Article about: I have a sort of neat update to my original story. Last weekend I received an e-mail from a gentleman by the name of Lewis T. Easterling from North Carolina. He told me that he was in the sa
He is a transcript of the American newspaper story:
Anacortes native Jay V. "Herky" Thomson, a pilot who was killed in a dogfight over France during World War II, was honored at a ceremony Sept. 9 at the village of Saint-Denis du Behelan, France, near the site where his plane crashed.
"I sure wish I could've gone". Said Thomson’s brother, Bert, who is recovering from a hospitalization.
"All of my family but me is over there."
A plaque honoring Thomson, who was a first lieutenant, is placed at the village's soldiers monument. Dignitaries from Paris, including U.S. Air Force representatives, were scheduled to attend, his brother said.
The identification of Thomson's crash site and the ceremony were the work of the Forced Landing Association (or Association Pour L'Histtoire et le Souvenir des Pilotes et Hommes D'Equipages Allies). Members of this group, many of whom were born after the war, research allied plane crash sites, then excavate and document them.
Thomson, who still lives in Anacortes, said his older brothers Jay and Chester enlisted in the Army after Pearl Harbor.
"That's the first thing they did," he said. "They both wanted to be pilots. One made it and one didn't."
Bert himself graduated from Anacortes High School in 1942, then enlisted in the Navy on Nov.11 of that year. He spent much of the war stationed in Honolulu.
Jay was attached to the 365th Fighter Squadron of the 358th Fighter Group, in the Army Air Force, where he flew a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter/bomber, Thomson said. His outfit was stationed at High Halden Air Force Base near Kent, England.
On July 14th, 1944, several squads went out to bomb a railroad tunnel near Neubourg. A contemporary report said the four planes in 1LT Thomson's squad were swarmed by more than 50 German planes over Brezolles, west of Dreux. Thomson's plane was hit by an ME 109 and an FW 190, according to the report. He was listed as missing.
Thomson said he always checked VFW magazines for information about his brother’s outfit. One recent edition provided him with a contact, who gave him the addresses of men whe were likely to have known Jay.
"I wrote to nine of them," he said. "I heard back from all but one, and he had died."
One of the pilots referred him to a friend in England, who lived near the air force base. This friend, in turn, put him in touch with Jean-Luc Gruson of the Forced Landing Association, who was researching several planes that had been shot down on the same day. Gruson pinpointed which was which through excavated artifacts, such as a temperature gauge. Gruson wrote to Thomson and coordinated the ceremony so the family could attend.
Although he was unable to join his family in France, he and his son Scott went to Causland Memorial Park Saturday to honor Jay with a prayer.
"It was pretty touching to think they were over in France doing the same thing," he said.
Hi Joel, sorry we don't allow outside links to photobucket etc. The problem is these type of links die over time and we are then left with empty useless threads.
If you cannot post them directly on the forum send me a PM and I will send you my email address so you can send them to me.
I am keen to see the items!
Cheers, Ade.
Okay, give me your e-mail address and I'll try to send you the pics.
Joel,
I've just caught up with this thread ....
.. It's good to see you following the story through ..
Pictures ..
Well this part off the Thunderbolt looks to be something associated with either a suspension leg for the undercarridge, or directly associated with one of the wheels ..
It looks similar to a track control arm / track rod end off a car.
Hi Joel
Great Story.
To the last one from Polski44, it looks like a rocker arm assembly to adjust the valves on the engine. Just a thought.
Cheers,
Falk
Re: New here and I have a story for you.
by Adrian Stevenson
Hi Joel, sorry we don't allow outside links to photobucket etc. The problem is these type of links die over time and we are then left with empty useless threads.
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