The Lost Airman

by Seth Meyerowitz

  1. H. R. Kedward, Refusal and Revolt: Spring 1943, In Search of the Maquis: Rural Resistance in Southern France, New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, p. 29.

  2. War Department Notice, “Still Missing in Action,” to David and Rose Meyerowitz, April 21, 1944.

  3. Letter from Max B. Goldman to War Department, April 3, 1944.

  CHAPTER 19

  The chief sources for Chapter 19: Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, Debrief and Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, June 17, 1944, marked “Secret,” 18 pages; Appendix (B) to Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, Sergeant Arthur Meyerowitz, January 18, 1944, 3 pages; and Service File No. 32000985, 1941–1945, Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, 137 pages.

  “Marcel Taillandier,” L’Association des Amis du Musée; Colonel Paul Paillole, Services spéciaux (1935–1945), Paris: R. Laffont, 1975; Colonel Rémy (pseudonym of Gilbert Renault-Roulier), Morhange: les chasseurs de traîtres, Paris: Éditions Flammarion, 1975; and Pierre Saint-Laurens, Conte de faits, X15, Réseau Morhange, Toulouse: Éditions Signes du Monde, 1995.

  UK National Archives and Royal Air Force Service Records, RAF DPA SAR Sections, Officers of the RAF, RFC, RNAS, Second World War (1939–1945): Details of Those Who Crashed Overseas: RAF Squadron Combat Reports No. 644 Squadron: LL228 “A” for Able Piloted by Flight Lieutenant Frank Cleaver DSO; Military Record of Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver, Service No. 1457098/124411, Royal Air Force (RAF); Flight Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver, “(Secret) Evaded Capture in France,” WO/208/3320, including Gibraltar Debrief, June 17, 1944, and Appendices B, C, and D.

  1. Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, Debrief and Escape Evasion Report.

  2. “Notice of Distinguished Service Order (DSO), Flight Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver,” London Gazette, October 29, 1943, p. 1.

  3. UK National Archives and Royal Air Force Service Records, RAF DPA SAR Sections, Officers of the RAF, RFC, RNAS, Second World War (1939–1945): Details of Those Who Crashed Overseas: RAF Squadron Combat Reports No. 644 Squadron: LL228 “A” for Able Piloted by Flight Lieutenant Frank Cleaver DSO.

  4. Ibid.

  CHAPTER 20

  The chief sources for Chapter 20: Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, Debrief and Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, June 17, 1944, marked “Secret,” 18 pages; Appendix (B) to Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, Sergeant Arthur Meyerowitz, January 18, 1944, 3 pages; and Service File No. 32000985, 1941–1945, Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, 137 pages.

  “Marcel Taillandier,” L’Association des Amis du Musée; Colonel Paul Paillole, Services spéciaux (1935–1945), Paris: R. Laffont, 1975; Colonel Rémy (pseudonym of Gilbert Renault-Roulier), Morhange: les chasseurs de traîtres, Paris: Éditions Flammarion, 1975; and Pierre Saint-Laurens, Conte de faits, X15, Réseau Morhange, Toulouse: Éditions Signes du Monde, 1995.

  UK National Archives and Royal Air Force Service Records, RAF DPA SAR Sections, Officers of the RAF, RFC, RNAS, Second World War (1939–1945): Details of Those Who Crashed Overseas: RAF Squadron Combat Reports, No. 644 Squadron: LL228 “A” for Able Piloted by Flight Lieutenant Frank Cleaver DSO; Military Record of Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver, Service No. 1457098/124411, Royal Air Force (RAF); Flight Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver, “(Secret) Evaded Capture in France,” WO/208/3320, including Gibraltar Debrief, June 17, 1944, and Appendices B, C, and D.

  1. Michael Grant, “Resistance Groups in Toulouse,” 1st Humanities, Toulouse, 2002, p. 1.

  2. UK National Archives and Royal Air Force Service Records, RAF DPA SAR Sections, Officers of the RAF, RFC, RNAS, Second World War (1939–1945): Details of Those Who Crashed Overseas: RAF Squadron Combat Reports No. 644 Squadron: LL228 “A” for Able Piloted by Flight Lieutenant Frank Cleaver DSO. Quote from Flight Sergeant John Franklin.

  3. Ibid.

  4. Flight Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver, “(Secret) Evaded Capture in France,” WO/208/3320, including Gibraltar Debrief, June 17, 1944, and Appendices B, C, and D.

  5. Ibid.

  6. Ibid.

  7. Ibid.

  8. Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, Debrief and Escape Evasion Report.

  9. All quotations from here to here are from above-cited chief sources from UK National Archives Royal Air Force Service Records RAF (1939–1945). “Details of Those Who Crashed Overseas: Flight Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver, (Secret) Evaded Capture in France,” WO/208/3320, June 17, 1944, and Appendices B, C, and D.

  CHAPTER 21

  The chief sources for Chapter 21: Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, Debrief and Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, June 17, 1944, marked “Secret,” 18 pages; Appendix (B) to Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, Sergeant Arthur Meyerowitz, January 18, 1944, 3 pages; and Service File No. 32000985, 1941–1945, Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, 137 pages.

  “Marcel Taillandier,” L’Association des Amis du Musée; Colonel Paul Paillole, Services spéciaux (1935–1945), Paris: R. Laffont, 1975; Colonel Rémy (pseudonym of Gilbert Renault-Roulier), Morhange: les chasseurs de traîtres, Paris: Éditions Flammarion, 1975; and Pierre Saint-Laurens, Conte de faits, X15, Réseau Morhange, Toulouse: Éditions Signes du Monde, 1995.

  UK National Archives and Royal Air Force Service Records, RAF DPA SAR Sections, Officers of the RAF, RFC, RNAS, Second World War (1939–1945): Details of Those Who Crashed Overseas: RAF Squadron Combat Reports No. 644 Squadron: LL228 “A” for Able Piloted by Flight Lieutenant Frank Cleaver DSO; Military Record of Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver, Service No. 1457098/124411, Royal Air Force (RAF); Flight Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver, “(Secret) Evaded Capture in France,” WO/208/3320, including Gibraltar Debrief, June 17, 1944, and Appendices B, C, and D.

  1. All quotes from here to here are drawn from Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, Debrief and Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, June 17, 1944, marked “Secret,” 18 pages; Appendix (B) to Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, Sergeant Arthur Meyerowitz, January 18, 1944, 3 pages.

  CHAPTER 22

  The chief sources for Chapter 22: Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, Debrief and Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, June 17, 1944, marked “Secret,” 18 pages; Appendix (B) to Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, Sergeant Arthur Meyerowitz, January 18, 1944, 3 pages.

  Flight Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver, “(Secret) Evaded Capture in France,” WO/208/3320, including Gibraltar Debrief, June 17, 1944, and Appendices B, C, and D.

  CHAPTER 23

  The chief sources for Chapter 23: Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, Debrief and Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, June 17, 1944, marked “Secret,” 18 pages; Appendix (B) to Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, Sergeant Arthur Meyerowitz, January 18, 1944, 3 pages; and interviews with Seymour Meyerowitz.

  Flight Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver, “(Secret) Evaded Capture in France,” WO/208/3320, including Gibraltar Debrief, June 17, 1944, and Appendices B, C, and D.

  1. Debrief, June 17, 1944, and Appendices B, C, and D; interviews of Seymour Meyerowitz.

  2. Flight Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver, “(Secret) Evaded Capture in France,” WO/208/3320, including Gibraltar Debrief, June 17, 1944, and Appendices B, C, and D.

  CHAPTER 24

  The chief sources for Chapter 24: Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, Debrief and Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, June 17, 1944, marked “Secret,” 18 pages; Appendix (B) to Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, Sergeant Arthur Meyerowitz, June 18, 1944, 3 pages.

  Flight Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver, “(Secret) Evaded Capture in France,” WO/208/3320, including Gibraltar Debrief, June 17, 1944, and Appendices B, C, and D.

  1. Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, Debrief and Escape Evasion Report.

  CHAPTER 25

  The chief sources for Chapter 25: Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, Debrief and Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, June 17, 1944, marked “Secret,” 18 pages; Appendix (B) to Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, Sergeant Arthur Meyerowitz, January 18, 1944, 3 pages.

  Flight Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver, “(Secret) Evaded Capture in France,” WO/208/33
20, including Gibraltar Debrief, June 17, 1944, and Appendices B, C, and D.

  “Marcel Taillandier,” L’Association des Amis du Musée; Colonel Paul Paillole, Services spéciaux (1935–1945), Paris: R. Laffont, 1975; Colonel Rémy (pseudonym of Gilbert Renault-Roulier), Morhange: les chasseurs de traîtres, Paris: Éditions Flammarion, 1975; and Pierre Saint-Laurens, Conte de faits, X15, Réseau Morhange, Toulouse: Éditions Signes du Monde, 1995.

  1. Flight Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver, “(Secret) Evaded Capture in France,” WO/208/3320, including Gibraltar Debrief, June 17, 1944, and Appendices B, C, and D.

  2. Ibid.

  3. Colonel Paul Paillole, Services spéciaux (1935–1945), p. 426.

  CHAPTER 26

  The chief sources for Chapter 26: Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, Debrief and Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, June 17, 1944, marked “Secret,” 18 pages; Appendix (B) to Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, Sergeant Arthur Meyerowitz, January 18, 1944, 3 pages.

  Flight Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver, “(Secret) Evaded Capture in France,” WO/208/3320, including Gibraltar Debrief, June 17, 1944, and Appendices B, C, and D.

  1. All quotes from here to here are drawn from Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, Debrief and Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, June 17, 1944, marked “Secret,” 18 pages; Appendix (B) to Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, Sergeant Arthur Meyerowitz, January 18, 1944, 3 pages.

  CHAPTER 27

  The chief sources for Chapter 27: Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, Debrief and Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, June 17, 1944, marked “Secret,” 18 pages; Appendix (B) to Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, Sergeant Arthur Meyerowitz, January 18, 1944, 3 pages; and Service File No. 32000985, 1941–1945, Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, 137 pages.

  UK National Archives and Royal Air Force Service Records, RAF DPA SAR Sections, Officers of the RAF, RFC, RNAS, Second World War (1939–1945): Details of Those Who Crashed Overseas: RAF Squadron Combat Reports No. 644 Squadron: LL228 “A” for Able Piloted by Flight Lieutenant Frank Cleaver DSO (including statement of Flight Sergeant John Franklin); Service No. 1457098/124411, Royal Air Force (RAF), Flight Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver, “(Secret) Evaded Capture in France,” WO/208/3320, including Gibraltar Debrief, June 17, 1944, and Appendices B, C, and D.

  1. Noemí Ruido, “Joan Garcia Rabascall: Representative of the British Consulate of Barcelona in Lleida during the Second World War,” The Evasion Networks During the Second World War, p. 1.

  2. Alberto Poveda, Paso Clandestino, Madrid: Los otras listas, 2004, pp. 172–173.

  3. Ruido, p. 1.

  4. Details of Those Who Crashed Overseas: RAF Squadron Combat Reports No. 644 Squadron: LL228 “A” for Able Piloted by Flight Lieutenant Frank Cleaver DSO (including statement of Flight Sergeant John Franklin).

  5. Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, Debrief and Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, June 17, 1944, marked “Secret,” 18 pages; Appendix (B) to Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, Sergeant Arthur Meyerowitz, June 18, 1944, 3 pages.

  6. Cleaver, Debrief, Appendices B, C, and D.

  CHAPTER 28

  The chief sources for Chapter 28: “Marcel Taillandier,” L’Association des Amis du Musée; Colonel Paul Paillole, Services spéciaux (1935–1945), Paris: R. Laffont, 1975; Colonel Rémy (pseudonym of Gilbert Renault-Roulier), Morhange: les chasseurs de traîtres, Paris: Éditions Flammarion, 1975; and Pierre Saint-Laurens, Conte de faits, X15, Réseau Morhange, Toulouse: Éditions Signes du Monde, 1995.

  1. Pierre Saint-Laurens, Conte de faits, X15, Réseau Morhange, p. 70.

  2. Ibid.

  3. Ibid.

  4. Ibid.

  5. Ibid.

  6. Ibid.

  CHAPTER 29

  The chief sources for Chapter 29: Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, Debrief and Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, June 17, 1944, marked “Secret,” 18 pages; Appendix (B) to Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, Sergeant Arthur Meyerowitz, June 18, 1944, 3 pages; Special Order 31: Arrival of Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz at Gibraltar, Received by Military Liaison Office, American Consulate, Colonel Horace W. Forster, June 16, 1944, and Service File No. 32000985, 1941–1945, Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, 137 pages.

  UK National Archives and Royal Air Force Service Records, RAF DPA SAR Sections, Officers of the RAF, RFC, RNAS, Second World War (1939–1945): Details of Those Who Crashed Overseas: RAF Squadron Combat Reports No. 644 Squadron: LL228 “A” for Able Piloted by Flight Lieutenant Frank Cleaver DSO; Service No. 1457098/124411, Royal Air Force (RAF), Flight Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver, “(Secret) Evaded Capture in France,” WO/208/3320, including Gibraltar Debrief, June 17, 1944, and Appendices B, C, and D.

  1. Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, Debrief and Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, June 17, 1944, marked “Secret,” 18 pages; Appendix (B) to Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, Sergeant Arthur Meyerowitz, June 18, 1944, 3 pages.

  2. Ibid. (A phrase commonly used by the Allies to greet escaped airmen and pilots of World War II.)

  CHAPTER 30

  The chief sources for Chapter 30: Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, Debrief and Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, June 17, 1944, marked “Secret,” 18 pages; Appendix (B) to Escape and Evasion Report No. 758, Sergeant Arthur Meyerowitz, June 18, 1944, 3 pages; Special Order 31: Arrival of Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz at Gibraltar, Received by Military Liaison Office, American Consulate, Colonel Horace W. Forster, June 16, 1944, and Service File No. 32000985, 1941–1945, Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, 137 pages; and Secret American Questionnaire for Service Personnel Evading from Enemy Occupied Countries, Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, June 18, 1944, 2 pages.

  UK National Archives and Royal Air Force Service Records, RAF DPA SAR Sections, Officers of the RAF, RFC, RNAS, Second World War (1939–1945): Details of Those Who Crashed Overseas: RAF Squadron Combat Reports No. 644 Squadron: LL228 “A” for Able Piloted by Flight Lieutenant Frank Cleaver DSO; Service No. 1457098/124411, Royal Air Force (RAF), Flight Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver, “(Secret) Evaded Capture in France,” WO/208/3320, including Gibraltar Debrief, June 17, 1944, and Appendices B, C, and D.

  1. UK National Archives, Gilbrator Record Group (WW2). Excerpt from the Great Siege Tunnels.

  2. Service No. 1457098/124411, Royal Air Force (RAF), Flight Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver, “(Secret) Evaded Capture in France,” WO/208/3320, including Gibraltar Debrief, June 17, 1944, and Appendices B, C, and D.

  3. Cable from Colonel Horace W. Forster to London, European Theater of Operations, June 16, 1944.

  4. Secret American Questionnaire for Service Personnel Evading from Enemy Occupied Countries, Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, June 18, 1944, 2 pages.

  CHAPTER 31

  The chief sources for Chapter 31: Interviews with Seymour Meyerowitz; Western Union Cablegram from Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz to David and Rose Meyerowitz, June 17, 1944.

  1. Interviews with Seymour Meyerowitz.

  2. Ibid.

  3. Ibid.

  4. Ibid.

  5. Ibid.

  6. Western Union Cablegram from Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz to David and Rose Meyerowitz, June 17, 1944.

  7. Interviews with Seymour Meyerowitz.

  8. Ibid.

  9. Ibid.

  10. Ibid.

  11. Western Union Telegram, War Department to David and Rose Meyerowitz, June 29, 1944.

  12. Ibid.

  13. Ibid.

  14. Ibid.

  EPILOGUE

  All of the sources and dates of the quotes in the epilogue are cited in the text: Letter from Mademoiselle Thoulouse (in Toulouse, France) to Rose Meyerowitz, March 28, 1944; letter from Madame Rigal (Beaumont-de-Lomagne, France) to Arthur Meyerowitz, December 14, 1945; letter from Rigal family (Beaumont-de-Lomagne) to Rose Meyerowitz, January 21, 1945; letter from Robert A. Ardichen (Bordeaux, France) to Arthur Meyerowitz, April 18, 1945; letter from Charlotte Michel (Les
parre, France) to Arthur Meyerowitz, May 5, 1945; letter from Charlotte Michel (Lesparre) to Arthur Meyerowitz, June 3, 1945; four postcards from Christiane Michel (Bayonne, France) to Arthur Meyerowitz, July 17, 1945; letter from Christiane Michel (Lesparre) to Arthur Meyerowitz, August 27, 1945; letters from Arthur Meyerowitz to Michel family (Lesparre) July 19 and August 8, 1945; and letter from Charlotte Michel to Arthur Meyerowitz, May 8, 1947 (Bordeaux). Letter from Captain Dorothy Smith to Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, December 14, 1944; letter from Captain Dorothy Smith to Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz, March 13, 1945; and letter from Sergeant Arthur S. Meyerowitz to Captain Dorothy Smith, January 9, 1945.

  1. Interviews with Seymour Meyerowitz.

  2. “DSO Notice, Lieutenant R.F.W. Cleaver,” London Gazette, October 3, 1944, p. 1.

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