WAR MEMORIALS OVERSEAS - Key Persons
Carl Alexis Bergsten was born on February 17, 1913. He was the son of John and Ines Bergsten of Far Hills, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Carl served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He was Killed in Action on October 25, 1941, on board Wellington Bomber X9989, which took off from RAF Harwell en route to Gibraltar. The aircraft failed to gain height due to a faulty hydraulic system and crashed at Aldworth, Berkshire.
Christine Murakami is an educator who has spent most of her career focused on promoting the use of technology in the service of teaching and learning. She has worked both in Higher Education and in K-12 schools, most recently at The Columbus School for Girls in Columbus, Ohio, where she is the Technology Integration Specialist for the high school. Christine spent the previous ten years at both The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, and The University of Washington in Seattle, Washington where she developed and nurtured partnerships between the universities and their surrounding K-12 school communities. Prior to her work with the two universities, she has fifteen years experience as a teacher, with responsibilities ranging from Technology Director, Math Department Chair, middle school math and computer literacy teacher, to high school math and computer science teacher, dorm parent, and coach.
Christine received her bachelor's degree in earth science from the University of California at Berkeley in 1985, her teaching certificate in math and earth science from San Diego State University in 1987 and her Master of Education in Educational Technology from the University of Washington in 1995.
Daniel Lawrence Pablo was born on December 2, 1919, in Pablo, Lake County, Montana. He served in the #22 Operational Training Unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Flight Sergeant during World War II. He was Killed in Action on September 11, 1942, when his Wellington aircraft #X 9932 was shot down near Osterwick, Germany. He has a cenotaph in the Ronan Cemetery, Montana.
Dennis Harold Bailey, of Bellingham, Washington, was born on September 13, 1919, in Demaine, Moose Jaw Census Division, Saskatchewan, Canada. He was the son of Loney Lee Bailey and Annie Emily Lilly Gertrude Christie Smith.
Dennis served in the #432 Leaside Squadron (Saevitir Ad Lucem) of the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He was Killed in Action on March 22, 1944, when his aircraft was shot down on his target mission in Essen, Germany.
Derry Gates Bird was born on March 14, 1904, in Marietta, Washington County, Ohio. He was the son of James Bird and Margaret Arnold Gates Bird.
Derry served in the #28 Operational Training of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Aboard the Wellington aircraft # R 1324, he went missing over the North Sea during a sea search on June 12, 1943.
Donald David George Bidwell was born on August 9, 1923, in Montreal, Montreal Region, Quebec, Canada. He was the son of George and Irene Crabtree Bidwell, of Wells River, Vermont, U.S.A.
Donald served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He was killed on May 16, 1944, in Llanrwst, Conwy, Wales, during a night training exercise aboard Wellington X HF519. The airplane was flying at 10,000ft when it dived into the ground at a steep angle.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Expert in Organizational Leadership
Susan Kellett-Forsyth is an expert in Organizational Leadership with vast experience leading and sustaining volunteer organizations. A retired Army Major who was in the first class of women at West Point, she has years of troop leading experience in the Army Signal Corps in the United States, Germany, and Bosnia. After earning her Masters Degree at the School of Advanced Military Studies at Ft Leavenworth, Kansas, she was a planner for the First Infantry Division, and the lead planner for the first exercise of Russian troops on US soil.
She earned her PhD in Organizational Leadership from the University of Oklahoma. Today she is the Schwaben area coordinator of AWAG: training, strengthening, and connecting all volunteers in this large region. After spending years as the committee chair of the local school advisory board, she is now the president of the Parent Teacher Association of the Boblingen Middle School.
Elmer Oscar Aaron, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was born on September 13, 1920, in Winnipeg, Greater Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was the son of Harry and Jeanne Aaron.
Elmer enlisted on April 11, 1942, in Montreal, Quebec, and served in the #106 Squadron (Pro Libertate), Royal Canadian Air Force, during World War II. At the time of his death, he was serving as the Bombardier on the Avro Lancaster B I #LL891 ZN°B. On May 8, 1944, his crew took off at 22h19 at RAF Metheringham to bomb an ammo depot in Salbris, France. Due to an unknown circumstance, their aircraft crashed 7 km northeast of Romorantin-Lanthenay, France. All of the 8 crew members were killed in this incident.
George Donald Arnott, of Jersey City, New Jersey, was born on March 19, 1922, in Toronto, Toronto Municipality, Ontario, Canada. He was the son of Thomas Arnott and Maud Elizabeth Rutledge.
Serving in the #460 Australia Squadron (Strike And Return), George was Killed in Action on November 26, 1943, when his Lancaster was shot down by flak and crashed in Bremen, Germany. He is now buried in the Sage War Cemetery, Grossenkneten, Landkreis Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, Germany.
George Henry Bentinck was born on July 27, 1922, in Galveston, Galveston County, Texas. He was the son of Grover Cleveland Bentinck and Mary Eileen Christopher Bentinck.
George served in the 97 (R.A.F.) Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He was Killed in Action on February 25, 1944, in Gmund am Tegernsee, Germany.
George Vincent Cyril Booth was born on January 1, 1922, in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. He was the son of George Vincent Booth and Madeline Booth of Chicago, Illinois.
George Vincent Cyril served as a Warrant Officer II (Air Observer) in the 115 (R.A.F.) Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. On July 21, 1942, his crew took off at 23:44 hrs for an operation to Duisburg in Germany. The aircraft was shot down by the night fighter crew of Oberleutnant Reinhold Knacke and Unteroffizier Kurt Bundrock of the 1./NJG 1, who were flying a Lichtenstein-equipped Bf 110 from Venlo airfield - (claim) 5 km southeast of Roermond: 3,500m at 01:49. Three of the crewmembers perished including WOII Booth.
Gordon Birchell Booth was born on October 22, 1912, in Eaton, Weld County, Colorado. He was the son of Bert Booth and Jane Ann Doan Booth. He was the husband of Helen Edith Decker George.
Gordon enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force on September 6, 1941. He came to Findlay as a field man for the Great Lakes Sugar Company at the time of his enlistment. He was a member of Company I, Ohio State Guard when he was given an honorable discharge.
Flying Officer (Bomb Aimer) Booth graduated as a Sergeant Air Bomber on October 18, 1942, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and received his commission as a Pilot Officer on October 20, 1942. He was advanced to Flying Officer on May 20, 1943.
Serving in the #12 Operation Training Unit, he was Killed in Action on June 16, 1943, when his aircraft # Z 1721 was on fire and crashed and blew up at Edgehill, England.
Harold Roy Bailey, of Devils Lake, North Dakota, was born on December 20, 1922, in Beebe Plain, Estrie Region, Quebec, Canada. He was the son of Edgar Wilbert Bailey and Laura Bessie Little Bailey.
Harold served in the 57 (R.A.F.) Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He was Killed in Action on May 23, 1944, when his Lancaster aircraft # ND 879 went missing from a night trip to Brunswick, Germany.
Henry Clasper Ballinger was born on January 30, 1914, in Putney, London Borough of Wandsworth, Greater London, England. He was the son of Sydney J. Ballinger and of Matilda Ballinger (nee Clasper), of New York City, U.S.A.
Henry served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He was an air gunner who was killed in a Wellington aircraft that took off on a non-operational training flight on November 27, 1942. It crashed at 2 a.m. in Spey Bay, Scotland.
Charles W. Auld was born in 1919 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. He was the son of Charles Auld and Delia Auld.
Charles served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He was Killed in Action along with Sergeant R. F. Shirley following an aircraft accident near Old, Northamptonshire, involving Wellington DV700 of 23 Operational Training Unit. Flight Sergeant Auld is now buried in the St. John the Baptist Churchyard, Chelveston, East Northamptonshire Borough, Northamptonshire, England.
John Drake Bittner was born on December 21, 1917, in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota. He was the son of John Henry Bittner and Fern Edith Drake Bittner.
Serving as a Flight Sergeant in the 420 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II, Bittner was Killed in Action on January 29, 1943, when his Vickers Wellington III #DF626 aircraft crashed in Exeter, England.
Lillian Pfluke is a retired US Army major who graduated in the first class of women from West Point in 1980. She spent her career in the Army as a mechanical engineer in the US Army Ordnance Corps, running maintenance facilities in Europe and the United States, and assisting in the development of space and missile defense weapons systems. After moving to Paris, France in 1995, she spent ten years working for the American Battle Monuments Commission as the Private Memorials Administrator of the European Region in their Paris office. Her decade of experience managing private memorials for the US government convinced her that the only viable solution for their long term preservation is a nonprofit organization, similar to that found in other countries such as France and the United Kingdom.
Lillian received a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the US Military Academy in 1980 and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering Design from the George Washington University in 1989. She is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Virginia. She completed the prestigious Institut des Hautes Etudes de Défense Nationale at the Ecole Militaire in Paris in 2005.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Peter F. Herrly, Colonel, U. S. Army (Retired), is a recognized expert in strategic leadership and organizational transformation. He was Chief of Doctrine on the U.S. Joint Staff from the end of the Cold War until his departure to France in 1995. In Paris, he was U.S. Defense Attaché, where he worked closely with the French armed forces to develop effective operational partnerships in a variety of areas. Today, he is the President of Herrly Group, an international consulting and executive development firm, serves as Director for European Affairs for the Association of the United States Army, and as Chief of Historical Operations for the contract service which provides battlefield staff rides to the United States Army in Europe. He sustains his research interests as professeur associé at the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politique and is a regular participant in historical and political seminars and conferences. He was commissioned from the University of Notre Dame du Lac and holds an advanced degree from the University of Wisconsin in history. He taught military history, strategy, and organizational culture at the United States Military Academy at West Point and the National War College in Washington, D.C.
Raymond John Baroni was born on December 6, 1922, in Winnipeg, Greater Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was the son of Michael Baroni and of Marie Baroni, of Glendale, California, U.S.A.
Raymond served in the #9 Squadron (Per Noctem Volamus) of the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He was killed when his Lancaster aircraft #DV 293 went down during a trip to Berlin, Germany.
Richard Butcher Ayers was born on May 18, 1917, in Fredonia, Chautauqua County, New York. He was the son of Richard L. Ayers and Nettie M. Ayers.
He graduated from Academy High School, Erie, and did post-graduate work at Dunkirk High School. He went to Canada to join the Air Force from Norwalk, Conn.
Richard enlisted on February 4, 1941, in Montréal, Quebec, and served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He was Killed in Action on July 28, 1942, when his aircraft was shot down by anti-aircraft fire and crashed at Kaiser-Wilhelm- Koog, Germany.
Richard Frank "Dick" Anderson was born on February 3, 1917, in El Paso, El Paso County, Texas. He was the son of Rexford O. Anderson and Florence K. Anderson.
Richard died on February 6, 1942, on board Wellington Bomber R1047. The aircraft was on a training flight when it lost its port propeller and struck a line of popular trees coming down 1/2 mile from RAF Edgehill. The aircraft exploded and burst into flames. He is now buried in the New Cemetery, Moreton-in-Marsh, Cotswold District, Gloucestershire, England.
Robert Duff Bijur of Allenhurst, New Jersey, was born on August 29, 1919, in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California. He was the son of Robert and Margaret Duff and the husband of Helen Duff of Methilhill.
At the time of his death, Robert was serving in the 460 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, as a Tail Gunner on the Lancaster III PB255. He was declared dead on August 9, 1942, in Boscombe, England. According to our source, Sgt Bijur mysteriously vanished during a training exercise. It looks like he took to his parachute and was never seen again.
Robert Gordon Bailey was born on April 30, 1923, in Worcester, Worcester County, Massachusetts. He was the son of Perley R. Bailey and Ethel M. Cunningham Duval.
Robert Gordon served in the #429 Bison Squadron (Fortunae Nihil) of the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Flight Sergeant during World War II. He was killed in action when his Wellington aircraft went missing over Germany.
Steven Noble was born on June 25, 1915. He was the son of Colba Edwin Noble and Maggie Harper Noble.
Steven served in the #432 Leaside Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Pilot Officer during World War II. He was declared Missing in Action on August 13, 1943, when his Wellington X HE348, which took off at 20h21 from RAF Skipton-on-Swale, was lost without a trace, failing to return from night operations. His body was never recovered. His name is honored on the Runnymede Memorial in England and also has another cenotaph in the Graceland Cemetery in Valparaiso, Indiana.
Thomas James Adkinson was born on 23 February 1919 in Gilmer, Texas. His father was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and was a rancher, his mother (who pre-deceased Thomas) was born in Gilmer. Thomas had two brothers Elton and Ben, a sister, Addie Lee, plus five more married sisters.
He attended Gilmer Public School in Texas from 1926-1934 (Entrance equivalent), and Gilmer High and Union Hill from 1934-1938 (Junior Matric equivalent). He also spent time at Vancouver Tech High School, B.C.
Thomas had served in the 9th Infantry, USA, between August 1936 and January 1937 and also in the R.C.O.C. training center in Kingston, Ontario 1941-1942. He enlisted on 29 April 1942 in Ottawa and after early training, was sent to the U.K., where he arrived on 4 June 1943.
Serving in the No. 57 RAF Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, he was Killed in Action on March 24, 1944, when his Avro Lancaster III # ND 671 was shot down by flak near Geseke, during a bombing operation in Berlin, Germany. He is now buried in the Hanover War Cemetery in Germany.
His name is commemorated on a commemorative panel located at the Bomber Command Museum in Nanton, Canada, but his surname is inscribed as Adkinson.
William Eric Ackland, of Washington, D. C., was born on June 30, 1923, in Brynamman, Carmarthenshire, Wales. He was the son of William Henry Ackland and Elizabeth Gwen Williams Ackland.
William enlisted on April 10, 1942, in Toronto, Ontario, and served in the 77 (R.A.F.) Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. A crew member on the Halifax aircraft # LW 290, William was Killed in Action on November 22, 1943, when their aircraft went down 33 miles south by south-west of the target during night operations in Berlin, Germany. He is now buried in the Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Charlottenburg, Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany.
William Ferguson Boggs was born on August 21, 1913, in New York. He was the son of William F. Boggs and Kathryn Boggs.
William served as a Sergeant in the #13 Operational Training of the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He was Killed in Action on December 26, 1941, in a training accident aboard his Blenheim aircraft # P 4856.