looking for contacts of the families of the crew of a B-17
 

good morning all,

we are organizing an event around the crash of a B-17 In June 1944 near Toulouse and we we would like to invite the families of the 8 crew members who bailed out and survived ( 8 crews were made prisoners but all came back safe. One crew member was killed, we have the families contacts for this one).

Can you help us find their families ? and their contacts ? this is to invite them in May 2024 in Toulouse

here are the details we have from the MACR, including the contact details at the time :


2nd Lt John K. GODWIN 2205 Ashland ST, Fortworth Texas
2nd Lt William N FREEMAN Savannah, Tenn.
F/O Edward D. SEWARD 128 Ivy street, East Rochester NY
2nd Lt Harold N. GNESIN (was killed , we have contacts)
S/Sgt John H. WILSON 134 Grant Avenue, Middlesex, New York
T/Sgt Merril BUTIKOFER Rural route N°2, Idaho Falls, Ida.
Sgt Herbert L. BROOKS Sedrey Wooley Washington
Sgt Chester R. ISDAHL Route N°1 Spicer, Minn.
Sgt Frank E. JENKINS 195 Sheppard, Richmond, Va.

the aircraft was :
Boeing B17G
Serial 42-102463
8th United Army Air Force
398th Bomb Group
602nd Bomb Squadron

shot down by the FLAK on 25 June 1944, at Cornebarrieu, this is very close to Toulouse;

thanks in advance to all the genealogists experts, investigators and webexperts that will help us.

Gilles

Re: looking for contacts of the families of the crew of a B-17
 

Gilles,

How do you plan to go about trying to contact the families? I have found a possible address and phone number for the son of John K Godwin.

It has been my experience that phoning a relative does not work very well. A short letter seems to work better. (E-mail addresses, when you can find one, are often out of date.)

Do you want to write a letter or would you prefer that we do that from here?

https://www.newspapers.com/article/f...ram/136257550/

Re: looking for contacts of the families of the crew of a B-17
 

Hi RSwank, and thanks for your continuous support.

I would be grateful if you can do this letter/email for us, you will do it better than we could do.

So, please, do contact them, and explain them that a ceremony will be held sometime at spring in Toulouse, in memory of this B-17, and that we would be delighted if they come.

Thanks again,

Gilles

Re: looking for contacts of the families of the crew of a B-17
 

John King Godwin Jr. remembered here

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/...hn-king-godwin

Re: looking for contacts of the families of the crew of a B-17
 

I have possible leads and addresses on family members for 6 of the 8 men. The two men I don't have much on are:

Sgt Chester Raymond ISDAHL

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/...raymond-isdahl

He died in a fishing accident in 1961.

The other is Sgt Herbert Stuart Brooks:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/...-stuart-brooks

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries...ry?id=50160025

(Will probably see if we can find his sons.)

The MACR 6220 is available for download on the 398th BG website:

https://www.398th.org/History/398th_...25_Godwin.html

Re: looking for contacts of the families of the crew of a B-17
 

Hi Rswank

Great job.

I would be very grateful if you could contact them and explain that a ceremony will occur next year in the memory of this B-17 crash and that if they want to pay a visit to France/Toulouse, they would be very welcome.

The city hall of Cornebarrieu is organizing this event: there will be French officials, the family of Harold Gnesin (the only one who died in this crash) will be present, an exhibition in Aeroscopia museum will be dedicated to this B-17, etc..

You can give them my email (gilles.collaveri at hotmail.fr)
and I thank you very much in advance for that.

Gilles

Re: looking for contacts of the families of the crew of a B-17
 

The memorial for Gnesin, scroll down to see the pictures:

https://www.aerosteles.net/stelefr-cornebarrieu-b17

Location on Google Maps in street view.

If you look down the path to the right of the garage (on the left) you can see the memorial stone for Gnesin at the end of the path.

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.6437...8192?entry=ttu

Re: looking for contacts of the families of the crew of a B-17
 

I received my first reply from Robert Freeman, the son of William N Freeman.
Robert.Freeman@mccombs.utexas.edu

I will post his response below:
__________________________________

Lt William Noel Freeman is my father.

Several years ago a fairly large piece of the wing of his plane was found by workers clearing a hedge row near Toulouse. The French presented the piece of wing to the Air Force museum in Midland Texas. Several crew and family members attended the ceremony. The French gave each family member a small piece of the wing (box framed) and a framed print of a painting of the plane and crew. I am looking at them now. They hang in my study. I’ll send you a photo.

My dad told me that his clothes and parachute strap were burning when he jumped. All but one crew member survived. They were quickly captured by the Germans and taken to the local Luftwaffe headquarters (Chateau du Ferradou near Cornebarrieu) where they were held in the cellar for several days and interrogated by the SS. The three officers were imprisoned Stalag Luft 3 & 7A, and the rest of the crew were sent to Stalag Luft 4.

You can read about a 2001 event to honor the crew, details of Mission 441 (including a description of the crash), etc. in Volume 6-N8 of “Airshow” published by the Confederate Air Force - French Supporter Squadron in August 2001. If you would like a copy of this publication, you could contact Jeff Wood at the American Airpower Heritage Museum, 9600 Wright Drive, P.O. Box 62000, Midland, Texas 79711. Phone 432-567-3009.

Robert

Re: looking for contacts of the families of the crew of a B-17
 

Here is a link to the publication Robert mentioned. The story is on pages 1 to 8.

Two crewmen attended the multi-day 2001 ceremonies in France along with the sister of Gnesin. It was at one of the ceremonies that the memorial for Gnesin was dedicated (see link in post 7 above).

https://www.caffrenchwing.fr/wp-cont...2/Nws0801U.pdf

Re: looking for contacts of the families of the crew of a B-17
 

An update.
I have sent e-mails or letters to relatives of the eight crewmen. At this point we just wait and see how many of them respond. (If a relative is no-longer at the address I found, the post office will "usually" return the letter to me. If that happens I will try to find a different relative.)

Re: looking for contacts of the families of the crew of a B-17
 

Isdahl's parents changed the spelling of their surname. Chester had siblings galore.


https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/...1/magnus-isdal

Re: looking for contacts of the families of the crew of a B-17
 

Hi Rolland,
I received your letter and you are correct, Ed Seward was my father. I am assuming you found me through his obituary as he sadly passed six years ago. I have two younger brothers, the middle one with the same name ( he’s a III) with a 30 year Air Force career. It shocks me when folks do a search for my Dad and find me first lol.
My Dad never spoke much about the event leading to the crash, bail out and subsequent POW until the last 6 months of his life. He could never understand why people wanted to hear about something which was by far the worst experience of his life.
As you may be aware, there was a reunion previously much like your French researchers are planning. The link for the “thread” indicated it was held in 2001 but the documents I have all indicate it was held June 25, 2000 at Cornbarrieu. My father was invited to attend but declined. Not a memory he wanted to revisit. I have a booklet that they sent to him detailing timelines from a historical perspective which I’m sure the French students have access to. Very interesting stuff. It’s actually remarkable that my Dad survived considering he was the navigator seated directly behind the bombarder, whom did not survive.
My nephew, a third year college student visited Toulouse in July and was able to find the house where my Dad and the other airmen were kept. The house is lovely, a museum of sorts with plaques on the wall honoring the soldiers.

If have any questions that I can help with, please let me know.
Regards

Cindy Andrieu

csandrieu at gmail dot com

Re: looking for contacts of the families of the crew of a B-17
 

I received this from Maryanna Jenkins Weeks:
_______________________________________
Hi Rolland,

I received your letter yesterday about the 2024 Commemoration of the B-17 shot down in June 1944 near Toulouse, France. My father was crew member Sgt. Frank Erwin Jenkins. Yes, I am very much interested in this project and whatever information is available!!! I might be able to travel to the ceremony next June.
My parents were divorced when I was young, but I did have a visit with him in 1970 where he told me some about his plane being shot down, French farmers holding pitchforks on him until the Germans picked him up and his time in a POW camp. He died in 1973 and later I received some of his effects including his original WWII German prison camp record and purple heart. His ankle was broken when he landed after parachuting out of the plane.
Thank you very much for finding and contacting me! I am an avid genealogy researcher myself and look forward to learning more about this event and possibly more about my father. The link about the 2001 commemoration was very interesting and informative!

maryannaweeks at comcast dot net
___________________________________

She included the first page of her father's POW record. I will put it on my Google Drive
and provide a link in a day or so.

__________________________________________

Re: looking for contacts of the families of the crew of a B-17
 

Rolland

thanks for your actions;

The mayor organizing the event will contact them directly.

Kind regards

Gilles

Re: looking for contacts of the families of the crew of a B-17
 

Just an update. For the 8 crew member families we are searching for, I have made contact with four families so far, Jenkins, Freeman, Seward and Isdahl (Isdal).

I have had one letter returned undelivered (Butikofer) and no responses so far from Brooks, Godwin and Wilson. I have some alternate names and addresses to try for some of them.

Re: looking for contacts of the families of the crew of a B-17
 

I received the following from the Alain Toppan, the Mayor of Cornebarrieu. Note the ceremony is being planned for Tuesday, May 7, 2024.


Dear Rolland, Dear Gilles,

Please find below the e-mail I have sent to the families.

We could make an update early after New Year. Many thanks for your help !!

Enjoy the end of the year time,

Best regards,

Alain Toppan
Maire de Cornebarrieu

Envoyé de mon iPhone

Début du message transféré :

De: Alain TOPPAN
Date: 18 décembre 2023 à 22:04:58 UTC+1
À: [emails sent to Robert Freeman, Cindy Andrieu and Maryanna Weeks],

Cc: Simone DESLARZES
Objet: 80 years after a B-17 plane crash near Toulouse (France)


Dear All,

On Sunday June 25th, 1944, Mission 441, involving 240 planes, most of them B-17, took off from Nuthamstead (UK). The targets were two german airbases Francazal and Blagnac, near Toulouse in the South-west of France.

Around 9:30 am, one B-17G was shot down by the German flak. It crashed in a field of Cornebarrieu (near Blagnac airport).
Nine men composed the crew. Lieutenant Harold Gnesin was killed in the crash.
The other members :
John K Godwin,
William N Freeman,
Edward D Seward Jr,
John H Wilson,
Merril Butikofer,
Herbert L Brooks,
Chester R Isdahl,
Frank E Jenkins,
were made prisoners and transferred to Germany.
Lieutenant Harold Gnesin was buried on June 26th.

On June 25th, 2000, a ceremony took place in Cornebarrieu with many participants,
20230508_111848.jpg
a day of remembrance. Mrs Isabelle Lesser, sister of H. Gnesin and several crew members were present.

From this date, every year, a ceremony takes place remembering the sacrifice of Harold Gnesin. The ceremony is now coupled with the 8th of May (capitulation of Germany in 1945). Attached is a picture of the 8th of May 2023.

Weeks ago, Ruth Lesser informed us that several members of the family of Harold Gnesin (13 people) will attend the 2024 ceremony that will mark the 80th anniversary of the B-17 crash. This year, the ceremony will very likely be held on 7th of May, in order to have more official people present (on the 8th, they will attend ceremonies in Toulouse, and the 9th is a bank holiday in France).

Being Mayor of Cornebarrieu, I proposed to lead a working group focused on the 2024 ceremony preparation and content.

One very obvious question was emerging : is it possible to contact the relatives of the crew members ? Passionate historians have several very efficient networks and internet forums. They could spot several of you and your e-mail address.

The aim of this long message is very simple : to inform you about the 2024 ceremony and to ask you if you are willing to attend. Don't hesitate to contact me or Simone (in copy of this mail).
She is the President of the USA-France Association in Toulouse and already in contact with Ruth Lesser. She will be in the US next January.

We will keep you informed of the preparation, the plannings, etc. Don't hesitate to ask any question ! Please forward this e-mail to whom it may concern.

Many thanks in advance !

Sincerely,

--


Alain TOPPAN
Maire
Tel. 05 62 13 43 00
Fax. 05 62 13 43 09
www.cornebarrieu.fr
9, avenue de Versailles
31700 Cornebarrieu

Re: looking for contacts of the families of the crew of a B-17
 

I just finished talking to the son of the pilot (Godwin) and a son of the flight engineer (Butikofer). I will pass their e-mail addresses on to Gilles. They both said they would not be able attend but will follow events as they develop. (Since neither of the letters I sent to them bounced back, I figured that they had been delivered, so was hoping for an e-mail or phone call.)

The families I have not heard from are those of Herbert Brooks and John Wilson. At this point we have reached 6 of the 8 families.

Re: looking for contacts of the families of the crew of a B-17
 

I received the following update email from Jacques Dronnet. He is
the main contact person for the May 7 Event.

--------- Start Email ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Rolland

A first mail to you, it shall be an introduction of the French team preparing the B17 May Event.

Alain TOPPAN is the Mayor of Cornebarrieu where the B17 fortress crashed. Today ≈ 7,000 inhabitants.

Gilles COLLAVERI is still an active executive chap working as commercial in an aircraft manufacture Co.

I am Jacques DRONNET, the difference with the two above è I am now retired and disposing of way more time to dedicate to this project.

The crash occurred on June 25, 1944 and I was born in March 1944.

My family and I have leaving in the USA 1984 -1989; I will develop later in Bethesda Maryland and became an inhabitant of Cornebarrieu from 1989 up to now. Alain and I, are friends.

I have been working from 1981 until 2003 in the company mentioned hereabove, its name ATR, standing for Avions de Transport Regional and Gilles has been my deputy for years.

From 2003 up to 2020, I became a free lance mainly for ATR, acting a negotiator of aircraft contracts while in my Maryland period of time I have been creating and heading a subsidiary of ATR Customer Product Support. I still meet Gilles for business opportunities on informal and ad hoc basis.

Gilles has a hobby, as he might have told you https://www.aerocherche.fr/. Unbelievable.

For the B17 May 7 Event, Alain has constituted a 6≈7 person team but they have all their daily business to take care of.

Obviously, this event is a commemoration of a 23-year old young fellow who gave his life for our freedom, also a pass of vote of thanks to the others who spend a few months in prison and more generally to all the individuals who came …. Normandy, South of France ….

I stopped here this introduction and thence I will exchange with you at length about the past, what occurred in 1944 and afterwards, the future i.e. May 7 and the warm welcome of those who can come.

Regards

Jacques DRONNET

Mobile +33 6 86 42 40 26

Time difference between Toulouse and Eastern Time: minus six hours

jacques.dronnet@orange.fr

------------------- End Email ------------------------------------

Re: looking for contacts of the families of the crew of a B-17
 

thanks for the update Roland,

Yes, things are moving on, there will be an imposing ceremony on 7 May near Toulouse in memoriam of Harold Gnesin who died in this B-17, organized by the city hall, with many official representations.

Jacques is indeed the contact point for the families who wish to come to Cornebarrieu on 7 May.

Roland you are welcome and thanks for your constant support.

will keep you updated.

Gilles