Howell’s New Year emergency landing in Portugal

On December 31, 1943 Don Howell was the navigator of Lockheed Hudson FK761 on the way from England to Egypt.

Over the Bay of Biscay they were attacked by a Luftwaffe patrol. One of their engines was hit, but they were able to escape and reach Portugal, where they made a emergency landing.

 In 2000 Don came to Portugal and we made a trip to the Grândola area in search for the place where 60 years earlier he and his friends ended their trip to Egypt.

We found witnesses of the event and also the exact place where the Lockheed crash-landed and burned.

I made a couple of images at the location and a friend of mine – Jorge Belo – helped me recording a interview with Don.

Don Howell at the left and the two witnesses of the crash-landing - José and Julio Pereira. The son of one the men is also in the picture. 

The images I collected are not in the best shape, as I used a friend camera that I did not knew how to use. In 2007 from the one hour interview and the pictures I collected I made a 20 minute movie for a English class of the University of the Algarve, where I was studying.

My English is not always the best but I hope everybody understands it. The Portuguese witnesses are not translated, and I’m sorry for that…




Unfortunately Don was not more between us when the movie was finished.

This is also in his memory…

Best regards and a happy New year…
Carlos Guerreiro

Lecture Portugal and the refugees 1940-1942

The video is about 36 minutes long and is a lecture from pelo professor Neill Lochery in UCL Hebrew and jewish Studies.

The refugee invasion that happened in Portugal in the begining of 1940 is the theme of this lecture.

It is interesting and very complete... I thank my friend patrick Gerrassi for calling my attention to this lecture...



Carlos Guerreiro

Interesting moments

This is one of the most interesting collections of on-line pictures from Portugal in the forties that I know about.

There are about 50 minutes of filming, in seven movies, covering several motives. Some scenes are repeated several times from different angles.

We can see a animal market, refugees in Caldas da Rainha, refugees entering a boat on the way to America and other destinies, diplomat’s, several receptions, military ceremonies, the arrival of a Clipper aircraft in the Tagus River and also the way the Portuguese and foreign press in Portugal was working and covering the event’s.

Each footage has a technical file explaining what images you are seeing and also the names of certain personalities that appear.  Every footage has is interesting in it’s own way and it is worth to follow each movies that belongs to the NARA wand were made in Portugal during the end of 1942 and the beginning of 1943.

The Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has put them on line…

Sit comfortably, click on the words and enjoy...

 "Refugees in Caldas da Rainha"

 "Lisbon, gold mint"

 "Foreign diplomats at banquets in Portugal"

" Lisbon harbor"

Portugal: press reaction to the American landing in N. Africa

Refugees board ship in Lisbon

Refugees in Lisbon

The story from the SS Quanza

Portugal, and especially Lisbon, was during WWII one of the safe ports where tens of thousands of refugees found one open door to get to the United States and other countries. It is still difficult today to know how many refugees – most of them Jews, but not only – crossed the border to Portugal in those years.

Here is a small video that talks about the fate of some 317 of them. They Left Lisbon hoping to find a new future and suddenly – some – were faced with the possibility of having to return to Portugal after being so near the Promised Land…



This is just one of thousand stories related with refugees in Portugal in those years….

Still in the Azores route

After the publication of the earlier articles there were some feedbacks, especially in the “twin” Portuguese Blog, that I must forward, in order to complete the story of the Azores. I know there will be always new material coming but I believe this gives a wide image of what has happened.

I will let out the material only in Portuguese, although, if someone is interested please go to the Portuguese Forum in www.aterrememportugal.blogspot.com or e-mail me. I will send the information over.

Anyway there is a Portuguese item in this post, because I believe it has great “visual” information. A couple of days ago a video was posted. It was in English and had some great pictures. I found another video with even more material. There are some pictures from the earlier British Pathé movie, but it is mush more complete.

Pass the first three minutes and you will start to see “Fortresses”, Hudsons’s, and even a Wellington in a camera movement that shows a couple of planes stationed in the airfield. There are also pictures with Portuguese people helping in building the infrastructure and so on. The images include also the arrival of the Americans and the first Hangar’s and other buildings.

At the end you can see a party offered by the local’s to the British newcomers, with a bullfight and so on. Hope you like it….

Gonçalo Mendes in the Portuguese Blog suggests also the following book and link. Both have the American point of view.

The book is “OPERATION ALACRITY - The Azores and the War in the Atlantic” from Norman Herz. He arrived in the island as a corporal with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' 928th Engineer Aviation Regiment, and latter wrote this book about the events and the importance of the island for the war effort.

There is also a site dedicated to the 801st Engineer Aviation Battalion in Word War II, that arrived in January 1944 in the Azores. It was made by the son of Robert Hawks, one of the soldiers that was part this battalion.

This is the Link: http://www.skydozer.com/index.html

 Besides that I would also leave the official site of the base in our days…

http://www.lajes.af.mil/index.asp

Best regards to all...