RAF PILOT | W. J. van Stockum's Last Letter Home, June 7, 1944

RAF Pilot Willem J. van
Stockum in uniform.

June 7, 1944

[RAF 10th Bomber Squadron, Melbourne, Yorkshire, England.]

Dear Mother,

I am curious to know whether you have noted the date of my last letter. I cannot tell you how great the satisfaction was to be one of those who dropped the first bombs during the Normandy invasion.

Officially we did not know it was to start on June 5 [the planes providing D-Day support would have taken off from England before midnight], but the instructions we got, the mysterious doings, our route and what we could expect while under way, made us fairly sure that this was The Day.

Crew of the Halifax MZ 684 probably in early June 1944.
Back row: R. K. Marshall, A. Mason, G. Daniel, F. Beales.
Front row: A. C. Perkins, W. J. Van Stockum, J. Ellyatt.
(Photo is not of the same crew that flew on June 10.)

We did our job in difficult circumstances, although there was not much resistance from the targets.

I am free tonight and am glad of it, for the pressure is intense and we have not had a moment’s rest in the past few days. Each of our missions requires hours of preparation. The flight operation itself takes six hours and after that there are debriefings etc. Then a meal, to bed, sleep, and again preparations.

Of course we did not know beforehand that it would be rather easy. The strain on the nerves is a real thing–it makes your breathing go faster. It will not be so easy in future, as the Germans get more information.

But I would not want to miss this time for anything, and I am very thankful that I resisted the temptation to go to the other station, where Bierens de Haanals is, for then I would now be between two squadrons and perhaps have missed all this.

My crew is perfect–calm, matter of fact, and one cannot find among them any signs of being nervous. I sometimes have the feeling I am the only one who is–but perhaps they think the same thing of me.

I feel everyone here is experiencing a great upsurge in morale. The B.B. (Body Building) programs are better and more imaginative. The whole station comes to see us off with their thumbs up in the air and this is a pleasant experience.

I know you and Hilda must be feeling the same way and understand how wonderful it is, so invigorating.

May 2011. Families of five of the seven crew members on the Halifax MZ 684
were represented at the Vaufleury Cemetery in Laval. Willem's tombstone
is round at top, from the Dutch Government.

[Page ends. Possibly the hand-written pages that constituted the “Soldier’s Creed”, which is reprinted at the end of Time Bomber,  followed the fragment and were removed. The following concluding fragment was nearby in the folder of Dutch letters left behind by my mother, Willem's brother. The translator from the Dutch thought it “not very probable” that it is the end of the same letter, but it might be.]

My roommate is a Belgian pilot aged 40 who doesn’t speak English. I spend much of my time with him, which is very good for my French. If only you could hear all the fantastic stories people tell here, more interesting than the most terrifying spy thriller!! My friend came here a few months ago and was in the Resistance in Belgium.

Did I write you that in London I saw Aunt Mia quite often? We sympathized with each other about our tastes in literature. We talked about Dostoyevsky and she told me you had written such a wonderful article about him. How nice there are people who remember this article. I would like to see it some time. I long to read it.

Very, very much love from your son,

Willem

[Note: His plane, the Halifax MZ 684, was shot down on June 10, 1944. The crew is buried in the Laval Valfleury Cemetery and a monument to them was erected on June 10, 2014 in Entrammes, near Laval. The letter above was written in Dutch, as Willem wrote in Dutch to his mother, Olga Emily Boissevain van Stockum, and in English to his sister, Hilda van Stockum. The letter was translated in 2003 as a favor for me by the late Dr. Engelien de Booy, cousin of HvS and daughter of Hilda Boissevain de Booy. Olga and Hilda Boissevain were very close–the two middle sisters of six. Before they had children, they promised each other they would name their first daughter after the other, and they did so. This seems to be the last letter Willem wrote home. The letter went to Washington, D.C. where Willem’s mother and sister lived. Willem’s praise for the courage of the crew will be fully appreciated by the relatives of the crew members. Five of the seven crew members on the MZ 684 participated in a family reunion in Laval in 2011. See www.boissevain.us/ and click on Willem_van_Stockum - JTM]

WW2 | Laval Military Graves Include 20 Allies

Six additional British and Commonwealth graves in
a different part of Vaufleury Cemetery from the 14
airmen from the two Halifax bombers. One of the six
was Australian Flying Officer K. J. Trask. 

The 14 airmen from the two Halifax planes that crashed on June 10, 1944, are buried in Section E, Sub-section D, row 1, a special section of the Vaufleury communal cemetery in Laval. Photos are posted here on a Belgian site. Six additional graves are mentioned.

I wondered why there were 20 names listed in the cemetery when the number of airmen who crashed was 14 (two crews of seven men each). The number of tombstones in the cemetery in the airmen's section is 14. Where did the other six come from and where are they located?

The Belgian link provided above gives some of the answers. It cites a 55-page book on French grave sites published in 1960 by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. I now have a copy of this book.

The six additional graves are in a different part of the Vaufleury Cemetery. The five soldiers and one Australian airman are in section A, sub-section A, row 28. 

The airman is Flying Officer Kenneth John Trask from the Royal Australian Air Force, who died November 11, 1943 at age 24, and is buried in grave #42500. He was the son of Albert Oswald Trask and Claudia Adair Trask of Camberwell, Victoria, Australia.

The five soldiers are:

- Frank Edward Clark III, age 34 (the second-oldest of the victims buried in the cemetery, two years younger than Sgt. Peake in the plane piloted by Henderson; both van Stockum and Wicks were 33 when they were killed).

- Ambrose Hunt, 

- William Morgan, 

- James Enoch Sharratt, and 

- Arthur Stokes.

Here is a complete list in the form of a table. The ages of two of the dead are missing:

LAST NAME First Names	Citizen	Enlisted	Age, Date Died	Rank, Assignment, Service Number
BEALES Fred	Canada	RCAF	20, 10-6-44	Pilot Officer (Air Gnr.), 10 (R.A.F.) Sqdn,  J/89951
BRADBURY Hugh	UK	RAF	20, 10-6-44	Sergeant (Air Bomber), Volunteer Reserve 10 Sqdn., 1425774
BROTHERTON Leslie Arthur	UK	RAF	24, 10-6-44	Sergeant (Air Gnr.) Volunteer Reserve 10 Sqdn. 1576786
CLARK Frank Edward	UK	Royal Artill.	34, 23-9-39	Warrant Officer Class III (T S M), 27 Field Regt. 1064423
DANIEL GILBERT	UK	RAF	22, 10-6-44	Flying Officer (Nav.), 10 Sqdn. 151788
ELLYATT John	UK	RAF	27, 10-6-44	Flying Officer (Flt Engr.) Royal Air Force 10 Sqdn. 51911
GAINES Philip	UK	RAF	?, 10-6-44	Sergeant (W. Op.), Volunteer Reserve 10 Sqdn. 1549492
HENDERSON Norman Random	UK	RAF	21, 10-6-44	Flying Officer (Nav.), Volunteer Reserve 10 Sqdn. 144341
HENDERSON Thomas Whyndam	Australia	RAAF	27, 10-6-44	Pilot Officer, 10 Sqdn. 415981
HUNT Ambrose	UK	Manch.Reg.	26, 27-9-39	Private, 2nd Bn. 3524489
MARSHALL Robert Keith	UK	RAF	30, 10-6-44	Flying Officer (Bomb Aimer) Volunteer Res. 10 Sqdn. 151917
MASON Albert	UK	RAF	?, 10-6-44	Sergeant (Air Gnr.) Volunteer Reserve 10 Sqdn. 2211801
MORGAN William	UK	RoyalArmy	23, 15-5-40	Driver, Service Corps, 528 Ammunition Company. T/110288
PEAKE Stanley William	UK	RAF	36, 10-6-44	Sergeant (Flt. Engr.) Volunteer Reserve 10 Sqdn. 1606629
PERKINS Alfred Charles	UK	RAF	22. 10-6-44	Sergeant (W. Op. [Air]) Volunteer Reserve 10 Sqdn. 1461925
SHARRATT James Enoch	UK	Royal Artill.	27, 23-9-39	Warrant Officer Class II (B.S.M.) 27 Field Regt. 1070673
STOKES Arthur	UK	Royal Artill.	21, 10-10-39	Lance Bombardier, 1 Heavy Regt. 886972
TRASK Kenneth John	Australia	RAAF	24, 11-11-43	Flying Officer, 409357
VAN STOCKUM Willem Jacob	Holland	RCAF	33, 10-6-44	Flying Officer (Pilot), Volunteer Reserve 10 Sqdn., 144600
WICKS Edward Charles	UK	RAF	33, 10-6-44	Flight Sergeant (Air Gnr.) Volunteer Res. 10 Sqdn.  1376921.

For those who want to do their own research on World War II airplanes and grave sites, here are two comprehensive sources:

List of planes that crashed in France (text in French) -

http://francecrashes39-45.net/listes_presents.html

Sources of information on downed airplanes anywhere in Europe in WWII (in English), showing escape routes and acknowledging help from the local Resistance -

http://wwii-netherlands-escape-lines.com/research/aircraft-crash-sites/

FRANCE | June 10–Remembering Airmen Downed 70 Years Ago

At the Air Force band concert on
June 9, the two crews, of the MZ 532
and the MZ 684, were displayed
on the screen above the musicians.

L to R: Deborah and Dr. Rex
Henderson by the grave of Rex's
father Tom, pilot of the MZ 532.
This and all following photos by
JT Marlin.

The memorials in honor of the 14 downed airmen at Vaufleury Cemetery on May 8, 2011 were more elaborate than this year.

That is because they were part of a larger celebration of V-E Day, the end of hostilities in Europe in 1945, and the Town of Laval turned out in large numbers.

But this year's memorial on June 10 was unquestionably more special for the family members who came. (Missing from 2011 were Nicola and Robin Sumner; Robin is the nephew of Daniel Gilbert.

2011 -  L to R: Nicola and Robin Sumner (nephew of Daniel Gilbert), Cpl Pamela Turney (great-niece of Fred Beales), Luke Shergold (son of Suzanne), Michael Hayes (Beryl's husband), Beryl Hayes (daughter of Edward Wicks), Martin Clegg (Suzanne's husband), Suzanne Clegg (Beryl's daughter), Ashley Shergold (Suzanne's son), John Tepper Marlin (nephew of Willem van Stockum), Silvia and John Ellyatt (son of John Elyatt).

Crew members of the MZ 532 as
shown on the monument (stele) at
St. Berthevin.

One reason is that in 2014 the memorial has been entirely focused on the airmen who crashed on that date in 1944. Those who were at the cemetery were there for one reason, to honor the two crews of the Halifax bombers that were shot down nearby on June 10, 1944.

Another reason this year was special is that the families of six crew members were represented by their families - one more crew member than in 2011. Also, 20 family members showed up to pay their respects, eight more than in 2011.

This year, three crew members from each plane were represented by family.

In 2011, from the St. Berthevin-crash plane, MZ 532, only Sgt. Edward C. ("Eddy") Wicks had family there.

Representatives of the families of Sgt.Wicks (on left) and Sgt.
Brotherton (on right), whose younger brother and three
more generations attended in 2014 for the first time.

This year, the pilot of the MZ 532, Australian P/O Thomas W. (Tom) Henderson was also represented by his son, Dr. Rex Henderson and Rex's wife Deborah, who came from Australia for the occasion. Sgt. Leslie Brotherton was represented by four generations - his younger brother, daughter and other family members.

From the plane that crashed in Entrammes, the MZ 684, three crew members were represented again, as they were in 2011 - the pilot, Dr. Willem J. van Stockum, F/O John Ellyatt by his son, and Sgt. Fred Beales by his great-niece Cpl. Pamela Turney, who was in the uniform of the Canadian Forces Air Command.

Crew members of the plane that
crashed in Entrammes, the MZ 684.

John Tepper Marlin, nephew of F/O
Dr. Willem J. van Stockum (pilot of
the MZ 684), and wife Alice Tepper
Marlin.  Photo w JTM camera.

The MZ 684 crew is of interest for a number of reasons. The plane included four Flying Officers, which in the anglophone military is equivalent to an army rank of Lieutenant. A Pilot Officer is equivalent to a 2nd Lieutenant.

The MZ 532, by contrast, had two Pilot Officers, the rest being Sergeants. In other words, the MZ 684 had twice as many officers aboard.

Cpl. Pamela Turney next to
the marker of her great-uncle,
Sgt. Fred Beales.

My uncle Willem van Stockum's grave site is marked as both Canadian and Dutch. Dutch, because he was a citizen of Holland (his grave marker is different from the other 13 because it was provided after the others were in place, by the Dutch Government). Canadian, because he was seconded from the RCAF, where he had been an instructor in flying the Halifax bomber. He is also variously identified in those who have written about him as Scottish (his Ph.D. in physics was from Edinburgh), Irish (graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, where he met my mother and father), and American (he was teaching mathematics at the University of Maryland when World War II broke out and was previously a fellow at the ).

Van Stockum's work as a mathematician, utilizing Einstein's equations, has earned him a place in the history of time travel and the father of scientific approaches to the subject. Dr. Robert Wack, an Army Major and pediatrician, has written a science-fiction novel, Time Bomber, centered on van Stockum's life and death.

View of gravesite looking away from the
flag - the MZ 684 end of the site. At left
is M. Cousineau of the Canadian Embassy
 in Paris, who attended with his wife.

At the ceremonies on June 10, representatives of the embassies of Australia and Canada were in attendance. Each embassy has several military attaches who travel to pay respects to nationals of their countries who died in prior wars and are buried in France.

Comment

If someone from the Dutch Government ever attends an event at Vaufleury, it would be good for them to know that when they asked my mother what she wanted on the tombstone, her answer was: "Greater love hath no man..."

It would be nice if this request were some day honored, especially since the Dutch Government wrote to my mother to ask what she wanted inscribed. The minister who officiated at the ceremony on June 10 cited that exact quote...

For those unfamiliar with Anglophone military ranks, the following guide may be helpful:

Common anglophone military ranks
Navies	Armies	Air forces
Officers
Admiral of the fleet	Marshal or Field marshal	Marshal of the air force
Admiral	General	Air chief marshal
Vice admiral	Lieutenant general	Air marshal
Rear admiral	Major general	Air vice-marshal
Commodore	Brigadier	Air commodore
Captain	Colonel	Group captain
Commander	Lieutenant colonel	Wing commander
Lieutenant commander	Major or Commandant	Squadron leader
Lieutenant	Captain	Flight lieutenant
Sub-lieutenant	Lieutenant	Flying officer
Ensign	Second lieutenant	Pilot officer
Seamen, soldiers and airmen
Warrant officer	Sergeant major Warrant officer	Warrant officer
Petty officer	Sergeant	Sergeant
Leading seaman	Corporal	Corporal
Seaman	Private	Aircraft man

WW2 | D-Day Gravesites, 70 Years On

Map 1. Normandy Invasion. Utah-Omaha Beaches, where U.S.
troops took heavy losses. Also shows Bayeux, Caen, Honfleur.

In the week of D-Day (June 6) 1944, every available pilot was put to use.

So many RAF pilots were killed by anti-aircraft fire in their missions over France that every available pilot was put to use.

They were needed to destroy railways, bridges and roads so as to prevent Nazi troops from the south to prevent them from joining in the battles in Normandy.

My mother's younger brother, Willem van Stockum, was given a Halifax bomber to fly with six in crew.

He was an experienced pilot, with a Ph.D. in mathematics and months spent as an instructor to other pilots, way overqualified. He was 33 years old and ordinarily would have been given light duty. He was an instructor with the RCAF in Canada when he volunteered to fly for the RAF. He was posted to 10th Squadron in Melbourne. He flew six missions in the days before and after D-Day.

Monument to the crew of the plane piloted by Willem
van Stockum from the RCAF, shot down over
Entrammes, near Laval.

In a second plane  on the same mission of ten bombers was another pilot who was older than average, Thomas Henderson. He was also a Commonwealth volunteer, an Australian, Thomas Henderson. His plane and van Stockum's were shot down on June 10, 1944.

On June 7-8 2014, just prior to the 70th anniversary of D-Day, Alice and I had the pleasure of visiting memorial sites in and near Normandy, with Thomas Henderson's son Rex and his wife Deb Henderson.

It was a poignant week. We came from the United States and the Hendersons came from Australia. We were all there because  the citizens of Laval, to the south of Normandy, were about to unveil a monument to RAF airmen at Entrammes and St. Berthevin.

Monument to Thomas Henderson, the Australian pilot
of the second plane that was shot down in the early hours
of June 10, 1944, over Berthevin.

We drove north from Laval through Normandy, using routes E401 and E46. On Saturday, June 7 we went via Caen and Bayeux to Honfleur, stopping at Bayeux to see the tapestry. Honfleur is an historic gem of a port village; we stayed at la Closerie. Sunday, June 8 we went to the Normandy beaches, WW2 museum and cemetery at Omaha Beach.

June 9-10, Laval Area

Led by Jean-Louis Cholet of "Souvenir Francais" (in the Mayenne branch, the department to the south that includes Laval), Jean-Luc Peslier of the Association of the Mayenne Airmen (AMAA) and other hosts from the Town of Laval and other groups, the families of the 14 downed airmen were escorted to key spots.

The airmen were flying two Handley-Page Halifax bombers (MZ 684 and MZ 532) out of the 10th Squadron RAF station in Melbourne, Yorkshire, and were shot down over Entrammes and St. Berthevin, southeast and west of Laval, on June 10, 1944.

They are buried in a special section of the communal cemetery in Laval - photos are posted here.

(I wondered why there were 20 names listed in the cemetery, six more than the number of airmen who crashed and the number of tombstones in the cemetery in the airmen's section - Section E, Sub-section D, row 1. The answer is that five soldiers and one airman from the British Commonwealth are buried in a different part of the cemetery - in section A, sub-section A, row 28. The airman is Flying Officer Kenneth John Trask from the Royal Australian Air Force, who died November 11, 1943; grave #42500. The five soldiers are named Clark, Hunt, Morgan, Sharratt, and Stokes.)

For me it was important closure. When my mother first came to the gravesite of her brother Willem in 1954 she found that all of the other 13 airmen had gravestones. Her brother only had a wooden marker. She was deeply upset. She told me that one possible explanation was that her brother was an atheist and therefore wasn't allowed to have a Christian marker.

That, of course, was highly improbable, but my mother was a convert to Catholicism (her parents were agnostic although born to religious Dutch Reform families) and it surely reflected her state of mind. The family trip around Europe was billed as pilgrimage and we deliberately stopped at places like Lourdes and Santiago de Compostela (the end of the Camino Santiago).

In fact, the problem was that her brother died a Dutch citizen, although he was in the process of applying for U.S. citizenship - he was a young faculty member in mathematics at the University of Maryland when the war broke out. The Dutch, with many other challenges on their hands, had not yet delivered the special Dutch tombstone for Willem, whereas the RAF had managed by 1954 to get the 13 other gravestones in place.

Monday, June 9, 2014

Map 2. Normandy and Pays-de-la-Loire. Shows Laval,
Le Mans, Caen, Honfleur

10 am - Brunch in Laval at the Brasserie Chez Marcel, impasse Barbé; before the roundabout route to Le Mans on 57 RD from Laval.
12 Noon - Lunch at Le Parc Gourmand in Conlie.
1:30 pm - Visit to the WW2 Museum, guided by Mr. Roger Bellon, a self-taught wood-carver who accompanied his relics of the war with depictions of what happened.

Map 3. Shows Laval, Ernée, Entrammes, St. Berthevin.

6:30 pm - Ernée, dinner with the musicians of the Army Air Force, at Grand Cerf.
7:50 pm - Clair de Lune Hall by car or on foot. Seating in the concert hall reserved for family, AMAA and VIPs.
8:45 pm - Concert by the brass band, Music of the Paris Air Force.
10:30 pm - Drinks with the conductor and musicians.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

9 am - Laval, RV esplanade "Ch Nine" for guided tour in English of Old Laval, starting with the old castle. Guide is Helene.

Map 4. Shows Laval, Conlie, Ernée

10:30 am - Laval, Vaufleury Cemetery - Graveside Ceremony at the Airmen's Square with a brief ecumenical service, speeches, RAF Anthem and wreath-laying.
11:30 am - Laval, Official reception at City Hall.
12:30 pm -  Laval, Lunch at Relais Champetre ("Country Stage Stop"), near the Airport.

2:30 pm - Entrammes, Pear Farm (outside the village on the road to Maisoncelles ), ceremony following unveiling of the monument to Halifax bomber MZ 684. Laying of wreaths/flowers in the presence of the Mayor of Entrammes and other local officials, with anthem and flag bearers. This is the plane that was piloted by flying officer van Stockum, about whom a science-fiction novel called Time Bomber was published in 2014.
3:15 p.m. - On to the Lycée Agricole, "Chateau Blancherie", remembrance of MZ 532 with testimony and comments on the mission. For a photo of the MZ 532 crew and a British presentation in 2013 in honor of the 10th Squadron based in Melbourne, Yorks., go here: Halifax Crew MZ 532.

4:45 pm - St. Berthevin, in Pont-Alain. Unveiling of the monument to Halifax bomber MZ 532 with wreath-laying in presence of the Mayor of Berthevin and other officials, and flag-bearers.
5:45 pm - Meeting Centre of the City of St. Berthevin, northwest of Laval. Welcome and toasts in memory of the downed airmen.
7 pm - Welcome by staff of the AMAA, restaurant "Maine".
7:45 p.m. - Farewell dinner, presentation of mission maps for the nights of June 9-10, 1944 (Melbourne/Laval) and gift souvenir of the monument for families.

May 7-8 V-E Day (+ 69 Years) - June 6 D-Day (+ 70 Years)

May 7, 1945 was V-E Day in Europe for the Western front (the war was still on with Japan). A representative of the German forces signed a surrender to General Eisenhower in Reims on May 7 and in Berlin on May 8. This year was the 69th anniversary of V-E Day. In the Soviet Union V-E Day is celebrated on May 9 because it was a day later in Moscow.

The war in Europe started in earnest for Americans on D-Day, June 6, 1944, when the Allies invaded Europe.  Before then, the United States was mostly involved through manufacturing materiel for the Allies. On D-Day, the American military took the brunt of the huge losses, mostly through the tragically exposed landing of the 1st and 29th U.S. Army Infantry Divisions on Omaha Beach.

The losses in the Soviet Union, Poland and Germany, and among European Jews and Gypsies, were already catastrophic.

Since 22 November 2004, by UN General Assembly resolution 59/26, May 8 and 9 are designated as a Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives during World War II.

May 8 is the day that officially ended World War II in Europe by Germany's signing of an unconditional surrender of its armed forces in Berlin. The surrender was signed the day before in Reims, France. May 9 is the day that the German surrender became effective in Russia, and therefore they celebrate that day as the day of peace.

My wife Alice and I will be in France, in Normandy and Mayenne (just south of Normandy), the week of D-Day. My uncle Willem van Stockum is buried in Laval, Mayenne with the other six members of his crew and another seven members of another Halifax bomber that was shot down the same night, June 10, 1944.

In preparation for our visit, I have been researching D-Day and World War II in Europe. My main focus is a new book targeted at young people by Rick Atkinson, D-Day: The Invasion of Normandy, 1944, published by Henry Holt. It is meant to be used in schools and is adapted from Atkinson's #1 best-selling book The Guns at Last Light.

The book is definitely for the older Young Adult market because the language does not make much allowance for expected vocabulary in the elementary school grades (see my post on age-appropriate books). But it is, as I said in my review, authoritative, comprehensive and compelling. Here are the top 15 books for children on World War II, as ranked by Goodreads. The Diary of Anne Frank is published in multiple editions, so its ranking as #3 is probably a result of some votes for the book going to other editions. These rankings are out of a total of 167 books currently on the Goodreads list for World War II. You can affect these rankings by voting.

1		The Book Thief  by Markus Zusak (Goodreads Author)  4.37 of 5 stars  4.37 avg rating — 539,713 ratings   score: 4,045, and 41 people voted
2		Number the Stars  by Lois Lowry  4.07 of 5 stars  4.07 avg rating — 248,305 ratings   score: 3,749, and 38 people voted
3		The Diary of a Young Girl  by Anne Frank  4.06 of 5 stars  4.06 avg rating — 1,199,357 ratings   score: 3,735, and 38 people voted
4		The Boy in the Striped Pajamas  by John Boyne  4.04 of 5 stars  4.04 avg rating — 151,152 ratings   score: 3,239, and 33 people voted
5		Edelweiss Pirates ‘Operation Einstein'  by Mark A. Cooper (Goodreads Author)  4.2 of 5 stars 4.20 avg rating — 141 ratings  score: 2,759, and 28 people voted
6		Secret Army (Henderson's Boys, #3)  by Robert Muchamore  4.16 of 5 stars  4.16 avg rating — 1,081 ratings  score: 1,169, and 12 people voted
7		The Borrowed House (Young Adult Bookshelf Series)  by Hilda van Stockum  4.17 of 5 stars 4.17 avg rating — 169 ratings     score: 1,080, and 11 people voted
8		The Devil's Arithmetic  by Jane Yolen  4.07 of 5 stars  4.07 avg rating — 26,193 ratings   score: 1,079, and 11 people voted
9		When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (Out of the Hitler Time, #1) by Judith Kerr  3.84 of 5 stars 3.84 avg rating — 4,086 ratings   score: 1,067, and 11 people voted
10		Code Name Verity (Code Name Verity, #1)  by Elizabeth Wein (Goodreads Author)  4.12 of 5 stars 4.12 avg rating — 25,738 ratings   score: 1,065, and 11 people voted
11		Between Shades of Gray  by Ruta Sepetys (Goodreads Author)  4.34 of 5 stars  4.34 avg rating — 37,608 ratings   score: 1,064, and 11 people voted
12		Grey Wolves (Henderson's Boys, #4)  by Robert Muchamore  4.26 of 5 stars  4.26 avg rating — 892 ratings    score: 1,061, and 11 people voted
13		The Prisoner (Henderson's Boys, #5)  by Robert Muchamore  4.32 of 5 stars  4.32 avg rating — 658 ratings  score: 1,059, and 11 people voted
14		Summer of my German Soldier  by Bette Greene (Goodreads Author)  3.62 of 5 stars  3.62 avg rating — 10,311 ratings  score: 951, and 10 people voted
15		The Winged Watchman  by Hilda van Stockum  4.09 of 5 stars  4.09 avg rating — 552 ratings  score: 884, and 9 people voted