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Lady Death

Last year I wrote a blog about a Soviet all-female combat air regiment created to pilot rickety biplanes for the purpose of bombing German military targets after Hitler’s decision to invade the Soviet Union in June 1941. Die Nachthexen, or “Night Witches” were so feared by the Germans that any soldier or pilot who downed a Night Witch aircraft automatically earned the Iron Cross medal. (Click here to read the blog, The Night Witches.)

Today’s blog will focus on other Soviet fighters feared by the Germans. These were the Soviet women trained to be snipers and they were deadly. In fact, one of them was well-known to German soldiers. Her nickname was “Lady Death.”

Olha Tverdokhilbova, 98, at her home in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. A Soviet sniper during World War II, Olha recently offered her services as a skilled sharpshooter to the Ukrainian Resistance. Photo by Emanuele Satolli for The Wall Street Journal (May 2022).
Olha Tverdokhilbova, 98, at her home in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. A Soviet sniper during World War II, Olha recently offered her services as a skilled sharpshooter to the Ukrainian Resistance. Photo by Emanuele Satolli for The Wall Street Journal (May 2022).

Did You Know?

Did you know that many historians have pegged SS-Oberführer Oskar Dirlewanger (1895−1945) as the cruelest Nazi during the Third Reich? Considering the magnitude and depth of atrocities committed by the Schutzstaffel (SS) and others during the war, Dirlewanger must have been a particularly nasty individual with no conscience.

Joining the SS armed division, the Waffen-SS, Dirlewanger was given command of what became known as the “Dirlewanger Brigade.” One of his first assignments was as commandant of a labor camp. Investigated by the SS, he was accused of murder and corruption. Dirlewanger had young Jewish women injected with strychnine because he enjoyed watching them convulse to death. His leadership style encouraged drunkenness, looting, sadistic atrocities, rape, and murder. Himmler knew all about Dirlewanger but tolerated his behavior.

The Dirlewanger Brigade was assigned in 1942 to hunt down partisans in Belarus. His favorite tactic was to round up villagers and herd them into a barn. His men would set the barn on fire and anyone trying to escape was mowed down by bullets from machine guns. He used civilians to march over suspected mine fields. His men were encouraged to rape and torture young women while at the same time, employing Einsatzgruppen-style executions. During his time in Belarus, Dirlewanger was responsible for the deaths of 30,000 civilians and 14,000 alleged partisans. He was sent to Warsaw to assist in the suppression of the uprising. The brigade participated in the Wola massacre when 40,000 civilians were murdered. During that time, Dirlewanger ordered three hospitals to be burned. Patients died in the flames while Dirlewanger had the nurses gang raped and hanged along with the doctors. He was eventually assigned to Hungary and eastern Germany to try and halt the Red Army advancement. He was wounded and sent to the rear. In late April 1945, Dirlewanger went into hiding.

SS-Oberführer Oskar Dirlewanger. Photo by Anton Ahrens (c. 1944). Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-S73495/Anton Ahrens/CC-BY-SA 3.0. PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0 Germany. Wikimedia Commons.
SS-Oberführer Oskar Dirlewanger. Photo by Anton Ahrens (c. 1944). Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-S73495/Anton Ahrens/CC-BY-SA 3.0. PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0 Germany. Wikimedia Commons.

SS-Oberführer Dirlewanger was a psychopathic killer, “violently sadistic,” and an “expert in extermination and a devotee of sadism and necrophilia.” Even the most hardened Nazis thought his actions were too cruel. Arrested by the French in June 1945, Dirlewanger died in captivity a month later at the Detention Center Altshausen, likely at the hands of Polish interrogators.


Soviet Snipers 

On 23 August 1939, Nazi Germany signed the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact with Stalin. This gave Hitler the green light to invade Poland one week later and the world was plunged into war. Hitler broke the treaty on 22 June 1941 when his troops invaded the Soviet Union under Operation Barbarossa. At that point, Stalin was put on the defensive and forced to throw whatever he could at the rapidly advancing German army.

Unlike most western countries fighting Hitler, the Soviets were not squeamish about allowing women to join the men on the front lines. However, the women encountered male prejudice and ridicule while having to wear “hand-me-down” mens’ clothes. That all changed when the men saw the bravery, professionalism, and fighting ferocity displayed by the female soldiers and aviators.

Head of the Central Sniper School’s political department (i.e., commissar) talks to women leaving for the front. Photo by V. Krasutskiy (April 1943). PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0 Unported. Wikimedia Commons.
Head of the Central Sniper School’s political department (i.e., commissar) talks to women leaving for the front. Photo by V. Krasutskiy (April 1943). PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0 Unported. Wikimedia Commons.

 One of the infantry units the Soviets formed after Operation Barbarossa was the 25th Rifle Division for the purpose of training and deploying snipers. In March 1942, the Central Women’s School of Sniper Training was established about nine miles outside Moscow. Recruitment requirements were that the women had to be 18 to 26, physically fit, and have at least seven years of education. Sniper trainees were taught to dig a foxhole, crawl on their stomachs, and determine wind speed, distance, and movement of a target. Most importantly, the sniper graduates could assemble and disassemble their rifles with eyes shut.

Red Army snipers assemble before heading to the front. Photo by anonymous (c. 1943).
Red Army snipers assemble before heading to the front. Photo by anonymous (c. 1943).

Snipers exhibited similar characteristics: reticent, bordering on introverted, shy of publicity and focused on doing their job. They also possessed a great amount of patience and an innate cunning. Snipers were not expected to draw attention to themselves. Their survival depended on how well they could stay hidden. As the war progressed, the perception of snipers (particularly, the women) changed from being glorified riflemen to professional front-line specialists. Their status allowed them one day off each week⏤an unheard-of concession in the Soviet army. Women snipers accounted for more than 12,000 official German kills. In all, two thousand women became snipers for the Soviet Union⏤only about five hundred survived the war.

Using a helmet as a decoy, Soviet soldiers wait for German soldiers to fire and reveal their positions. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).
Using a helmet as a decoy, Soviet soldiers wait for German soldiers to fire and reveal their positions. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).

Most of the Soviet snipers always saved one bullet in their pistol for themselves. If a sniper was caught alive (man or woman), they were tortured to death by the Germans.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko’s J.P. Sauer 1913 pistol. One bullet was always saved. Photo by VoidWanderer (16 July 2018). World War II Museum in Kyiv. PD-CCA-Share Alike 4.0 International. Wikimedia Commons.
Lyudmila Pavlichenko’s J.P. Sauer 1913 pistol. One bullet was always saved. Photo by VoidWanderer (16 July 2018). World War II Museum in Kyiv. PD-CCA-Share Alike 4.0 International. Wikimedia Commons.
Soviet Mosin-Nagant m/91-30 sniper rifle. Photo by anonymous (c. 2011). Mikkeli Infantry Museum. PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0 Unported. Wikimedia Commons.
Soviet Mosin-Nagant m/91-30 sniper rifle. Photo by anonymous (c. 2011). Mikkeli Infantry Museum. PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0 Unported. Wikimedia Commons.

Lady Death

Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavilichenko (1916−1974), or “Mila” as we will call her, was born in the Kiev Governorate in the Russian Empire. (Today, it is Kyiv, Ukraine.) She was always athletic and developed into an award-winning sharpshooter. By 1932, Mila had married and gave birth to a son. Unfortunately, the marriage fell apart and Mila returned home to her parents.

Soviet sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko. Photo by anonymous (c. 1942-43). PD-Russian Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.
Soviet sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko. Photo by anonymous (c. 1942-43). PD-Russian Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

In 1937, Mila enrolled in one of the sniper schools run by the Soviet army. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Mila was accepted into the army as a sniper and initially assigned to the 25th Rifle Division. During the early years, weapons (of any type or quality) were hard to come by including rifles. In August 1941, Mila obtained a Mosin-Nagant model 1891 bolt-action rifle and proceeded to kill her first two targets. After that, Mila began to kill the hated Fascists at a prolific rate. She has been credited with 309 confirmed kills during her active duty. (A confirmed kill is one that was witnessed by a second person.) It is likely that the real number is much higher.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko. Photo by anonymous (c. 1940s). Find a Grave. www.findagrave.com.
Lyudmila Pavlichenko. Photo by anonymous (c. 1940s). Find a Grave. www.findagrave.com.

Mila was rapidly promoted and in 1941, she married a fellow sniper, Alexei Kitsenko. Her husband was killed shortly after the marriage and for the rest of her life, Mila never really recovered from the depression that accompanied losing Alexei. The 25th Rifle Division was sent to Sevastopol to fight the Germans during the siege of the city where Mila and other snipers accounted for more than one hundred kills during the battle. By May 1942, Lt. Pavlichenko was a legend in the Soviet army, and she became known as “Lady Death.”

Alexei Kitsenko and Mila. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). www.ww2gravestone.com.
Alexei Kitsenko and Mila. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). www.ww2gravestone.com.

Mila was badly injured at Sevastopol and Stalin ordered her to be evacuated. After recovering, Mila become a propagandist for the Soviets and traveled to many of the Allied countries including America where President Roosevelt invited her to the White House. Upon her return and for the remainder of the war, Mila trained snipers.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko (center) in Washington D.C. as a Soviet representative/delegate of the International Youth Assembly. Flanked by Justice Robert Jackson (left) and Eleanor Roosevelt (right), Pavlichenko was used by Stalin as part of his propaganda campaign. Photo by Jack Delano (September 1942). Library of Congress. PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.
Lyudmila Pavlichenko (center) in Washington D.C. as a Soviet representative/delegate of the International Youth Assembly. Flanked by Justice Robert Jackson (left) and Eleanor Roosevelt (right), Pavlichenko was used by Stalin as part of his propaganda campaign. Photo by Jack Delano (September 1942). Library of Congress. PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.
Lyudmila Pavlichenko seated on the right. She is in Washington, D.C. as a Russian delegate representing the International Youth Assembly. Photo by Jack Delano (c. September 1942). Library of Congress. PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.
Lyudmila Pavlichenko seated on the right. She is in Washington, D.C. as a Russian delegate representing the International Youth Assembly. Photo by Jack Delano (c. September 1942). Library of Congress. PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.

“Dead Little Hitlers”

Roza Shanina (1924−1945) was the first female sniper to be awarded the Soviet “Order of Glory.” She was considered one of the top snipers in the Soviet army having killed fifty-nine German soldiers in a ten-month period. Three days after arriving at the front, Roza killed her first German. She described the situation:

“Finally, in the evening a German showed in the trench. I estimated the distance to the target was not over 400 meters (437 yards). A suitable distance. When the Fritz, keeping his head down, went toward the woods, I fired, but from the way he fell, I knew I had not killed him. For about an hour the fascist lay in the mud, not daring to move. Then he started crawling. I fired again and this time, did not miss.”

After only ten months on the Eastern front, 20-year-old Roza was found dead slumped over a wounded officer trying to protect him. Her chest had been blown open by a German mortar shell. Roza’s diary and letters were released in 1965 for publication and her contributions to fighting the Germans became well-known.

Roza Shanina with her sniper rifle. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Za Rodinu/Flickr.
Roza Shanina with her sniper rifle. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Za Rodinu/Flickr.
Roza Shanina (left) teaches a man how to shoot. Neophyte snipers had an expected lifespan of two weeks on the front. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Za Rodinu/Flickr.
Roza Shanina (left) teaches a man how to shoot. Neophyte snipers had an expected lifespan of two weeks on the front. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Za Rodinu/Flickr.

The Russian Celebrity and Actress

Ziba Ganiyeva (1923−2010) was a Soviet celebrity and actress prior to World War II. She fought in the 3rd Moscow Communist Rifle Division as a sniper. Ziba crossed behind enemy lines sixteen times and is credited with twenty-one German soldiers killed during the Battle of Moscow. Ziba was seriously wounded and spent eleven months recuperating in a hospital. She was awarded the Orders of the Red Banner and the Red Star. After the war, Ziba went on to obtain her degree in philology.

Ziba Ganiyeva, celebrity and film actress (left) and as a Soviet sniper (right). Photo by anonymous (c. 1940s).
Ziba Ganiyeva, celebrity and film actress (left) and as a Soviet sniper (right). Photo by anonymous (c. 1940s).
Azerbaijani sniper Ziba Ganiyeva. She was credited with 21 kills. Photo by anonymous (c. 1942). PD-CCA-Share Alike 4.0 International. Wikimedia Commons.
Azerbaijani sniper Ziba Ganiyeva. She was credited with 21 kills. Photo by anonymous (c. 1942). PD-CCA-Share Alike 4.0 International. Wikimedia Commons.

“We Mowed Down Hitlerites Like Ripe Grain”

Nadezhda Kolesnikova (1921-unknown) volunteered in 1943 to serve as a sniper on the Volkhovsky Eastern Front. She was credited with nineteen kills and awarded the “For Courage” medal.

Nadezhad Kolesnikova (1921-unknown) volunteered on the Volkhovsky front and was credited with 19 kills. She was awarded the “For Courage” medal. Photo by anonymous (c. 1943). Media Drum World.
Nadezhad Kolesnikova (1921-unknown) volunteered on the Volkhovsky front and was credited with 19 kills. She was awarded the “For Courage” medal. Photo by anonymous (c. 1943). Media Drum World.

Lyuba Makarova was another top sniper. She participated in the support of the Third Shock army on the Kalinin Front in 1943. Sgt. Makarova killed 84 German soldiers and like Mila, she enjoyed shooting them in the stomach first before finishing off the job. She was awarded the “Order of Glory.”

Sgt. Lyuba Makarova. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Media Drum World.
Sgt. Lyuba Makarova. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Media Drum World.
Soviet sniper, Sgt. Lyuba Makarova (foreground) and other female snipers peer through their rifle scoops. This is likely taken during a training session. Makarova was credited with 84 kills. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).
Soviet sniper, Sgt. Lyuba Makarova (foreground) and other female snipers peer through their rifle scopes. This is likely taken during a training session. Makarova was credited with 84 kills. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).
Yevgenia Makeeva was credited with 68 kills. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Media Drum World.
Yevgenia Makeeva was credited with 68 kills. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Media Drum World.
Nina Lobovskaya, commander of a company of female snipers who fought in the Battle of Berlin. Photo by anonymous (c. 1944).
Nina Lobovskaya, commander of a company of female snipers who fought in the Battle of Berlin. Photo by anonymous (c. 1944).

Post-War

After the war, Mila became one of the most highly decorated women to serve in the Soviet army. She received the Order of Lenin twice and was designated a “Hero of the Soviet Union.” Mila finished her education and became a historian and author working for the Soviet navy. Eleanor Roosevelt visited Moscow in 1957 and made a point of visiting with Mila whom she had met during the war in Washington D.C.

Soviet Union, Great Patriotic War Excellence Badge for Excellent Sniper 1942. Photo by Fdutil (c. 2009). PD-Author release. Wikimedia Commons.
Soviet Union, Great Patriotic War Excellence Badge for Excellent Sniper 1942. Photo by Fdutil (c. 2009). PD-Author release. Wikimedia Commons.
Lyudmila Pavlichenko in Odessa. Photo by anonymous (c. 1971).
Lyudmila Pavlichenko in Odessa. Photo by anonymous (c. 1971).

Largely due to the depression she suffered, Mila became an alcoholic and was burdened with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These problems likely led to her early death at the age of fifty-eight. Her ashes are buried in the columbarium at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow with her son, Rostislav (1932−2007), buried next to her. After Mila’s death, a government ship was named after her as were streets and schools.

Mila’s final resting place in the columbarium. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Find a Grave. www.findagrave.com.
Mila’s final resting place in the columbarium. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Find a Grave. www.findagrave.com.
Burial plaque identifying Mila’s final resting place in the columbarium. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Find a Grave. www.findagrave.com.
Burial plaque identifying Mila’s final resting place in the columbarium. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Find a Grave. www.findagrave.com.

Soviet Photographs

Stalin used his female soldiers and aviators for propaganda purposes. As I determined with many of the images used in the blog, The Night Witches (click here to read the blog), quite a few of the photos used here have been staged. I really don’t think a sniper would want a photographer hovering over them while lining up a “kill” shot. But I’ll let you be the judge of that.

Sniper Lyudmila Pavlochenko in combat at Sevastopol. Photo by anonymous (c. June 1942). Ozerksy/AFP/Getty Images.
Sniper Lyudmila Pavlochenko in combat at Sevastopol. Photo by anonymous (c. June 1942). Ozerksy/AFP/Getty Images.
Sniper Liza Mironova in combat. Photo by anonymous (c. 1943). AFP/Getty Images.
Sniper Liza Mironova in combat. Photo by anonymous (c. 1943). AFP/Getty Images.

Next Blog (2 July):           KZ Illustrators

★ Learn More About Soviet Snipers 

Farey, Pat and Mark Spicer. Sniping: An Illustrated History. ZenithPress, 2009.

Pavlichenko, Lyudmila. Translated by David Foreman. Lady Death: The Memoirs of Stalin’s Sniper. Yorkshire: Greenhill Books, 2018. (Originally published by Veche Publishers, Moscow, 2015).

Sakaida, Henry. Heroines of the Soviet Union 1941−45. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2012.

Quinn, Kate. The Diamond Eye. New York: William Morrow, 2022.

Vinogradova, Lyuba. Translated by Arch Tait. Avenging Angels: Soviet Women Snipers on the Eastern Front (1941−45). London: MacLehose Press, 2017.

Walter, John. The Sniper Encyclopaedia: An A-Z Guide to World Sniping. Oxford: Casemate Group, 2018.

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Stanley’s Century

Today, I’d like to celebrate Stanley Booker’s 100th birthday with all of you.

Family photo at Stan’s 100th birthday celebration. Left to right: Sennen Vinycomb (great-granddaughter), Chris Vinycomb (grandson), Jo Vinycomb (Chris’s spouse), Graham Booker (nephew), Isla Vinycomb-Brown (great-granddaughter), Claire Vinycomb-Brown (granddaughter), Pat Vinycomb (daughter), and Keith Vinycomb (son-in-law). Stanley Booker seated in front. Photo by Kieran Vinycomb-Brown (Claire’s spouse; 24 April 2022). Courtesy of Pat Vinycomb.
Family photo at Stan’s 100th birthday celebration. Left to right: Sennen Vinycomb (great-granddaughter), Chris Vinycomb (grandson), Jo Vinycomb (Chris’s spouse), Graham Booker (nephew), Isla Vinycomb-Brown (great-granddaughter), Claire Vinycomb-Brown (granddaughter), Pat Vinycomb (daughter), and Keith Vinycomb (son-in-law). Stanley Booker seated in front. Photo by Kieran Vinycomb-Brown (Claire’s spouse; 24 April 2022). Courtesy of Pat Vinycomb.

I introduced you to Stan several years ago in my blog, The Last Train Out of Paris (click here to read the blog). He was one of 168 downed Allied airmen captured by the Gestapo and deported to KZ Buchenwald where the men were to be executed as Terrorfliegers, or Terror Flyers. Two days before their scheduled execution, Hermann Göring had the men transferred to a Luftwaffe POW camp. Stan is the last surviving member of this group. However, his life story does not begin nor end with his World War II adventures.

RAF Navigator, Squadron Leader Stanley Booker MBE, surviving member of the World War II Halifax bomber crew. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Courtesy of Pat Vinycomb and Stanley Booker.
RAF Navigator, Squadron Leader Stanley Booker MBE, surviving member of the World War II Halifax bomber crew. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Courtesy of Pat Vinycomb and Stanley Booker.
Stanley holding the personal letter from Prince Charles and the gift bottle of Highgrove Champagne. Photo by Pat Vinycomb (24 April 2022).
Stanley holding the personal letter from Prince Charles and the gift bottle of Highgrove Champagne. Photo by Pat Vinycomb (24 April 2022).

Stan’s Century Birthday Thoughts

As I approach my 100th birthday, I pause and reflect on the events, experiences, and the people who have influenced me during the years that span my long life.

I have experienced the best and worst of mankind; the generosity of a loving wife and family; the comradeship of fellow airmen during combat and imprisonment; the small kindnesses given by fellow prisoners incarcerated with me in the notorious Buchenwald concentration camp.

I remember the bravery of members of the French Resistance who sheltered me after my Halifax bomber was shot down in June 1944 and the skills of my pilot and wireless operator, who were killed as they steadied the burning aircraft, enabling the rest of the crew to parachute to safety.

I was inspired by the leadership of Sqn. Ldr. Phil Lamason RNZAF, who motivated 168 captured Allied airmen to find an inner strength to withstand the horrors and brutality of everyday life in KZ Buchenwald (1944). He was a true hero and role model.

The bravery displayed by the SOE (British-led Special Operations Executive) and Allied special agents, who were murdered at Buchenwald in September and October 1944, has haunted me⏤it was a death sentence that I managed to escape by just two days. The discreet support by Capt. Christopher Burney, SOE, during our incarceration and his key role in our rescue by the Luftwaffe enabled 166 Allied airmen to survive and be moved to Stalag Luft 111.

I have been betrayed by two double agents, the Belgian Jean-Jacques Desoubrie, who worked for the Gestapo in Paris (July 1944) and the Cold War Soviet agent, George Blake, whose treachery compromised our military intelligence work in Berlin (1962).

I have known fear, pain, and abandonment during Gestapo interrogations and solitary confinement in Fresnes prison. This contrasts with my positive experiences during the Berlin Airlift where the Allied Air Forces worked as a coordinated team to supply essential food and humanitarian aid to a starving German population.

The Cold War provided interesting and dangerous challenges and whilst I was working in RAF Gibraltar as the Intelligence Officer, the Cuba Crisis brought us to the brink of World War III.

In 1965, I was honoured to be awarded an M.B.E. by Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth. Then in 2021, the Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur was bestowed on me by the government of France.

In 1984, I returned with my wife to Buchenwald Concentration Camp to seek evidence which could prove that I had been a prisoner of the SS. The British government had denied that I had been in Fresnes prison and Buchenwald. Thanks to the archivist at the Buchenwald Camp Museum, the original Gestapo records were found, which detailed the arrival of 168 Allied airmen on 20 August 1944 to KZ Buchenwald and further documents proved the factual evidence that I had been seeking since 1945.

We were invited to attend on behalf of my beloved country, the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald which was a very special and emotive event.

My life has been full of contrasts and the memories of family, friends, and colleagues have sustained me over the years. I have been privileged to live a comfortable retirement where everyday things are valued; good food; clean sheets; warmth; my independence, and the peace and beauty of my garden.

These days I am supported by an excellent team of Carers and medical staff, who enable me to live in my own home and I am enriched by memories of my late wife, Marjorie, whose love and affection provided comfort for 78 years.

Last year (23 October 2021), the community of Îlliers l’Évêque, France, held a special commemorative event to remember the liberation of France; to reflect on the historic role of the local resistance families who had sheltered many evading Allied airmen, and to honour the crew of my Halifax MZ630 bomber. Two members of the crew are buried at the nearby cemetery of St. Andre d’Eure and are honoured by the French community.

My thanks and appreciation goes to M. Jean-Pierre Curato of Îllier l’Évêque, who coordinated the memorial event and whose enthusiasm for local history brought the local community and representatives from Allied embassies together in friendship and celebration. This commemoration was an honour which has provided me with a profound sense of peace.

My personal belief and actions have echoed the words on the KZ Buchenwald memorial:

“It is the duty of the living, to honour the dead.”

⏤ Stanley Booker Sqn.Ldr (Rtd) RAF

20 April 2022

Squadron Leader Phil Lamason, Royal New Zealand Air Force. Photo by anonymous (c. January-June 1944). Australian War Memorial. PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
Squadron Leader Phil Lamason, Royal New Zealand Air Force. Photo by anonymous (c. January-June 1944). Australian War Memorial. PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
Birthday card to Stan from the 10th Squadron Association. Photo by Pat Vinycomb (24 April 2022).
Birthday card to Stan from the 10th Squadron Association. Photo by Pat Vinycomb (24 April 2022).
Officers from 10 Squadron RAF Brize Norton presenting Stanley with a signed photograph of a Voyager aircraft. Photo by Louise Smith (26 April 2022). Courtesy of Pat Vinycomb.
Officers from 10 Squadron RAF Brize Norton presenting Stanley with a signed photograph of a Voyager aircraft. Photo by Louise Smith (26 April 2022). Courtesy of Pat Vinycomb.

Sqn. Ldr. Stanley Booker, MBE, RAF (Rtd), Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur

On 25 April, 1922, Stanley Booker was born in Gillingham, Kent and at the age of seventeen joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) as an apprentice. He trained as an “observer” in Wales and after his commission, joined RAF 10 Squadron as a navigator flying Halifax bombers. Their mission during World War II was to target the railway lines and marshalling yards used by the Germans in France and Germany to resupply German troops and armaments to the French coast of Normandy. The heaviest bombing came during the 30-days leading up to the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944.

Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight signed illustration of Lancaster BI PA 474 460 & 50 Squadrons presented to Stanley. Photo by Louise Smith (26 April 2022). Courtesy of Pat Vinycomb.
Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight signed illustration of Lancaster BI PA 474 460 & 50 Squadrons presented to Stanley. Photo by Louise Smith (26 April 2022). Courtesy of Pat Vinycomb.

British bombings took place at night. (American bombers flew daylight missions.) On the night of 3 June 1944 at 1:00 AM, Stan’s Halifax was shot down and crashed near Saint-André-de-l’Eure, France; west of Paris and north of a small village, Îlliers-l’Évêque. Stan survived the parachute landing and was taken in by the French Resistance who provided shelter, civilian clothes, and fake identity documentation (his new name was “Pierre Le Comte”). Ultimately, Stan and other crew members were betrayed to the Gestapo by a Belgian traitor, Jean-Jacques Désoubrie (click here to read blog, The Last Train Out of Paris).

Plaque commemorating the crew of the Halifax MZ630 shot down in June 1944 over France. Murray and Williams were killed. Hallett successfully evaded and returned to England. The other four were captured and held as prisoners of war. Photo by Jean-Pierre Curato (c. May 2022). Courtesy of Pat Vinycomb.
Plaque commemorating the crew of the Halifax MZ630 shot down in June 1944 over France. Murray and Williams were killed. Hallett successfully evaded and returned to England. The other four were captured and held as prisoners of war. Photo by Jean-Pierre Curato (c. May 2022). Courtesy of Pat Vinycomb.
Halifax bomber used by the RAF for daylight bombing during World War II. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).
Halifax bomber used by the RAF for daylight bombing during World War II. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).
Mug shot of Jacques Desoubrie (1922−1949). The Belgian was a double agent working for the Gestapo and responsible for the arrests of hundreds of résistants, downed Allied airmen, and others. He was executed in 1949. Photo by anonymous (c. 1949).
Mug shot of Jacques Desoubrie (1922−1949). The Belgian was a double agent working for the Gestapo and responsible for the arrests of hundreds of résistants, downed Allied airmen, and others. He was executed in 1949. Photo by anonymous (c. 1949).

Taken to the infamous Fresnes prison used by the Gespato, Stan was incarcerated with other résistants and foreign agents (primarily SOE agents). Likely because he was caught in civilian clothes, Stan was treated as a spy and denied prisoner of war status or contact with the Red Cross. He was interrogated, tortured, and thrown into solitary confinement. Despite these hardships, Stan never compromised any military information to the enemy.

KZ Buchenwald

Five days before Paris was liberated, Stan and 167 other captured Allied airmen were packed into a cattle car bound for KZ Buchenwald. After stopping to unload the women prisoners at KZ Ravensbrück and five days after leaving Paris, the men arrived at Buchenwald.

Stan and other RAF, Canadian, and American airmen were isolated in a special quarantine area near the camp’s crematorium. The “Little Camp” was an area where prisoners were not expected to survive. The “Process” consisted of stripping down and being completely shaved with all clothes and possessions confiscated. Shoes were not allowed, and they had to sleep on stony ground without blankets or covering. They experienced atrocities and inhumane treatment such as beatings and starvation. The camp doctors injected them with experimental drugs. (Click here to read the blog The Naked Heroine; and here to read Extermination Camp Doctors.) Worst of all, the men were classified as terrorists and condemned to die.

“Escape”

Eventually, through the camp underground, the Luftwaffe was notified of the 168 men and the death sentences. Göring was afraid that if these men were executed, the Allies might treat captured German pilots the same way. With two days to spare, Göring’s orders came through to have the men transferred to Stalag Luft 3 in Poland. Unfortunately, two of the airmen had died in the meantime of exposure and infection.

By the end of January 1945, the Soviet army was advancing toward the POW camp and the Germans forced their prisoners to march west to Germany. Heavy snow and freezing temperatures were the conditions the men faced before arriving at Spremberg, Germany. After being split into three groups, Stan’s exhausted group marched to the dilapidated POW camp (Luft III-A) at Luckenwalde, south of Berlin. On 22 April 1945, the Soviet army “liberated” the camp but took Stan and the men as hostages. They were held as political prisoners for the purpose of negotiating a prisoner exchange with the Allied forces. Three weeks after V-E Day, Stan was turned over to the Americans and eventually flown back to England on 29 May. Click here to watch an interview with Stanley celebrating VE75.

The Missing Year

Upon his arrival, Stan was debriefed by MI9 (click here to read the blog, Possum). MI9 did not believe Stan’s story of his capture, deportation to Buchenwald, and POW status. In other words, the British government will not officially acknowledge the year Stan was in German custody. The Air Ministry has refused since 1945 to acknowledge Stan’s claim that he had been a Buchenwald inmate.

However, in 1946, the UK government authorized Stan to return to France for the purpose of searching for the graves of the pilot and wireless operator of his downed Halifax. He eventually found the graves of Flying Officer “Sandy” Murray and Warrant Officer “Taffy” Williams in a deserted village graveyard. Officially identified by the RAF, the men’s remains were transferred to a cemetery in the nearby town of Saint-André-de-l’Eure and given a proper burial.

Stan’s 77-year journey to gain the recognition of his “missing year” is not just for himself and the other captured British airmen but to seek recognition and justice for the brave and patriotic SOE and Allied agents murdered at Buchenwald.

Post-War

After the war and repatriation, Stan served as a navigator during the Berlin Airlift (24 June 1948−12 May 1949). He was involved in delivering humanitarian aid to the starving citizens of western controlled Berlin. For Stan, this was a “role reversal” that was both a catharsis for him as well as providing an insight into the population he considered to be “the enemy” only three years earlier.

By 1950, Stan was working for British intelligence (MI6) in Germany. Stan’s official chauffer was a former Luftwaffe fighter pilot. During their discussions, Stan learned the pilot was flying in the same area the night Stan’s bomber went down and had scored two “hits” on enemy bombers that night. While working for MI6, the Soviet double agent, George Blake (1922−2020), betrayed hundreds of British undercover agents, including Stan, resulting in several executions.

George Blake, MI6 agent and Soviet spy. Photo by anonymous (c. 1950s). PD-Swedish Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.
George Blake, MI6 agent and Soviet spy. Photo by anonymous (c. 1950s). PD-Swedish Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

Honors

In 1965, Stan was awarded an M.B.E. by Queen Elizabeth II for his specialist work during the Cold War. On V-E Day 2020, a Spitfire flew over Stan’s home in honor of his World War II experiences. Most recently (21 December 2021), the president of France, M. Macron, appointed Stan as a Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur.

Stanley holding his birthday card from Queen Elizabeth II. Photo by Pat Vinycomb (28 April 2022).
Stanley holding his birthday card from Queen Elizabeth II. Photo by Pat Vinycomb (28 April 2022).

On 8 May 2022, the villagers of Îlliers-l’Évêque laid a poppy wreath at the local war memorial and reflected on the contribution of the Allied troops; airmen, foreign agents, and members of the French Resistance who worked together to liberate their town and France. A plaque with the names of Stanley Booker and the other six members of his Halifax crew is now part of the memorial next to the village chapel.

Memorial at Îlliers l’Évêque. Photo by Jean-Pierre Curato (8 May 2022). Courtesy of Pat Vinycomb.
Memorial at Îlliers l’Évêque. Photo by Jean-Pierre Curato (8 May 2022). Courtesy of Pat Vinycomb.

Retirement

Stan has devoted his retirement to searching for the truth and he travelled back to France and Germany many times to locate documentary evidence of his betrayal, capture, and detention in Buchenwald.

Official SS list of men arriving at KZ Buchenwald on 20 August 1944. Stanley Booker’s name is number 70 while Phil Lamason is number seven. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Courtesy of Stanley Booker.
Official SS list of men arriving at KZ Buchenwald on 20 August 1944. Stanley Booker’s name is number 70 while Phil Lamason is number seven. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Courtesy of Stanley Booker.

Stan’s one and only goal is to get the British government to acknowledge that he and the other Allied airmen had been imprisoned by the Gestapo, mistreated, and denied their legal rights as prisoners of war. All the surviving airmen suffered symptoms of physical, emotional, and mental trauma until their deaths. Stan wants to see financial compensation and reparations for his fellow prisoners and their families. As part of this quest, Stan is seeking official recognition for the thirty-seven SOE members who were in Buchenwald with him; thirty-one of them were murdered.

Flying officer Stanley A. Booker taken on 22nd October 1944 after release from Buchenwald Concentration Camp and transfer to Stalagluft III Sagan. Photo by anonymous (c. October 1944). Courtesy of Stanley Booker.
Flying officer Stanley A. Booker taken on 22nd October 1944 after release from Buchenwald Concentration Camp and transfer to Stalagluft III Sagan. Photo by anonymous (c. October 1944). Courtesy of Stanley Booker.

STANLEY, WITH THE GREATEST OF GRATITUDE FOR YOUR SERVICE, WE ALL WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY CENTURY BIRTHDAY AND MORE TO COME!

Birthday banner made by the grandchildren and great grandchildren. Photo by Pat Vinycomb (24 April 2022).
Birthday banner made by the grandchildren and great grandchildren. Photo by Pat Vinycomb (24 April 2022).
Stanley’s great-grandchildren, Ava and Isla Vinycomb-Brown. Photo by Jo Vinycomb (24 April 2022). Courtesy of Pat Vinycomb.
Stanley’s great-grandchildren, Ava and Isla Vinycomb-Brown. Photo by Jo Vinycomb (24 April 2022). Courtesy of Pat Vinycomb.
Stanley and his daughter, Pat Vinycomb. Photo by Jo Vinycomb (24 April 2022). Courtesy of Pat Vinycomb.
Stanley and his daughter, Pat Vinycomb. Photo by Jo Vinycomb (24 April 2022). Courtesy of Pat Vinycomb.
Stan’s 100th birthday cake with a RAF theme. Photo by Pat Vinycomb (24 April 2022).
Stan’s 100th birthday cake with a RAF theme. Photo by Pat Vinycomb (24 April 2022).

★ Learn More About Stanley Booker 

Burgess, Colin. Destination: Buchenwald. Australia: Kangaroo Press, 1996.

Childers, Thomas. In the Shadows of War: An American Pilot’s Odyssey Through Occupied France and the Camps of Nazi Germany. New York City: Henry Holt and Company, 2002.

Cobb, Matthew. Eleven Days in August. London: Simon & Schuster, 2013.

Collins, Larry and Dominique Lapierre. Is Paris Burning? New York: Warner Books Edition, 1965.

Dorsey, Michael (Producer, Director, and Narrator). Lost Airmen of Buchenwald. Mike Dorsey, 2021.

Kaiser, Charles. The Cost of Courage. New York: Other Press, 2015.

Kinnis, Arthur G. and Stanley A. Booker. 168 Jump Into Hell: A True Story of Betrayed Allied Airmen. Canada: Self-published, 1999.

Maillet, Jean-Luc. Aviateurs déportés à Buchenwald: Aviators in Buchenwald. Click here to read in English.

Moser, Joseph. A Fighter Pilot in Buchenwald: The Joe Moser Story. Chicago: All Clear Publishing, 2009.

Colin Burgess wrote his book before many classified documents had been released. He is in the process of revising and updating the book for a second edition. Upon release, we will link the above reference to a site where you can purchase it.

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What’s New With Sandy and Stew?

As you read this, Sandy and I are sitting on a plane headed to Europe. We hope to finish the remaining research needed for our next book, Volume Two of Where Did They Put the Gestapo Headquarters? We look forward to seeing Raphaëlle again and spending several days with her. After we return, I will outline some of the sites we visited as well as our visits with some friends.

We are looking forward to seeing Stan and his daughter, Pat Vinycomb, during our stay in London. They have been very gracious to invite us over for brunch.

Thank you to all of you who subscribe to our bi-weekly blogs. It seems there isn’t a day that goes by where we don’t increase our readership. Please let your history buff friends and family members know about our blog site and blogs.

Someone Is Commenting On Our Blogs

I’d like to thank Stan’s daughter, Pat Vinycomb, for assisting us with this blog. Pat is in the process of writing a biographical book about her father. Stan provided a testimonial to our recent book, Where Did They Put the Gestapo Headquarters? I’m sure Stan doesn’t need my book to answer that question. But I would like to thank him (which I will do in person) for writing the testimonial.

If there is a topic you’d like to see a blog written about, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I love hearing from you so keep those comments coming.

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