h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi,

John Kriegshauser was my father's first cousin. Over the last six months I have learned about Mi Amigo. I would like to get a copy of Sheffield's Flying Fortress Mi Amigo. Please contact me at [email protected].

Thank you,
kriegshauserII

Hi Walter

I've tried e-mailing you, but there seems to be an address problem. Post again here please and we'll take it from there.

If you can give me a postal address, I’ll get a copy of the book to you.

The 63rd Mi Amigo Service of Rememberance took place a week ago. Bob Tuttle, cousin of ball-turret gunner Sgt Charles Tuttle, was there this time. I could put you in touch with him if you like.
I'll also try alert David Harvey. I know him slightly. I doubt he’ll see the h2g2 posting because he’s a rare visitor to the site. David has contact details for most of the crew families (all but two of the ten if I remember).
I’m always very touched by the way that Mi Amigo brings people together across the world. And I hardly need to say it, but I think your relative was a true hero.
Yours truly
Mick Steeper (Pinniped)
Sheffield, England

Here's the link to a newspaper article on the recent service :
http://www.thestar.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=2077604&SectionID=58

Hi Mick,

Thank you very much for your reply. Please send me the book. I am very interested in Mi Amigo. Let me know how much that I owe you. Please send to:

Walter Kriegshauser
3505 Sunland Garden Ct.
St. Louis, Mo. 63129
USA

I don't know why my email didn't work. Here is my email again [email protected] or [email protected] for a 2nd choice.

Thank you very much,
Walter

Hi Walter

e-mail tried again. Let's hope for better luck this time.

Now I have the address, I'll pick up a copy of the book and send it on.
Please accept it as a gift. My honour.

(and it's quite a small book, you'll find!)

Pin/Mick

(did you know h2g2's President is from Missouri, btw? Webb City, I believe)

The charter.net e-mail failed again, btw, but it looks as if the Yahoo one's gone through OK.

And just look at this, coincidentally posted to Peer Review today!

A20248328

My name's Randy Williams. Malcolm Williams was my Uncle. I have a copy of Mr. Harvey's book and enjoyed your description.

Coincidentally, I've been in St. Louis for the past 19 years. I'll have to get in touch with Mr. Kriegshauser.

More coincidentally, I went to college with Harold Estabrooks. He is currently a Sgt. Mgr. in the US Army. We don't know for sure, but suspect that Harry Estabrooks of MiAmigo was Harold's Uncle.

Even more coincidentally, I married Harold's Niece.

Someday I'd like to go to Sheffield and attend the ceremony. I wish my dad (Malcolm's brother) could too, but he's getting on in age.

Thanks,
Randy

Hi Randy

Thanks for posting this. If you and/or your father do plan to come over, post here. It would be my pleasure to introduce you to the people who honour Mi Amigo and her crew here.

I feel very humble, as I 'adopted' this story because it was a natural Entry for this h2g2 site. Except for living locally and knowing Tony Kemplen, I don't have any personal association with the events. Even if it all started out as a writing-exercise, though, the Entry seems to have become one of the meeting points for people with a real part in this remarkable and touching tale.

Yours

Pin/Mick

My Uncle was Harry Estabrooks, he had two brothers, Paul and James. Paul had 6 girls. My father had two girls and one son, his name was also James. I would like to get a copy of this book for my children. Where might i find it? I have recently acquired some photos and will be going through them if Mr. Harvey would like some copies I would be proud to submit them. Thank You,as my Uncles family was distant while I was growing up I didn't get much informtion about my Uncle, however it makes me very proud that he died serving his country. My brother James L Estabrooks died in an airplane crash off the coast of the Aran Islands in 1989. When I read the article I realized they had probably flown in the same airspace. Thank You again

Hello Vicky

The book is only available in the Sheffield area but I can certainly get and send you a copy, if you can give me a postal address.

I'll contact David Harvey too, in case he misses this posting here. I expect he would be very pleased to receive copies of photos.

I guess you saw Randy's post two up from yours? Probably your families already know each other.

I said it before, but it's both heartening and humbling that this piece has been found by so many of the Mi Amigo families.

Thanks for posting

Pin

Hi Team

I am Chris Shaw from Australia - born in Sheffield - emigrated in '58. I was born just after the war, but my older sister tells the story of our dad Tom Shaw, and the Endcliff Park crash.

Sybil says that dad came home ashen that night. He was a painter and decorator with the co-op and was making his way home through the park, still dressed in his white painter's overalls. When the crash occurred, he was able to drag one of the crewmembers away from the wreck and beat out the flames on the airman's clothes. Then the local first-aiders arrived on the scene, so dad just picked up his kit and made his way home.

It was a big news story in the Sheffield Star the next day of course, and they tried to find the man in white who had risked his neck. But dad would never own up to it - he wasn't that kind of bloke. Anyway, that kind of thing was commonplace then, wasn't it?

Please tell David Harvey that my sister Sybil Gray can be contacted by e-mail on:

sgray1(at)iinet.net.au

Who knows, with a little bit of prodding, she might be able to add another small piece to this chapter of history.

Cheers all.... Chris

Hello Chris

Thanks for telling us this. I'll pass the details onto David right now.

I'm short of a copy of the book at the moment (habit of giving them away), so I can't check the page where the following evening's Star front page is reproduced. I think I recall a mention of the man in white, either there or somewhere else.

That kind of bloke was commonplace then. Still is, I reckon, in these parts at any rate.

And it really is a small world.

Pin/Mick

Mick,
My great uncle was a waist gunner on the Mi Amigo. S/Sgt. George Malcolm Williams from Geronimo Oklahoma. I too would be very much interested in a copy of the book. Please advise and thank you.



Discover Your Family Story

U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946

Name:
George M Williams

Birth Year:
1922

Race:
White, citizen (White)

Nativity State or Country:
Oklahoma

State:
Oklahoma

County or City:
Commanche




Enlistment Date:
18 Nov 1942

Enlistment State:
Oklahoma

Enlistment City:
Oklahoma City

Branch:
Air Corps

Branch Code:
Air Corps

Grade:
Private

Grade Code:
Private

Term of Enlistment:
Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law

Component:
Army of the United States - includes the following: Voluntary enlistments effective December 8, 1941 and thereafter; One year enlistments of National Guardsman whose State enlistment expires while in the Federal Service; Officers appointed in the Army of

Source:
Civil Life




Education:
2 years of high school

Civil Occupation:
Gunsmith* (Armorer), Diesel Mechanic (Automobile mechanic, Diesel engine), Camera Repairman (still camera), Instrument Repairman, Nonelectrical (Instrument maker), Utility Repairman (Mechanic, general), Equipment Maintenance Man, Motion Picture equipment

Marital Status:
Single, without dependents

Height:
67

Weight:
121

Hi mighty8th

I'm Pinniped aka Mick Steeper. By chance I'm on line right now.

I will try get another book and send it on, if you can give details of where to forward it to.

The book is currently out of print it turns out, and the museum bookshop where I picked up every copy I've passed on (seven so far I think!) is closed. The museum got flooded - that's another story.

The printer suggested that they could still run off unbound copies, so that's one alternative. I'll also e-mail David Harvey, who might have spares (we're two short now - also the one for Harry Estabrooks' niece).

I've said it before but all of you crew families must be very proud. Your relatives were heroes.

Pin/Mick

My name is Rob James and i am the son of Mrs Elaine Robinson (James) who lived in Sheffield during the war. I remember as a child Mum telling me a story about a flying fortress that flew over her house and crashed into the park below. She was 13 at the time and lived at No 48 Hunter House Road with her twin Derek and her Mum & Dad. This great roar came over the house covering darkening the surrounding houses; fuel spilling onto the roof tops. She told me one guy tried to bail out the plane at the back of their house but was too low to be saved by his chute.

Mum explains the bravery of the crew who tried to avoid the houses but couldnt stop the inevitable crash further down below, as her brother Derek rushed to the park.

I am also an avid Scooter rider and many of our scooters are customised covering a varied cross-section of themes. A most recent Lambretta depicts the Memphis Belle (another Flying Fortress) on its panels and frame.

I would like to do something similar with the Mi Amigo story as this is very personal and will need to do quite a bit of research to get my ideas into place.

I am also aware of the 65th Anniversary next year and it would be poignant to get it completed by then.

Thanks for posting, rob2stroke.
It's certainly a remarkable story.
Good luck with what ever you decide to do to mark it.

Pin

Thanks Pin,

I would be interested to find a picture of the plane and any other information that i could use for my research. I have read the above threads and done some research already.

HI THERE. MY UNCLE WAS MALCOLM WILLIAMS. I NEVER HAD THE CHANCE TO MEET HIM IN REAL LIFE BUT MY FAMILY HAS KEPT HIM ALIVE IN OUR HEARTS. THE CREW OF MI AMIGO WILL ALWAYS BE APART OF THE WILLIAMS FAMILY. MY NAME IS JOYCE ANN.

IF ANY ONE WOULD LIKE TO CONTACT ME ON THIS MATTER THEY CAN EMAIL ME AT [email protected].

GOD BLESS TO ALL

HI ROB: I THINK ITS WONDERFUL THAT YOU HAVE TAKEN SUCH A INTEREST IN THE MI AMIGO STORY. WE THE FAMILY MEMBERS CERTAINLY APPRECIATE IT VERY MUCH. ITS PEOPLE LIKE YOU THAT HELPS US OVER HERE FEEL CLOSER TO THE CRASH AND THE LOVE WE HAVE FOR THE CREW IN THEIR LAST MINUTES ON EARTH. I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR MORE ABOUT YOUR MOTHERS REMEMBRANCE OF THAT DAY.
MY MOTHER WAS MALCOLM WILLIAMS ( LEFT WAIST GUNNER ) SISTER. I WAS BORN IN 45 SO I NEVER MET HIM BUT MY FAMILY HAS ALWAYS KEPT HIM AND THE CREW ALIVE IN THEIR HEARTS.

MY E-MAIL ADDRESS IF [email protected]

THANKS

JOYCE ANN

HELLO Pin: I see that you know Paul Harvey. He got incontact with my mother Pauline Watts in Chattanooga, Oklahoma when he was writeing the book. She is M/Sgt. Malcolm Williams ( left waist gunner ) sister.

My mother has been wondering about him and if he is doing well.

If you don"t mind give him my email address and ask him to email me. Paul doesn"t realize the impact of love and kindness he has done for the Williams family by writing this little book. It sorta help put a closer to uncle Malcolms death.

Thanks again. Joyce Ann Foster

Hot springs, Arkansas

[email protected]