Family of airman buried in Oporto searches information

On the afternoon of July 13, 1941 Sergeant-airman of the Royal Air Force, William Bernard Oakes, 21, died at the controls of a Wellington bomber of the RAF when it crashed into the sea opposite to Fão, near Esposende., in the North part of Portugal.

Seventy years later, and after consulting several files the family continues to seek answers to questions that were never answered so far, and is trying to reconstruct what happened that day.

William's aircraft plunged into the sea with five other companions (see HERE) ... Their mutilated bodies were gathered in a single coffin and were put to rest in the cemetery of St. James, in Oporto.

Conflicting British reports as quickly explain the accident with a fire in one of the engines, as blame the weather for what happened.

When I got the message from Ian Garth, the brother-in-law of William, I confess I had very little information about this disaster. And even after reading some newspapers of the time, the contradictions did not fade away. In fact...

The daily newspapers from Lisbon "Republica", "Diário de Lisboa", "Diário de Notícias" and those from Oporto "Jornal de Noticias", "Comércio do Porto" and "Primeiro de Janeiro" were not unanimous in their reports about the disaster.

 Everyone agrees that the accident happened at 14.30 hours and that the weather was cloudy and rainy. The sea was choppy, but from here on the versions change...

One disaster, many versions

Some newspapers ensure that local eyewitnesses just heard a plane flying over the area - as if looking for a place to land – and then an explosion when it hit the sea.

In another the witnesses heard not only the aircraft but were also able to see it. At one point it raised his nose and plunged into the sea, where at the impact it exploded ...

The "Diário de Noticias" - and I refer the name because it is the only one that has this description of the accident - details how people heard an explosion before the plane- already in flames - crashed into the sea, leaving behind a trail of black smoke ...

The machine smashed into the sea, according to the news between hundred and 300 meters from the beach.

The fuel and some debris burned on the surface of the water releasing an intense black column of smoke.

"Immediately a group of fishermen, despite the fury of the sea, volunteered to proceed to the site of the tragedy. A small boat was launched into the water, crewed by seafarers Julio Vilela da Silva, António António Herdeiro and Joaquim Soares, taking on board also firemen volunteer and chef of fire department of Fão, Mr. Figueira Gonçalves, "says the Jornal de Notícias Newspaper seconded by other publications.

Portuguese newspaper cuts  from 14 and 15 July 1941, reporting about the accident.

Although most of them are very similar about what happened after the accident, there are at least three different versions about the accident itself.

During the sortie they found no crew, but the vessel collected two parachutes, a rubber dinghy and a raincoat. Latter on a wheel and part of a landing gear would also be found...

Among the debris that arrived at the beach head a letter, bound for Malta, and Canadian distinctives were found...

The tugboat "Teixeira de Queiroz" and a lifeboat from the Shipwrecked Rescue Institute were also called to collaborate on rescue efforts and attempts to locate the bodies.

On the morning of the following day the first sign of humanity was discovered. The mutilated torso of a man, with part of the uniform worn was found in the beach... it bears sergeant's stripes.

Taken to the firebrigade house in Esposende it will be identified as belonging to the Wireless operator of the aircraft, which appears already identified as a Wellington bomber.

The beach is littered with all sorts of debris "such as parachutes, wheels, landing gear, and many packets of mail addressed to Malta," explains once again the Jornal de Notícias.

In the following days - by choice or by imposition of censorship - newspapers silenced the news about the rescue operations.

Only on the 19th July, they return to the subject to report that the bodies had been recovered, and that during that afternoon the funeral would be held.

The English community of Oporto closed shops and services and mass to the funeral. Hundreds of persons are present at the ceremonies.

 

The urn on the shoulders of British veterans of the First World War. Portuguese sergeants accompany the funeral (above).
Infantry soldiers lined at the paths through which the crowd accompanying the ceremony (below).

 

The mutilated remains of sergeant’s William Bernard Oaks, Henry Gerald Peel, Colin James Dixon, Trevor Vaughan Davies, Derek Cecil Haynes and Stephen Thomas Mcneil are all joined in one single coffin, guarded, in the chapel, by a guard of honor from the 3rd Machine Guns Company.

At the end of the Mass, conducted by the Rev. Johnson, everybody follows for the English cemetery. The shoulders of British veterans from World War I carry the casket between the different tracks, but there is also a delegation of Portuguese sergeants, Portuguese militaries of various ranks as wel as civilian authorities to integrate the Portuguese national pageant.

Portuguese and British oficials pay homage to the aviators. The air attaché of the British Embassy, Colonel Schreiber (above).
Soldiers fired three salvos in honor of the dead (below)

In the cemetery, members of the 6th Infantry Company, stand guard on the passage of the procession.

Next to the grave, at the time the urn descents to earth, "the soldiers of the Machine Gun Company, armed with rifles, make three successive discharges under the command of a vibrant imperative voice: - Fire," reports newspaper “Primeiro de Janeiro”.

"The English authorities and Portuguese pass one last time before pit, where the first shovelfuls of earth are already falling, and everyone parades without a gesture, a word," concluded the Jornal de Notícias.

The English colony submerged the aviators grave with flowers.

More dramatically, in the theatrical sense of the word, is the conclusion of "Primeiro de Janeiro": "On our side, an English lady – with a austere and noble Profile (...) - is living a deep emotion. The eyes get flooded with tears, but soon she revives and solemnly raises his right hand, draws on the space a V - the symbolic start of the word Victory... "

A public appeal

Given this continued sum of contradictions it was decided to perform a public appeal in order to try to find other reports (perhaps in the local press) and especially memories about this incident...

Finding someone alive or who had knowledge of what happened through memories of family is also important...

Anyone knows or knew the fishermen who did not hesitate to throw themselves into the small boat, despite the raging sea?

Museum Cosforth, England. In the background a Wellington being restored.
Pictured Michael Garth, Ian Garth, Ian Oakes and Fred Oakes, William's brother.

Ian Garth would like to have access to all information about this moment that marked the history of his wife’s family.

To preserve some privacy and avoid being bombarded with information that has nothing to do with this issue, Ian asked me that the messages be forwarded to the e-mail of this Blog “Landing in Portugal” (click HERE).

I promise to forward everything to Ian.

To facilitate this work I would be grateful - whenever possible - to receive the messages in English...

 The family of William Oakes thank in advance all efforts related with the clarification of this matter.

Carlos Guerreiro

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Note: All the pictures were sent by Ian Garth.

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

A few questions to Ted Hedges

Ted Hedges was a flight engineer on B-17 with 220 Sqn, RAF Coastal Command during the latter part of WWII. In October 1943 he was in one of the first allied crews to arrive at Lagens field, Azores, were he got involved in the closing the “Atlantic Gap” patrolling the sea, escorting ship convoys and ultimately searching for German submarines.

On June 22, 2011, he returned to Lagens in a visit sponsored by Heroes Return, a program supported by the United Kingdom’s Big Lottery Fund. In this case he also had the local cooperation of the Portuguese and American air- forces, the Lagens “resident’s” since WWII period….

After this visit I was able to send him questions trough e-mail…

Land in Portugal: Why did you wanted to return to the Azores?

Ted Hedges: At age 19, I was the Flight Engineer on the third four-engined Boeing Flying Fortress to land on the grass airfield of Lagens.

For the next nine months I met and lived amongst a very poor but happy and kind people. Terceira is a very beautiful island and we found that in the midst of such people and the beauty surrounding us it was possible to do our operational duty despite the stress and strains of our flying.

When the opportunity came to go back to the island it was a wish come true. I would be able to see not only those friendly people but visit all those places which had only been names in 1943.

Land in Portugal: What places did you visited and why?

Ted Hedges: The first place I had to visit was Pria Da Vitoria. A family (now in the USA) welcomed me into their home and were very kind. Pria was a village at that time and we could get really great meals of fried chicken and chips with lovely fresh bread and butter. It was within walking distance of Lagens airfield or we could travel in the two-wheel horse-drawn carts for 5 Eskudos each. (In 1943 we got 100 eskudoes for £1.00). We had no organised transport so other than 2 or 3 visits to Angra, the remainder of the Island was only seen from the air.

My helper Eva and I stayed at the Angra Garden Hotel, which was very good, and we set out to see as much of the island as possible. We were taken on a complete tour of the island and made visits to the Portuguese command and American command bases.

We were well received everywhere and at the American base I was asked to do a recording (of which I now have a transcript) covering our operational flying by all the Squadrons based at Lagens in the nine months I was there.

We made three visits to the British War Cemetery. We visited all the graves and I laid flowers on my friend’s grave. Eva and I then laid flowers around the Cross from the families of men who had been lost in the seas around the islands.

We spent a morning in the garden of Angra. It is so beautiful there and the pictures we took match one I have from 1943 of some of the ground crew who serviced my Fortress aircraft, taken when sitting around the fountain.

Land in Portugal: There must have been some mixed feelings during your visit?

Ted Hedges: Feelings? Mixed? Yes. Visiting the graves of the men lying there. Reinforced my view that war is futile, wasteful, and takes the best of every nation that becomes involved. The older I get the greater the wonder and the thoughts of why was I spared. Why them and not me ? What great things might they have done if they had lived?

The cemetery is a place of great sadness, of ‘faces’ and memories which can never be forgotten, of peace and quiet. On my third and final visit I left in tears.

The sadness is bearable because when, in the subsequent time touring the beautiful villages, the coast, historic places, gardens, museums and churches and meeting the people, realising what great progress and developments have taken place since war’s end in1945, the sacrifice made by those men ensured that Terceira has had the time and opportunity to become the lovely place it now is.

Land in Portugal: Was there any particular moment of your RAF years in the Azores that you still remember strongly?

Ted Hedges: This question is most difficult. Robert’s book is full of such ‘special moments’. The first sight of Terceira as we overflew the grass valley which was to become our airfield. Our first loss and the search for the aircraft. The moment when realisation hit home of the speed with which the weather changed to downright dangerous in such a short time. Watching our little single-engined Walrus biplane landing across the width of our runway into a headwind while flying backwards in relation to the runway. There are so many moments.

Land in Portugal: Have you any particular memories related with the Portuguese people?

Ted Hedges: I left Terceira in July 1944 with very great regret. All of the Portuguese people I met were happy, kind and gentle. I was lucky enough to meet two
families. The first was the lady who did my laundry . She had two daughters and the elder was about to get married. Through her I was introduced to a very affluent family in Pria Da Vitoria and was welcomed into their home whenever I had free time from my duties. Of this family the father was, I think, the school master. There were three daughters Maria De Lourdes, Conceseion and Anna Maria. They learned that I was to be married on my next leave and after my future wife sent me a picture of the wedding dress she would like and her measurements, the family had the dress made. When I went home and was married it fitted my bride perfectly.

I have been in contact with this second family and all three girls now live in the USA.

During the visit of 2011 ted visited the British cemetery. There he put flowers in the grave of  his friend Joseph ‘Rocky’ Boudreault and payed homage to all the men that died in the Azores. 

 (Picture Eva Jones)

A mission in Ted’s word’s

In one of the questions I sent to Ted I wanted to know how was his typical day in the Azores. This was not the first time someone asked him that…

So he asked his friend Robert Stitt (see here) to give him a hand.

Robert – author of the book “B-17 in Coastal Command” (see here) – made Ted a similar question some time ago… and got a very complete and long answer.

Robert was nice enough and decided to send me part of his book – the description of a mission by Ted - and authorized me to use as much as I needed. 

I took his word and abused a little but the words of Ted are so valuable. I have cut some parts – you will be able to identify them – in order to shorten it a bit, but the credits of this belong to Robert and of course Ted.

I would like to thank both of them for the cooperation.

Before going to Ted’s words, here is some information.

Two B-17 squadrons – 206 and 220 – arrived in the Azores in October 1943. Each squadron had 18 crews of eight men.

The crews were inserted in the operation board by the name of it’s captain – usually the pilot – in a rotation system. So when you arrived in the top of the board you knew the next mission was yours.

When the flight before yours takes off you are already with your crew, because if there is a call for assistance you would be the first in line.

This said, here is the description from Ted Hedges of a typical mission. He would stay up about two hours before the mission to shave, eat and get instructions. Then they go…

We learn that our mission is to provide cover for a convoy of 100 ships sailing from Canada to the United Kingdom. (…)

Our captain, Brian Reuter, checks in with all the crew and then taxis to the active runway. As flight engineer I stand entirely unsecured between the pilots with my arms looped around the shaped armour sheet fitted to their seats. My destination in the case of accident is 200 yards straight ahead through the windshield. (…)

We weigh 56,000 pounds… we are 6,000 pounds overweight… and have four engines of just over 1,000hp each for a total of 4,100 hp. Of our 26 tons, a little over ten tons is our full load of fuel and about five tons is weapons and explosives. As we occupy our take-off positions we know that if an engine fails we are likely dead… so until we all hear the reassuring ‘clunk’ of wheels locking in their housings, we each ponder the possibilities.

(…)We have no set height on patrol or transit but never fly at more than 3,000ft. Our parachute bags remain stacked against the rear wall of radio cabin on the port side and we never bother putting on our parachute harnesses. There is no ’chute servicing facility at Lagens and if we are ever called on to use these things we doubt they will open. For months, until the Nissen huts are built, our flight equipment bags sit on the bare earth in our tents.

From now on the navigator will not cease his calculations until just before we land. The two pilots remain in their seats all the way while the remaining crewmembers, including the flight engineer, change positions every hour. (…)

In the event of an anti-submarine action or an emergency, the senior WOP/AG takes over the radio as soon as is practical while the flight engineer does whatever is called for by the captain and the gun positions are manned appropriate to the situation… the top turret gunner is designated the ‘fire controller’ in the event the aircraft is attacked by enemy aircraft.

We took off at 05:00 and it is still dark, (…)

Remember, we are heading out into the middle of the Atlantic. We have no satellites or the super electronics of today. Our navigator has only his drawing instruments, a sextant, magnetic and gyro compasses, a very accurate watch, and his crewmates’ faith that, for perhaps the next 12 to 13 hours, his math and the drawing of lines on a chart will remain accurate.

We expect to meet the convoy at 09:00 which, at an indicated air speed of 150 knots, is something like 600 nautical miles from base. We are instantly alert to any ‘click’ and exchange over the intercom so only essential instructions are given to one another. (…)

Every 15 minutes after take-off, the navigator gives the duty radio operator the aircraft’s position in latitude and longitude for transmission to base. Since base knows our take-off time, the message fixes our last ¼-hour position so our likely position any time in the next 15 minutes can be calculated. (…)

We should be within sighting distance of the convoy but the weather is changing with the clouds down to low-level and rain squalls blotting out much of the sea surface. The navigator and captain briefly discuss that we are where the convoy should be but there is no sign of it. It’s decided to undertake a search so we fly a square pattern with so many minutes for each leg, but with no success. The captain then calls for a radar search which, in theory, should cover a 60 mile pattern… but again, nothing. There is only one more chance and we call on our senior radio operator [WO Joseph E Roch] ‘Rocky’ Boudreault.

 

Joseph E Roch ‘Rocky’ Boudreault 

was the WO that oriented Ted's Fortress back in this mission. 

He passed away in in the post-take-off crash of Fortress IIA FK206 in the early morning hours of December 4, 1943.

(…)He transmits our call sign with an encoded request for an air-to-air homing, feeding bearings back to the pilot as he succeeds in making contact. He can tell we are approaching the holding aircraft as the signal strength increases and we at last make visual contact with the other Fortress, then using the trigger-operated Aldis lamp to communicate in Morse code.

We join the convoy at 09:45, some 4¾ hours after takeoff. Our relief aircraft is due to arrive at 13:00 so for next three hours we fly escort as requested. Our first task is to circle the convoy and count the number of ships to see whether they have had any losses and if there are any stragglers. We then communicate with the convoy commander and are instructed to carry out the type of cover required. We learn that the convoy changed course after we took off to avoid a U-boat concentration and that for more than four hours it has been steaming at over 15 knots some 70 degrees to port of its original course.

(…)

We have now been airborne for nearly eight hours and are expecting a relief aircraft to arrive. The weather is still deteriorating and it’s getting very rough in the aircraft. The power of the sea terrifies me. I’ve looked down on a convoy and seen 40,000-ton vessels buried up to their bridge structure by sea water and then seen the whole length of their bilge keels… smaller ships seem to disappear completely. (…)

The radio operator calls the captain to report he has received a signal that our relief aircraft has been recalled to base, as have we. The weather at Lagens is closing in and we may have problems getting down. The convoy commander is told we are departing and will not be replaced...

(…)

One’s awareness level is suddenly boosted to a very high level when the pilot and navigator hold a conversation regarding the latter’s inability to accurately determine wind and drift for the last 90 minutes. He has maintained two plots since we left the convoy, one based on his plot of our position when we found the convoy, the second on the position given to us by the convoy’s navigator. The latter should be the more accurate but the lack of a drift estimate applies to both plots and our actual position is now suspect, although both plots suggest that we should to be around 60 nautical miles from base.

The captain orders ‘Rocky’ to have the ASV radar manned, with the operator concentrating on our forward track to hopefully pick up the beacon at Lagens… there is silence as we await his report. It’s been 12 hours since takeoff and our fuel is getting low… what feels like a year goes by before there is the click of a mic switch and the report: “Radar to skipper, beacon ahead, 10 degrees to port.” The operator calls for a slow turn to the left until the beacon’s glow is dead on the centreline of the radar screen.

We know Lagens is 60 miles ahead but we are in solid cloud at 3,000ft and approaching our base with its 3,000-foot mountains on one side of the runway and a 500-foot hill on the other… we have to arrive in line with a runway or it could be very nasty. So we will conduct a BABS approach, a demanding procedure that requires absolute co-operation and trust between the pilot and senior radio operator.

We arrive over Lagens, invisible below us, at our safe height of 4,000ft and enter a circular pattern. ‘Rocky’ begins receiving signals from BABS while Brian flies the aircraft in accordance with a stream of instructions from the radio operator and with reference to a small instrument with two cross needles. Meanwhile the crew take up landing positions while I perform a final security check to ensure there are no loose items to fly around in the event of a rough landing… I then take my position standing between the pilots.

All is now set. ‘Rocky’ has guided the captain directly over the island and at a certain point the cross needles tell him we have over flown over the centreline of the airfield. The co-pilot starts a stopwatch at that instant and we are now fully reliant on the skills of ‘Rocky’ and Brian. They must follow a precise pattern, timed to the second and adjusted constantly to Rocky’s instructions.

A final turn should put us in line with the centre of the runway and we begin our descent at timed intervals. At the captain’s order, it’s “Undercarriage down” as the co-pilot strains for a glimpse of the runway. Next come: “Flaps down” and “Airspeed” and from this point on I constantly call out the airspeed. We pass through 1,000ft and are still in cloud. On through 700ft… 500ft… but still no sight of the airfield. ‘Rocky’ gives a slight heading correction at 400ft and at any second we will have to apply full power to climb to safety.

Then, just off line to the right, we spot the runway lights. With a slight right bank and correction we are lined up, then it’s throttles right back and the airspeed bleeds off. Brian has the control wheel pulled right back and we are just a few feet up. A slight forward and back movement of the wheel and there’s a thump followed by the immense clatter of the planked runway as we roll out and brake to a standstill. Touchdown is at 17:45 hours, 12 hours 45 minutes after we took off, 15 hours 15 minutes after we were woken up.

(…) As we climb into the truck, our captain speaks for us all: “Thanks, ‘Rocky’” No one has anything to add.


Note: This post has undergone changes related to historical aspects after contact was made by the author Robert Stitt on 13 September 2010. I wish to thank him

Carlos Guerreiro

Good bye Bill

My friend Bill Littlejohn has passed away last November. He is one of the persons I refer in my book and one of the great helpers in this project.

He landed in Lisbon in the end of 1942 and was interned for a time. In 2008 he was invited back to see the book release were he is refered. Unfortunatly he could not come, but he made a video with his son where he tells his story.

Thank you Bill for everything, where ever you are....

A few questions to Tom Hamilton

Director and Producer Tom Hamilton is going to launch – this September – a documentary about the actor Leslie Howard. “The Man who Gave a Damn” puts together the home-movies still in the hands of the Howard familie and also testimonies of the life of this main character from “Gone with the Wind”.

Tom Hamilton is also preparing another movie about the desapearence of the actor in June 1, 1943, when he was flying from Lisbon to England in a flight that was shot down over the Bay of Biscay by Luftwaffe fighters.


Land in Portugal: What attracted you in this two projects?

Tom Hamilton: Actually they started life as just one project – “The Man who Gave a Damn” - on the life and career of Leslie Howard. That came about almost by accident. My wife and I were visiting Toronto (attending a film festival there) and trying to set up other projects. It came about through a chance encounter with Leslie’s grand-daughter Vicky at an art gallery one evening.

I didn’t know who she was but we were chatting about my interest in old films and she happened to mention that her grandfather had shot lots of home movies in the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s in Hollywood, The Riviera, Broadway and other places. When she told me who her grandfather I don’t think she expected me to recognise the name – and was so pleased when I did that she invited me to meet her mother, Leslie’s daughter Doodie for Sunday tea that very weekend.

So less than 48 hours later my wife and I were meeting the wonderful Doodie and being entertained by some great first hand Hollywood tales.

She’s a great raconteur and I found myself increasingly interested in this dimension of movie star as a father. Of course Leslie was much more than just a movie star and I found that the more she told me of his attitude to life and parenting the more I wanted to somehow preserve her words.

Leslie Howard (center) and Alfred Channels (right) in Lisbon in May 1943.

(Picture newspaper Século Ilustrado/ Arquivo Histórico de Portimão)

Part of the reason we were invited round was on account of my interest in the Home Movies that Leslie had shot. But they didn’t have a projector and I discovered that some of the films were already badly decayed. So we re-arranged our flights home and stayed an extra few weeks until we could borrow a projector to see the films.

When we finally viewed them, they were stunning and I started trying to think of ways in which these precious films might be preserved. I quickly realised the only way to justify the considerable outlay (£5-6,000) necessary to transfer these was if we could then put them to some sort of use – and at that point I began seriously thinking of a documentary built round Doodie and the home movies.

Doodie had long refused to be involved in anyone’s biographies of her father – but I belief she saw – right away – that my motives were quite different – and that first an foremost it would allow the home movies to be preserved free of charge.

For myself I thought it would be a nice little project (I still have emails saying I expected to finish it in 5 or 6 months – that was back in October 2006 and now it’s June 2011!!!)

As I soon discovered – a project such as this needs to be done properly – and it grew.

Obviously the manner of his death is something that interests a lot of people – myself included – but I was anxious that my film look at his life – rather than his dwell on his death.

Of course the questions surrounding the shooting down of the Ibis are deeply intriguing and I found that as I filmed the interviews much attention was focused on what exactly happened that day.

Public anouncement of the movie "Gone with the Wind" that arrived in Portugal in August 1943

(Newspaper "Diário de Lisboa" 7 August 1943)

This is why - relatively early in the production of Man Who Gave a Damn, I realised I had to make a second film which could deal with the disappearance.This is called "The Mystery of Flight 777" and by doing this and having it be a companion piece I can concentrate on the other individuals who were on that flight or involved.

This is still only about half shot – since all my energies have been on The Man Who Gave a Damn, but now that this is almost complete I’ll push forward with Flight 777.

LP: What exactly are looking in one and in the other documentary?

TH: "Leslie Howard: The Man who Gave a Damn" is a feature length look at the life, career and passions of Leslie Howard. Whilst we see a great deal of his Hollywood film career, particularly Gone with the Wind, we also see much of the informal Leslie - through never before seen Home Movies and the memories of his daughter Doodie.

The film also takes an in depth look at his role and importance in the British war effort and the events leading up to his disappearance in 1943.

Leslie Howard is one of those stars whose star seemed in danger of extinction – only being remembered for the part and film he liked least, Ashley Wilkes in Gone With the wind. But in the last two or three years several new books have come out which are either about or are inspired by the man’s life and I hope my film will help bring his name to a new audience.

His daughter, Doodie, wrote an excellent biography of Leslie (A Quite Remarkable Father), published in the late 1950’s. It’s a great read but due to when it was written she left out quite a bit of detail on Leslies extramarital affairs – mainly because her mother was still alive.

Now however, Doodie has written new chapters which offer a much franker account of his affairs – and a deeper insight into what made Leslie tick. I’ve read these chapters and can confirm they give the book a fresh perspective – there are several publishers interested and I feel a tie in between the launch of the documentary and a new edition of Doodie’s book could stir up a great deal of media interest...

Asside from Doodie we interviewed in the documentary are - Leslie's assistant director (on Pimpernel Smith and The Gentle Sex) Norman Spencer, Wartime expert Professor Doug Wheeler, British Film Historian Matthew Sweet, Playwright and fan Mark Burgess, Biographer Quentin Falk, Propaganda Expert Prof Nick Cull and Maude Queirós Pereira, who I interviewed at the Ritz Hotel in Lisbon.

Maude was a teenager when Leslie came to Portugal and she attended all of his lectures in Lisbon. Maude also relates her memories of meeting Leslie when her father invited Leslie and his manager to their home for an evening meal.

Leslie Howard in the role of Ashley Wilkes in "Gone with the Wind".

Our narrator of course is Derek Partridge - in whose life Leslie played a brief but incredibly important role - since it was he who gave up his seat so the actor could fly on June 1st 1943. Derek has been an absolute gem throughout the very long production this film has gone through – never failing in his support and even on the day I wrote these words filming a new piece of on-camera narration to be used in the film. So in a real sense the production has just this moment wrapped.

With “The Mystery of Flight 777”, I’ll be looking exclusively at the circumstances surrounding the shooting down of the Ibis – as well as the wider implications of what was happening in Lisbon at the time.

We’ll be bringing some previously unknown material – such as a recorded interview with Herbert Hintze (one of the Junker pilots) into the open as well looking more closely at the work of Wilfred Israel and Ivan Sharp.

Doug Wheeler naturally plays a major part with his 25+ years of research on the subject. Additional interviews are with Ben Rosenvink (son of the Ingbertus Rosenvink - the Navigator on Flight 777) and Frank Plugge, another child who narrowly missed being on Flight 777 (due to an attach of tonsilitis) interestingly he has clear memories of one other child who was on the flight - Petra Hutchence.

There is still considerable work to be done on this project - hopefully once The Man who Gives a Damn is being shown I'll attract the necessary backing to complete this.

And of course there’s the personal aspect of the story – of the families who were suddenly struck by tragedy – Frank Plugge remembers going with his mother to meet the father of Petra Hutchence, a man who had been expecting to see his daughter for the first time in 2 years and his infant son for the first time ever.

LP: Leslie Howard is the link between this two documentaries. Besides being one actor, who was this man?

TH: He really is an enigma - a multi-faceted figure - and very hard to pin down. His daughter was as close to him as anyone could be and yet even she admits that there were sides of her father she never saw. However in The Man Who Gave a Damn I think we've managed to unearth a few sides of his character that people might not be aware of.

On the one hand he seemed very unassuming - a man who liked to stay in the background observing, and quite uncomfortable with the idea of acting - whilst the other side of his nature was very strong willed - prepared to go up against moguls such as Jack Warner in order to have his way on a project – one of the very few freelance stars in the thirties. But he was also someone who was driven to create.

Throughout the 1920’s he was writing very funny articles for Vanity Fair and a number of plays – one or two of which he produced – anything in fact which could make him more than just an actor.

And he was able to win the support of notable collaborators. Everyone knows about Bernard Shaw in the late 30’s but as early as 1920 he had formed a film production company with backing from such figures as H G Wells and A A Milne – when Howard himself was hardly a well known actor. Although Minerva films folded Howard would return to film production in earnest at the end of the 30’s someone who found the whole star system in Hollywood ridiculous.

I also admire the way he abandoned a lucrative Hollywood career to work for the British War Effort.


LP: Was there something that surprised you while collecting material for the documentaries?

TH: When I started these projects, I didn’t know a great deal about Howard’s life. I knew of most of his films and of his help towards Humphrey Bogart. I think most people know about the fact that Bogie named his daughter Leslie in honour of Howard - but I discovered that before The Petrified Forest, he had helped other co-stars in similar ways – William Gargan (who named his own son Leslie Howard Gargan), Ilka Chase to name a couple.

News about the accident from the Portuguese newspaper "Diário de Lisboa".

Of course the Home Movies provided their own revelations – showing an informal, playful and mischevious side to Leslie, you wouldn’t expect from the man who played Rhett Butler.

LP: You talked with some Portuguese people that contacted with Leslie Howard in Portugal. Is there any particular story that surprised you?

TH: Most histories describe Leslie Howard in mid 1943 as a broken man (one who never really recovered from the death of his mistress) – even his son and daughter describe him as being distant and preoccupied with spiritualism.

But when Maude Queirós Pereira she described a man who was bubbling with enthusiasm for his new film idea – a British-Portugese co-production about Christopher Columbus.

That was a real surprise and suggests his adventure in Lisbon had much revived his appetite for life and creativity.

LP: There is still a discussion about the moment when Flight 777 was shot down. Was it one accident or one intentional ambush? Where you able to reach some conclusion from the information you collected?

TH: It’s a question I haven’t reached a conclusion on – mainly because I still have interviews and research to carry out on the Flight 777 documentary.

So far I've heard the recorded testimony of Herbert Hintze - one of the Junker pilots who was involved in the actual shooting down in which he insists that they came upon the plane unexpectedly – with the direction of the sun making it hard to decipher it’s markings and that 2 of the squadron immediately opened fire before he realised it was a passenger plane and - too late - ordered a halt the attack.

Then again there are other reports – which have recently resurfaced of captured German pilots boasting to each other of shooting down the Ibis – so even from the German side the messages are mixed.

One thing is clear - from the timings of the radio messages received from the Ibis in the moments leading up to and during the attach – there’s a space of several minutes – surely a long enough period for the Junkers to identify the plane.

Ultimately we may only get the full story when the classified papers are released.

LP: Have you any idea when the documentaries could be released?

TH: Well we’re planning the premier screening of “Leslie Howard: The Man who Gave a Damn” at present. We’ll be showing it in mid- July at a special press conference at Leslie’s former home of Stowe Maries in Dorking – where the current owners hope to erect a plaque in Leslie’s honour. We’re hoping to have a VERY special guest at that event – if her health allows – but I can’t say any more than that for the time being.

After the launch we’ll be entering the project into some of the key film festivals – in order to secure the best distribution deal for it.

Turner Classic Movies in the US will be showing it probably at the end of the year – possibly around Christmas – but for broadcasters outside of the US it’ll depend on what distribution we get.

However I hope we can have Mystery of Flight 777 wrapped rather faster than “Man Who Gave A Damn” but watch this space.

Carlos Guerreiro

Ivan Sharp, the wolfram man

“We know he had a ticket for another day, but someone gave up to enjoy some more suny days. My grandfather had finished his work in Portugal, and took that place disappearing when the aircraft was shot over the bay of Biscay”, explains Ivan Sharp, that has the same name of his grandfather, one 44 year old mining engineer, involved in the wolfram business and traffic between Portugal and Great Britain.

Ivan Sharp was a mining engineer involved in the Wolfram traffic that was happening in Portugal.
(Picture Ivan Sharp)






 






Even today Ivan does not know exactly what kind of work his grandfather was doing in Portugal. “My grandmother was a old fashion lady. Sometimes we could seat her and ask her some questions. She usually talked for a while but she just shut up and we could get anything more out of her”, he explains.

But the memory pieces collected from his grandmother, mother and aunt drove Ivan to the conclusion that he was involved in something important during the war. He knows wolfram was one of the most disputed merchandises between the allied and the axis, and that still today there are strange stories of instantaneous richness in some parts of Portugal.

Ivan Sharp has the same name of his grandfather, and was the man behind the homage’s to the victims of Flight 777 in Lisbon and in Bristol.

In 2009 he was in Portugal to take part in the homage to the passengers and crewmembers of flight 777, and he met someone from the Portuguese government who had a family member that “lived the other side of the story”.

“His father in law was also involved in the wolfram business selling it to the British and to the Germans. He told me the story that once his father in law made a mistake putting one more decimal number on the German account. When he saw the mistake he thought he was going to be killed, but the Germans just paid and went away”, Ivan retells leaving the impression that he would like to know more about what happened in Portugal during that period. “There are still a lot of secrets and it is important to dig some more where all this took place”.

Telegram received by Sharp’s family after his disappearance. 

(Picture Ivan Sharp)

About the strange times of “the wolfram war” Ivan also remember s another story that his aunt normally told. “Once she saw a small bag on the kitchen. She felt some hard things inside and thought they were marbles but when she opened it she saw that there were uncut diamonds. We think he used them to pay for the wolfram”.

More joyful are the memories of the times when the mining engineer returned home from Portugal . “He always brought fresh fruit. My mother and my aunt usually gave some of it to the kids from their street. Everybody was amazed with this offers, because fruit was so scarce during the war and most people had no access to this kind of luxury”.

A sporty men the engineer Ivan sharp was part of the team from Sledge&Trust, one company that was later bought by the Rio Tinto Group, one of the biggest mining groups in the world. “we still think what could have happen to our lives if he had survived the war. We would certainly much better”, say the grandson.

He still looks to the event that made his grandfather disappear with mixed feelings. The accident theory does not convince him completely. “I don’t understand why the Germans reacted so fiercely in the next day’s reinforcing the patrols in the area. Why did they wanted to avoid the British rescue team to be successful.Why were they so committed. That is one answer I would like to have”, he reveals.

Ivan Sharp was using diamantes to pay for the wolfram.  

(Picture Ivan Sharp)

There also other mysterious events that would like to have one explanation. “When the war ended the Dorset Regiment announced that they had captured one photo album with pictures of the plane being shot. For some reason those pictures disappeared. If there were only pictures of the aircraft being shot down, why did the album disappeared?”.

“On the other hand there were some important people inside that plane. One very known movie star, people related with military and espionage personnel. If the germans where really interested in someone inside that plane it would have been easy to divert the flight to France. The Gestapo would have a lot of questions for these persons, wouldn’t they?” asks Ivan Sharp, one of the most responsible persons for the homage ceremonies that took place in Lisbon and in Bristol, in 2009 and 2010.

He had the idea if a homage some years ago and after several phone call and the help of the Bristol airport people, and latter the ones form Lisbon, he was able to see those ceremonies take place…

Hear what he has to say about his grandfather…

Carlos Guerreiro

Quirinus Tepas, the “warm, bearlike” commander of Flight 777

Quirinus Tepas receiving the “Order of The British Empire”. 

(Picture Jean Pratten/ Roger Fennely)

The pilot from Flight 777 was a big men, that entered the life of the brothers Jean Pratten and Roger Fennely when he became ill, acouple of time after his escape from Holland. The father of these youngsters – they were 12 and 10 years old – was a doctor and he was called to assist the Dutch KLM pilot.

Jean Pratten and Roger Fennely in 2010

Both remember a “warm, bearlike” man, with worries about his family that he left behind in Holland. They also remember the presents they received from Portugal, especially the oranges and the bananas, something they had no way of getting in a wartime Britain.

Letter published in a newspaper after the disappearance of Capt. Quirinus Tepas. (Collection Jean Pratten/ Roger Fennely)

They also speak about the day they received the call announcing the dead of Quirinus Tepas, and the fact that he was already expecting something like this to happen.

Hear Jean Pratten

Hear Roger Fennely

Carlos Guerreiro

Engebertus Rosevink, a search for the unknown father

Engbertus Rosevink desapeared with Flight 777. Tewnty years ago his son searched for the german pilots that shot down his plane... (Picture Ben Rosevink )













“My Father was the flight engineer of that flight and there where so many mysteries about it that 20 years ago I decided to find the truth about what had happened. The only way of doing it was to find the German pilots that had shot the plane down”, These are the first explanations of Ben Rosevink, son of Engebertus, Navigator and one of the four crewmembers that were in flight 777 in June 1, 1943.
“We changed letters and he finally invited me home. I was there with him for a week and he gave me all the information’s I needed”.

Ben Rosevink in Bristol in 2010

Twenty years ago Ben started his search for the story of his father, and he was able to find Herbert Hitze, the commander of the Luftwaffe squadron that shot the IBIS over the Bay of Biscay. Latter he was able to find other Luftwaffe men, that were also involved in that mission, and they all told him the same story: shooting the “Ibis” was one accident.

Ben Rosevink talks about his father and his search.

In this recording Ben Rosevink explains the details he was able to collect in his contact with the German flyers, and also speaks about his father, a man he never knew because he was only born two months after he went missing…


Carlos Guerreiro

Derek Partridge, the accidental survivor

His voice is well known in the movie industry, in television, in documentaries. He also made journalism, presented programs and whatever. In the last decades Derek Partridge was a constant presence in the houses of most of us, and that has only been possible because a famous actor took his place in Flight 777.

Derek Partridge, a well known voice and face. To know him beter you can go to his site were he has a video and tells his story in Flight 777. Click here













When the actor Leslie Howard entered the aircraft with his manager, Alfred Channels, in that morning of June 1, 1943 all seats were taken. Opposite to the door was seven year old Derek Partridge, with his nanny Dora Rowe, that was “escorting” him home, in the UK, and had already crossed the Atlantic Ocean on board of the Portuguese passenger ship “Serpa Pinto”.

“The reason I thought we had been taken off, was because we happened to be sitting opposite the entrance door and I figured we were simply the nearest and easiest to remove. It wasn’t until I met Leslie’s son Ronald (just finishing his book “In Search of my Father”), that I realized it was just a matter of priority and being the least important”, explains Derek Partdridge.

In fact he does not remember much about that day. He knows that he was inside the plane and then had to come out. “I then spent about 5 days in a hotel in Estoril and my only memories are of a beautiful beach, where I found many, exquisitely patterned, tiny sea shells”, refers Derek.

His father had not such delightful moments, especially in the first hours after the shooting of flight 777. Involved in the intelligence world, a specialist in the Middle East, Derek’s Father had suddenly a impossible new mission in front of him: “My father was in MI6 and so was one of the first people to learn of 777 being shot down… he spent 24 hours wondering how to tell my mother, before he received the news that I wasn’t on the flight”.

Five days latter Derek and Dora were back on a plane. “My only memory of the flight back is that - following the Luftwaffe shooting down of Flight 777 - the windows had been covered with several layers of muslin, to prevent lights being seen from outside. It was disappointing, not being able to see anything on my first flight. I had no idea that Flight 777 had been shot down”.

“If it’s a strange feeling knowing that my whole life has only been possible through pure chance… and fate”, concludes Derek, and in fact he might have had a big protecting hand covering his life.

Whit five he was on his way to the United States, send by his family to his aunt in order to be away from England that was under siege and bombardment by the German forces. Two years later – and even before arriving in Lisbon – he almost fell from the ship on the way back.

Derek Partridge with seven years old, the age he returned to Europe from the USA.












“I was talking to a crew member and I was leaning against the rails… unfortunately where I was leaning was where the pilot comes on board and someone had forgotten to close it properly. It opened and I started to fall backwards into the ocean when—fortunately--the crewman grabbed me!”

To know more about Flight 777, click here.

Carlos Guerreiro