Never Forgotten

The raison de'être of Memorial Day is our universal hope and pledge that those who lost their lives in the cause of freedom will never be forgotten.  This weekend, Americans from coast to coast will spend time reflecting on past events that took some of our brightest minds and strongest spirits.  That is a cost of war that's impossible to measure.  The effect of their sacrifice is that others could survive and prevail in the name of Liberty.  Our reflection today, well intentioned as it is, seems so trivial in comparison to their deeds.  Sadly, many of those heroes are not remembered at all—lost in time and space.  We can only think of them today in the abstract.  There is a modern tendency to honor all of our military on this day, though I personally still consider it a day of tribute to those who died in the line of duty.

Last night I returned home from the Ninth Air Force Association reunion in Columbia, South Carolina.  It was a bitter-sweet experience.  The association was founded by, and its membership consists mainly of, veterans from World War II.  These hardy and intrepid souls are nearly all in the 90+ age group and they have been reuniting for 67 years.  They come from all parts of the country and relive the times that were so important in their lives.  Although my own service in the 9th AF was 20 years after WWII ended, I have very much appreciated the camaraderie of their reunions.  Simply being a part of their group made me feel more closely connected to the days when I was just an infant and they were locked in mortal combat with a fierce enemy of Democracy.  The bitter part of this reunion is that it was to be the last of a long and memorable tradition.  The years have finally taken their toll and like many other veteran groups, this one can no longer defy the transition that eventually comes to all of us.  Helping to make this final reunion memorable, the current IXth AF Commander, Major General Larry Wells and his wife Kathy hosted the group for an exciting tour of the facilities and aircraft at Shaw Air Force Base.  Their personal attention and hospitality was extraordinary.  General Wells was also the keynote speaker at the reunion banquet and shared his vision of the Air Force of the future—never losing sight of the fact that it rests on the foundation built by the veterans of WWII. 

My personal thoughts on Memorial Day will of course include Bill Cramsie, who might as well have been kin to me.  I wish that I could report on this occasion that the plane flown by Bill has been found, but that was not to be.  The wreckage that might have been his turned out to be an unrecorded German aircraft shot down during WWII.  The search for 43-9699 continues.   Also in my thoughts will be my maternal grandmother's brother Melvin Roberts who died in a Japanese POW Camp in Formosa only a few months before the end of the war.

 Melvin Roberts 

7 Jun 1908 - 29 May 1945

Melvin was a robust French Canadian from the north woods of Wisconsin.  He worked for a time in the maritime industry on the Great Lakes and joined the Army in 1938 at the age of 30.  He served as a private in Company C, 1st Battalion, 31st Infantry Division and was stationed in the Philippines at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack and America's entry into WWII.

Hokusen Maru - 1945

After surviving the Bataan Death March, the horrendous conditions at Cabanatuan, the wretched hell-ship Hokusen Maru, and the constant forced labor, Melvin could not conquer the beriberi that years of malnutrition had vested upon him.  He died on May 29, 1945.  In 1949, as part of the effort of the American Graves Registration Service, his remains were recovered from the grave at Shirakawa in Formosa and transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Honolulu where they remain today.  As a youngster, I heard many loving tales about Melvin and even then realized how much his loss was felt by those who loved him.

Cramsie Day 2012

Bill Cramsie and 43-9699 continue to make news as we mark today the 67th Anniversary of the day that he and his gunners Charles Henshaw and Jack Steward disappeared without a trace.  Those who are familiar with the story will know that Bill has not rested in peace during that time.  In fact, he has pulled, pushed, cajoled and clawed his way into the hearts and minds of scores of people from California to the U.K.  The search for Bill Cramsie began seven years ago.  It should have begun sixty years earlier, but a tiny human foible precluded that.

Readers of this blog will know about "First to Fall" and about Ross Stewart.  Some will know that Ross discovered an anomaly in the records that may well lead to closure on this search.  As Lt. Cramsie was flying alone at 400 feet above Bradwell Bay, he made a call for a bearing to the RAF base there.  His hope was to make an emergency landing before the overburdened left engine of his A-20 Havoc failed completely.  He had lost the other engine much earlier due to intense flak over France. 

 

The call was heard by his friend, classmate and fellow pilot Marion S. (Scotty) Street, who was also flying on one engine and could see Cramsie below him.  Street was within sight of the main flight as they crossed the English Channel and entered Bradwell Bay.  They were on a direct course from just east of Dunkirk to their home station at Wethersfield.  The call for a bearing was heard and acknowledged by the ground station and a determination of Cramsie's position was made by triangulation of the radio signal.  That location was logged at latitude and longitude coordinates that placed Cramsie at 40 miles east of the station at Bradwell Bay and actually in the North Sea.  The Missing Air Crew Report includes a map with that location marked by an "X" and an arrow showing the coordinate he was advised to follow.

This reported location has always been at odds with common sense and the official reports of pilots who saw Cramsie's plane below them on the return from France to England.  Ross Stewart astutely realized that the reported longitude must contain a number inversion.  Plotting the corrected coordinates put this position precisely on the line and at the proper distance from land that all contemporary reports of pilot would suggest.  Ross also discovered through an internet charting resource that there is an unidentified aircraft wreck at this very spot, which happens to be a large sand bank that is partially exposed at the lowest tides.  He then located a 35-year-old British aerial survey photo that showed a twin-engined aircraft at that spot.  The photo was taken from 26,000 feet and detail was insufficient for positive identification, but it looked very much like the profile of an A-20 Havoc.

As Ross expanded his search for information to local divers and fishermen, he met Roger Gaspar an expert in these waters and a man with extraordinary background and skills.  On Easter Sunday morning, the two of them coordinated a trip to the site with the help of Alan Bird, an Oyster boat's captain, to determine if that wreck was still to be found.  Why on Easter?  It has to do with the Spring tides being at their lowest point of the year for a couple days and that bad weather was forecast for the following days.  These intrepid explorers boarded the waiting craft at 4:00 AM and anchored off the sand bank in the early AM, approaching it with a dinghy as the tide receded.  Their effort was well rewarded.  At precisely the coordinates expected, they did find the wreckage of an aircraft and some indications that it may be an A-20.  Further examination of the wreckage is presently underway and it is hopeful that a solid identification will soon be possible.

The main part of the aircraft which was visible in the 1970s aerial survey is apparently now covered with sand, but is likely in the immediate vicinity of the tail sections and main landing gear shown in the photos above.

The story of Bill Cramsie and "9699" has always seemed to write itself and to lead people to the place they need to go.  I feel comforted in the fact that it happens to others, not just to me.  There are a lot of people with the desire to see closure on this long episode and obviously a lot of will to prevail in that quest.

Project 9699 in the News

The current issue of British Ministry of Defence Police magazine "Talk Through" has a wonderful centerfold article by Chief Inspector Ross Stewart about Project 9699, the search for 671st Bomb Sq. pilot William Edward Cramsie and crew lost in Bradwell Bay, England on 10 April 1944.  Click on the link below to download a pdf file of the issue and then scroll to pages 17 through 19.

  http://tiny.cc/dx7jk