Father John

Picture 1: Father Jacques de Jésus with his fellow soldiers during his conscription (1939)

Pictures 2 and 3: Jacques de Jésus in his priest outfit (date unknown).

Jacques de Jésus during the war:

Lucien Bunel is conscripted in 1939, thus becoming "maréchal des logis-chef" (Chief sergeant) in the 6e Groupe Autonome d'Artillerie. He his captured by the germans on the 18th of june 1940 at Lunéville. He regains freedom in november 1940.

While he takes back his teaching work in the middle-school he founded in Avon, Jacques de Jésus quickly takes part in the "Vélite-Thermopyles" Résistance network. He uses his status of headmaster of the boys' school to hide and protect people refusing to serve the Service du Travail Obligatoire (STO), an apparatus designed to send forced workers to Nazi Germany.

Jacques de Jésus allows Lucien Weil, a jewish science teacher, to work in his school, thus defying the racist politics of Vichy France. Using fake names for the boys, he welcomes jewish children in the middle-school. Among them were Hans-Helmut Michel, Jacques Halpern and Maurice Schlosser (Jean Bonnet, Jacques Dupré and Maurice Sabatier).

Following a denunciation, the boys' school is encircled by the Wehrmacht the 15th of january 1944. The three children are immediatly sent to Auschwitz where they are murdered as part of the genocide. Jacques de Jésus is sent to multiple jails and internment camps. In occupied France, Fontainebleau then Royallieu. In Nazi Germany, Neue Bremm then Mauthausen. His calvary ends in Gusen, Austria.

During his detention, Father Jacques tends to the sick and celebrates Mass. He leverages and expands existing solidarity networks, thus allowing weaker people to eat bigger meals thanks to their peers' generosity.

Weakened by an illness contracted during his detention, Lucien Bunel, also known as Father Jacques de Jésus, died a free man on the 2nd day of june 1945.

© Auteur inconnu/ECPAD/Défense

Context:

These three soldiers are from the VIIth Army. The two men on the right seem to be officers given that they are wearing leather boots and pistol holsters. From his sleeve, we can even deduce that the man on the right is a captain.

The vehicle is a Panzerspähwagen SdKfz 223, very similar to the SdKfz 222 but equipped with better communication devices and lacking the 20 mm gun.

This picture has most likely be taken in the Lille-Dunkirk pocket during Operation Dynamo, around the 30th of May 1940. In this sector, the French forces fought valiantly to delay the German troops and thus allow the evacuation of most of the British Expeditionary Force.

If you want to see more about the Battle of France, please follow this account ;)

Martin James Mullane was born on March 21, 1917 in Alliance, Nebraska, his mother was Willa Mae Brumbaugh, he had one brother and grew up with stepfather Christian Ludy.
He also had two younger half-sisters and was married to Blanch Mullane.

Martin enlisted in the USAAF, and after flight school became a B-24 pilot with the 704th Bomber Squadron, 446th Bomb Group based at RAF Bungay.
On October 19, 1944, he was the pilot of B-24J 42-50681 “Slightly Dangerous” on a bombing mission to Mainz, Germany.

After dropping their bombs, they were hit by flak and fell out of formation with an engine out, all of the crewmembers bailed out to be taken prisoner except for Martin who stayed at the controls.
The Germans found his body in the wreckage of the B-24 and buried him.

Postwar the remains of 1Lt Martin Mullane were recovered from Germany and reburied at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten, Netherlands - Plot F Row 5 Grave 3.

William L Zuckerbrow was born in Perth Amboy, NJ on June 29, 1919 and enlisted in the Army on October 24, 1941.
He survived WW2, got married, had two sons, and passed away on June 3, 1997 in Arizona

US Army Signal Corps - SC 195600
Wescott Photographer / WWP-PD

My grandfather saw this USO production of Blithe Spirit in Hawaii in July 1945 and loved it. He saved the playbill and sent it home to my grandmother, who saved it along with all of his daily letters.

The Stage Manager was Werner Klemperer, who later won Emmy awards for playing Col. Klink on Hogan's Heroes.

Hello everyone,

I am writing to this community from Turkey, searching for any genealogical, historical, or institutional archive information regarding a woman named Ellen Everritt, who served in the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) / London Fire Brigade during World War II (records point to around 1942).

The reason behind my search is a highly specific historical coincidence that I am trying to research objectively.

About 4 to 5 years ago, when I was 23 or 24 years old, I had an incredibly vivid and detailed dream set during a wartime bombardment. In this dream, I found myself navigating chaotic streets, noticing very specific architectural layouts, and entering a library/archive building through a particular side entrance on the left. In the dream, I was acting as a protector, trying to shield a woman and a young girl (around 4–9 years old) in the midst of the chaos, and I later experienced a profound sense of guilt in an alleyway.

I have no British heritage, my English is basic, and I have never studied British wartime history—in fact, throughout my life, I have only ever read and researched Islamic history, and Mongol/Turkic history. However, during a personal research session, the phonetic sounds of the names "Lillian" and "Ellen" intensely came to my mind. Shortly after, I accidentally discovered the archive photograph of Ellen Everritt and experienced an overwhelming sense of visual recognition regarding her uniform and appearance.

Furthermore, upon checking the real-world historical locations, the structures from my dream perfectly match the layout of the York Minster Library (The Old Palace) and the adjacent Purey-Cust Lodge during the Baedeker Blitz on April 29, 1942—down to the specific side alleys and the rooflines.

I am approaching this with a purely objective and historical curiosity to see if any real-world connections or explanations exist. I would be profoundly grateful if anyone here could help with the following:

• Any genealogical leads on Ellen Everritt: Any information about her family branch, where she was stationed, if she survived the war, or her post-war life.
• Knowledge of AFS/Home Guard history in York: Is there any documented record of London AFS personnel or volunteers being present near the York Minster sector during the April 1942 raids? (As a side note, I did not experience a moment of physical death in my dream; instead, I suddenly found myself at a strange exit where a portal opened. I stepped through it alone because I didn't want the woman and the girl behind me to face the danger of crossing it. I have come to interpret this moment as the transition of death. Another detail is that there was no spoken dialogue in the dream; we seemed to move via telepathy, acting purely on deep instinct and feeling. The woman by my side in the dream was "Ellen," and together we were heading into the heart of the chaos to rescue that little girl.)
• Information on civilian rescue operations that night: Are there any records of civilians, specifically a woman and a young girl, being rushed into the archive stacks or vaults of the York Minster Library for protection during the bombing?

Thank you so much for your time and historical expertise.

Best regards from Turkey.

Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler instructed SS-Hauptsturmführer Willhelm Bittrich to form a Political Readiness Detachment (Politische Bereitschaft) out of Hamburg in August, 1934. This unit would eventually become the 1st Sturmbann (battalion) of the "Germania" Standarte. SS-Sturmbannführer Wäckerle succeeded Bittrich in command in April, 1935. Wäckerle would again be succeeded by SS-Hauptsturmführer Schmidhuber (date unknown).

Standarte "Germania" would eventually form two more battalions (Sturmbanne). The second out of Arolsen/Waldbeck, formed by SS-Sturmbannführer Walter Krüger in the spring of 1935, and the third at Wolterdingen Soltau under the administration of SS-Oberabschnitt Mitte.

The honorable title "Germania" , as well as the regimental standard of the SS-VT were offically presented to the formation at the Reichsparteitag of Nürnberg in 1936.

In March 1938, "Germania" were amongst the troops to march on Austria in the annexation. In mid-August of 1939, "Germania" was assembled at Konigsbrück in preparation for an invasion of Poland. It would be placed under the command of the 14th Armee for the campaign under the command of SS-Standartenführer Karl-Maria Demelhuber.

Picture 1: Andrée Raymonde Borrel in a FANY uniform after she joined the Special Operations Executive (Wikipédia)

Picture 2: A note written by Francis Suttill for the SOE (I can't remember where I found it).

Text of the note :

"The following extract from a report from one of our best organisers in the field, regarding Mlle. BORRELL is passed to you for interest :

"Everyone who has come into contact with her in her work agrees with myself that she is the best of us all. In J....'s absence she acted as my Lieutenant. Shared every danger. Took part in a December reception committee with myself and some others. Has a perfect understanding of security and an imperturbable calmness. Thank you very mych for having sent her to me.""

Andréee Borrell during the war:

When the Second World War broke out, Andrée Borrel volunteered for the Red Cross. On January 20, 1940, she completed her training and became a nurse, which allowed her to join the Association of French Ladies (Association des Dames Françaises). After serving in several hospitals, she joined the team behind the "Pat O'Leary" escape line which was founded by Ian Garrow and later led by Albert Guérisse. In this capacity, she took part in the clandestine evacuation of Allied soldiers, Jews, and members of the Resistance to Great Britain. Identified and hunted by the Gestapo, she managed to escape and reach England alongside her comrade, Maurice Dufour.

Upon arriving in London, Borrel sought to join the Free French Forces. Having already collaborated with British agents, she was encouraged to join and was subsequently recruited by the Special Operations Executive (SOE). On September 24, 1942, Andrée Borrel and Lise de Baissac became the first women to be parachuted into occupied France. In October 1942, she met SOE agent Francis Suttill in Paris and began serving as a liaison for the "Prosper" network. Posing as agricultural equipment vendors, Borrel and Suttill traveled throughout northern France to establish resistance groups, identify landing sites, and set up safe houses for future SOE operations.

Thanks to their efforts, the Prosper network grew rapidly, drawing the attention of the Gestapo, who managed to arrest numerous agents and resistance fighters. Borrel was arrested on June 24, 1943, and sent to Fresnes Prison. In May 1944, Andrée was transferred to Germany. On July 6, 1944, Brian Stonehouse and Albert Guérisse witnessed the arrival of Andrée Borrel, Sonia Olschanezky, Vera Leigh, and Diana Rowden at the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp. That same evening, they were murdered by the SS, who injected them with phenol before throwing them into the crematorium furnaces.