There are two new stories I hope to have posted in the New Year. The first involves an original member of 417th NFS. His name is Lyle James Montbriand. His son has located Lyle’s army issued personal diary which tells the story of his time from the creation of the 417th in Kissimmee then on to New York, Scotland, England, North Africa, Corsica, Belgium and back to the US. Here is a photo of Lyle along with a handwritten note listing his “war buddies”. More photos and info to come in the new year.
The 2nd story I am working on is that of my father, Richard Ziebart. After he passed away in 2018 I found a collection of momentos he kept from his time with the 417th. These items have helped me piece together his journey and the timeline associated with it. I hope to complete my research in the fist quarter of 2022, so stay tuned. For now, I will leave you with this photo of my dad taken in Biloxi where he underwent Cadet training:
Until then, I am sending my Christmas and New Years wishes to you all and we will talk again in 2022.
After a bit of a delay, I have finally gotten around to adding the 80+ photos from the collection of the 417th Photographer, Charles Fahrbach. Some of the photos may be duplicates that already appear on the site, but most are new. I have gathered them into a permanent gallery located on the Faces of the 417th page. Click on this link and it will take you directly to the page. You will need to scroll down to the bottom. The gallery is located just before the comments section.
I don’t have a lot of details on location or the people in the photos, but if you spot a location or person you know, please drop me a note and I will add those details to specific photographs.
In addition to the photos, I received a number of documents related to Charle’s time in the service, so I have included them here for reference. My favourite is the Western Union Telegram to his wife.
As promised, here is the brilliant interview with Norman L. Keepers about his time in the war. His time with the 417th starts at around 25 minute mark, but you will want to hear his whole story which is very fascinating. I have also posted a link to the interview on the Letters, Diaries and Tributes page of the Night Fighter History Menu. Enjoy!
In mid October I was contacted by the nephew of Norman L. Keepers. Norman’s journey to the 417th started at age 16 when he enlisted by lying about his age. He was an Armorer and Arial gunner on B-25s in the Pacific Theatre, B-29s stateside before being sent home and honourably discharged because they found out he was underage. He was out for about 60 days, then re-enlisted on his 18th birthday. He went to Germany with the Occupation Army and ended up at Fitzlar Army Air Base as a P-61 Gunner. On a training mission on a gunnery range, there was an apparent timing mix-up and a P-47 from the 366th Fighter Group (also flying out of Fritzlar) accidentally shot the wing off Norman’s P-61 which was right down on the deck. He and the radar operator bailed out so low that they they got one swing in their parachutes before hitting the ground. The pilot went in with the ship. Norman smashed into a tree and shattered his pelvis. He spend months in the hospital before returning to Chicago. Norman’s talents didn’t end with the war as he eventually became a world-renowned Harley-Davidson mechanic. How cool is that?
Norman’s nephew completed an on-camera interview of him at age 95 and I hope to soon have a link to that interview to post on this website. Until then, here is a photo of Norman with his P-61,
In April of this year, I was contacted by the the grandson of Charles Farhbach. His grandfather was a photographer for the 417th NFS and he had a number of photos that he wanted to share on the site. I did not have a lot to go on with respect to Charles’ full story, but using the photos, a reference in the Illustrated history of the 417th and a bit of searching, I was able to piece together the following:
He joined the squadron on 18 of March 1943 in Kissimmee, FLA. He likely traveled as part of the 417th group when it left Camp Kilmer in late April of 1943 and sailed for England on the Queen Elizabeth. He spent time in North Africa (the photo below is Charles in taxi in Oran)
And Southern France:
He photographed a Bob Hope Show, in Germany in 1945:
There were 3 other “group” photos in the collection I received. None have the names of the individuals in them, or the location they were taken. If you spot someone you know, or are familiar with the location, please comment on this post.
And Southern France:
