The Children of Adriaan Beukenkamp and Alida von Gorcum: Lourens Beukenkamp (Part 2)

This story is the last in a series about the children of Adriaan Beukenkamp and Alida von Gorcum. Adriaan was the eldest brother of my great-grandfather, Gerhardus Beukenkamp (later George Beck), so Adriaan's children were my great-grandfather's niece and nephews. 

Adriaan Beukenkamp married Alida Johanna van Gorcum in Amsterdam on August 22, 1907. They had four children together.

1. Marinus Gerhardus Beukenkamp, b. 1910 in Vienna, Austria; m. Anna Elisabeth Keur; d. 1971 in Leipzig, Germany
2. Janna Gerhardina Beukenkamp b. 1911 in Vienna, Austria; m. Hendrick Coenraad Nienhuys; d. 1993 in Suffield, Connecticut, USA
3. Radboud Lourens Beukenkamp, b. 1914 in Graz, Austria; m. Jantina Ette Mensinga; d. 1993 in Shalimar, Florida, USA
4. Lourens Jacobus Beukenkamp. b. 1920 in Zaandam, The Netherlands; m. Margaret Smit; d. 2007 in Dothan, Alabama, USA

In my previous post, I shared what I know about the youngest Beukenkamp child, Lourens. This is all thanks in large part to the autobiography Lourens wrote. Here, his story continues.

Lourens Jacobus Beukenkamp

Lourens married Margaret "Greetje" Smit on May 18, 1943. They were elated to finally be wed, but the war and all its related hardships were at their peak. Shortly after the newlyweds moved into their home in Veenendaal, Lourens received an alarming notice. Here, I quote from Lourens' autobiography:

Although the Allied air forces became more noticeable by bombing the harbors and ships and shooting at the trains, Veenendaal remained relatively quiet. The German occupation forces were there but did not interfere with daily life too much until... one day I was advised that I and many other young men had to report to the "commandantur," the German headquarters. And from what was happening elsewhere I knew that it meant that they would enlist and order me to go to Germany and work in their war industry. This industry was depleted of the German workers who were all in uniform and fighting at the Russian fronts.

That was a shocker. Quick acting was needed. I knew a fellow with a truck who still had a permit for moving. The next day our furniture was loaded and we took off for Rotterdam (Hillegersberg) and moved in with father and mother Smit again.

Employment was difficult to find. Lourens took a job as a ticket seller at a circus. He and Greetje spent some months traveling around in a circus car with the circus as it moved from city to city, but eventually the Germans ordered an end to performances. Lourens and Greetje returned to Rotterdam. The war ground on and every night there were sirens as allied planes flew overhead. Citizens had to stay indoors to avoid falling shrapnel. Shortages increased, as did hunger.

Food, clothing, coal, gasoline, coffee, tea, soap, flour and a lot of other things were not available anymore. People would travel by bicycle to the farmlands to trade with the farmers for eggs, flour, a chicken, a bottle of milk, vegetables, beans for soup, etc. They would trade with money, golden rings, a can of kerosene, blankets, you name it. Anything they hoped a farmer could use was being offered for food.

The conscription of Dutch men and Jews intensified in Rotterdam.

One morning Pa Smit left the house to go to his office and returned immediately. He had discovered that the Germans put a ring of soldiers around the city and rounded up every man between 18 and 55 years of age. These people were put on transports to Germany for work in the industry or on farms. In addition, all Jews had been ordered to wear a yellow star with the word "Jood" (Jew) printed on it on the breast of their clothing. This round-up or as we called it "razzia" also served to catch Jews not complying with this order and it was also hoped that they could catch a good number of the ever growing resistance numbers.

Mr. Smit and Lourens evaded capture by placing a sign on the house door indicating there was severe illness inside, and then rowing out onto the lake behind the Smit house and hiding in the reeds on a small island. 55,000 men were rounded up and sent to forced labor in Germany. After that, any men that remained needed a special document issued by the Germans demonstrating that they were allowed to remain in Rotterdam. Mr. Smit helped fabricate printing plates to create false documents, and he and Lourens distributed them around town. Lourens' brother Radboud was deeply involved with resistance activities in Rotterdam, and Lourens assisted with tasks like this. Despite the resistance, the Germans continued to tighten their grip, and hunger grew worse for the Dutch. Lourens and Greetje became desperate for anything that would pass as food.

We started to look for abnormal sources of food and found it by eating tulip bulbs, some kind of weeds I picked, and making bread from spinach seeds. Especially this last one did not taste too well, it became a lump in your stomach, but it was food. On our coupons we could get one small loaf of bread per week. I became an artist in slicing this loaf so that we had over thirty thin slices. We put some of the "home made" beet syrup on it, or a bit of surrogate honey which we had and that had to last us through the week.

Dutch citizens in line at a soup kitchen, winter 1944. Source

Most of Rotterdam no longer had electricity or gas, and water pressure was only available occasionally. Bikes and boats had been confiscated. Lourens' downstairs neighbor, a mother of two young children, was also desperate for food, and Lourens would take her out into the country to beg at farms while Greetje watched the children. They knocked on the doors of farms and asked for food. They hid in barns, evading Germans, and were sometimes able to get vegetable soup or milk from the farmers and bring it back to the city.

In the midst of this near-starvation, Greetje became pregnant and then had a miscarriage. She became pregnant again in the winter of 1944, at the height of the Dutch famine that had resulted from German blockades. Then, Greetje's parents announced plans to divorce and asked Lourens and Greetje to move elsewhere, which was a stressful and emotional situation for all of them. The young couple managed to find another place to live, and carried on searching not only for food, but for cloth and yarn that could be used to make baby clothes. On February 16, 1945, Greetje went into early labor and gave birth to twin boys. The eldest, Roderik, was allowed to go home from the hospital after a few weeks, but the other child struggled, and eventually died on April 6th. Lourens and Greetje were heartbroken, but also consumed with caring for Roderik, and struggling to provide enough nourishment to Greetje so she could feed him. However, good news was finally on the way.

In March 1945, American forces captured the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen, a critical moment that signaled the impending defeat of the Germans. 

In April 1945, Canadian and American forces pushed into The Netherlands. German soldiers began deserting, some trying to buy civilian clothing before fleeing Rotterdam, according to Lourens' autobiography. At the beginning of May, rumors began to fly that the Germans were going to surrender. British bombers were able to fly over the north of Rotterdam and drop food bales to civilians. The war was coming to an end.

May 5, almost exactly 5 years after the war started in Holland, the end was there and the Germans in Holland capitulated. Canadian and American jeeps, small tanks, Harley-Davidsons rolled into town and were soon followed by convoys of trucks with more food, medical help, and believe me they were welcomed with open arms. It is not possible to describe the feeling everyone had. There were a number of Dutch Nazis or collaborators with the Germans and if caught by the people they would not be treated too friendly. Men and women would be shorn bald and beaten up.

The elation was unbelievable. Young people were climbing on the armored cars and tanks with flags and flowers. The soldiers were handing out cigarettes, chocolate bars and the streets were filled with happy people. German soldiers stayed in their camps and were rounded up and brought to internment areas.

A Canadian Sherman tank in Veenendaal, 1945. Photo: The Utrecht Archives

Peace did not necessarily mean more stability for Lourens and Greetje. Lourens still did not have regular employment, and finding housing was difficult. They moved in with friends, and then with Lourens' father, Adriaan. However, Adriaan's wife, Tante Stein, did not want them in her home and was cruel to Greetje, who was now pregnant again and on mandated bedrest. Lourens' eldest brother, Marinus, rescued them from Tante Stein, and allowed Lourens and Greetje to live with his family in Helmond until they were able to move into their own home. At six months, Greetje miscarried their baby girl, another devastating blow for the couple.

Lourens got a job as a textile mill regulation, working for the Dutch government. Then, in Spring 1946, as the economy improved, he became plant manager of a new textile plant in Veenendaal. It was a good job, but it meant moving again. Due to a housing shortage, Lourens and Greetje were separated for several months while he worked and looked for a home in Veenendaal, and she cared for Hendrik in Helmond. In August 1946, they were reunited and moved into a fixer-upper in Helmond.

... we made ourselves comfortable in our new surrounding and with a reasonable salary the future looked good. Christmas was approaching and we bought a small tree and together cooked and baked all day to prepare a luscious dinner. We made a Profiterol, a dessert made of a lot of small cream puffs which were built in a cone-shaped mount, glued together with caramel (burnt sugar) and filled with cream. Little Roderik was much interested in all the lights on his first Christmas tree. And we consumed the results of our many hours hard work by candlelight in about 40 minutes. We had it good.

It was not that easy, however. Greetje was struggling. Having lost two babies and suffered through miscarriages, endured the acrimonious divorce of her parents and resulting loss of a relationship with her mother, all while constantly moving and caring for a baby, she was in a fragile mental state. She became seriously depressed and often unable to function. Lourens and Greetje's relationship deteriorated and he left their home and moved in with Marinus. Fortunately, Greetje's father convinced her to see a psychiatrist and after months of regular therapy, her condition improved remarkably. Lourens came home and by the summer of 1947, Greetje was pregnant again. 

Lourens had started his own textile business during this time, focused on hand weaving. By the fall of 1947, he had some 10 people working for him, and prospects were strong. On February 22, Lourens and Greetje welcomed a daughter, Janna Marina, whom they called Marjanneke. Less than a month after her birth, Janna contracted meningitis, and she died on March 17. 

Life went on, despite their sorrow. Lourens and Greetje moved again. Roderik started Kindergarten. Lourens started a band, eager to once again play an instrument. Greetje became pregnant again. On May 25, 1948, she gave birth to a boy, who she and Lourens named Boudewijn. Despite some initial struggle with jaundice, Boudewijn thrived and was healthy and strong.

Lourens' company encountered growing pains. As it became more successful, larger textile competitors began to block access to materials, and then demand bribes to secure necessary supplies. Lourens closed the business, having made a profit. In the Spring of 1950, Lourens' brother Radboud helped him get a job at a woolens factory in Leiden. The family moved again. 

In 1953, Lourens and Greetje began to seriously consider moving to America. Lourens' brother Radboud was now living in Washington, D.C. with his family. His sister Janna was living in Massachusetts with her family. Political tensions at Lourens' factory heightened, and it became clear that there would be layoffs and restructuring. In May 1955, Lourens and Greetje informed Greetje's father that they were leaving The Netherlands. When the day came, Pa Smit drove his daughter and her family to the Rotterdam Harbor to see them off.

Lourens, Greetje and their two boys arrived in New York aboard the ship Black Falcon on August 30, 1955. They settled in Suffield, Connecticut, where Lourens' sister Janna lived with her husband, Hendrick Nienhuys and their four daughters. Lourens took work as a textile engineer at the Bigelow Sanford Carpet Company and was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1961. He joined the Masons fraternal organization, and served as master of the Apollo Lodge in Suffield. In retirement, he moved to Dothan, Alabama, likely to be closer to his sons, who had moved south. 

Lourens died on November 30, 2007 in Dothan. He was 87 years old. Greetje survived him by a decade, dying in Hendersonville, Tennessee on September 27, 2017 at the age of 98. For two people who lived through horrific deprivation during World War II to survive to such advanced an advanced age is truly remarkable. I am so grateful that Lourens recorded his life's story, and grateful that his grandson shared it with me. Knowing his story, and its happy ending, is wonderful.

The Children of Adriaan Beukenkamp and Alida von Gorcum: Lourens Beukenkamp (Part 1)

This story is the last in a series about the children of Adriaan Beukenkamp and Alida von Gorcum. Adriaan was the eldest brother of my great-grandfather, Gerhardus Beukenkamp (later George Beck), so Adriaan's children were my great-grandfather's niece and nephews. 

Adriaan Beukenkamp married Alida Johanna van Gorcum in Amsterdam on August 22, 1907. They had four children together.

1. Marinus Gerhardus Beukenkamp, b. 1910 in Vienna, Austria; m. Anna Elisabeth Keur; d. 1971 in Leipzig, Germany
2. Janna Gerhardina Beukenkamp b. 1911 in Vienna, Austria; m. Hendrick Coenraad Nienhuys; d. 1993 in Suffield, Connecticut, USA
3. Radboud Lourens Beukenkamp, b. 1914 in Graz, Austria; m. Jantina Ette Mensinga; d. 1993 in Shalimar, Florida, USA
4. Lourens Jacobus Beukenkamp. b. 1920 in Zaandam, The Netherlands; m. Margaret Smit; d. 2007 in Dothan, Alabama, USA

In previous posts, I've shared what I have learned about Adriaan and Alida's children. We've now come to the youngest Beukenkamp child, Lourens.

Lourens is the Beukenkamp child we know the most about, thanks to his autobiography. I am thankful to his grandson Chris for sharing that wonderful document with me, as it contains so much personal information about the family, their lives in The Netherlands, and what they all experienced during World War II. Each of the four Beukenkamp children had very different and harrowing war experiences, and the tragedy that Lourens experienced during that time is particularly heartbreaking. I will be sharing multiple posts about Lourens' life, since there is so much material in his autobiography.

Lourens Jacobus Beukenkamp

Lourens was born on May 15, 1920 in Zaandam, just north of Amsterdam. His family had recently returned to The Netherlands from Austria, having struggled in Austria's damaged post-World War I economy. While Adriaan Beukenkamp got re-established in his banking business, Alida and the children stayed with Adriaan's cousin, Lourens Visser, in Zaandam. Perhaps this is the reason that their youngest child was named Lourens. By the time Lourens was two, the family was on solid footing, and they moved into a home in Haarlem. Lourens was a typical boy, running around the neighborhood with friends, playing pranks on neighbors, and attending the local grammar school. However, when Alida had a stroke, followed by deteriorating health, and ultimately a permanent move to a sanitarium, things changed drastically in the Beukenkamp home. 

As mentioned in previous posts, a former girlfriend of Adriaan's, known to the children as Tante Stein, moved into their home to help take care of them. Unfortunately, it appears she did not actually like the children very much. Also, during this time, a cousin joined the household. Adriaan's sister, Catharina "Trine" Beukenkamp was divorcing her husband, Hendrik Krom, and they sent their son Eddie Krom to live with the Beukenkamps temporarily. Lourens and Eddie were frequently up to no good, to the great dismay of Adriaan and Tante Stein. Here is one story from Lourens' autobiography.

Father bought a sailboat, a "boerier" which was named Beyaard. He felt that this was a healthy activity and kept his boys off the street. Father and Radbout did the sailing and at that time I had the use of a 12-foot sailing dingy and became an accomplished little sailor myself. During one vacation day Eddie and I bicycled to the club, rigged the sails of Beyaard and took off for a grand sail, with everything from top. Did we have a ball!!! We brought the boat safely back and put her securely at her dock and put everything in ship-shape order. The next Saturday we all went sailing, and while we went aboard the old harbormaster walked by and said to my father, "Amazing sir, how those two youngsters handled that big boat last Wednesday." Boy oh boy, if i think about it again I still have trouble sitting on a hard chair.

Lourens was part of a local swim team and practiced nearly every day with them. He often medaled at swim meets. However, his academic efforts did not proceed as well as his athletic pursuits.

Eventually Eddie went back to his mother and I finished grammar school. I passed the entrance exam for high school and after the summer vacation went to my new school. Radbout had also attended this school and flunked immediately. During my first class the teacher read off the list of names to acquaint himself with the new pupils and when he saw Beukenkamp he asked "are you a brother of Radbout?" He made some nasty remarks about him and this immediately ruffled my feathers. Radbout, after flunking, was sent to the Kennemer Lyceum where he had no problems at all and graduated with honors. Well, I felt so miserable in that school that I flunked every subject badly, except for phys. ed. and art. I thought I would now also go to the Kennemer Lyceum. 

Tante Stein had other ideas. The other Beukenkamp children had graduated and left home by then, and Tante Stein wanted Lourens out, too. Adriaan arranged for Lourens to live with the Dijksterhuis family in Oisterwijk, a province bordering Belgium. Mr. Dijksterhuis was the science and math teacher at a school in nearby Tilburg, a city with about 50 textile factories and a textile college. 

Tilburg (photo by tilburgdailyphoto.blogspot.com) 

As mentioned in previous posts, Adriaan had a financial interest in a woolens factory, and Lourens' eldest brother, Marinus, was pursuing a career in the textiles field. Before sending Lourens to Oisterwijk, Marinus and Adriaan arranged for a summer internship with Theodor Froehner, who ran the woolens factory, and "Uncle Theo" also took Lourens on his family vacations during that time. After that happy summer, Lourens proceeded to Oisterwijk, where he joined the Dijksterhuis family, which included three young children.

I had a few very pleasant years with them. Mrs. Dijksterhuis played tennis with me. I was a good swimmer and was immediately picked up by the local swim club. I swam in many regattas and played in the water polo team all over the Southern part of Holland.

Mrs. Dijksterhuis helped Lourens create a field hockey league and practices were held on the Dijksterhuis family's large property. In his final year of high school, Lourens moved to live with his best friend, Jaap Nieveen, who lived closer to the high school, so that he wouldn't have to bicycle as far to school while balancing his cello, which he'd begun playing in the school orchestra. Then, with school completed, he began to make plans for a professional life.

I hoped to go to the merchant naval academy. However, when my eyes were checked I was told that they were borderline. If at the end of three years at the academy my eyes would be a bit less, I would not pass eligibility for naval service. So, that was the end of that dream. Now, I lived in a textile town, in the house of an executive of a textile factory. My father was financially tied to a textile mill in Cottbus, Germany, and you put all this together and stir it up a bit and what do you get? So, I went to the Tilburg Textile College.

Lourens moved into a boarding house at the college. He quickly made new friends and established a robust social life. He went to parties, played guitar in a band, began playing ice hockey, and ended up playing a thrilling game with members of the Dutch national team. However, world events were soon to disrupt Lourens' happy college years. In his autobiography, he recalled the events of May 10, 1940.

I was awakened at 3 or 4 in the morning by some fellows who were calling to each other from the open windows, rooftops and balconies of their houses.

The sun was not up yet, but the sky was already lightening. Then I was told to turn on my radio and to look at the sky. While my old tube set was warming up I became aware of a funny sound up in the air and looking up I saw swarms of planes flying by. Then the radio told me that paratroopers from Germany were being dropped near the Hague and Rotterdam and that German forces had crossed the Dutch border. In other words, Holland was in the war.

German paratroops dropping into The Netherlands on May 10, 1940 (source: Wikipedia)

The Netherlands had hoped to avoid entanglement in the war, but had mobilized its comparatively small military forces to hold back German incursion at its borders. After the invasion on May 10, 1940, the Germans and Dutch engaged in a series of battles, including a multi-day struggle for control of Rotterdam, The Netherlands' second-largest city. On May 14, 1940, the German forces decided to end the back-and-forth clashes and demonstrate the superiority of their military. They bombed the city of Rotterdam, completely flattening it. Lourens' brother Radboud was living in Rotterdam with his wife. Lourens was in Tilburg, about an hour's drive southeast. Lourens describes this time in his autobiography.

During those 5 days I was in Tilburg. When I heard the news and saw the planes flying over, I dressed in a hurry and took to the street. Under some of the larger buildings arrangements had been made for bomb shelters. Not too extensive as the Dutch did not believe they would get involved, but "just in case." I reported to one of the shelters and with a few other fellows we checked the first aid equipment, fire extinguishers, axes, etc. And then we went on the sidewalk to look up at the over flying planes and saw little white puffs around them. These resulted from the Dutch anti-aircraft guns. They were not very effective as we did not see one hit. Soon more people came out in the open and rumors started to fly.

All at a sudden a small military type vehicle showed up, and then another one followed by motorcycles with side cars. At the front of those carriages were machine guns. They stopped and some soldiers got out. They were not Dutch... they were French. We were standing in the open, but these soldiers immediately walked under trees and close along the buildings. One of them addressed me and advised me to tell everybody to take cover. The possibility existed that the Germans would send fighter planes over the city and machine gun anything that moved. In addition, it would be safer to stay indoors as debris from the anti-aircraft shells could fall all over the place.

This went on for two days. The second day trucks with wounded Dutch soldiers came down from the East and we could hear the rumble of the war coming nearer. The small French contingent took up a defensive position along the canal on the East side of the city. 

A Dutch anti-aircraft team (source: Wikipedia)

The Dutch and French efforts were to no avail. The Germans quickly took Tilburg, and those five days concluded with the destruction of Rotterdam and the Dutch surrender. The Netherlands was in German hands. As mentioned in my previous post, Lourens bicycled from Tilburg to Rotterdam to check on his brother, Radboud, and finding him safe, they went together to visit their father. The eldest Beukenkamp, Marinus, was with the Dutch army but had sent a telegram to his father indicating that he was safe. 

Lourens went back to school and graduated in July 1940. With a war having just begun, it was difficult to find work, so Lourens enjoyed a great summer vacation, borrowing a sailboat and sailing with friends around local lakes. He and his friends brought along their musical instruments, and they had a summer of music and fun. The shadow of the war was always present, though. The Germans had instituted a curfew, and they had to be careful to be anchored with lights off after sundown. That summer, Lourens met a young woman named Margaret "Greetje" Smit in Warmond, and they spent happy days dancing and flirting on the sailboat. The summer eventually came to an end, and it was time for Lourens to find work.

Marinus had a position with Raymakers in Helmond, a large factory producing all kinds of textile products. Due to the economic situation they were not hiring personnel, but I was engaged as a volunteer. No salary, but an opportunity to put into practice what I had learned. So, I moved to Helmond and became part of the Beukenkamp family there. Again I was something like an older brother to their children, Adriaan, Hanneke and Paul. I also traveled to Rotterdam (Hillegersberg) from time to time to visit with Radbout. I also had found out that Greetje Smit lived in Hillegersberg and tried to call her.

Lourens spent the next year living with his brother, volunteering at Raymakers, and spending time with Greetje. The war ground on, with the biggest impact on Lourens being the curfew, blackouts, and food and gasoline rationing. In July 1941, he was able to get a paying job, at a textile factory called Regenboog. The pay was so poor that Lourens' father, Adriaan, had to help him financially. Lourens continued to look for better work, but the war had made good employment difficult to find.

At one of my visits to my father he showed me an advertisement in the paper of a company wanting to acquire larger buildings for expansion. He had the idea that such an expansion also meant additional opportunity for work. Thus I went to The Hague and applied for an interview. I was hired! It was a hand weaving factory. I do not recall what the salary was and whether that was enough to live on, but it was an improvement. They produced table covers, sofa covers, and other decorative textiles.

As Hillegersberg is not too far from the Hague and a local train passed close to Margaret's house, I was invited by her parents to stay with them. This was around October of 1941 and thus did I move to the Schiebroekse Singel 41. It was very nice to be with Margaret. She went to school and I traveled back and forth to the Hague. Being so close with her, we started to dream up plans. Father Smit insisted that Margaret finish her studies and my salary was definitely not sufficient to think about marriage. But, we made plans to get engaged and during the next few months set the date for January 18, 1942.

The Germans tightened their grip on the Netherlands, severely rationing food and creating shortages and hunger among the Dutch. Lourens started smuggling food to help Greetje and her family. Radios and bicycles were confiscated by German troops and the Dutch were miserable in their oppression. A Dutch resistance sprung up, bombing German train transports, and generally making life for difficult for the occupiers. 

Greetje's family wanted the young couple to wait until after the war ended to get married, when it might be easier for them to start a life together, but Lourens and Greetje were eager to marry and did not want to delay. Greetje passed her final exams on May 15, 1943, and then married Lourens on May 18. They had struggled, with all the rationing, to get supplies to host a wedding, but ultimately managed to pull together a small celebration.

Margaret again prepared most of the food and a beautiful wedding cake.

I stayed the night at Radbout's house and early the next day dressed up in my formal tails. With silk hat and the bridal bouquet with Lilies of the Valley in hand, I entered the horse and buggy and was driven to her house. There I entered the house filled with relatives and close friends and kissed the bride who was gorgeous in her white wedding gown with a veil cluttered with Lilies of the Valley.

After a honeymoon in Holten, in the eastern countryside, Lourens and Greetje rented a room in a home in Veenendaal and began their lives together.

(Continue to Part 2 of Lourens' story here)

October 28, 1943: 2nd Lt. Gil Cook, 436th Bomb Squadron

Today, it has been 77 years since my grandmother's cousin, Gil Cook, died over Burma. I have written about Gil and this family tragedy many times, but in honor of this sad anniversary, am sharing a summary of Gil's life and service. 

Lawrence Gilbert Cook, known as “Gil,” was born in Los Angeles on July 24, 1918. He was the son of Magdalene Barrett and Lawrence Cook, who divorced when Gil was a small child. Gil was just a few weeks older than my grandmother, LaVerne Rutherfurd, who was born in Los Angeles on August 10, 1918, and he was the closest thing to a sibling that she had. In their early years, they lived down the street from each other and spent a lot of time together.

(L-R): LaVerne Rutherfurd, Gil Cook, and Gil's mother, Magdalene Barrett

(L) LaVerne Rutherfurd and (R) Gil Cook

Gil Cook as a child

                                

Magdalene Barrett remarried Bob Rutherfurd and in 1928, Gil’s sister Patricia Mary “Patty” Rutherfurd was born. The family lived together in Los Angeles, then moved south to San Pedro, Wilmington and Long Beach.

On February 27, 1941, at the age of 22, Gil enlisted in the United States Army. While America had not yet entered World War II, war was certainly on the horizon. On his enlistment paperwork, Gil, a high school graduate, listed his occupation as “Frameman, Telephone and Telegraph.” Much of the family worked in the telephone business. His mother had been a telephone operator, as had his aunt Julia Barrett Rutherfurd. Julia and her husband George Rutherfurd (half brother of Gil’s stepfather Bob) had met while working at Pacific Telephone and Telegraph in Los Angeles.

Gil enlisted as a private and later became a second lieutenant. He was assigned to the Army Air Corps, serving in the 436th Bombardment Squadron. Between 1941 and 1943, Gil underwent training at several different locations, including Vancouver, Washington, Douglas, Arizona, and finally Topeka, Kansas. Throughout his training, Gil wrote letters home to his mother, sharing stories about his experiences and asking after family members and friends. 

Gil was also writing to his girlfriend, Ethel Hamel, the young woman he'd been dating before leaving for service. Ethel Hamel was the youngest daughter of Eugene Hamel and Rose Huot of Alberta, Canada. The Hamel family had a second home in Long Beach, where Gil Cook lived, and eventually moved there full time after the death of Ethel's father. The story of how Gil and Ethel met has not survived the years, but they quickly grew close and the relationship became serious. 

In letters sent to his mother, Gil mentioned that he had been saving money for a ring. Gil and Ethel became engaged in 1943. He may have been headed for war, but Gil was planning for a life with the woman he loved.

Gil Cook and Ethel Hamel

Gil Cook and Ethel Hamel

In Topeka, Gil was assigned to a plane and a crew. There were nine young men, including Gil, who made up this B-24 Liberator crew. In training, they grew close. Gil became especially good friends with Joe Zofco, who was the son of Czech immigrants from Ohio. 

Gil Cook and Joe Zofco

                                                                    

The B-24 crew was led by 1st Lieutenant James M. Reese, a University of Virginia graduate, and the fiance of Jane Luce of Kansas City. The other men assigned to the crew were Charles L. Davis, Jr., 2nd Lieutenant (from North Carolina), Joseph A. Zofco, 2nd Lieutenant (from Ohio), Edward J. Perrin, T/Sgt (from New York), Charles P. Chouteau, Private (from Oklahoma), William Jerabek, S/Sgt (from Minnesota), Donald P. Morris, S/Sgt (from Massachusetts), John P. Wood, T/Sgt (from Texas).

The four photos above were taken of Gil Cook during training

With training complete, the crew traveled from Kansas to India to join their squadron in the China Burma India Theater. Gil kept a journal during the weeks it took to fly to India. He had never been out of the United States prior to this journey halfway around the world. 

April 23, 1943: Topeka to Morrison Field, West Palm Beach, Florida
April 25, 1943: Florida to Trinidad
April 28, 1943: Trinidad to Belem, Brazil
May 5, 1943: Belem to Ascension Island, in the Atlantic Ocean
May 9, 1943: Ascension Island to Accra, Ghana
May 10, 1943: Accra to Kano, Nigeria

Gil Cook and Joe Zofco in Africa

              Donald Morris, James Reese, Edward Perrin                                            In Africa

                                                        Charles Davis, Donald Morris, John Wood

Gil's journal ends in Nigeria, but not long after this, he and his crew arrived in India and joined the 436th Bombardment Squadron assembled there. 

For the balance of the war, [the 436th Bombardment Squadron] carried out long distance heavy bomb raids over Japanese targets primarily in Burma, Thailand and Indochina; a theater with little news coverage, see China Burma India Theater; although also attacked Japanese targets in Southeastern China attacking airfields, fuel and supply dumps, locomotive works, railways, bridges, docks, warehouses, shipping, and troop concentrations in Burma and struck oil refineries in Thailand, power plants in China and enemy shipping in the Andaman Sea.¹

    (L-R:) James M. Reese, William Jerabek, Edward M. Pyle, 

Joseph A. Zofco (in front), Donald P. Morris, John P. Wood, Gil Cook

    Gil Cook is top left, Pyle beside him in white, then Jerabek, 

         Wood, Davis and Reese. Chouteau is on the stump, then 

Morris, Zofco and Perrin. Gil described this photo as being the 

only one of "the ten of us," but Pyle was assigned to

another crew and did not die with the rest of the men.

On September 18, 1943, Gil wrote a letter to his uncle saying that there hadn't been much flying time due to monsoon season, but that the weather was improving and he'd been on five missions in seven days, completing eleven runs total since his arrival.

This was included in a stack of paperwork related to Gil Cook 
sent to me by the National Archives

On October 25, 1943, Gil wrote his last letters home. In a letter to his mother, he said that he was looking forward to an expected trip home in 1944 and asked her to send some gramophone needles so he could listen to music. In a letter to his fiancee, Ethel, he said how much he missed her and talked about their future children.

What happened on October 28, 1943

On October 28, 1943, 25-year old Gil Cook's plane went down over Burma in a friendly fire incident. There were nine crew members on board. There were no survivors.

On November 3, 1943, Gil's mother, Magdalene Barrett Rutherfurd, received a telegram reporting him missing in action.

On November 7, 1943, witnesses to the plane's accident were deposed by the Army. Their statements are the clearest indication we have of exactly what happened to Gil and his crew. Unfortunately, it would take months for these details to be revealed to the airmen's families, during which time they hoped desperately that the "missing in action" designation meant their loved ones would eventually be found alive. It was not to be.

From the statement given by Warren J. Chadwick, S/Sgt, Air Corps, 436th Bombardment Sq. (H):

On or about October 28, 1943 at approximately 1217 hours, I, S/Sgt Warren J. Chadwick, 19020370, while flying as right waist gunner in #2 position of the first element, observed the following: We were on our 2nd run when a three ship formation echeloned over our 2nd element. I saw two bombs drop from the ships above, one dropping between #2 engine and the fuselage of the ship hit. The bomb did not explode upon contact with the plane. It immediately burst into flames. The pilot maintained level flight for about 15 seconds; then the ship dropped off on the left wing for about 1000 feet, then exploded. When the explosion occurred, one man was blown out of the ship; his chute was burning and never opened. The tail turret was blown off and later exploded. I tried to follow the bigger pieces to the ground, most of which were still burning and exploding in the air. I did not see any large pieces hit the ground.

From the statement given by Arthur J. Darling, T/Sgt, Air Corps, 436th Bombardment Sq. (H):

On or about October 28, 1943 at approximately 1217 hours, I, Arthur J. Darling, 17037524, T/Sgt, 436th Bombardment Squadron (H) AAF, while flying as Aerial Engineer in Airplane #69 did observe the following: We were turning off our bomb run and the 2nd element was still on the run. A few seconds after the 2nd element's bombs were away I noticed three ships above them crossing over our 2nd element. I only saw two bombs drop, one of which fell directly on #5 ship, at the base of #2 engine. The bomb fell right through and the wing burst into flames. The ship maintained level flight for 15 to 20 seconds and fell off on the left wing burning more as it fell. I did not see it hit the ground.

After these depositions, a statement was sent to Gil's mother, Magdalene Barrett Rutherfurd, on December 9, 1943 from John B. Cooley, Colonel, A.G.D, Air Adjutant General. It reads, in part:

The Adjutant General notified you on November 3rd that your son, Second Lieutenant Lawrence G. Cook, was reported missing in action since October 28th over Burma.

Further information has been received that Lieutenant Cook was a crew member of a B-24 Liberator bomber which participated in a combat mission to Southern Burma on October 28th. The report states that during the mission his plane was seem to sustain damage from an accidental bomb explosion and to fall to the earth. This occurred at about 1:20 p.m. over Southern Burma.

Because of reasons of military security, it is regretted that the names of those who were on the plane and addresses of their next of kin cannot be furnished at the present time.

This letter did not clarify that Gil's plane had been struck by a bomb dropped by an American plane. It also did not give Magdalene the news that her son was surely dead.

In Kansas City, Jane Luce, fiancee of the plane's pilot, Jim Reese, had also learned that Reese's plane was missing. She sprung into action, finding an address for Magdalene Barrett Rutherfurd via the Red Cross and writing to her to share information. 

Jane also wrote to her Congressman, Roger C. Slaughter of Missouri, to ask for clarity on what had occurred. Congressman Slaughter made a request to the War Department on April 7, 1944 for more information about the downing of the plane. 

When no response was received, Slaughter tried again, and a contentious string of communication ensued. On April 27, 1944, W.H.S. Wright, Aide to the Secretary of War, acknowledged to Congressman Slaughter that the plane was downed in a friendly fire incident, and rejected any assertion of a coverup. It was now six months after Gil and his crew had died.

In 2014, I filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the National Archives and was sent a packet of wartime correspondence related to the downing of Gil's plane that included the letter above. It also contained a letter from the Army's chaplin to Magdalene Barrett Rutherfurd expressing his sadness at the lack of information about her son. It included communication between Colonel Fitzpatrick and Lt. Col. Haddock of the Air Corps. discussing the need for more transparency to the families. The War Department knew the men were dead but had not stated as such to their families. Protocols needed to be followed and a lengthy period of investigation was required.

In the meantime, Magdalene Barrett Rutherfurd had learned the terrible truth secondhand. Gil's cousin, my grandmother, LaVerne Rutherfurd Smith, and her husband, Glenn Smith, received a letter from a friend who had also been stationed in India. Dick wrote them the following on November 20, 1943.

Glenn, in a more serious light, I'm sorry to report that Lt. Cooke was killed in action. My old roommate wrote me from the squadron I was formerly in with Lt. Cooke that Lt. Cooke's plane was hit by a bomb in mid-air and shortly afterward his plane fell in flames to the ground. No one was seen to jump from the flaming ship. 

This hurts me to report this, but I know you people would want the truth. I felt terrible about the whole incident. Gosh, how I liked Lt. Cooke and so did everyone else. Please, extend my heart felt sympathies to his family and LaVerne.

This left it to my grandmother to inform her aunt that her son was dead. Magdalene shared the information with Jane Luce. However, the War Department's reluctance to make an official statement about the deaths left the door open to a cruel hope, and the families spent many months in limbo. On 29 October 1944, J.A. Ulio, The Adjutant General, sent Magdalene a letter declaring Gil deceased. It had been a year since his death.

Gil Cook's B-24 Liberator went down over Burma on October 28, 1943. He was 25 years old. In the agonizing year that followed, the families of the men who were lost struggled to cope, and the War Department searched for details about the friendly fire incident. In the end, Purple Hearts and Air Medals were distributed and the families of the nine men killed that day were left to live with their loss.

There were no bodies to send home in flag-draped coffins; no sons to bury in hometown graveyards. The sole memorial for Gil Cook is located in The Philippines, at the American Memorial Cemetery in Manila. It's located on the site of the former Fort William McKinley and was dedicated in 1960.

This photo was taken by my brother at the American Memorial Cemetery

                                            

The cemetery consists of a large graveyard filled with neat, white crosses. Beyond them is a memorial chapel flanked by two hemicycles of stone walls. Within these walls are mosaics detailing the various battles and campaigns in the Pacific Theater and China India Burma Theater during World War II, along with the inscribed names of the dead and missing. In the western hemicycle can be found the lists of the missing, divided by branch of armed services.

HERE ARE RECORDED THE NAMES OF AMERICANS

WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY

AND SLEEP IN UNKNOWN GRAVES

1941-1945

Today, I honor the service of Gil Cook and the eight other men who were lost on October 28, 1943. They were young and promising, in several cases the only sons or only children of their parents. They left behind grief stricken families and fiancees. The fact that I am writing about this incident and these deaths 77 years after they occurred indicates just how devastating these losses were to the families involved.

---

1 Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/436th_Training_Squadron^↩

My Grandparents' World War II Ration Books

I have started the long task of sorting through the three large bins of family materials left to me by my grandmother, LaVerne Rutherfurd Smith, after her death in 2012. They're filled with genealogical files, old photos and newspaper clippings.  I've seen a lot of these items in the past. My grandmother and I used to spend afternoons together going through photograph albums and talking about genealogy, and she showed me much of her family history collection during those meetings. However, as I work my way through the contents of these bins, I'm turning up little treasures that are completely new to me.

Today, I discovered a photo of my great-grandparents, George Rutherfurd and Julia Barrett, that I'd never seen. There's a picture of the interior of my great-grandmother Nellie Barrett's home circa the 1920s and a letter that my Grandad, Glenn Murray Smith, wrote to my grandmother in 1933, when they were both teenagers. It's so wonderful to come upon all these new things. I only wish I could ask my grandmother for more details about each of them.

One of the newly discovered items that has intrigued me the most is a set of ration booklets from 1943. There are three of them, one each for my grandmother, grandfather and their eldest child, Glenn Thomas "Tom" Smith. These three booklets fit into a holder, which my grandmother had reinforced with tape along the edges. All three booklets contain a number of unused stamps.

The booklets state that the family was living at 210 McKinley Avenue in Pomona, California. This is new information for me. My grandparents were both born and raised in Los Angeles, and I knew they spent some of the war years in Forestville, in Sonoma County, and in upstate New York, while my grandfather attended various military training schools. I did not know that they'd ever been in Pomona.  Pomona is about a 30-minute drive east of San Marino, where my grandparents settled after the war.

My uncle Tom is listed as being 9 months old on the ration books. He was born on September 22, 1942.  That would date the ration books to June of 1943. This was before their move to Forestville.

During the war years, there were shortages of a number of items, including food and gasoline. A system of rationing these goods was enacted across America.

As explained by The National WWII Museum's website:

Every American was issued a series of ration books during the war.  The ration books contained removable stamps good for certain rationed items, like sugar, meat, cooking oil, and canned goods.  A person could not buy a rationed item without also giving the grocer the right ration stamp.  Once a person’s ration stamps were used up for a month, she couldn’t buy any more of that type of food.

Instructions for using the ration stamps are listed on the back of each booklet. Also, the interior of each holder contains a quote from President Roosevelt and a list of tips to make ration coupons go further.

"We cannot have the things we want if our boys over there are to have what they need."  

-President Roosevelt

PLAN CAREFULLY

• Budget your points as you do your money.
• Plan your meals in advance.
• Total your points at home to save time -- trouble and service at the store.
• When stamps are used up -- you cannot buy rationed goods until the next ration period.
• Substitute non-rationed fresh fruits and vegetables when possible to conserve stamps.
• Keep a record of point changes -- point values change on seasonal foods.
• Use higher point stamps first -- it will simplify buying during closing days of period.
• Shop during the early part of the week and avoid confusion.

It's interesting to think about my grandmother, a young mother during the war, planning her meals around rationed items. What sort of compromises did she have to make?

I notice that someone else, perhaps the issuing authority, has written the names of the three family members on each of their ration books. My grandmother wrote all the identifying information below that.  I recognize her handwriting. She has signed her own ration book and that of my uncle Tom. My grandfather did not sign his.

This is such a little piece of history, and I'm glad I've found it and can preserve it.

Gil Cook: Memorial

This is the tenth and final post in a series about my Grandma's cousin, Lawrence Gilbert Cook.

Gil Cook's B-24 Liberator went down over Burma on October 28, 1943.  He was 25 years old.  In the agonizing year that followed, accusations of a cover-up were lobbied while the War Department searched for answers in the friendly fire incident.  In the end, Purple Hearts and Air Medals were distributed and the families of the nine men killed that day were left to live with their loss. 

There were no bodies to send home in flag-draped coffins; no sons to bury in hometown graveyards.  The sole memorial for Gil Cook is located in The Philippines, at the American Memorial Cemetery in Manila.  It's located on the site of the former Fort William McKinley and was dedicated in 1960.

The cemetery consists of a large graveyard filled with neat, white crosses.  Beyond them is a memorial chapel flanked by two hemicycles of stone walls.  Within these walls are mosaics detailing the various battles and campaigns in the Pacific Theater during World War II, along with the inscribed names of the dead and missing.  In the western hemicycle can be found the lists of the missing, divided by branch of armed services. 

HERE ARE RECORDED THE NAMES OF AMERICANS

WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY

AND SLEEP IN UNKNOWN GRAVES

1941-1945

Gil's name can be found under United States Army and Army Air Forces.  My brother visited this cemetery several years ago and took some photos of the site.  They are below.

Gil's story has resonated with me since I first heard it as a teenager.  He was 25 at the time of his death; just at the beginning of life.  That the facts of his death over Burma are so particularly tragic and senseless only compounds the loss.  What would this young man have done with his life, had he lived?  In the end, all I can do is memorialize Gil here and ask that he be remembered.

Lawrence Gilbert Cook
Born July 24, 1918 in Los Angeles
Died October 28, 1943 over Burma