Far Flung Gliders

Discussion in 'Troop Carrier & Glider' started by Pat Curran, Feb 5, 2013.

  1. John Szweda

    John Szweda Administrator
    Staff Member

    Oct 25, 2012
    570
    9
    Male
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Pat,
    I did a quick search of the Potier list and came up with the following:

    36413839 Bates, Archie L Pfc 1 HQ.
    Chanzes, Harry 2Lt 1 HQ
    14067653 Holmes, Wilmots S S/Sgt 1 HQ
    32041454 Jones, Stanley H Pvt 1 HQ
    Knuckles, Raymond C Capt 1 HQ
    35520703 Rooskes, John J Pfc 1 HQ

    ... and you can narrow down the above list if you remove the 3 officers and Sgts.

    If it turns out to be a 'CS' there was one match I found
    36627697 Cooncs, Joseph R Pfc 1 HQ

    Maybe someone else can check the list and see if they come up with the same names.

    John
     
  2. Pat Curran

    Pat Curran Administrator
    Staff Member

    Oct 20, 2012
    2,547
    11
    Co. Kilkenny, Ireland
    Thanks John,

    I haven't been able to find the time today to look at the roster in detail.

    I agree we can certainly concentrate on the privates. A quick Google on your three with their service numbers yielded nothing which would help identify the craps player.

    Regards,

    Pat
     
  3. patelie

    patelie Active Member
    Researcher

    Pat
    Always interested in shimko's odyssey and I am sure you got it. I found the following on Find a grave:
    Birth: Jul. 6, 1917
    Cleveland
    Cuyahoga County
    Ohio, USA
    Death: Aug. 4, 1997
    Wadsworth
    Medina County
    Ohio, USA

    Edward W. Shimko, 80, passed away Monday, Aug. 4, 1997, in Wadsworth.
    He served his country with honor in the U.S. Army and was a veteran of World War II. A distinguished service career earned him the rank of second lieutenant. He was a ranger in the 82nd Airbourne in the conflicts of Battle of the Bulge, the Normandy invasion and North Africa. On D-Day as the commander of his glider in the 395th Infantry, he led the glider personnel after landing 70 miles behind enemy lines in the middle of a German mine field for six days through enemy territory.
    Raising his family in Garfield Heights, he worked as a superintendent for United Sales Overhead Garage Door Company. Upon retirement he moved to Deltona, Fla., and dedicated his life to his son's family. He attended St. Francis Xavier Church.
    He is survived by his wife, Agnes (nee Phillips) of Wadsworth; son and daughter-in-law, Robert and Teresa Shimko of Medina; grandchildren, Jessica, Joshua, Jennifer and Jeffrey; and brother, Thomas of Eastlake.
    He was preceded in death by his brother, George.
    Mass of Christian Burial: 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Francis Xavier Church, 606 E. Washington St., Medina. The Rev. Stephen Kaminski will officiate.
    Burial: St. Francis Xavier Church Cemetery, Medina.

    PS: His wife died in 2012
     
  4. patelie

    patelie Active Member
    Researcher

    Pat
    Reading again carefully shimko's testimony, I don't think they took a spare glider.
    ".....After the nose had come undone the second time we were brought back to Ramsbury Airport, the place from which we had taken off. There they wired the latches together. Then we took off again...."
    There is no moment, in his testimony where he said that they unloaded the glider to take a spare but :"There they wired the latches together. Then we took off again"... Just a quick repair on the glider it seems
     
  5. Pat Curran

    Pat Curran Administrator
    Staff Member

    Oct 20, 2012
    2,547
    11
    Co. Kilkenny, Ireland
    Hi Patrick,

    Great to get confirmation on the Shimko family and yes, I agree reading the first hand account, it would seem that only one glider, #43-39730, was involved. The second glider story comes from page 142 of 'Airborne Combat' by James E. Mrazek.

    Regards,

    Pat
     
  6. patelie

    patelie Active Member
    Researcher

  7. Pat Curran

    Pat Curran Administrator
    Staff Member

    Oct 20, 2012
    2,547
    11
    Co. Kilkenny, Ireland
    Thanks Patrick,

    The Edward Shimko photograph is very like the lead man in the footage shot in Courseulles sur Mer.

    Anyone have a better quality copy of this footage?

    Regards,

    Pat
     
  8. Pat Curran

    Pat Curran Administrator
    Staff Member

    Oct 20, 2012
    2,547
    11
    Co. Kilkenny, Ireland
    Here's something strange...

    I have been reading a recently acquired second hand copy of 'Eye-Witness D-Day' by Jon E. Lewis which, as the title implies, is a collection of veterans' accounts of D-Day and the subsequent Normandy Campaign.

    On page 224 there is this account:

    Bombardier Harry Hartill, RA
    'A sight which held my attention was an American glider which had come down, having perhaps lost its bearings, into the British sector. It had caught overhead wires, causing it to nose-dive into the ground at terrific force.

    Inside one man sat at the wheel of his Jeep ready to drive out. The Jeep had shot forward with such force it had doubled up, trapping the driver between the driving wheel and the back of the vehicle.

    Inside the glider were still all the crew, dead without firing a shot. What brought a lump to my throat was the huge white letters on each side of the glider saying 'HOME VIA BERLIN' and 'DON'T WORRY MOM, WE'LL BE BACK.''


    So it seems that at least one other Waco is down in the British/Canadian sector. I wonder if its possible to attribute this description to any known MIA accounts?

    Regards,

    Pat
     
  9. Pat Curran

    Pat Curran Administrator
    Staff Member

    Oct 20, 2012
    2,547
    11
    Co. Kilkenny, Ireland
    Hi All,

    Since I last posted here, a new sortie has been digitised by NCAP - US34/0527 flown on the 6th June 1944. The photos are wide angle; shot with a 24" camera and so the image scale is a little smaller than what we have been used to. I came across the newly digitised frames while doing work over in the British Airborne Sector around the village of Grangues.

    In any event, frame 5043 covers the area of the Shimko co-ordinates in good weather and using my 'zoom subscription' facility, I can clearly see a column of smoke rising from an object in the fork of the road near where the two barns are located here.

    Whether its a burning glider, aircraft or vehicle I cannot make out from the low resolution zoom.

    Regards,

    Pat
     
  10. patelie

    patelie Active Member
    Researcher

    Pat
    If the photographs were taken on June 6th, it cann't be the glider.
    The mission was flown on June 7th. Mission Galveston
     
  11. MKenny

    MKenny Active Member
    Researcher

    Sep 24, 2017
    29
    5
    Male
    This appears to have caught the 21st Pz Div attack on Bieville. Lots of vehicles can be seen and several are 'smoking'.

    [​IMG]
     
  12. Pat Curran

    Pat Curran Administrator
    Staff Member

    Oct 20, 2012
    2,547
    11
    Co. Kilkenny, Ireland
    Thanks Patrick for the reminder...I had forgotten which day Shimko and his men arrived! :)
     
  13. Pat Curran

    Pat Curran Administrator
    Staff Member

    Oct 20, 2012
    2,547
    11
    Co. Kilkenny, Ireland
    Hi Michael,
    Quite a few of the frames are good for the Caen and British Airborne Sector, but looking at the Sortie Index, I see some oblique frames along the coastline are not yet digitised - hopefully these are still to come and not missing when passed to NCAP from NARA.

    Regards,

    Pat
     
  14. MKenny

    MKenny Active Member
    Researcher

    Sep 24, 2017
    29
    5
    Male
    You can see 2 smoking objects (or vehicles at speed?) in the June 6th phot that do not seem to still be there in the obliques taken on June 7th. Standing crops are dark and the light fields are harvested



    US7    June 6th named bb.jpg Screenvshot_213.jpg Screenshot_351.jpg
     

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