arborvitae
Recruit
Edited October 5, 2022:
Sorry this is so long but I hope somebody will reply with some interest. When I have time I will try to be more precise. New information in the last few days has made me edit some of this below.
——
Hello, I'm new to this forum. I've been researching on and off John Edmund Russell since 2015. I found this forum by finding a discussion about him on a dormant World War II forum that Tony Kambic contributed to and was able to search his name and locate this forum.
I put together his memorial bio on Find A Grave from various sources, newspaper articles and photos. He was a good friend of my father who wants to honor him this November for the anniversary of his death which coincides with Veterans Day almost. I'll post the link to that old thread and his bio from Find A Grave of mine. Edits and and new info would be helpful. I think I deciphered the training school acronyms and WO2 rank correctly last night. Edited this post. I'll ask specific questions below. Thanks!
www.findagrave.com
John E. Russell U.S.A.A.F. [Archive] - Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum
John E. Russell U.S.A.A.F. [Archive] - Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum
What is the source for the original post in this old forum thread above? Is it from a book or found online? I would really appreciate having the source before adding any of that information to his Find A Grave bio.
Please let me know if you see any errors or have any information to clarify what I have in his bio so far particularly at the top to see if anything is missing from his military service and records.
Squadron 57 is when he got the DFC in September 1943. His gravestone has this: 813 BOMB SQ 482 BOMB.
(Edited: 6 Feb 2023. That was the last squadron that he was in for less than 2 weeks before his death. Squadron before that was No. 57 with Jack Lazenby (see BBC interviews for the Peoples War online) and navigator Richard (Dick) Wright before transferring in late October 1943 to USAAF and was based in Alconbury. Since I posted this 4 months ago my father's longtime family story about being a flight instructor at end of his service does not add up.
***Disproven: He became a ***flight instructor based in England shortly before his death with the fatal plane crash in Brome, Suffolk, England that tragically killed him and his crew.
Only a few months prior he received the distinguished flying cross. Look at the Find A Grave photo section for the newspaper articles found. Although as you will see as I've edited below you can't believe everything written in a newspaper.
His crew photo in the Long Island NY newspaper is very blurry. It looks like they're standing in front of a plane. EDITED: Reading the BBC interview of his crew member H. Jack Lazenby that I found in 2015 from when he was interviewed in 2005 contradicts the fantastical newspaper article from Long Island saying that he was awarded the DFC from the King and chatted with King and Queen.That newspaper article did not interview Jack directly but was with a Red Cross lady. His crew member Lazenby said there was a parade in about mid September 1943 and the two Americans Jack Russell and Dick Wright were cited with DFC medals at the station by Bennett (not by the King). There is a grain of truth to the newspaper article because Lazenby tells of Jack meeting HM King George VI and describes their brief conversation. So he got to meet the King but he did not get awarded the medal from him.
Is the information below from an online source? Someone with a World War II history website gave me the citation for the information that the American Air Museum I am told copied and pasted onto their website without a source. I have not seen this information or a transcription of it personally. Can't find it on the Royal Canadian Air Force website. The link is dead for non-Canadian personnel. It has an alphabetical listing with links to click on and they don't work. Volunteer that maintained website retired number of years ago it said.
This is what is off of their AAM site before I added additional information to clarify acronyms and rank:
RUSSELL, 2nd Lieutenant John Edmund (USAAF O-885981) - Distinguished Flying Cross - No.57 Squadron - award approved 1 September 1943, but not published in London Gazette (newspaper). Born 30 January 1920; enlisted in RCAF, Montreal, 15 July 1941. Trained at No.5 ITS (graduated 7 November 1941), No.6 EFTS (graduated 2 January 1942) and No.4 SFTS (graduated as Sergeant Pilot, 29 April 1942). Posted to No.31 OTU, 23 May 1942; overseas and attached to RAF, 20 June 1942; promoted to Flight Sergeant, 24 October 1942; to WO2, 24 April 1943; commissioned 12 May 1943; transferred to American forces, 10 June 1943. Citation in DHist file 181.009 D.3051 (National Archives of Canada RG.24 Vol.20634).
813 BOMB SQ 482 BOMB
You will make my father very happy to find out more information about his friend! We may get a local newspaper in his hometown Baldwin or Long Island to write a story about him. Open to any suggestions for other ways for him to be remembered besides Baldwin Honor Roll memorial wall that you can see in the photo section of Find A Grave link.
Even just having more discussions about him, his service and bravery in forums like this is a start.
Sorry this is so long but I hope somebody will reply with some interest. When I have time I will try to be more precise. New information in the last few days has made me edit some of this below.
——
Hello, I'm new to this forum. I've been researching on and off John Edmund Russell since 2015. I found this forum by finding a discussion about him on a dormant World War II forum that Tony Kambic contributed to and was able to search his name and locate this forum.
I put together his memorial bio on Find A Grave from various sources, newspaper articles and photos. He was a good friend of my father who wants to honor him this November for the anniversary of his death which coincides with Veterans Day almost. I'll post the link to that old thread and his bio from Find A Grave of mine. Edits and and new info would be helpful. I think I deciphered the training school acronyms and WO2 rank correctly last night. Edited this post. I'll ask specific questions below. Thanks!
2Lt John Edmund “Jack” Russell (1920-1943) - Find...
Last Edited: July 12, 2023 Note: 80th anniversary permanent memorial being planned for November 10, 2023, to honor and remember all 17 American and British lives lost in the B-17 crash in Brome. In Loving Memory of Jack… Jack lives on through family stories, his wartime letters and unending...
www.findagrave.com
John E. Russell U.S.A.A.F. [Archive] - Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum
John E. Russell U.S.A.A.F. [Archive] - Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum
What is the source for the original post in this old forum thread above? Is it from a book or found online? I would really appreciate having the source before adding any of that information to his Find A Grave bio.
Please let me know if you see any errors or have any information to clarify what I have in his bio so far particularly at the top to see if anything is missing from his military service and records.
Squadron 57 is when he got the DFC in September 1943. His gravestone has this: 813 BOMB SQ 482 BOMB.
(Edited: 6 Feb 2023. That was the last squadron that he was in for less than 2 weeks before his death. Squadron before that was No. 57 with Jack Lazenby (see BBC interviews for the Peoples War online) and navigator Richard (Dick) Wright before transferring in late October 1943 to USAAF and was based in Alconbury. Since I posted this 4 months ago my father's longtime family story about being a flight instructor at end of his service does not add up.
***Disproven: He became a ***flight instructor based in England shortly before his death with the fatal plane crash in Brome, Suffolk, England that tragically killed him and his crew.
Only a few months prior he received the distinguished flying cross. Look at the Find A Grave photo section for the newspaper articles found. Although as you will see as I've edited below you can't believe everything written in a newspaper.
His crew photo in the Long Island NY newspaper is very blurry. It looks like they're standing in front of a plane. EDITED: Reading the BBC interview of his crew member H. Jack Lazenby that I found in 2015 from when he was interviewed in 2005 contradicts the fantastical newspaper article from Long Island saying that he was awarded the DFC from the King and chatted with King and Queen.That newspaper article did not interview Jack directly but was with a Red Cross lady. His crew member Lazenby said there was a parade in about mid September 1943 and the two Americans Jack Russell and Dick Wright were cited with DFC medals at the station by Bennett (not by the King). There is a grain of truth to the newspaper article because Lazenby tells of Jack meeting HM King George VI and describes their brief conversation. So he got to meet the King but he did not get awarded the medal from him.
Is the information below from an online source? Someone with a World War II history website gave me the citation for the information that the American Air Museum I am told copied and pasted onto their website without a source. I have not seen this information or a transcription of it personally. Can't find it on the Royal Canadian Air Force website. The link is dead for non-Canadian personnel. It has an alphabetical listing with links to click on and they don't work. Volunteer that maintained website retired number of years ago it said.
This is what is off of their AAM site before I added additional information to clarify acronyms and rank:
RUSSELL, 2nd Lieutenant John Edmund (USAAF O-885981) - Distinguished Flying Cross - No.57 Squadron - award approved 1 September 1943, but not published in London Gazette (newspaper). Born 30 January 1920; enlisted in RCAF, Montreal, 15 July 1941. Trained at No.5 ITS (graduated 7 November 1941), No.6 EFTS (graduated 2 January 1942) and No.4 SFTS (graduated as Sergeant Pilot, 29 April 1942). Posted to No.31 OTU, 23 May 1942; overseas and attached to RAF, 20 June 1942; promoted to Flight Sergeant, 24 October 1942; to WO2, 24 April 1943; commissioned 12 May 1943; transferred to American forces, 10 June 1943. Citation in DHist file 181.009 D.3051 (National Archives of Canada RG.24 Vol.20634).
813 BOMB SQ 482 BOMB
You will make my father very happy to find out more information about his friend! We may get a local newspaper in his hometown Baldwin or Long Island to write a story about him. Open to any suggestions for other ways for him to be remembered besides Baldwin Honor Roll memorial wall that you can see in the photo section of Find A Grave link.
Even just having more discussions about him, his service and bravery in forums like this is a start.
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This is such a great forum for contacts like these 
