbone [ground controllers]. Unsatisfactory on both stations. Had a practice homing by puncture which turned out OK. Radio, AI [airborne intercept radar], and R/T [radio transmitter] were OK."
Flight 2: Beau #822, Practice Intercept (Stalecrust ground control), 10:00pm - 1:10 am. "PI with Stalecrust, Bishop 57 was playmate but went back with a rough engine so I stooged around until he got another plane. 57's I/C [intercept control??] went out on the first interception so he ran target for me. The control was very good, visuals at 1000 ft. Landing poor, very poor show."
Oct. 28, 1943. Beau #806. Night Fighter Training. 2:30 pm t0 4:00 pm. "NFT with [Bishop] 59, his weapon was bent*, ship, R/T [radio transmitter] and AI [airborne intercept radar] OK."
* something wrong with the plane or a component of it
Oct. 29, 1943.
Flight 1: Beau #819. S/L. 9:10pm - 9:50 pm. "Flew S/L with Bishop 53, A/C [air craft] seemed to run rough - control cable caught when turning port, R/T [radio transmitter] very bad so returned to base."
Flight 2: Beau #760. Practice Interceptions with Stalecrust [ground control]. 10:00pm - midnight. "Flew PI with Bishop 53 whose weapon was bent* so he flew target. Joe Howard did a pretty good job of controlling but the night was dark as hell and I lost three visuals the first interception [required to visually confirm the target plane as "enemy"] Completed about 4 with target's altitude varying from 10,000 - 7,500. A/C [air craft] OK, R/T [radio transmitter] noisy."
* something wrong with the plane or a component of it
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Log Books and Flight Summaries, Part 1
The following are excerpts from the Pilot's Log book of 1st Lt Joseph Elden Leonard and flight summaries from “417th NFS Illustrated History," edited by Dan Whitney.
1st Lt. Leonard and his radar observer Flight Officer Raymond Christensen were night fighters for the 417th NFS, U. S. Army Air Force. Both were killed in action when their plane was engaging a Nazi night fighter over the Tyrrhenian sea. Their plane disappeared from radar and presumably crashed into the sea after being shot down. F/O Christensen was my great-uncle.
Much of the work of the 417th NFS was to protect ship convoys as they transported allied supplies and soldiers. As you can imagine, these convoys were valuable targets of the Nazis. Also, crews of the 417th were sent on missions to check out "bogies" that showed upon their radar, and if found to be an enemy plane, engage in combat.
These excerpts begin in Tafaraoui, Algeria, North Africa. F/O Christensen was radar observer for all of these flights, so I have not mentioned him specifically; any other passengers are noted. The quotes are from the flight summaries of 1st. Lt. Leonard. Notes between brackets are mine. All crews from the 417th are named "Bishop 50, Bishop 51," etc.
Sept. 26, 1943
Flight 1: Beaufighter #819, Duty: ground gunnery, 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm. "Gunnery Mission, Shadow [name of ground control unit] but playmate failed to take off so I stooged around and did some ground gunnery but the gunsight went out and since the radio transmitter was bad I returned to base and pancaked [landed]."
Flight 2: Beaufighter # 819, with S/Sgt Gonzales, practiced interception from 8:15 pm - 8:50 pm. "Took off on P.I. [practice interceptions] with playmate to follow. Bradshaw (Tafaraoui RAF Aerodrome ground control) vectored me out and then my radio transmitter went out and I returned to base and pancaked."
Flight 3: Beaufighter # 911, practice interceptions, 9:30 pm - 11:10 pm. " PI [practice interception] mission after Bishop 53 pancaked with bad engine. My radio transmitter seemed weak on take-off but I flew the mission and my radio transmission was weak. I flew [as the] target on four missions in which Bishop 71 failed to get contacts although my observer got back-blips on each one and attempted interceptions. My radio transmitter went out during an interception I made on Bishop 71 after he failed to make contact. I then traded headsets with my observer and Stalecrust [ground control unit] made a very good interception with Bishop 71 as target. On landing I bounced the first one and pulled an overshot. Got visual at 1000 ft."
Sept. 29, 1943. Beaufighter #760. Convoy patrol, 6:50 pm - 8:50pm. "Convoy Patrol on "Manicure." Bradshaw [Tafaraoui RAF Aerodrome control] vectored me out and I sighted the convoy at 1903. The patrol was uneventful. The weather was perfect. We came in on "Mother" for about 60 miles. The plane was in damned good shape."
Oct. 1, 1943. Beaufighter #743. Practice interceptions, 1:30 am - 3:45 am. "Ran PI with Bishop 70 and Fishbone [ground control]. Lt. Palmer pulled a couple good interceptions and then another controller took over and got about two interceptions. I wrote up the prop pitch control, throttles and damned bolt the keeps sticking in your chest on the Sutton harness."
Flight 1: Beaufighter #806. Formation Flying, G. Gunnery, Night Fighter Training. 1:50 pm - 3:40 pm. "Formation went ok at 500 yds. But was spread out too far so we closed in to 150 which was too close. The slip-stream was too close when turning so we tried 250-300 yds, which was much better. At the close of the exercise we tried some formation over the salt lake at 500 ft. and then made a run over the field at that altitude. Bishop 70 and I ran an NFT {night fighter training]and his weapon was bent so I ran two interceptions and then went over to Fishbone [ground control group] for a cockrel and canary check. I ended up by buzzing them a couple of times. I came into the circuit cut somebody out and landed. A 3-point!!!!!"
Flight 2: Beaufighter #806. Practice Interceptions. 7:20 pm - 10:50 pm. "Took off on Vector 280 for a mission with Stalecrust [ground control]. Playmate with Bishop 70. I climbed to 11,000 ft. and Joe Long took over. Lt. Long made 14 interceptions in 3 hours and all were good. The radio transmitter on the stbd set was rather weak. The landing was lovely but someone dropped the runway about five feet."
Oct. 5, 1943. Beaufighter #819. Formation and Night Fighter Training. 2:20 pm - 3:40 pm. "Got into A/C [air craft] 806 and started the engines but they couldn't close the back hatch so I cut the engines and put my chute in 819 and took off on formation with 53, 59, 70. The formation was "piss-poor" and when 53 returned to the field we climbed up but didn't run an NFT [night fighter training] because of too many bumpy clouds. The V. H. F. [very high frequency communications] was very noisy and my transmission was weak. A/C was in good shape."
Oct. 7, 1943. Beaufighter #834. Practice Interceptions. 12:15 am - 3:00 am.
"Three interceptions with Stalecrust [ground control], Bishop 65 as playmate. First visual at 1200 and others at 600 - 900. AI [airborne intercept radar] was poor and plane and VHF were ok. Interceptions were good."
To be continued...
 |
| Joseph Leonard's Log Book |
Much of the work of the 417th NFS was to protect ship convoys as they transported allied supplies and soldiers. As you can imagine, these convoys were valuable targets of the Nazis. Also, crews of the 417th were sent on missions to check out "bogies" that showed upon their radar, and if found to be an enemy plane, engage in combat.
These excerpts begin in Tafaraoui, Algeria, North Africa. F/O Christensen was radar observer for all of these flights, so I have not mentioned him specifically; any other passengers are noted. The quotes are from the flight summaries of 1st. Lt. Leonard. Notes between brackets are mine. All crews from the 417th are named "Bishop 50, Bishop 51," etc.
*****
Sept. 26, 1943
Flight 1: Beaufighter #819, Duty: ground gunnery, 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm. "Gunnery Mission, Shadow [name of ground control unit] but playmate failed to take off so I stooged around and did some ground gunnery but the gunsight went out and since the radio transmitter was bad I returned to base and pancaked [landed]."
Flight 2: Beaufighter # 819, with S/Sgt Gonzales, practiced interception from 8:15 pm - 8:50 pm. "Took off on P.I. [practice interceptions] with playmate to follow. Bradshaw (Tafaraoui RAF Aerodrome ground control) vectored me out and then my radio transmitter went out and I returned to base and pancaked."
Flight 3: Beaufighter # 911, practice interceptions, 9:30 pm - 11:10 pm. " PI [practice interception] mission after Bishop 53 pancaked with bad engine. My radio transmitter seemed weak on take-off but I flew the mission and my radio transmission was weak. I flew [as the] target on four missions in which Bishop 71 failed to get contacts although my observer got back-blips on each one and attempted interceptions. My radio transmitter went out during an interception I made on Bishop 71 after he failed to make contact. I then traded headsets with my observer and Stalecrust [ground control unit] made a very good interception with Bishop 71 as target. On landing I bounced the first one and pulled an overshot. Got visual at 1000 ft."
 |
| 1st Lt. Joseph E. Leonard |
Oct. 1, 1943. Beaufighter #743. Practice interceptions, 1:30 am - 3:45 am. "Ran PI with Bishop 70 and Fishbone [ground control]. Lt. Palmer pulled a couple good interceptions and then another controller took over and got about two interceptions. I wrote up the prop pitch control, throttles and damned bolt the keeps sticking in your chest on the Sutton harness."
 |
| F/O Raymond Christensen |
Oct. 2, 1943.
Flight 1: Beaufighter #806. Formation Flying, G. Gunnery, Night Fighter Training. 1:50 pm - 3:40 pm. "Formation went ok at 500 yds. But was spread out too far so we closed in to 150 which was too close. The slip-stream was too close when turning so we tried 250-300 yds, which was much better. At the close of the exercise we tried some formation over the salt lake at 500 ft. and then made a run over the field at that altitude. Bishop 70 and I ran an NFT {night fighter training]and his weapon was bent so I ran two interceptions and then went over to Fishbone [ground control group] for a cockrel and canary check. I ended up by buzzing them a couple of times. I came into the circuit cut somebody out and landed. A 3-point!!!!!"
Flight 2: Beaufighter #806. Practice Interceptions. 7:20 pm - 10:50 pm. "Took off on Vector 280 for a mission with Stalecrust [ground control]. Playmate with Bishop 70. I climbed to 11,000 ft. and Joe Long took over. Lt. Long made 14 interceptions in 3 hours and all were good. The radio transmitter on the stbd set was rather weak. The landing was lovely but someone dropped the runway about five feet."
Oct. 5, 1943. Beaufighter #819. Formation and Night Fighter Training. 2:20 pm - 3:40 pm. "Got into A/C [air craft] 806 and started the engines but they couldn't close the back hatch so I cut the engines and put my chute in 819 and took off on formation with 53, 59, 70. The formation was "piss-poor" and when 53 returned to the field we climbed up but didn't run an NFT [night fighter training] because of too many bumpy clouds. The V. H. F. [very high frequency communications] was very noisy and my transmission was weak. A/C was in good shape."
 |
| Bristol Beaufighters in flight |
Oct. 7, 1943. Beaufighter #834. Practice Interceptions. 12:15 am - 3:00 am.
"Three interceptions with Stalecrust [ground control], Bishop 65 as playmate. First visual at 1200 and others at 600 - 900. AI [airborne intercept radar] was poor and plane and VHF were ok. Interceptions were good."
To be continued...
Saturday, March 19, 2016
If you've been pursuing your family history very long, you know at some point the "Happy Dance" moments don't come as frequently as they use to. You've gathered all of the low-hanging fruit, and it takes a little more perseverance to learn something new. But, oh, when you do...!!
Today a package came in the mail, addressed to me. When I saw the return address, I knew what it was, and it was all I could do to get into the house with the armload of things I already had without dropping something. As soon as I was able, I ripped into it, almost in a frenzy by then. It was a copy of a flight log book from World War II, kept by 1st Lieutenant Joseph Leonard, the pilot that my great-uncle, radar observer Raymond Christensen, had teamed with. At best, I was hoping for some mention of Raymond, but I really had no idea what sort of information was recorded by the pilot. My expectations were far exceeded.
I learned that 1st Lt Leonard and my great-uncle spent quite a bit of time training together in England, which I had not realized. The book logged nearly every flight Raymond made while in the 417th Night Fighter Squadron, with dates and times, at least those made with Leonard, which were likely most of them. In addition, other personnel in the plane were noted, the type and number of the aircraft flown, and the reason for the flight (i.e. convoy patrol) and destination, if applicable, and how long they were in the air. This information, particularly the reason for the flight, when correlated with Raymond's descriptive letters home, will give a particularly well-detailed look at Raymond's time with the 417th.
Unfortunately, the entries in the log book stopped abruptly in February, 1944, 3 months before their ill-fated flight of May 13, when the plane and crew went missing. As a rule, they would have flown between 2-4 times per week , so there are a significant number of flight logs missing. My guess is that this book was replaced by a new one which has been lost to history (so far), as I believe the pilots were required to keep these records. Perhaps finding this log this will be our next big breakthrough - and cause the next "Happy Dance."
Today a package came in the mail, addressed to me. When I saw the return address, I knew what it was, and it was all I could do to get into the house with the armload of things I already had without dropping something. As soon as I was able, I ripped into it, almost in a frenzy by then. It was a copy of a flight log book from World War II, kept by 1st Lieutenant Joseph Leonard, the pilot that my great-uncle, radar observer Raymond Christensen, had teamed with. At best, I was hoping for some mention of Raymond, but I really had no idea what sort of information was recorded by the pilot. My expectations were far exceeded.
I learned that 1st Lt Leonard and my great-uncle spent quite a bit of time training together in England, which I had not realized. The book logged nearly every flight Raymond made while in the 417th Night Fighter Squadron, with dates and times, at least those made with Leonard, which were likely most of them. In addition, other personnel in the plane were noted, the type and number of the aircraft flown, and the reason for the flight (i.e. convoy patrol) and destination, if applicable, and how long they were in the air. This information, particularly the reason for the flight, when correlated with Raymond's descriptive letters home, will give a particularly well-detailed look at Raymond's time with the 417th.
Unfortunately, the entries in the log book stopped abruptly in February, 1944, 3 months before their ill-fated flight of May 13, when the plane and crew went missing. As a rule, they would have flown between 2-4 times per week , so there are a significant number of flight logs missing. My guess is that this book was replaced by a new one which has been lost to history (so far), as I believe the pilots were required to keep these records. Perhaps finding this log this will be our next big breakthrough - and cause the next "Happy Dance."
Sunday, February 7, 2016
The Bill Knutz Orchestra
Bill Knutz and his bands supplied the Beadle County, South Dakota area with dance music for more than 20 years. The first band, “Bill Knutz and His Harmonians,” was documented as early as the summer of 1934[1], and consisted of Bill playing saxophone, his brothers Howard on bass fiddle and Richard on drums, Raymond Christensen on fiddle and trumpet, and Ray’s beautiful sister Lillian, on piano. Lillian would eventually become Bill’s wife. Ray and Lillian’s brother Clarence, who played clarinet, joined them sometimes as well. Bill’s mother, Elvirta Knutz, handled their calendar for them.
Howard and Richard Knutz both eventually left for the west coast, and Raymond went off to college, so Bill reformed the band around himself and Lillian, with various other local musicians. The new band was called “Bill Knutz and His Orchestra,” and they continued to play at barn dances as well as regular venues.[2]
His daughter, Betty, described the dances: “Most barn dances were usually quite crowded! Depending on the popularity of the bands, but most of them took turns at different places each week. The crowds were ordinarily quite sizable since most everyone did bring their kids, baby sitters and grandparents. Everybody came! Teenagers came with their parents to learn to dance. Other kids depending on their ages brought their toys, pillows, etc., whatever they wanted to play with. And then they found a corner to fall asleep in! Some of those little guys were pretty good dancers, too!”[3] During the years of the Great Depression, barn dances were affordable ways to have some fun.
Occasionally, younger members of the family would get a chance to showcase their own musical talents. Bill’s younger sister Dorothy, and his daughters Betty and June would sometimes join the band to sing.[4]
Nearly 120 tunes are among the several set lists played by the band. When, exactly, Bill Knutz and His Orchestra stopped playing isn’t clear, but one of the songs on that list was from 1953, making their run at least 20 years.
[1] See newspaper ad at top left, from the ad for the dance at Honrath’s barn, from the Daily Plainsman (Huron, South Dakota) 16 August 1934, pg. 5
[2] The newspaper ad for Albert Baum’s barn dance was from the Daily Plainsman of 17 June 1937. The ad for the VFW Club was from the Daily Plainsman of 31 Dec 1948, pg. 5.
[3] Interview with Bill and Lillian’s daughter Betty, about 2002.
[4] Betty also noted that her sister June played Hawaiian guitar and sang second soprano, while Betty had a Spanish guitar and sang Alto. Bill’s sister Dorothy sang soprano. The three girls would get together and practice songs.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Climbing the Photograph Mountain
Here I sit, labeling old photos. Again. I feel like I will grow old and feeble, right here, pen in hand. I have a large box of them, but considering that I started out with at least 5 large boxes of them, I will not complain. In the overall scheme of things, I am nearly done.
All of these photos came from my grandmother's massive photo collection, and that of my mother's as well (the apple didn't fall far from the tree...) Some have been put into pages, some have been somewhat sorted and stuffed into envelopes, and many are loose.
Over the years, I've become the owner of photos featuring faces I don't recognize, and always thought it was a pity that the subject in the photo would remain a mystery, for all of posterity.
As I started going through this mountain of pictures, I noticed a common trend. They either had no identification on the back, or would have something written like "Me and Dad." Worse yet, if Grandma had made copies for someone, she would write *their* name on the back. All this is fine if everyone already recognizes who is in the photo, but one day I had the realization that if I drop dead tomorrow, there are very few people left who could identify these images. So, I stacked up the boxes, took a deep breath, and started plugging away.
Part way through, I realized that I wasn't being very complete. My goal was to enable my descendants to not only know the names of the people, but the circumstances of the photo. I wanted them to know the people who came before. So I made a list of things I thought would be helpful when labeling.
1) Use full names. "Mom," "Kevin," etc. won't necessarily help your descendants years from now.
2) Date the photos, if possible, or at least a rough guess ("1987?")
3) Identify the location ("Phoenix, AZ"). Also, with the really old photos, I often wondered whose beautiful home that was in the background, especially if I noticed family heirlooms, so now I note that as well if I can.
4) Note if there was a particular event that inspired the photo ("Aunt June's visit to South Dakota")
5) Include relationships. I realized while identifying the two older ladies in one photo, that my descendants might recognize one name as their great grandmother, but would not know that the other woman was her sister.
In short, I am trying to inscribe these photos as if I'm describing them to a stranger - because at some point in the future, I very well may be. Fifty years from now, the person looking at it may have no idea they're looking at an ancestor. Also, don't assume pictures from the same event are going to stay together. Label each as if it were a "stand-alone" photo, because some day it might me.
I'll be the first to admit that all this is a little overwhelming. But if I don't do it, it isn't going to happen. My kids don't recognize most of these people, so once I'm gone, these photos will be essentially worthless to my family. And I don't want any of these precious people in the photographs to be forgotten.
Friday, December 11, 2015
The Cap Goes Home
For the last four years, I've been the keeper of something special - the cap of Lieutenant Joseph E. Leonard of Tipp City, Ohio. Joe was a World War II pilot in the 417th Night Fighter Squadron. He and the other member of that two-man crew, Radar Observer Ray Christensen, who was my great-uncle, lost their lives in a battle with German Luftwaffe over the Tyrrhenian Sea.
There are "family history angels" everywhere - people who find old Bibles, photos, or other family memorabilia in antique stores or yard sales. They snatch up these treasures and reunite them with their families. One such angel was a man named David, who found the cap in New Jersey. Surprisingly, Joe's name and serial number were inside. Unfortunately, David was unable to locate descendants of the Leonard family. With Joe's close ties to my great-uncle, well, David gave me the cap to take care of in the interim.
From time to time, I would unwrap the cap from its packing, look at it, touch it, and imagine Joe - the young soldier who died with my uncle - wearing it. I did more research on Joe, and continued to look for his modern-day family, unsuccessfully.
*****
There are "family history angels" everywhere - people who find old Bibles, photos, or other family memorabilia in antique stores or yard sales. They snatch up these treasures and reunite them with their families. One such angel was a man named David, who found the cap in New Jersey. Surprisingly, Joe's name and serial number were inside. Unfortunately, David was unable to locate descendants of the Leonard family. With Joe's close ties to my great-uncle, well, David gave me the cap to take care of in the interim.
 |
| Joe Leonard's cap |
 |
| Inside the sweatband |
 |
| Lt. Joe Leonard |
And every so often, I'd check Ancestry.com family trees, looking for someone who had Joe in their tree. And every time, I would come up empty-handed. But as I promised David when he sent me the cap, I kept trying.
*****
A couple of weeks ago, I finally rounded up all the letters, photos, documents and data that I had been collecting on my great-uncle Ray, and decided to sit down and work on writing that story of his short life, and the fascinating years he spent in the U.S. Army Air Force. I thought again about that fresh-faced young man, the fearless pilot that Ray trusted with his life, and vice-versa. I climbed to the top of the closet and pulled out the box containing the cap, and once again took it out, looked it over, and imagined the young lieutenant wearing it, dressed sharply in his crisp uniform. I tried Ancestry.com again - and finally, I found a tree that listed Joe, his parents and siblings! Several emails and a phone call later, I have found the proper home for Joe's cap. I will re-pack it, and take it to the post office next week, and after 70+ years, the cap will finally be in the right place, at home.
And it feels good.
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