A Tale of Two Brothers

mrhenniger · **Posted:** Wed Apr 13, 2005 1:58 pm

mjanovec wrote:

Wouldn't it be great if every man and woman who paid the ultimate price had a similar web page?
Mark

Discussions of Karen's uncle Dean has pushed me to complete another Webshots album of historical photos. You will remember previously I presented an album of Halifax and Lancaster wartime photos...
http://community.webshots.com/album/475149554tjjpEs
...by Oswald Wickenden. (Thanks for all the thanks BTW) Oswald survived the war. But the album I have been working on recently features two brothers who served, but did not return.

The first brother was John Myrick. He and my great aunt dated though high school, and he joined the airforce early in the war. Apparently he only served for a few months before his Halifax was shot down. His younger brother, Rex, entered the airforce a few years later as a Beaufighter pilot and was lost in early 1944 on a mission to Norway.

I became the keeper of the wartime family photos when my grandfather passed away in 1994, so I have had these pictures for a while. Like Karen's uncle Dean none of the people who served and were lost should be forgotten, so I made the effort to get them scanned and presented. You can find the album at...
http://community.webshots.com/album/475148249enyueG

They tell a brief story of each of the Myrick brothers though pictures and some supporting captions. In addition there are some related wartime photos towards the end of the album including a picture of Noorduyn built Harvards on a tarmac someplace. There isn't too much in the way of airframes to view, but the pics of officers in flight suits and knowing they didn't return makes the album that much more interesting.

Enjoy the photos. I am looking forward to your comments. Of course if anyone has any info to add I will add it to the captions.

Mike

KarenG · **Posted:** Wed Apr 13, 2005 3:55 pm

Oh Mike!

This is just wonderful!!! If my attempts to ensure that Dean is remembered is bringing about things like this I am more thrilled than you can imagine! That was the one thing that bothered me in what I was attempting to do.... I felt guilty for only trying to honor one veteran when I should strive to find a way to remember them all.

You have created an awesome tribute! I am quite sure whatever cloud the Myrick brothers are on,they are smiling broadly!

Fantastic job!!

Karen

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11324

Here is a site that I have had up for some years now honoring someone I only know through some photos I bought at a gun show...

http://www.freehomepages.com/bdk/PvtAllee.htm

Here is Mr. Allee's obituary:

William "Orval" Allee

Funeral services for William Orval Allee, a resident of Cortez, will be held Monday, April 3 at the Evans-Brown Mortuaries in Sun City, Calif., beginning at 1 p.m. Interment will follow at the Perris Valley Cemetery in Perris, Calif.

Mr. Allee was born in Hammond, Okla., on Dec. 27, 1914, the son of Elbert Allee and Nonnie (Miller) Allee. He passed away at Southwest Memorial Hospital on Tuesday, March 28, 2000, at the age of 85.

Orval graduated from Perris High School. He married Hilda Rosemyer in Riverside, Calif., on Nov. 25, 1937. They had celebrated 62 years of marriage together.

Orval worked as a carpenter and building inspector for many years in Riverside, Calif. During WWII, he served his country in the Army. Orval was a member of the Lions Club and the American Legion.

Surviving him are his wife, Hilda, of Cortez; his daughter and son-in-law, Ramona and Manson Merritt, of Cortez; grandchildren, Michael Merritt, and his wife, Priscilla, of Cortez; Rhonda Morton, of Cortez; great-grandson, Brandon Morton, of Cortez; and step great-grandchildren, Juan Padilla, of Tucson, Ariz., Rick Padilla, Ernie Padilla, and Angelina Ramsay, all of Cortez.

Orval is also survived by two sisters, Jessie Crites, of Mesa, Ariz., and Lavern Ramsey, of Concord, Calif.; and one brother, Virgil Allee, of Riverside, Calif.

Local arrangements are being made through the Ertel Funeral Home.

mrhenniger · **Posted:** Wed Apr 13, 2005 6:35 pm

Steve Tournay had trouble posting. So I wanted to post one of his comments for him.

> One quibble: the fighterish-looking machine in which one of the
>Myrick brothers is seen seated ain't no Hurricane, or at least it's
>unlike any other Hurricane I've ever seen. I think P/O Myrick may be
>seen in the rear cockpit of a dual-control Fairey Battle Trainer: note
>the apparent rear canopy fairing AHEAD of the pictured canopy, which
>would be consistent with the twin canopies on a dual Battle (it looked
>rather like the Hawker Fury Trainer's initial, pre-T20, "double bubble"
>canopies).

The picture Steve is talking about is this this one...

So is this a Battle? I think Steve may be right. Let me know what you think.

Mike

mrhenniger · **Posted:** Wed Apr 13, 2005 6:40 pm

KarenG wrote:

If my attempts to ensure that Dean is remembered is bringing about things like this I am more thrilled than you can imagine!

I have been been working on it for a while now, but your recent attempts to let everyone know about Dean gave me the kick in the butt I needed. I uploaded them into a private Webshots account a week ago, and gave my grandmother the link. She printed out everything and made notes! We then talked on the phone for about an hour last night and compared notes, afterwhich I updated the captions. I then made the album public today and voila.

KarenG wrote:

You have created an awesome tribute! I am quite sure whatever cluod the Myrick brothers are on,they are smiling broadly! Fantastic job!!

Thanks Karen. Of course I never knew them, nor any of their family, but when you think about it, either one of them could have been the uncle I never had the chance to know. So I thought I would put the album together.

Regards,

Mike

Pat M · **Posted:** Wed Apr 13, 2005 10:32 pm

For those who have not read it, Donald's Story by Sandra Merrill, is another personal account of a Mustang pilot who made the ultimate sacrifice. Written by Capt. Donald Emerson's neice, the book is based on letters home and family stories that were passed down. The letters give you a sense of the dedication necessary for him to get through officer and flight training, and the hazards inherent in that kind of flying - the tone of his writing obviously changes after he gets to Europe. Capt. Emerson was killed on Christmas Day, 1944 by ground fire. Bob Tullius painted his P-51, "Donald Duck" as a tribute to another hero.

Dan Johnson II · **Joined:** Tue May 04, 2004 1:49 am **Posts:** 659

Here are links to two of "my" crews I feel responsible for the memory of these guys. It's a buddie's website but he put some of my stuff up.

Dan

http://www.worldwar2pilots.com/b24intro.htm

http://www.worldwar2pilots.com/guynn-01.htm

JDK · **Posted:** Thu Apr 14, 2005 2:11 am

Hi Mike,
I think Steve's right that the pic is of the brother in a Battle. It isn't a Hurricane, or any maintream Canadian or British fighter I can think of. Of course you could go to Rockliffe and have a poke in the store to see the Gunnery trainer Battle, couldn't you? My Battle pics aren't to hand. My only nagging doubt is that it COULD be something unusual impressed into the RCAF; a Northrop or similar!

Cheers

mrhenniger · **Posted:** Thu Apr 14, 2005 7:12 am

JDK wrote:

It isn't a Hurricane, or any maintream Canadian or British fighter I can think of.

There isn't much to go on in the picture. I was looking at the trailing edge of the wing root and I thought it was a Hurricane. But now I am agreeing with you and Steve.

JDK wrote:

Of course you could go to Rockliffe and have a poke in the store to see the Gunnery trainer Battle, couldn't you?

Of course I can... but I have a picture of the Battle at the CAvM on file...

Yep. The airframe in the mystery picture is a Battle. The one in this picture from the CAvM has a turret in the rear rather than a second cockpit, but the trailing edge of the forward cockpits are the same. I don't know what John Myrick would have been doing in a Battle since he was a Halifax crew member. Perhaps he was in the right place at the right time for a photo op.

Are there any Battle gurus out there? What mark of the Battle is John Myrick sitting in?

Mike

JDK · **Posted:** Thu Apr 14, 2005 8:05 am

Sure Mike, it's a reasonable guess at Hurricane at a glance, but Steve's a sharp one, eh?

It's a Battle Dual Contol Trainer - it never had a mark / version as such. The first ones were with the original canopies, the latter ones with the two seperate hoods. He's in the instructor's seat of a bomber pilot trainer, and it could be part of the training (everyone starts with single engined - usually Tigers or similar) or just a unit hack.

Interesting diversion!

mrhenniger · **Posted:** Thu Apr 14, 2005 8:25 am

JDK wrote:

It's a Battle Dual Contol Trainer - it never had a mark / version as such. The first ones were with the original canopies, the latter ones with the two seperate hoods. He's in the instructor's seat of a bomber pilot trainer, and it could be part of the training (everyone starts with single engined - usually Tigers or similar) or just a unit hack.

Thanks James! I added your comments to the caption for the photo in the album.

Mike

Archie · **Posted:** Thu Apr 14, 2005 11:44 am

Mike,

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website has the following details about the Myrick brothers:

MYRICK, PHILIP REX
Initials: P R
Nationality: Canadian
Rank: Flying Officer (Pilot)
Regiment: Royal Canadian Air Force
Unit Text: 404 Sqdn.
Age: 22
Date of Death: 09/02/1945
Service No: J/35788
Additional information: Son of Willard R. and Edna C. Myrick, of Tillsonburg, Ontario, Canada.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: British Plot. F. 15.
Cemetery: HAUGESUND (ROSSEBO) VAR FRELSERS CEMETERY

Name: MYRICK, JOHN FREDERICK
Initials: J F
Nationality: Canadian
Rank: Pilot Officer (Air Gnr.)
Regiment: Royal Canadian Air Force
Unit Text: 78 (R.A.F.) Sqdn.
Age: 21
Date of Death: 11/08/1942
Service No: J/9587
Additional information: Son of Willard R. and Edna L. Myrick, of Tillsonburg, Ontario, Canada.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: AIII. 10. 19.
Cemetery: ESBJERG (FOURFELT) CEMETERY

The following info was obtained from RAF Bomber Command Losses 1942 by W R Chorley:
With regard to the loss of Pilot Officer John Myric RCAF. He was onboard 78 Squadron Halifax W1233 which took off at 2139 on the 11th August 1942 from Middleton St George on an op to Mainz. W1233 was one of 18 bombers lost on this op, 4 of them were from 78 Sqdn.

The Halifax was presumed lost over the sea with all onboard killed. P/O Myrick was buried on 27th September 1942 in Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery, Denmark. The other six from the crew have no known grave. Their names were F/Sgt J Fleetwood-May, F/Sgt F N Thomasson, Sgt L Kelly, F/Sgt G H D Higgins RAAF, Sgt M J Hisley and Sgt J O Harrison.

On 9th February 1945, P/O John Myrick's brother, P/O P R Myrick RCAF was shot down over Fede Fjord in Norway while flying a Beaufighter from 404 Squadron. He is buried in Rossebo Churchyard, Haugesund, Norway.

Congratulations on your web pages about these brave men.

For my small part in ensuring people do not forget I have tributes to a number of bomber crews who were lost during attacks on the German Battleship Tirpitz, including my own grandfather and his crew. They can be found on this site http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/arc ... index.html

Archie

mrhenniger · **Posted:** Thu Apr 14, 2005 12:04 pm

Thanks Archie! I'll find a way to include all this great info into the captions.

If you wouldn't mind, could you send me an email at mrhenniger@hotmail.com?

Thanks again!

Mike

mrhenniger · **Posted:** Thu Apr 14, 2005 12:07 pm

Archie wrote:

For my small part in ensuring people do not forget I have tributes to a number of bomber crews who were lost during attacks on the German Battleship Tirpitz, including my own grandfather and his crew. They can be found on this site http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/arc ... index.html

I just checked your site. Very well done BTW. And I just figured something out... Your name isn't Archie is it? :wink:

Mike

lmritger · **Posted:** Thu Apr 14, 2005 1:57 pm

Mike, did you realize the connection here...

http://www.white1foundation.org/history_blackfriday.htm

6 Beaus from 404 Sqn were shot down on 9 Feb 45. Orlowski took part in the overall combat action in which Myrick was downed.

An interesting coincidence, to be sure... nice to see this sort of movement afoot to commemorate the sacrifices of the "little guys", the regular pilot officers, sergeants, and feldwebels from all sides. Not every man who flew was an ace, but every one who served deserves some recognition.

Lynn

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