Heelo Everyone, i am researching the topic of Prisoners of war and evaders in Umbria and at the moment am interested in the crew of 'Betty Jean', a bomber belonging to 719 Bomb Squadron 449 bomb Group, USAAF, shot down on 19 January 1944 after a raid on Perugia aerodrome. The entire crew of 10 escaped unharmed and were sheltered by famiiles and partisans in the Umbria.-Marche region, The pilot, 2/Lt. William T. Phllips, has written an extremely interesting account of what happened to them all but unfortuately doesn't name any village where they were sheltered. He does however mention two people who, if there is a Liberation report for them, might give me a clue. They are Captain Tommy Cochrane and Lt. Peter Hussey. Phillips' account appears in 'Grottaglie and Home', written by members of the crews who flew with the squadron and published in 1989: In mid February Captain Tommy Cochrane, previously mentioned approached me with respect to the possibility of buying a fishing boat on the Adriatic; it was berthed just south of the port of Recanati. The purchase was to be made on the basis of chits. each participant signing at the time were to depart plus a nominal amount of Italian Lira that he had been promised by wealthy patrons associated with the underground. I thought it was an excellent idea if we could pull it off... On that basis Tommy Cochrane, Lt. Peter Hussey (British) myself and Leo (a 20 year old Italian) who spoke flawless English started for the coast 8-10 miles away. We had a three fold purpose (1)) to develop routes to be used by 17 or 18 people (Britons, Australian, New Zealand included.) when the final trek was made (2) find safe haven houses for that number along the way (3) Make arrangements to buy the boat. Any thoughts as to who these two men were? Thanks, Vitellino
I found one Lt P Hussey on the Brit pow lists, that's not to say there isn't another (on Ancestry:) Name: P M C Hussey Rank: Lt. Army Number: IA/1114 Regiment: I.A.C. POW Number: 128992 Camp Type: Oflags Camp Number: O79 Camp Location: Braunschweig (formerly O8F), Germany Section: Indian Army : British And Indian Officers and Other Ranks Captain ist July 1946 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/38069/page/4287/data.pdf [hr] Found these entries. Again, it may not be the same man. birth Name: Peter M C Hussey Mother's Maiden Surname: Credland Date of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec 1918 Registration district: Kensington Inferred County: London Volume Number: 1a Page Number: 130a death Name: Peter Murray C Hussey Birth Date: 29 Nov 1918 Date of Registration: Mar 1975 Age at Death: 56 Registration district: Honiton Inferred County: Devon Volume: 21 Page: 1456
There's some potential newspaper articles I've found on the britishnewspaperarchive website. These newspaper collections can also be found at the website findmypast. Findmypast have a free 14 day trial period. It's is also a better website to use as you would be able to do some genealogy research while you are there. Findmypast also allow you to access viewed documents long after you have looked at them, where as britishnewspaper archive have a time restriction. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results/1940-01-01/1949-12-31?basicsearch=%22thomas%20cochrane%22&phrasesearch=thomas%20cochrane&exactsearch=true&sortorder=score http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results/1940-01-01/1949-12-31?basicsearch=%22peter%20hussey%22&exactsearch=true&sortorder=score
Lt. PMC. Hussey is listed in the Indian Army section of WO392/21. He was at Camp 35 according to that file.
Thank you all very much. I'll look at the newspaper items and will also see if there is a liberation report for Lt. Hussey. I can be fairly certain that he was recaptured and sent to Germany so there's a good chance that he's the man in Offlag 079, Vitellino
