Earlier this month I was contacted by Julie, an American living in France.  She was looking to locate relatives and any additional information on two members of the 417th NFS: Edward Graybill and Harvey Klein.  The reason for her inquiry is that later this month  the French community in Vauvenargues and Draguignan will celebrate the 80th Anniversary of Operation Dragoon (1944-2024).   Operation Dragoon  was the code name for the landing operation of the Allied invasion and the liberation of Provence (Southern France).  Julie was seeking contact for a relative of Graybill or Klein and any other 417th member who might be interested in attending this celebration.

Edward Graybill and Harvey Klein were members of the 417th NFS and died when their plane hit a power line in Vaunenargues on 9 Dec 1944.  Their remains  are interred at the Rhone American Cemetery in Draguignan, France.

Julie’s friend, Jean Pierre Briole (pictured above at graves of Graybill and Klein) is a “parrain”, or someone who sees after the graves of these two men.  Additionally, Jean Pierre also organises the reenactments of the U.S. soldiers in Provence with authentic uniforms, jeeps, etc…all to commemorate the liberation of the numerous communities in the region.  His latest endeavour is the 80th anniversary celebration of the liberation.

While I was able to located a relative of Harvey Klein, I was unable to locate a relative of Edward Graybill.    If anyone reading this has any information of living family members of Edward Graybill, please get in contact.

Julie’s inquiry prompted me to look for any additional details on the lives of Graybill or Klein and their time with the 417th.  Here is what I can tell you:

Edward Curtis Graybill

Edward Curtis Graybill was born on Aug 28, 1924 to his parents Henry and Florence.  He had a younger brother, James.

In December of 1942, he enlisted for service as an Aviation Cadet.  He received his call to duty in late February 1943 and attended Basic Training at Pecos Army Airfield in Texas.  He completed Basic Training in January of 1944 and was sent to Luke Field in Arizona for pilot training.  After that training completed, he was sent to Mather field in California for B25 Bomber training and then eventually to Salina Air Base for Night Fighter Pilot training and Hammer Field for Night Fighter Operational training.

On October 11, 1944 Edward Graybill left the Hampton Road Debarkation point and was sent overseas to the Mediterranean Theatre of operations.  He was assigned to the 417th NFS and is pictured here along with Klein as part of the “Replacement Crews” on November 19th.

Harvey L. Klein

 

My search for information on Harvey Klein was less successful. I was able to located a relative, Gail, the daughter of Harvey Klein’s sister, Phyllis.  Gail had contacted me some years ago with an inquiry into Harvey.  I was lucky to have saved her contact info.  Gail was able confirm that Harvey was born in Chicago, the son to Ruth and Charlie Klein in the Chicago area in November of 1923 and was one of 3 children.  His brother, died young and his sister, Phyllis, died of breast cancer at the tender age of 38. Harvey’s father is said to have died of a broken heart having outlived his wife and 3 children. The deaths in Harvey’s immediate family meant that there was little information passed on to Gail about Harvey’s  life leading up to his time in the service.  She continues her search….

Graybill and Klein’s time with the 417th NFS

Edward Graybill and Harvey Klein were assigned to the 417th  NFS at LeVallon Airfield in France,  on 19 November, 1944.  They were part of a larger replacement crew of 22 arriving from the 19th Replacement Depot.  On December 9th,  1944, Graybill and Klein  took off on a training flight in their Beaufighter (V8875).   Both perished when their  plane hit a power line in Vauvenargues, France.  Their remains are interred at the cemetery in Draguignan, France.  Edward Graybill and Harvey Klein were just 20 years old when they perished.

In closing, I want to thank Julie, Jean Pierre and Gail for helping me to tell this story.

Peace,

Jackie

 

As many of you are aware, there is a P-61  being rebuilt at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum (MAAM).  In July of this year, the plane was dubbed “MoonBeam Dream” and received some spectacular nose art from a local artist named HotRod Jen.

Here is a video of the painting in progress:

If the video does not play for you, you can go to Facebook and search for Mid-Atlantic Air Museum and the video should be located near the top of their feed.

Enjoy!

For more than a decade now, I have wanted to write about my father’s journey to the 417th Night Fighter Squadron.  Over the years, I had attended reunions with my father,  met some of his mates and work side by side with him to get this website up and running.  But,  I never knew the full story or timeline of his journey to the squadron – at least not first hand.   After his passing in 2018, I found and saved numerous bits and pieces that he had kept from this period of his life and after several false starts, I believe I have finally pieced together his journey.

In 1943, Richard Ziebart was 17 and a Senior High School. WWII was in full swing.  In October of that year, a recruiter arrived at school with a message to boys in his class.  They had 2 options: Be called to active duty when they reached 18 (potentially missing graduation) OR enlist now and remain home for 6 months after their 18th birthday.  My father and his cousin “Bud” enlisted that day.

In looking back on this decision, he recalled that 17 of his classmates  entered service in January 1944 and that he felt relief that he signed up and would be able to finish school.  

He turned 18 in May of 1944 and in November of that year, he travelled to Fort Sheridan in Illinois for Basics training.   While there, he sent this postcard to his mother with a photo of his group at Basic Training.  He wrote his name and drew an arrow, so his mother would know which of the sharp looking young men was her son.

Exactly how long he was at Fort Sheridan is unclear and the trail gets a bit murky.   Tucked amongst the items he saved is a photo of himself as a Cadet at Keesler Technical Training Center, located in Biloxi, Mississippi.  He also saved a 4 page document with a map of  the Training Center.   My best estimate is that  he went to Biloxi  around December of 1944.

Sometime after  the New Year in 1945, he was moved again  to the Technical School at Sioux Falls Army Air Field.  He was assigned to Squadron Q, barracks 442.  At Sioux Falls, he was reunited with his cousin Bud, who bunked in Barracks 440 with Squadron O. 

There were several items that my dad saved that tell me a bit about life here: A booklet and map of Sioux Falls Army Air Field, a purchase certificate for his army issued shoes, a code test demonstrating that he could decode 19 words per minute,  a schematic of the radio receiver he designed as part of his training and an Honor Roll certificate of accomplishment from the school. 

One of the more interesting items that my father kept from this time period was a letter from the minister at the local Church where he attended Sunday service.    He had been given “extra duty” for several weeks after he and his cousin Bud were caught being “out of uniform”.  When the minister of the church found out, he wrote a letter explaining why my father was out of uniform and pleaded his case.   Hand written on the back of the letter is my father’s explanation of events.

The last nugget I have from his time in Sioux Fall is this postcard.  On the back he wrote “Bud Kasischke and Richard Ziebart, Sioux Falls, SD, April 1st, 1945)

After 22 weeks in Sioux Fall,  he was transferred to Scott Field in Illinois.  It appears that his stay there lasted 18 weeks.  I have very little from this period, short of a story he told me about getting a weekend pass so that he could hitchhike home to be present for his newest sister Sharon’s baptism.  While home, he took a series of photos with his family.

On the 1st of January, 1946, Richard  boarded the SS Rollins Victory along with 800 other men and headed for Europe.  It was a stormy trip with many seasick soldiers.  He volunteered to work in the medical group.  His duties were to pick up the seasick soldiers and take care of them in sick bay for 2 days, then return them back to their bunks.  He commented that on the morning following the return of those soldiers to their bunks, the same group would be back in sick bay again.  For his work, he was given a pass which entitled him to eat in the mess at any time during regular hours.  On the back the photo, he wrote “Volunteered to work in sick bay on the entire trip – received best accomodations and eating privileges.  Weather was calm this day.”

Richard disembarked the SS Rollins in Le Havre, France and headed to Camp Lucky Strike.  From there, he would be transported by train to Fuerstenfeldbruk, Germany via Paris.  In Fuerstenfeldbruk, he was assigned to the 417th Night Fighter Squadron as a radar mechanic operator.   Things get a bit murky again, but from the photos he kept I believe my father headed Rothwestern airfield around February of 1946.  He describes himself as a “new recruit” along with a group of other men.

 

I believe my father stayed at Rothwestern until April of 1946 at which point the 417th NFS was transferred to Fritzlar Air Base in Kassel, Germany.  At Fritzlar he was assigned a roommate, George Marks, from Temple, Texas.  George was also a radar mechanic operator.    When he wasn’t working on P-61 radar, baseball seemed to have filled his time.

 

Aside from photos, my father kept a number of momentos from this time:  A class B Pass,  his motor vehicle operations permit and his European Theatre Ration card.

In August of 1946, he boarded the SS George Washington in Bremerhaven, Germany and headed home.  While on board ship, he took several snapshots with the friends he made onboard.

While my father’s time in the service and with the 417th NFS was brief, it clearly impacted and influenced his life.  When he returned to the US he leveraged his training into a 36 year career with Michigan Bell Telephone.  As he neared retirement, he became increasingly interested in keeping in touch with fellow squadron members and worked to keep the 417th story alive.  He, along with my mother, Lorraine, spent countless hours working others to organise NFS reunions, collecting and cataloging photos and stories.  This website is a dedication to their commitment to keep the story of the 417th NFS alive.

Happy Father’s Day, dad.  Love you.

Jackie

 

 

 

 

 

First some background on this story.

Early this year I was contacted by Lowell Silverman, a researcher from the website Delaware’s World War II Fallen. Lowell was writing a profile on Lt. Theodore Edward Hearne for the website and had a few questions related to Lt. Hearne’s time with the 417th NFS. I had very little information, mostly references to Hearne in the 417th Illustrated History and Brick Eisel’s book: Beaufighters in the Night, and no photos. I could confirm little more than the fact that Hearne was part of the 417th and that he had died, along with his pilot 2nd Lt. Robert Inglis on the night of 20 July in 1944.

Over the course of several emails, I was placed in contact with Lt. Hearn’s nephew. He provided me with a broader view of his uncle’s life in the service. He also provided me with several photos. I kept in touch with Lowell as well. His research uncovered a goldmine of data on Lt. Hearne’s family life as well as his time in the service. I was truely humbled by the level of information Lowell was able to find. He also taught me a trick or two.

With that in mind, I realized that I could not improve on the story that Lowell had written. So that end, I will use this post as a synopsis of Lt. Hearne’s path to the 417th and his short time with it. At the end of this post I provide the reader to the fuller account written Lowell.

Ted Hearne was born in Pennsylvania in 1920 and was the eldest of 11 children. He hails from a family that served their country. His father, 4 of his brothers and a sister all served .

Ted’s service started when he joined Delaware National Guard in 1937. as part of the 198th Coast Artillery Regiment. In March of 1941 his unit moved to Camp Edwards in Massachusetts.

From here, the story gets more complex, but eventually in early 1942, Corporal Hearne and his Regiment, shipped out of Charleston, NC bound for the Pacific Theatre. His regiment was part of an occupied force building a base in Bora Bora as part of an effort to secure sea lines between the U.S and Australia.

After his time in Bora Bora, Hearne transferred along with several other enlisted men to Officer Training in the U.S. In early 1943, he became one of seven cadets to participate in the pre-flight phase of Pilot training at Maxwell Field in Alabama.

While Hearne’s desire was to become a pilot he was unsuccessful. Hearne’s training then shifted to Radar Observer (R/O) and he was attached to the 348th Night Fighter Squadron as a Student. After completing his courses, he was assigned to the 349th and ordered to move to Hammer Field in Fresno, California. According to Wikipedia, the 348th was ordered to Hammer Field to be closer to the Northrup, the manufacturer of the P-61. Hearne’s nephew recounted that Lt. Hearne flew in the P-61 prior to it being placed into the war effort. What an experience that must have been.

After a series of squadron transfers and reorganisation, Hearne headed overseas to Algeria to join the 417th Night Fighter Squadron of the 63rd Fighter Wing at Borgo Aerodrome on the French Island of Corsica. The exact date of this transition is not clear, however Individual Flight Records show Hearne partnered as a Radar Observer with Lt. Hill, Capt. McCray, Lt. Kirwan, Capt. Stirnus and Capt. Lee starting on 17 June 1944 and ending on 30 June 1944. Hearne began his training flights with the 417th in Beaufighters.

On July 5th, 1944, 2nd Lt. Robert Inglis joined the 417th. It is worth noting that it is possible that Hearne and Inglis knew each other prior to their joining the 417th as their previous time with 348th and 349th overlapped. What is clear, is that, according to Individual Flight Records, on July 7th, 1944, two days after Inglis arrived, Hearne (R/O) and Inglis (Pilot) were partnered on a series of training flights that ran thru to 18 July, 1944.

On 20 July, 1944, at 2140 hrs, Inglis and Hearne took off in their Beau “Wastenot 77” ( VIF, AAF Serial Number ND262). They were vectored towards a “bogey” at 2310 hrs. There is some evidence that the bogey in the transcript was a “Bedcheck Charlie” – a common term for any recurring nighttime harassment flights aimed at keep the troops from resting.

A transcript of the encounter and resulting incident written by George Parrott, a Flying Office and Controller indicates that they located the enemy at 2324 hrs and hit their target. At 2325 hrs they reported the hit and informed Setsquare that the enemy had hit the water. At 2326 hrs they were told to vector 280 degrees. Parrot did not receive a reply but noted that Sector Ops received a call from Wastenot 77 indicating that Inglis and Hearne were going in to look at the wreckage. This was the last message from the crew. A search of the area at dawn confirmed debris from the enemy and Wastenot 77 had , but no remains of Inglis or Hearne were recovered.

The following document show the communications on that fateful night.

The following is a tracing of the area where the Inglis and Hearne’s Beau went down. It was drawn by George Parrot who was stationed at Scorton Air Field in the UK.

According to Company Morning Reports, Hearne and Inglis were initially listed as MIA, on July 20th at 2330 hrs. This status changed to KIA on September 12, 1944.

Both 2nd Lt. Robert Inglis and Lt. Theodore Hearne were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross along with the Purple Heart.

For a more in-depth look at Lt. Theodore Hearne’s life and career, I encourage you to view the profile published by Lowell Silverman on the Delaware WWII Fallen website:

https://delawarewwiifallen.com/2024/02/15/flight-officer-theodore-e-hearne/

Lastly, my heartfelt thanks to Gary Hearne and Lowell Silverman for their contributions, without which I would not have been able to write this story.

A friend forwarded a link to this article that has an update on the restoration of a P-61B  at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Pennsylvania.

Some readers may recall that the Night Fighters held a reunion at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in 2007 and got a first hand look at the work in progress on the P-61B.  You can see some photos of the state of the aircraft in 2007 here.

There has been good progress since 2007, but challenges still exist.  The link below will take you to the full article.

Northrop P-61 Black Widow – July 2023 Restoration Update

My father’s dream was to fly in this one day, but sadly he passed away before the dream could be fulfilled.  Hopefully, the next generation of the NFS family will get that chance.  Enjoy!