French Gratitude to the Allies - Hard to Track

Laval story on the monument to the MZ 684 crew. John
Tepper Marlin points to his uncle's name, F/O W.J. van
Stockum, Cpl. Pamela Turney to her great-uncle's name,
Sgt. Fred Beales.

Richard Rubin has a fine article on how the French remember, with gratitude, the U.S. entry into World War I.

He says that when the French speak about "The War" they are talking about World War I.

I think that depends on the region of France and which war had the most impact in that region.

When we were in Normandy and Mayenne in June, as the 70th anniversary of D-Day was being remembered, "The War" was World War II.

And the French there were just as grateful for the support of the Allies in World War II as they were for their support in World War I.

Just as it is hard sometimes for someone writing thank-you notes to keep track of which guest gave which gift, it is hard sometimes for the French to keep the Allies straight.

The story in the Laval, Mayenne, France newspaper about the unveiling of monument to the crews of two planes that were shot down in the week after D-Day thanks the "britannique et canadien", "British and Canadian" airmen. In fact it was more complex than that.

The Halifax MZ-684 was piloted by a Dutchman (Flying Officer W. J. van Stockum, via the R.C.A.F.) resident in the United States and awaiting U.S. citizenship. The other plane, the Halifax MZ-352, was piloted by an Australian (Flying Officer Thomas Henderson, flying for the Australian Air Force).

August 24, 2014 - Postscript

A friend writes to me saying that The New York Times story and my tributes to the sacrifices of the Allies is lovely and sentimental but how about what is going on today? Back in the days of the Black and Tans, there were people charging The Times of London with "Afghanistanism" -writing strong editorials about atrocities in Afghanistan while overlooking the atrocities in Ireland.

My answer is that it is precisely when we have crisis points in the world that we need to look back and see how we got through the crises of the past. I am aware that Forbes is tracking every omission or error in reporting on the Middle East by the The New York Times. The finances of the newspaper business have changed, and we may not be able to rely as much on only one or two sources for our information.

I am not ready to trade in The New York Times for Forbes, but maybe one result of the democratization of news gathering, news dissemination and opinion-writing is that bloggers have to think about their changing role:

• Should bloggers only tackle topic areas where they feel less comfortable?
• Or should they make an effort to go into topic areas where they feel less sure of themselves, but where their thinking and opinions are needed?

VETS 6 | Monuments to 14 Downed Airmen

L to R: John Ellyatt, John Tepper Marlin and Cpl. Pamela Turney,
pointing  to the crew members to whom they are related.

A fine new monument was unveiled on the 70th Anniversary of the downing of the MZ 684 Halifax bomber, at Entrammes, near Laval, Mayenne, France.

Three of the seven crew members were represented by their families at the unveiling: John Ellyatt's son John Ellyatt, Willem van Stockum's nephew John Tepper Marlin and Fred Beales's great-niece Cpl. Pamela Turney.

In 2011, four of the seven crew members were represented by family at the Vaufleury Cemetery. The additional family member was Robin  Sumner (nephew of Gilbert Daniel).

The seven crew members listed on the monument are:
Flying Officer Willem Jacob Van Stockum, Pilot (hero of Time Bomber–see below)
Flying Officer John Ellyatt, Flight Engineer
Flying Officer Gilbert Daniel, Navigator
Flying Officer Robert Keith Marshall, Bomb Aimer
Sergeant Alfred Charles Perkins, Wireless Operator AG
Pilot Officer Fred Beales RCAF, Upper Gunner
Sergeant Albert Mason, Rear Gunner

Top photo shows two of the relatives of the crew of the MZ 684, JT Marlin (your
blogger), nephew of Willem van Stockum, and Pamela Turney, great-niece of Fred
Beales. The newly unveiled monument to the 70-year-old crash is in Entrammes.

Two monuments were unveiled on June 10 in memory of the two planes downed that early morning on a mission in the Laval area.

One was at a pear farm in Entrammes, Mayenne. It was dedicated to the MZ 684 Halifax bomber and its crew. The pilot was Willem J. van Stockum, my uncle.

The other was at Saint-Berthevin, dedicated to the MZ 532 Halifax bomber and its crew.

Comment

Uncle Willem was the person who brought my parents together. He roomed with my father at Trinity College, Dublin in 1929-32. When my father discovered that Willem had a sister, he set about wooing her.

They were married in 1932, had their first child in 1934 (my sister Olga will be 80 this year), and ten years after they were married they got me (#5 out of 6 children).

When Uncle Willem died in 1944, a light went out in the lives of my parents. It was unspeakably tragic for them and for my Granny who lived with us.

"Time Bomber", by Robert
Wack, centered on the life
of W. J. van Stockum.

When we came to visit the graves in 1954, the 13 RAF-administered British and Commonwealth graves had tombstones. My uncle's grave just had a simple wooden cross. I remember my mother burst into tears because she couldn't understand why her brother was singled out for not having a tombstone. It turns out it was because Willem was still a Dutch citizen (he was seconded from the Royal Canadian Air Force but he had been working in the United States on what is now called a "green card" and had applied for American citizenship). The Dutch Government had asked my mother what she wanted to have on the tombstone and she said: "Greater love hath no man..." The tombstone arrived in due course, but my mother never came back to see it. My brother Randal and I have been back several times. The Dutch tombstone is very impressive, but it does not have on it the epitaph that my mother requested.

On the other hand, my uncle is the only one so far of the 14 members of the crew to have a book written about him - Time Bomber, written by a U.S. Army Major and pediatrician, Dr. Robert Wack. I recommend the book for three groups of people: (1) those interested in the European theater of World War II, (2) those interested in the scientists who have examined time travel, and (3) those who are interested in the motivation and challenges of a soldier's and airman's life.  The story is based mainly on factual material about my uncle and the life he led until it was ended. The additional elements that have been added to the story, what we could call the sci-fi meta-story, make several important points that are hard to discuss any other way.

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]

Omaha Beach, 70 Years Later

Rex and Deborah Henderson at the Omaha Beach Cemetery
 in Normandy, where 9,000 American soldiers are buried.
This and other photos in this post by JT Marlin.

Alice and I visited Omaha Beach last month. I am still sorting through all my notes and photos. Every American should visit Omaha Beach, where so many young American soldiers are buried. More lie there than still survive World War II.

I have posted about our visit to the grave of my uncle Dr. Willem van Stockum, a mathematician who piloted a Halifax bomber with the serial number MZ 684 and is buried with the other six members of the crew near Laval, Department of Mayenne,  France.
---------------------------------------

The story of van Stockum is told in a largely biographical novel (with a memorable and pertinent sci-fi add-on), Time Bomber, by Dr. Robert Wack, a pediatrician in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. He discovered van Stockum through his twin interests in D-Day and time travel.

--------------------------------
This year for the first time (I have visited my uncle's grave site twice before, in 1954 and 2011), I met Dr. Thomas Rex Henderson, son of the pilot of the other Halifax, serial number MZ 532, that was shot down in the early morning of June 10, 1944.

During the two days prior to the reunion of the families of the two crews in Laval, we had the great privilege of traveling with Rex, an Australia pediatrician, and his wife Deborah, a cancer researcher, on a visit to Normandy. We went up via Bayeux and Caen to Honfleur, then returned to Omaha Beach the next day, June 7, when the traffic had eased up slightly around the site of D-Day, the day after its 70th Anniversary.

Operation Overlord. This is the view, portrayed on the wall of
 the memorial at the American Cemetery, of Normandy looking
 south, from the vantage point of the Allies. Omaha Beach
 is in the middle. 

Rex, by the way, was included in the 2012 Queen's Honours list. (He didn't mention it, but I found it from Garrulous Grandma Google.) He was added to membership in the Order of Australia for his pediatric and neonatal care in rural Western Australian. Rex's father's pilot gene continued into the next generation, as Rex has visited his patients mostly via private plane.

The D-Day story has been told often in books and on film. Rick Atkinson's book, The Guns at Last Light has been made into a grade-school reader, D-Day, which I have recommended as a quick source of data on the Normandy landing.

In the diagram posted at the memorial by the American Cemetery showing the deployment of the 1st U.S. Army, the arrows with stars on them represent three U.S. army divisions, two of them (1st and 29th Infantry) targeting Omaha Beach and one (4th Infantry) targeting Utah Beach to the right (west) of it.

The United States was given two western beaches to attack because supplies were coming directly from the United States and it was important to capture Cherbourg and ports in Brittany quickly to deliver supplies for the large numbers of troops who were landing. The 101st and 82nd Airborne landed paratroopers on both sides of Sainte-Mère-Église, and this was the first target that the Allies  captured in Normandy.

The huge force of Americans attacking Omaha Beach sustained the most casualties because, among other problems including terrible weather,  (1) after landing, U.S. soldiers had to climb a steep hill from the beach and (2) the gun emplacements at the top were not disabled by bombers as planned.

This view of Omaha Beach is from the vantage point of Nazi
 gun emplacements. The guns were supposed to have been
disabled by U.S. bombers, but were not.

We were told by someone at the American Cemetery that the bombardiers assigned to take out the Nazi gun bunkers delayed too long in unloading their bombs for fear of killing G.I.s that were landing. As a result, the gunners atop the hill were able to mow down the American soldiers as they traversed the beach and tried to come up the hill.

The three beaches to the left of Omaha Beach had easier terrain and less resistance and were captured with fewer casualties by the 2nd British Army, made up of two British infantry divisions attacking Gold and Sword beaches and a Canadian infantry division in the middle attacking Juno beach.

The German armies were commanded by Dollman and Rommel.

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