Boots from Heaven

By Janet L. Howard and Odile Lavandier

Eighty-two American flyers were imprisoned in Koncentration Lager Buchenwald. Hitler had set their execution date. But at the end of World War II, an American congressional committee toured Buchenwald and denied any Americans had been imprisoned there. Those records have been sealed for seventy-five years. This book tells about the life, beliefs, and emotions of one of those American pilots and his French Resistance rescuers who were betrayed by a Gestapo collaborator. The military and prison life of 2nd Lt. J. D. Coffman is documented.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Apr 2, 2013
• ISBN: 9781466984370

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Copyright 1994, 2013 JANET L. HOWARD and ODILE LAVANDIER.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-4669-8437-0 (e)

Trafford rev. 03/23/2013

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

1 • DIDI

2 • JEAN

3 • ODILE

4 • J D

5 • FERNANDE

6 • FRANCE

7 • TABLE DE CIRCONSTANCE

8 • DISNEYLAND

9 • THE STATES

10 • THE REUNION

11 • D-DAY 2

12 • LEFEVRE

13 • GUILLEMOT

14 • THE PARADE

15 • PATTON

16 • SCHMIDT

17 • JACQUES

18 • THE LIBERATOR

19 • SOUVENIRS

GLOSSARY

B-24 CREW ON JUNE 25, 1944

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS

AMERICANS IMPRISONED IN BUCHENWALD

BIBLIOGRAPHY

446748Cover.tif

BOOTS FROM HEAVEN

A French and American perspective of the events surrounding an American bomber pilot’s imprisonment in Buchenwald and the reunion with his French Resistance rescuers nearly forty years after the War.

JANET L. HOWARD and ODILE LAVANDIER

PREFACE

The genesis of Boots from Heaven occurred during my father’s first reunion with his French Resistance rescuers forty years after World War II. Animated discussions of the events surrounding his rescue, subsequent capture, and imprisonment dominated this reunion. The incredible revelation that neither this French community nor my father knew of these events before preparations for this reunion ensued and the coincidental circumstances under which contact was re-established with the family who had hidden Dad from the Gestapo after his B-24 was shot down over France, provided the foundation for this narrative.

Interviews were conducted with former members of the French Resistance in the Normandy region regarding their activities during the War, particularly as they related to protecting my father. Interviews were translated into English and are quoted extensively throughout the book.

Literal translations from French to English were not always possible and, to keep the character of the French language and the described events as they unfolded to me, sentence structures and writing styles were preserved. Chapters alternate between the American and French perspectives of the War and our unique French/American relationship. My co-author, the granddaughter of the family who risked their lives to conceal my father in their home, contributed the French point of view.

Although the events, towns and people described in this book are insignificant relative to the overall War effort, they are representative of the actions and spirit of many small groups which aided immensely in the Allied forces winning the War. It is to these people with their indomitable spirit and desire for freedom that this book is dedicated.

Janet L. Howard, Author

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to thank Charles Freudenthal, author of A History of the 489th Bomb Group, for his assistance, particularly in obtaining the Missing Air Crew Report on J D Coffman. My thanks to Donald Caldwell, author of JG 26, Top Guns of the Luftwaffe, for identifying the pilot who was credited with downing my father’s plane. Acknowledgment also goes to Arthur Kinnis for his diligent efforts at identifying, confirming and locating the Allied airmen who were imprisoned in Buchenwald.

A very special thanks to my husband, Michael, who made the book possible with his generosity and warmth, particularly to my father.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 1.1   Second Lieutenant, J D Coffman

Figure 2.1   Letter from Mrs. Coffman to Didi in 1944

Figure 2.2   Letter from Didi to J D’s Mother in 1944

Figure 3.1   J D on front steps of Chéron home in 1944

Figure 4.1   J D with his Mother after enlisting in U. S.

Army

Figure 4.2   J D during Basic Training

Figure 4.3   J D upon Graduation from Aviation Cadet

School

Figure 4.4   J D with brother Merv before leaving for

Wendover, Utah

Figure 4.5   J D’s B-24 Crew at Wendover, Utah

Figure 4.6   Mother’s Day Telegram from J D

Figure 4.7   Record of Sorties for J D Coffman

Figure 8.1   Cross of Honor Certificate for Monsieur

Chéron

Figure 8.2   M. Chéron’s Certificate of Resistance

Participation

Figure 8.3   M. Chéron’s Certificate of Appreciation from

the President of the United States

Figure 10.1   Madame Chéron meets J D forty years after

the War

Figure 10.2   J D with Madame Chéron at 1984 Meeting

Figure 10.3   Didi Meets J D forty years after the War

Figure 10.4   J D with Madame Chéron in 1984

Figure 10.5   J D with Didi in 1984

Figure 10.6   J D returns to field where he landed in 1944

Figure 10.7   Monsieur Lefevre, who found the "Boots

from Heaven"

Figure 10.8   M. Guillemot and J D in Hay Cart at 1984

Reunion

Figure 10.9   J D and M. Guillemot in Shepherd’s Cart at

1984 reunion

Figure 10.10   J D returns bottle of wine to M. Guillemot

Figure 10.11   J D on Steps of Chéron home in 1944 with

Colette Jean, Berthe and Didi

Figure 10.12   Madame Chéron, J D, and Didi on steps of

former Chéron home in 1984

Figure 10.13   M. Canu with J D in 1984 at Canu’s former home

Figure 10.14   The Padre and Nuns with J D in 1984

Figure 12.1   Liberation day in Forêt-La-Folie

Figure 14.1   Shed in Convent grounds

Figure 15.1   Telegram advising that J D is Missing in

Action

Figure 15.2   Telegram advising that J D is a Prisoner of

War

Figure 15.3   Red Cross flyer for POW Next-of-Kin

Meeting

Figure 15.4   Map of POW Camps and J D’s Route

Figure 15.5   List of German POW Camps

Figure 15.6   J D with bride, Mildred Wall

Figure 15.7   Mr. & Mrs. J D Coffman

Figure 16.1   Focke-Wulf 190—Type of aircraft that shot

down J D’s plane

Figure 16.2   Pilot that shot down J D is carried from

his FW 190

Figure 16.3   German Crew congratulates pilot for

downing J D’s B-24

Figure 16.4   Hermann Grad receives flowers for first Air

Victory

Figure 16.5   Hermann Grad celebrating his first Air

Victory—J D

Figure 18.1   The All American B-24 at John Wayne Airport

in 1993

Figure 18.2   The cockpit of the All American B-24

Figure 18.3   J D in the cockpit flying the All American

1 • DIDI

An American bomber pilot’s daughter searches for her father’s World War II French Resistance rescuers forty years after the War.

American Perspective

She is named after the Frenchwoman who helped your father when he was shot down over France during World War II. Her name was Didi Chéron. I had asked about my cousin’s unusual name, Didi Sharon.

I’m sure I was very young the first time I heard Aunt Rene tell me this, although I don’t actually recall. It was a phrase I was to hear often during the next three decades without attaching much meaning to it.

Looking back, my relatives probably made many references to Dad’s experiences during the War; however, it was difficult for me to relate to such events while playing hide and seek with my cousins in peacetime southern California.

I took one of those references to Dad’s war experiences a little more seriously when I was about eight. After overhearing something about parachuting, I asked Dad what jumping out of a plane was like.

It’s like jumping off the roof, he said without reflecting on his response. It sounded so exciting, I climbed on the roof and jumped off. It was a quick trip down and contained none of the excitement I had anticipated. Finding the experience less than

enjoyable, my curiosity about Dad’s war experiences was satiated for many years to come.

As I got older, I asked a few more questions about Dad’s war experiences. He was always reluctant to discuss his experiences, thinking no one was really interested. I did learn that it was Didi’s letter that gave his mom the first information that he was still alive. My grandmother had spent considerable time writing to the U.S. Government and POW organizations trying to learn something about Dad’s fate.

Many years and lives passed before I thought of Didi or Dad’s war experiences again. During those years, Dad’s mother and father passed away, my two sisters were born, grew up, got married, had children and continued to live in southern California close to Mom and Dad.

My husband, Mike, and I were making plans for a European vacation in 1983 when thoughts resurfaced about the mysterious Frenchwoman who had helped my father. My oldest son, Rick, and I planned to pick up a car in Germany and drive it to Spain to meet Mike and our youngest son, Chris. Our vacation was to start when we all arrived in Madrid. We had to drive through France to get to Spain, so I thought it would be fun to stop and say Hi! to Didi. It never occurred to me that finding her after nearly forty years might be difficult, if not impossible.

I recalled seeing some letters, purportedly from this Frenchwoman to my grandmother, which Dad had kept after his mother died. I borrowed one letter to find the address to write a letter to Didi.

Who was Didi? I probed Dad.

She was one of the daughters of the family who hid me away after my plane was shot down.

You must remember something else if you stayed with her?

There’s not much to tell; she was one of five children—four girls and one boy. She spoke a little English and she tried to teach me some French. That’s all.

This was typical of Dad. He never said very much about himself or his experiences, even when asked. Then I remembered Dad’s brothers teasing him about spending three weeks in a home with four young Frenchwomen during the War. Dad always responded that he had been on his best behavior because the Nazis were right across the street. He didn’t dare risk being thrown out of the house into the arms of the Gestapo.

The letters Dad’s mother had kept all these years revealed much about Dad’s first few weeks after being shot down. Didi, believing Dad had returned to the United States, wrote a card to him that was forwarded to his mother on November 7, 1944. Thrilled at receiving news that her son was still alive, she wrote back the same day she received Didi’s card.

Seventeen days after receiving Didi’s card, she was officially notified by telegram that her son, Second Lieutenant J D Coffman, was a Prisoner of War.

My grandmother had kept all the official notices she received from the U.S. Government regarding Dad’s status. These notices included a telegram from the Adjutant General dated July 7, 1944, notifying her that J D Coffman had been Missing in Action since twenty-five June over France.

She also kept letters received from the Chaplain (postmarked July 10, 1944) and from the Adjutant General (dated July 13, and October 13, 1944) indicating their only knowledge about Dad was that he was Missing in Action. The Adjutant General stressed that the term ‘Missing in Action’ is used only to indicate that the whereabouts or status of an individual is not immediately known. It is not intended to convey the impression that the case is closed. I wish to emphasize that every effort is exerted continuously to clear up the status of our personnel… . Experience has shown that many persons reported missing in action are subsequently reported as prisoners of war, but as this information is furnished by countries with which we are at war, the War Department is helpless to expedite such reports.

The envelope I borrowed from Dad to obtain Didi’s address happened to contain Didi’s letter responding to my grandmother’s first letter to her. Didi’s letter said they were all shocked and saddened to learn from my grandmother that J D had not returned home. After inquiring with their FFI (Forces Françaises de L’Intérieur) they learned that the American they believed to have saved from the Germans was now a prisoner of war.

The letter also contained the following account of Dad’s stay with them:

"We are a French family. We live in a small, Norman town called Etrépagny located between Paris and Rouen. I have my parents, three sisters and one brother. I am a girl. My name is Didi. I am twenty-two years old. On the 25th of June, we saw a ‘Liberator’ (J D’s Liberator) attacked by two German fighters. After a few minutes, we saw all the crew members jumping with parachutes. J D jumped last. His Liberator crashed and burned. When J D hit the ground, his trousers were torn and his ankle sprained. Immediately, some French people hid him, at first in a house, after in the woods. A Frenchman gave him civilian clothes (trousers and a coat). The woods were not very comfortable. There were many mosquitos and no water. Then, we took and hid J D in our home. He stayed with us for three weeks to avoid being taken by the Germans. But the FFI were ordered to

send the Americans and the Englishmen back to England. An English airplane was to land during the night to transport them back to England. But the place where the plane was to land was far from Etrépagny and the Gestapo, you know, is terrible and their information very good. The head of FFI supposes that the Boches had taken J D prisoner while he was trying to get back to England."

Writing to Didi seemed easier after reading her letter. I assumed I could write in English since her letters to Dad had been in English. However, I feared that if the letter were opened by mistake by someone who spoke only French, the letter might just be thrown away. I decided to send the letter in both French and English. Having the letter translated into French was not so easy. I knew nothing about the French language. Fortunately, my son’s school friend did. On September 28, 1982, I sent the following letter:

"During World War II, you helped my father (J D Coffman) when his plane was shot down over France. For many years I have heard about you and everything you and your family did for my father. My cousin was even named after you.

"My son and I will be traveling through Paris during March 1983. It is our greatest desire to meet you at that time. Please let us know if this is possible.

My father is well and sends his best.

It was terribly uncharacteristic of me to write a letter to a perfect stranger; however, I did and mailed the letter with confidence I would receive a response. Everyone else was pessimistic about the possibility of locating Didi after so many years. People cautioned me not to become too optimistic

considering the number of years that had passed and the unlikelihood of anyone remaining in the same house for thirty-seven years. What if the French moved every three to five years like many southern Californians do? It would take a miracle to find the Chéron family.

Dad was not only pessimistic, but rather apathetic about the whole idea. At least, this was my interpretation of his attitude. It wasn’t until much later I learned he wasn’t thrilled about the prospect of renewing these friendships as he still had doubts about who had turned him over to the Germans.

Figure%201.1.jpg

Figure 1.1 Second Lieutenant, J D Coffman

2 • JEAN

A Frenchman’s philatelic interests prove fortuitous in finding the French Resistance family.

American Perspective

We had just driven into the driveway after a typical day at work. It was around the end of October, 1982. Mike went to the end of the driveway to check the mailbox. I heard him say in his typically calm, unemotional manner,

Janet, here’s your letter.

Let me see! Who’s it from?

Read it and see.

The stamps were obviously foreign. I turned the envelope over to open it and noticed the return address said Jean Chéron in Etrépagny. I tore open the letter, but couldn’t read it. It was in French. It took me another two hours with a French dictionary before I could approximate the following translation.

"I opened in error your letter addressed to my sister, Didi, being the only one still living in Etrépagny (and my mother, she is 82 years old now).

"I transmitted your kind letter to my sister. Upon receipt, I telephoned all the family. You can’t know the joy it brought since we still think about this period of our life and of your father,

J D. I’ve kept a 50-franc note from this time containing the signature of your father. I also have photos I am going to try to copy in order to give them to you during your visit with us.

The young man that your father knew has changed much. I am now 52 years old and have the small weight of 192 pounds. Receive all my friendship and also to your family and don’t forget J D, also.

I phoned Dad and told him that I had found Didi and, if my translation was correct, it appeared that Madame Chéron was still alive. Dad was surprised and pleased they were alive but still seemed reticent about renewing these acquaintances.

Four days later I received a letter from Didi. Didi, who also wrote in French, expressed her feelings about Dad.

Your father was for us, during the occupation, a veritable incarnation of the U.S.A. and Liberty.

Didi said the letter bearing news about J D brought her much pleasure. She requested that Dad write her a long letter describing what he could remember of his experiences during the War. She was also unaware that my cousin had been named after her.

I would like to meet your cousin named Didi. I am very touched an American carries my name.

Didi ended her letter with a message to Dad:

Tell your father the Cannibal says Hello.

Dad, who is the Cannibal?

Oh, what was her name? I don’t remember now.

Who was she, Dad?

She was one of the daughters—Didi’s sister.

Why was she called the Cannibal?

I called her the Cannibal because she ate artichokes raw.

During the next month Dad and I wrote letters to Didi requesting information about her and her family. We sent her information about our family and copies of the letters she had written to my grandmother during the War.

Dad’s first letter related what he could remember of his experiences in France before and after his stay with Didi’s family and our reaction to finding the Chéron family.

Your letter to Janet and the one from Jean brought back some fond memories. Even under adverse conditions, you and your family had a good sense of humor and my stay with you was very pleasant… . Tell the Cannibal ‘Hello’ and my best wishes to all the Diablos… . My daughter is elated about the forthcoming trip and the opportunity to see some of the places where I spent some time during World War II. Contacting you and a chance to see and talk to the family in France who protected me is ‘icing on the cake.’ . . . This will be one of the high points in her life.

Diablos, Dad?

That’s what I called the girls, Diablos. I was the Angel, of course, so they had to be Diablos.

Why?

Because they were devils!

Why? Did something happen that made you call them Diablos?

No. No special event that I can think of now. Just joking around, I guess.

Didi’s next letter came to Dad in December 1982. This letter was in English.

"We are very, very happy to hear from you after so many years. Many thanks for your long letter that I have understood well and brought us a great joy.

"I easily read in English but to write is more difficult… so please show indulgence to me. You have been a good professor but the time was too short! So thanks to Janet, we find each other again.

"I have received the copy of my letter written in 1944! I have been deeply moved to see you have kept my letters so long! Today, I