Obituaries

Squadron Leader Frank Day died

Squadron Leader Frank "Fearless" Day, who has died aged 91, came close to freedom during the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III; he was near the end of the tunnel when the exit was discovered, by which time 76 airmen had broken free, but he was forced to retreat and was soon in solitary confinement.

In the spring of 1943 the escape committee decided to construct three tunnels and make a mass breakout. Day volunteered to assist but his health did not allow him to go underground as a digger. He became one of a large army of prisoners responsible for dispersing the excavated sand. They did this by filling bags, which they suspended inside their trouser legs, an encumbrance that made them walk in an ungainly fashion, attracting the codename "penguins". By pulling a drawstring inside their pockets to open the bags they were able to scatter the sand around the compound.

The first 40 men to go down the 330-foot tunnel "Harry" had the most realistic chance of success. They knew the language and had been well-equipped. Day was amongst the second batch of escapers known as the "hard arsers". They too had escape maps but a motley collection of clothing. In Day's case this included an Army greatcoat. The "hard arsers" planned to jump freight trains but Day had decided on an equally improbable method, and was going to head for the nearest airfield and attempt to steal an aircraft.

On the night of March 24 1944, the escapers broke the surface outside the prison fence much later than they had hoped and delays had built up. Day had reached one of the tunnel's holding areas, "Piccadilly Circus", with a few men ahead of him, when the tunnel exit was discovered. By the time he had managed to reverse to the entrance of the tunnel under the stove of Hut 104, the German sentries had arrived and Day was arrested as he emerged. With 10 others he was promptly marched off to solitary confinement, the "cooler", to a regime of two slices of bread in the morning and as much water as they wanted. A few days later, he learned that 50 of the escapers had been shot on the orders of Hitler.

The son of a London wine merchant, Frank Barton Day was born on May 5 1917 at Chiswick and attended Uppingham School. In the late 1930s he was learning Arabic in readiness for a career with Shell when a legacy allowed him to learn to fly. He joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in December 1937 when he completed his pilot training and soon became a flying instructor.

During one flight in his Tiger Moth he spotted a courting couple in a haystack and decided to buzz them. He misjudged his height, hit the haystack and damaged the aircraft. He was summoned to his CO's office and officially reprimanded for "a careless act in the air". However, this misdemeanour produced a great benefit since it allowed him to meet an attractive WAAF cipher officer, Antoinette Kaye, who was working in the next office, and a few months later they were married.

Day converted to the Spitfire and joined No 122 Squadron, initially based in Scotland, before moving south to fly sweeps over France. In April 1942 he left for the Middle East and joined a photographic reconnaissance unit flying high-level Spitfires. On September 23 1942 he took off from an airfield near Alexandria on a solo reconnaissance over the Aegean Sea. Off the coast of Crete, Messerschmitt Bf 109s attacked him. His knee and right hand were badly injured, including the loss of his thumb. Using his left hand only, he had great difficulty opening the hood of his stricken Spitfire. Eventually he managed to bale out and he landed in the sea off the coast of Crete, where he spent the next 24 hours before being rescued by Italian forces who looked after him well. Taken to hospital on the island, he had to endure a bombing raid before travelling to Germany where, initially, he received rough treatment, which further aggravated the wound to his knee.

During his stay in Stalag Luft III, Rupert Davies (who later gained fame for his portrayal of Maigret) and Peter Butterworth staged plays and revues and Day became a proficient make-up artist. He also became adept at converting bread and potato into alcohol using a trombone tube "for special occasions, like Easter and Christmas". In January 1945, with minimal notice to the PoWs, the Germans evacuated the camp as the Soviet Army advanced.

The next few weeks, in the depth of one of the worst winters on record, the prisoners on the infamous "Long March" suffered great privations and many died. Eventually, in May 1945, the RAF flew Day and his fellow prisoners back to England.

Day's injuries prevented him from returning to flying duties and he left the RAF as a squadron leader. Initially he worked for the pharmacists Savory and Moores, becoming the company's managing director in 1955.

Five years later he bought an electrical firm supplying the military, before buying out a small cheese-making enterprise run by two grocers, Harvey and Brockless, which he and his sons built up into a major cheese wholesaler.

Day had many interests. He took part in the Cowes to Torbay powerboat race for a number of years and was particularly fond of his green parrot, his trawler and a 1934 Rolls Royce. He bought the dilapidated trawler and sailed it from Banff to Littlehampton in Sussex, where he overhauled it and used it for fishing and family trips. In his later years he gave much devoted voluntary service to a local hospice.

At his 90th birthday celebrations, during which a Spitfire gave a display for him, he commented "I might be the oldest surviving caterpillar", referring to the Caterpillar Club, founded for those whose lives had been saved by parachute. He added: "I might also be one of the last penguins too."

He could have gone on to point out that he was also probably the oldest goldfish – aircrew who survived after landing in the sea.

He received the Air Efficiency Award for his RAF service.

Frank Day died on June 29. His wife died in 1996 and their two sons survive him.



source: Telegraph.co.uk, News, Sport, Business

Dang. His story would make for one INCREDIBLE biography!!!!

Lewis Alexander Hopkins of San Antonio died of a heart attack on June 24, 2008 at the age of 89. Lew was born on June 10, 1919 in Luthersville, Georgia to Ernest Eugene Hopkins, Sr. and Fannie Bean Hopkins. He graduated from Luthersville High School in 1934 and from Berry College in Rome, Ga. in 1939. While in college he met Ruby Stevens and they married on September 26, 1941 in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Lew joined the Navy on July 1, 1940 as an apprentice seaman and retired June 30, 1974 as a Rear Admiral, Upper Half. During his Naval Career he served as a dive bomber pilot in World War II in the Pacific participating in the pivotal Battle of Midway and later in the Southwestern Pacific in the Battle of Santa Cruz in which his carrier, The U.S.S. Hornet was sunk. After World War II he earned a Master's degree in Aeronautical Engineering and was a pioneer in the development of jet engines and initiated the development of the jet engine which subsequently became the propulsion system for the SR-71 advanced reconnaissance plane. In the early 1970s he commanded the Naval Missile Center in Ventura, California, where various naval missiles, including the sidewinder, sparrow, and phoenix missiles were tested. His last duty station before retirement was the Assistant Chief of the Naval Air Command for Research and Development. He retired on July, 1974 and moved to Del Mar California where he became active in community affairs serving on the City Council and as Mayor. In June of 1994 he moved to The Towers in San Antonio, where he served as President of The Towers Co-Operative Association for over 7 years. Following the death of his wife Ruby in 2001, Lew married Mary Lokken. Lew's brother Eugene Hopkins Jr. and sister, Frances Chandler preceded him in death. He is survived by his wife, Mary; daughters, Betty Beason and her spouse, Nathan, Anne Hopkins and spouse, Howard Richmond, Linda Hawkins and spouse, Stephen. Also surviving are grandchildren, Glynnon Wiggins and spouse, Walter, Emily Beason, Allison McIntyre, Amy Britt, Richard Hawkins and spouse, Carol Appenzeller, Randy Hawkins and spouse, Lisa Regul; as well as three great-grandchildren , Elise and Jocelyn Wiggins and Ian Wiggins. MEMORIAL SERVICE MONDAY JUNE 30, 2008 10:30 A.M. THE TOWERS 1 TOWERS PARK LANE SAN ANTONIO, TX In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Lewis A. Hopkins Endowment Chemistry Scholarship Fund at Berry College, P.O. Box 490069, Mount Berry, GA. 30149. Interment will be in Arlington National Cemetery. You are invited to sign the guestbook at www.porterloring. com Arrangements with Porter Loring Mortuary.

TO

To both Day and Hopkins:

Bert Houle another ace gone to the great beyond

globeandmail.com: 'Fabled fighter jock' was a rare double ace and was twice awarded the DFC

Tough Canuck!

One of his claims was that he never held a parade in the Squadrons he servedbut my favourite thing is that when he took over 417 sqn morale was down so he stripped everything out of his spit including the seat and flew sitting on a crate to a place where he loaded up with booze including a full crate in lieu of a seat

Monroe Q. Williams R.I.P.

Below is a post by Hangman of the 353rd in Sturmovik on the UBI boards.

Lt.Colonel Monroe Williams died 2pm sunday of inoprtable tumors he was 87, the world lost another hero and we at the 353VFG lost a close freind, mentor and farther figure. He is survived by his children and grandchildren and will always be remberd and never forgotten by his virtual freinds. He flew Janes WW2 fighters was consulted on Janes Attack Squadron and CFS3.

Below is a part of an interview RC Warbirds did on him years ago where he was a historical advisor


MONROE Q. WILLIAMS was born on Oct.21, 1921 and raised on a cotton farm near the small town of Baldwyn, Miss. I graduated from Baldwyn High in 1940 and was awarded a foot ball scholarship at East Central Jr. College, Decatur Miss. Because of a broken shoulder in training, I left college and joined the CCC ( civilian conservation corp). Spent seven months at Camp Rainier, Wash and was ask to return to college on the scholarship.

In the summer of 1942, after completing one year of college, I was notified that I would be drafted in the fall. I was drafted into the Army Air Corp in October and, after basic training in Miami Beach, Fla., was assigned to Aircraft Mechanic school in Amarillo, Texas.

During my training, I applied and qualified for cadets. Three days after graduation I was on my way to San Antonio for preflight. Primary was at Corsicana,Texas; Basic was at Greenville,Texas and Advance was at Eagle Pass, Texas , Graduating Jan 7, 1944 with class 44A.

After ten hours of P-40 transition training at Moultre Ga, I was on my way to Richmond, Va. for training in the P-47. On June 25, I sailed on the Queen Mary to England. After a brief stay at Atcham, I was assigned to the 351st Ftr Sq. of the 353rd Ftr Gp, arriving July 30, 1944.

During my tour, we flew P-47 aircraft, primarily dive bombing and strafing up through France, and southern Germany in support of the ground troops. During the first part of October, we changed to P-51 aircraft, primarily for long range escort of the bombers. I flew 63 missions (270 combat hours) and was credited with one Me 109 destroyed.

Upon my return from England in April 1945, I was assigned as production control officer at Eglin Air Proving Ground, Fla. After that, I was assigned as Aircraft Engineering Officer with 10th Airforce Hq, Offutt AFB, Omaha, Neb. After SAC moved us off Offutt in 1948, I volunteered to go to the Berlin Airlift at Rhine Maine, Frankfurt, Germany as an Engineering Officer/Pilot. After the Airlift, I remained in Germany, as a line pilot, with the 10th Troop carrier Squadron, flying C-82 aircraft.

Upon my return from Germany, I was assigned to the 3499th Mobile Training Group, Chanute AFB, Ill as a Mobile Training Detachment Commander. While there, I was selected, along with two other officers, three GS civilians, and three ranking NCOs, to plan, service test, and implement a new Field Training Concept for the Air Force. This resulted in the organization of a Field Training Wing with two Field Training Groups.

In 1959, the Field Training organization moved to Amarillo, Texas and became a part of the Amarillo Tech Training Center. In 1962, I became the Director of the Dept. Of Aircraft Training and remained so till my retirement, as a Lt/Col, on Feb. 28, 1965.

After retirement, I became a District Representative for Lutheran Brotherhood Insurance and served for 22 years, retiring Jan 1, 1987.

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Monroe Q. Williams Tribute Pt.1 W.I.P. By Snacky of the Virtual 353rd

Monroe Q Bio