T/Sgt Ray Haydel

3 Jan 1924 – ?

T/Sgt Ray Albin Haydel (38493313), engineer and top-turret gunner, United States Army Air Forces

About: The engineer and top-turret gunner of a Flying Fortress that came down at Nieuw-Milligen on 21 November 1944, one of the four Americans of its crew whom the historian Noordman puts in the barn at Harskamp with Murphy on 24–25 November. From December 1944 he was hidden in Amersfoort, and the Allies interviewed him on 14 May 1945.

Unit or role: USAAF; T/Sgt, 38493313, engineer, 338th Squadron, 96th Bomb Group, Eighth Air Force (E&E 3057, p. 1; MACR 10416, image 002).

Where: Gramercy, Louisiana, his home address in 1944–45 (E&E 3057, p. 1); hidden at Langegracht 23, Amersfoort, from December 1944, and at Schaepmanlaan 4, Amersfoort, from April 1945 (the same report, Appendix C).

Evidence: ✓ his own escape and evasion report, E&E 3057 (I.S.9 (WEA)/1/428), from his interview of 14 May 1945 (US National Archives 5557592); ✓ the Missing Air Crew Report of 24 November 1944 (MACR 10416); ✓ the files of the two Amersfoort helpers who hid him, Jan van Eijden and Mrs Eilerts de Haan-Boom, US National Archives, RG 498; ◐ the barn rests on Noordman, p. 285, alone; ◐ the Americans' missing-in-action card for Bob Blackburn, which quotes another man's report.

✓ His report has him born on 3 January 1924, an "Aircraft Rivetter" in peacetime, of "GRAMERCY, LOUISIANA", with "2 years 16 days" of service and "9 Missions" flown, his post in the crew "ENGINEER" (E&E 3057, p. 1, read on the image). The Missing Air Crew Report types him "Engineer TT" and gives his next of kin as "Mrs. Enid Haydel (Mother)", Gramercy, Louisiana (MACR 10416, images 002 and 006, read on the images).

• ✓ The aircraft.
  • The Missing Air Crew Report has B-17G 42-102554, nicknamed "Jean O", of the 338th Squadron, 96th Group, which left AAF Station 138 for "Osnabruck, Germany" on 21 November 1944 (his own report has 0700 hrs that day), with nine aboard, Haydel the engineer and top-turret gunner; all nine are typed "MIA", each with "RTD" added by hand (MACR 10416, image 002).
  • Its remarks, of 24 November, report an aircraft "seen by a fighter to land in a woods approximately 10 miles SW of Apeldoorn", whose crew "are believed to be safe", and say it was "apparently either A/c #792 (Lt. Chrismon, 413th) or a/c #554 (Lt. Worden, 338th)" (image 003).
• ✓ His own account. "Flying Fortress. 96. 21 NOV 44. 0700hrs."; he came down "Crash landed NIEW MILLIGEN. 21 NOV 1944.", and his parachute and harness were "Left in plane after crash landing." (E&E 3057, p. 1, read on the image). The appendix to his crewmates Sidney Willig's and Harold Bonekat's report says the target was "MERSEBURG, GERMANY": "The plane was shot up by flak, and the pilot made a crash-landing at MILLINGEN, HOLLAND" (E&E 2976, Appendix C, p. 1, PDF p. 7, read on the image).
• ✓ The crew, as he gave it.
  • The pilot, 2/Lt L. R. Worden, and the gunners Griesel, Herlihy and Wells, "PW"; the co-pilot, Bob Blackburn, "Taken to hosp in BOEST 11 MAY."; Willig and Bonekat, with the numbers of their own reports (I.S.9 (WEA)/1/391 and 1/392); himself, "( NARRATOR )" (E&E 3057, p. 1).
  • The radio operator's line is left blank. The Missing Air Crew Report has T/Sgt Rudolph R. Torres there (image 002), and its German capture reports are for Griesel, Wells, Torres and Worden, taken near the landing place by the Apeldoorn–Amersfoort road, three of them on 21 November (Torres's gives no date); there is none for Haydel (images 009–012).

◐ Noordman's barn at Harskamp, 24–25 November 1944. James Hardy's report is the eyewitness. On the night of 24 November he and Murphy were taken by "a member of the Dutch Underground (WILLEM's brother) to a barn somewhere in the OTTERLO area":

In the barn I met Pte. DAVISON, an R.A.F. Officer, and four U.S. Aircrew, none of whose names I know. I understand that the Americans were members of a Fortress crew and had been shot down on 21 Nov. We stayed there overnight and the following evening DAVISON, MURPHY and I were taken by DICK and another member of the Underground to a nearby farm.

— MI9 · Pte J. Hardy · escape report · Hardy's report

The names are Noordman's, who follows Hardy's words with the barn's owner and the men in it:

The barn was J. van Essen's, Westerhuisweg, Harskamp. The RAF officer was John Craven. The four American airmen were the co-pilot Bob Blackburn, the navigator Sidney H. Willig, the bomb-aimer Harry Bonekat and the flight engineer and gunner Ray Haydel. These men stayed in our country until the liberation.

Dutch originalDe schuur was van J. van Essen, Westerhuisweg, Harskamp. De RAF-officier was John Craven. De vier Amerikaanse vliegers waren copiloot Bob Blackburn, navigator Sidney H. Willig, bommenrichter Harry Bonekat en werktuigbouwkundige en schutter Ray Haydel. Deze mannen zijn tot aan de bevrijding in ons land gebleven.

— Noordman, Schuilplaats de Veluwe, p. 285

Noordman gives no source for the names. The night is told on the barn, on Pegasus II and Roekel, and the barn and the men in it are on J. van Essen's and John Craven's pages; Leslie Davison was the British private Hardy met there.

✓ What his own report says of those days. Nothing. His list of helpers begins with Jan van Eijden in Amersfoort in December 1944 and names nobody before him, and the report mentions neither a barn nor British paratroopers (E&E 3057, Appendix C, PDF p. 3, read on the image). Willig's and Bonekat's list, for the same days, has "VAN EE, lived near STROE", who "Provided food and shelter 23 Nov 1944"; the vet Teus Roskamp, on a farm "on the outskirts of BARNAVELD", "24 Nov 1944"; and an unidentified man in a "small house off road from STROE, HOLLAND (Z6101) to HARSKAMP", "28 Nov - 2 Dec 1944" (E&E 2976, Appendix C, pp. 1–2, PDF pp. 7–8, read on the images). It is the list of "their helpers", the two officers', and it does not say whether Haydel was with them.

◐ Kootwijkerbroek, 29 November 1944. The Americans' card for Bob Blackburn, a typed index card in their list of airmen missing in action, says what Craven's own report (I.S.9(WEA)/1/308/2402, now WO 208/5408/39, not digitised; the Kew entry) had: "F/Lt Craven, IS9(WEA)/1/308/2402 (British), met Lt Bob Blackburn and Sgt Ray --- of Fortress crew (MIS approx 19 Nov 44) in KOOTWIJKERBROEK on 29 Nov 44. Moved to BUNSCHOUTEN at farm called "VALKENHOEF"." (the card, checked on the image).

• ◐ "Sgt Ray" of a Fortress crew with Blackburn is very probably Haydel, the crew's only Ray in the Missing Air Crew Report (image 002); the surname is left blank, and the card is second-hand.
• It puts him at Kootwijkerbroek on 29 November, four days after the night of 24–25 November in Noordman's barn at Harskamp. The card does not say who moved to Valkenhoef.
• ◐ Valkenhoef is very probably P. van 't Klooster's farm, Valkenhoef A 9 at Hoogland near Amersfoort (Reilly's card runs the prefix together as "P.V.T."; the helper file is van 't Klooster, P.), where Thomas Reilly's card has Craven and six other airmen "received food, shelter from 2 Jan till 1 Mar 45" (Reilly's card; the certificate list, entry 2268), after Haydel was already with Van Eijden in Amersfoort (below); no source puts Haydel at Valkenhoef.

From December 1944 he and Bob Blackburn were hidden in Amersfoort by Jan van Eijden, a resistance man in hiding himself, who, he wrote, smuggled two pilots into the town to his house by night because the Landwacht's raids had made it hard to keep the airmen his colleagues on the Veluwe passed to him (his letter, p. 8):

From 21 December 1944 to 13 May 1945 I had 2 pilots of the American air force in the house; they belonged to the 8th American air force, their aircraft (a flying fortress named Campus Queen, number unknown) made an emergency landing near Millingen (Veluwe) on 22 November 1944. … As an illegal worker I was in hiding and working around Amersfoort, among other places in Hoogland; in those days we had great difficulty hiding the pilots we got from our colleagues of the Veluwe, because of the raids of the Landwacht, and so I decided to smuggle 2 pilots into the town to my house; prepared for anything, the journey was undertaken in the dark and succeeded after some excitement.

Dutch originalVanaf 21 December 1944 tot aan 13 Mei 1945 heb ik 2 piloten van de Amerikaansche luchtmacht in huis gehad, zij behoorden tot het 8ste Am. luchtleger hun vliegtuig (vliegend fort [struck word] genaamd Campus Queen, nummer onbekend) heeft een noodlanding gemaakt bij Millingen (Veluwe) op 22 November 1944. … Als illigale werker was ik ondergedoken en werkzaam in de [om]geving van Amersfoort, o.a. in Hoogland, in die dagen ha[dden] we veel moeilijkheden met het bergen van piloten welke [wij] door kregen van onze collega's van de Veluwe, door de strooptochten van de landwacht en ik besloot zoodoende om 2 piloten de stad in te smokkelen naar mijn huis, op alles voorbereid werd de tocht in donker aanvaard en gelukte na eenige sensatie.

— Jan van Eijden · letter to the Military Intelligence Service, Amersfoort, 9 January 1946 · his file, p. 8

The same letter names the two: "Ray Haydel, 21 jaar , boord mecanicien" (21 years old, flight engineer), "Sergant" (sic) written in by hand in pencil, whose address is "Cremercy bij New.Orleans" (◐ the C is clear on the image; Gramercy, Louisiana, is the place his other papers give). For "Bijna 5 maanden" (almost five months) they were his guests, in a house "midden in de stad" (in the middle of the town); Van Eijden gave them civilian clothes, underwear, shirts and shoes, and among other things bought three pounds of tobacco at f. 175 a pound ("3 pond tabak à F. 175.-"); their gratitude, he wrote, was great, "ook in hun brieven die wij mochten ontvangen" (also in their letters that we received) (p. 8).

The rest of the file:

• ✓ His questionnaire of 9 July 1945.
  • It gives him as Johannes van Eijden of Lange Gracht 23, born at Diever on 28 October 1899, "in the beginning O.D. later B.S. and L.O. and K.P.", and names "G.v.d. Born (Jos) Langestraat 87 Amersfoort" among those who helped Allied men; its remark is "Gave two pilots: 1 pair of shoes and two sets of underwear." (p. 4).
  • Its table has "Ray Albin Haydel", shot down "22-11-44" at Nieuw-Millingen, hidden "22-12 till 13-5", five months, received "via G.v.d. Born" and passed on "Liberated", with Blackburn on the line above to "11-5" (p. 5, read on the image; Haydel's "13" looks typed over another figure).
• ✓ The Americans' slips and summary. A typed slip reads "IS9/WEA/1/428. HAYDEL. Food, shelter, clothing and comforts: Dec 44 - Apr 45.", Haydel's report number (p. 7, read on the image); the summary of 24 October 1945 has "Sheltered 2 evaders for 5 months. Robert Bruce BLACKBURN USA Ray Albin HAYDEL USA" (p. 12).
• ✓ Van Eijden's award.
  • A memo of 7 March 1946 says that at the conference of 19 October 1945 Van Eijden "was awarded GRADE 5 for having sheltered fliers Blackburn and Heydel, of the USAAF, each for a period of 5 months time" (p. 11).
  • A claim form in his file, filled in for him by the MIS-X investigator Mr de Jongh, says "For about f. 450.-- he bought clandestine food and tobacco for them" and asks "150 days for 2 persons a f. 2.-- a day", f. 300, for the lodgings (p. 13, read on the image; p. 14; p. 15).
• ◐ Van Eijden's death. An undated note from his widow, sending a copy of the letter of 9 January 1946, says "mijn Geliefde Man op 20 April plotseling door een ongeval is overleden" (my beloved husband died suddenly in an accident on 20 April); ◐ the year is not written, and 1946 is read from the letter she enclosed and the visit she dates to "Vrijdag 12 April" (Friday 12 April) (p. 6, read on the image).

Haydel's own report has the same first helper: "JAN VAN EIVDEN, working for water company. LANGEGRAPT 23, AMERSFOORT, HOLLAND. ( DEC 44 - APR 45 ) Board and lodging, clothing and comforts." (E&E 3057, Appendix C, PDF p. 3, read on the image; "Eivden" and "Langegrapt" as typed).

His report's second helper is "Mrs EILERTS DE HAAN, SCHAEPMANLAAN 4, AMERSFOORT, Holland. ( Apr 45- May 45) Board and lodging and comforts." (E&E 3057, Appendix C, PDF p. 3).

✓ Mrs C. M. H. J. Eilerts de Haan-Boom of Amersfoort gave her side on 3 May 1946: "Help consisted of housing from 19th April 1945" (her form, p. 2).

• Her table has "Lt. Robert B. Blackburn" and "F/Sgt Ray A. Haydel, Gramercy, Louisiana", the same entries for both in ditto marks: hidden "19-4-45", 22 days, "from J. Drewes, via P. Meyboom, Schaepmanlaan 6, Amersfoort" (p. 3, checked on the image).
• Its last column has two remarks: "Lt.Blackburn had a broken arm and was transported on 10-5-45 to military hospital in Brussels or Antwerpen." on Blackburn's line, and "Went back to old address: fam. van Eyseden,Amersfoort." level with Haydel's (same page, read on the image).
• ◐ Her Dutch copy of the table gives him as "T/Sgt. Ray A. Haydel", with "idem" under Blackburn's dates, "19.4.45/ 10.5.45.", and puts the second remark on his row: "Ging terug naar oude adres: fam. van Eyden, Kortegracht no.? Amersfoort" (went back to the old address) (p. 5, read on the image).
  • So it is Haydel who went back, very probably to Van Eijden's: box 11 of her p. 2 also lists "Fam. van Eyden, Kortegracht?" among those who helped (p. 2), though she queries a street, Kortegracht, that is not the Lange Gracht of Van Eijden's own papers.
• A typed slip in her file reads "IS9/WEA/1/428. HAYDEL. Food, shelter and comforts: Apr - May 45.", his report's number (p. 6).

• ✓ Bonekat's report of 19 April 1945 has "T/Sgt HAYDEL R. Evading in Holland." (E&E 2977, p. 6, read on the image), and the casualty appendix to Willig's report of 22 April 1945 has "Dutch told Lt. WILLIG Apr 1945 he was evading in AMERSFOORT, HOLLAND (E4097)." (E&E 2976, Appendix D, PDF p. 9, read on the image).
• ✓ The I.S.9 (WEA) interviewed him on 14 May 1945: the form's foot reads "Briefly interrogated.", and "Disposal: First Cdn PW-X Transit Camp." (E&E 3057, PDF p. 2, read on the image). The certificate of the same day says he had been "briefly" interrogated ("fully" struck out) and had signed a security certificate, and "He should/should not/be re-interrogated" with "should not" struck out (PDF p. 4, read on the image); he signed the War Department's undertaking not to publish his evasion, dated 14 May 1945 (PDF p. 5).
• ◐ The IWM American Air Museum's entry for him, a compiled database entry, has "Technical Sergeant", "Top Turret Gunner", born at Gramercy, Louisiana, and "EVD Crashed near Utrecht on 11/21/44 in B-17 'Jean O' #42102554" (the entry).

⚠︎ The US veterans' death index (BIRLS), as Open Archives serves it, has a "Ray A. Haydel", born on 1 January 1924, who died on 6 June 1978 (the entry). The name, the middle initial and the month and year of birth agree with his report; the day does not (3 January there), and the entry gives no service number or place. Possibly him; nothing else ties it to him.

• Hidden to the liberation, but where. Noordman has the four Americans "tot aan de bevrijding in ons land gebleven" (stayed in the country until the liberation) after the Harskamp barn (p. 285); Haydel's report and Van Eijden's letter put Haydel and Blackburn in Amersfoort from December 1944.
• The day the Fortress came down. 21 November 1944 in his report, the Missing Air Crew Report and the German capture reports (MACR 10416, images 009–012); 22 November in Van Eijden's letter and questionnaire (p. 8; p. 5); "Oct-Nov 44" on Mrs Eilerts de Haan's form (p. 3); "MIS approx 19 Nov 44" on Blackburn's card (above), which does not say what the abbreviation stands for; ◐ it is read here as a date for the aircraft's fall, but it may be another date quoted from Craven.
• Where it came down. Nieuw-Milligen in his report; woods about ten miles south-west of Apeldoorn in the MACR; "near Utrecht" in the IWM entry, a compiled database.
• The target. "Osnabruck, Germany" in the MACR (image 002); "MERSEBURG, GERMANY" in Willig's and Bonekat's report (E&E 2976, Appendices C and D).
• The aircraft's name. "Jean O" in the MACR; "Campus Queen" in Van Eijden's letter.
• When he reached Van Eijden's. 21 December 1944 in the letter, "22-12" in the questionnaire, "DEC 44" in his report.
• When he left Schaepmanlaan, and Amersfoort. Mrs Eilerts de Haan's Dutch copy gives him Blackburn's dates, 19 April to 10 May 1945, and then has him going back to his "old address" (p. 5); Van Eijden's questionnaire has him to "13-5" and his letter both men to 13 May; his report has his interview on 14 May. ◐ A move back to Van Eijden's after Blackburn left on 10 or 11 May fits all of them.
• The time. 0700 hrs departure in his report, 0800 in Willig's; about 1330 down in Willig's and Bonekat's reports, "0100 p.m." in the German capture reports and "0245 p.m." in the SS covering letter, as translated (E&E 2976, PDF p. 11; E&E 2977; MACR 10416, images 008–012). His own form gives no time of landing.
• His rank. T/Sgt in his report, the MACR and Mrs Eilerts de Haan's Dutch copy; "F/Sgt" in her English copy; "Sergant" (sic), written in by hand, in Van Eijden's letter.
• His age. "21 jaar" in Van Eijden's letter of 9 January 1946; by his report's birth date, 3 January 1924, he was 22 by then.
• Where he was on 23 to 29 November. Noordman has the four Americans in the barn at Harskamp on 24 and 25 November (p. 285); Blackburn's card has "Sgt Ray" with Blackburn and Craven at Kootwijkerbroek on 29 November; his own report names no helper before December.

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