Belgian Helper Henriette Hanotte (“Monique”) of the Comet Line Celebrates her 100th Birthday, Daily Telegraph story, Aug. 9, 2020
To read the story, click here.
French Honor for John Katsaros
On October 12, 2010 the Washington DC. Ambassade de France aux Etas-Unis, Pierre Vimont, was pleased to inform John Katsaros that by a decree signed by the President of the French Republic on September 28, 2010. QUOTE: “You have been named a ‘Chevalier’ of the Legion of Honor” that was created by Napoleon in 1802 to acknowledge services rendered to France by persons of great merit as a sign of France’s true and unforgettable gratitude and appreciation for your personal, precious contribution to the United States’ decisive role in the liberation of our country during World War II”.
Congratulations, John !!!
You earned that one for sure !
Co de Swart,
Researcher Airwar WWII ETO
Holland
I am studying the downing and the Escape of Robert Sheehan, pilot of the 63 Fighter-Group,who came down on The 7 th november 1943 in Holland , near my Hometown Eindhoven. He was the first escaper of the USAF.
I hope may be there are articles written about his Escape in some journals.
Thank you for your help.
Dear Mr. Louwers,
This email is in response to the request you posted on the website of the Air Forces Escape and Evasion Society (AFEES) for information on the experience of Robert Emmett Sheehan, 56th FG, 63rd FS. I do not know of any articles written about him but I did find some sources of information that should be useful.
1. Here is a link to a list that I compiled of Dutch helpers of Allied airmen from Eindhoven: https://wwii-netherlands-escape-lines.com/helpers-of-allied-airmen/dutch-helper-list/dutch-helpers-by-selected-cities-and-towns/dutch-cities-chaam-to-fijnaart/eindhoven/. For the complete list of Dutch helpers compiled by the British, see: https://wwii-netherlands-escape-lines.com/helpers-of-allied-airmen/dutch-helper-list/index-to-dutch-helpers-of-allied-personnel/.
2. For a link to a list that I compiled of WWII escape and evasion websites, see: https://wwii-netherlands-escape-lines.com/links-to-other-escape-and-evasion-websites/escape-and-evasion/.
3. The Keith Janes’ Conscript Heroes website is particularly useful. See: http://www.conscript-heroes.com/. Go to http://www.conscript-heroes.com/Art38-MIS-X.html to see a list of airmen who evaded capture or escaped after capture with their escape and evasion report numbers (referred to by Mr. Janes as MIS-X reports). By scrolling down the list, you will find that Sheehan’s E&E number is 340. Back to that in a moment.
4. Another invaluable source is The Comet Network at http://www.evasioncomete.org/. It contains an alphabetical list of evaders and escapers helped by the Comet Line at http://www.evasioncomete.org/aFichesChoix.html. You can scroll down to an airman’s name and by clicking on it, go directly to an account of that person’s experiences compiled by the researchers who run that website. In Sheehan’s case it is at http://www.evasioncomete.org/fsheehare.html. Although it is in French, that shouldn’t present too much of a problem for you. It even has two photos of him and links to some of his fellow evaders. You are fortunate that Sheehan was helped by the Comet Line for which there is this website. And if any of Sheehan’s fellow evaders are Americans, you may find further information on their E&E reports (see item 5 below).
5. With Sheehan’s E&E number of 340, it is possible to view his report on the website of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) at College Park, Maryland. Hard copies of E&E reports and helper files are available there for research. For a description of using their records, go to https://wwii-netherlands-escape-lines.com/research/national-archives-research/. But to save you time, I have downloaded a pdf file of his report and attached it.
6. Be sure to check the E&E reports of airmen whose E&E number is close to the #340 of Sheehan. They probably would have been debriefed at the same time and may have traveled with him.
7. Several years ago AFEES compiled a database of members. It you go to https://airforceescape.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/AFEES-Member-database-Rads-Z.pdf you will find Sheehan listed but from that I learned that he was killed in the Korean war. That would account for there not having been any mention of him to date in the index to the AFEES newsletters that we have been compiling (see https://airforceescape.org/newsletters/index-to-newsletters/index-to-airmen/).
8. A few of the helpers referred to in The Comet Network article on Sheehan also appear in my website (Stassart, Mendiara, Bajpai, and Elhorga) in connection with my research on Applewhite. Go to https://wwii-netherlands-escape-lines.com/ and use the search box to find references to them. Some appear in “People Who Helped Applewhite” (https://wwii-netherlands-escape-lines.com/evasion-of-tom-applewhite/fellow-evaders-helpers-norwegian-sailors/people-who-helped-tom-applewhite/) and “Illustrated Description of Tom’s Evasion of Capture” https://wwii-netherlands-escape-lines.com/evasion-of-tom-applewhite/tom-got-to-freedom-the-hard-way/ f(which has pictures of some of them).
9. You might also want to take a look my two lists of Frequently Asked Questions about doing such research that you will find at https://wwii-netherlands-escape-lines.com/faqs/.
Best wishes,
Bruce Bolinger