https://army.togetherweserved.com/army/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=352313

Gravestone shows death on Sept 18, 1944 - could be time zone difference.


On tht page it says:
This Military Service Page was created/owned by SP 4 Johnny Conroy to remember Hostetter, May Belle, 2LT.

A link takes you a page for Johnny Conroy
https://army.togetherweserved.com/army/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=327143

On that page is a link to this page
https://army.togetherweserved.com/army/voices/2013/74/Conroy_voices.html

On that page is a link to contact that member.

Thank you!

That's the page for her that I discovered at Together We Served. I emailed TWS the photo & information on the back, but because I'm not in the military and never have been, all I could do was to contact the help desk since only military people can become members and have the ability to contact the administrator or TWS members. The help desk was no help at all and suggested I become a member, even after I explained I am not military and am therefore ineligible for TWS membership. So, I suppose everyone accessing Hostetter's page can go ahead and keep wondering if she died of some kind of jungle fever or dysentery.

requires a membership to login.

I looked for him on Facebook, thinking I could send him a message there, but apparently he's not on Fb.

by the networking. Great job ramblin_dave. Now we can all follow the mystery. Great tale, despite the tragedy

There are a lot of good sleuths lurking around in there.
And some, who, no doubt, have access to military records through genealogy accounts.

First, I'll try to figure out how to shrink the writing image. I don't know why it's so big.

I just came upon a photo of the staff of the 94th Station Hospital in India, which is where Maybelle Hostetter served - and my dad is in the picture! I don't see a person who resembles Maybelle Hostetter in the photo. Does anyone here see her?

EDIT: I take that back. Maybelle is the middle woman in the front row. (I used a magnifying glass to look at both photos.) I wonder if Colonel Anderson is also in this photo...?

My dad is in the middle of the top row, 5th from either right or left.

(Off-topic, but I was born around that time at the 159th Station Hospital, Karachi, Sindh Desert).

Perhaps there are U.S Army or hospital records available online? It's good that you have a date and location, maybe you can find more info.

Looks like neither Col. Anderson nor Maybelle are in this photo. They both died in 1944, and it appears that this photo is dated 23 Jan 45. Super that you found a pic of your dad!

And thought, nice going, dummy, you didn't even look at the photo date! I hate it when I do stuff like that. But it happens. A lot.

Patton’s security detail. Drive around with him. Good luck with your search.

great find that was!

Thanks, I'll keep on keepin' on.

Or something similar.

Since Maybelle isnt identified with her title, it's possible he isn't either and that's his 1st name

Andy could easily be the shortening of Anderson, in which case his first name is unknown.

I would tend to think that he is a Colonel though, because he's wearing an officer's hat. Maybe someone with extreme digital capabilities can blow the photo up and identify other regalia.

but I couldn't tell anything because the photo is blurry. It's not a scan since my scanner isn't working so I took the picture with my camera.

If he was a colonel, he apparently wasn't on board during the crash, since according to an article linked in another post here, the other two besides Nurse Maybelle and General Saunders were sergeants.

Thanks!

The article is in place of the headstone image though there is a photo of that too.

She was a 2nd Lieutenant US Army Nurse.
She enlisted at Camp Carson, Colorado.
She was killed in an airplane crash in India.

Daughter of:
Walter Harold Pace
and Beva May Marsh

Wife of:
John Leroy Hostetter

Her actual final burial site is at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl) in Honolulu, Hawaii. She was buried there on January 10, 1949. She was originally buried at Kaliakunda Cemetery in India. See Find-A-Grave memorial 65278246


https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/81231243/may-belle-hostetter

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/81231243/may-belle-hostetter#view-photo=180438531


Here is her memorial in Hawaii in Find A Grave
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/65278246?search=true

great!

"The crash mortally wounded everyone on board except for General Saunders, who was severely wounded."

Now I think I'm going to get somewhere with this! Thanks again!

Oh, and thanks too for the other links too!

You have to give them your credit card but you can just cancel it before the end so it doesn't hit your account.

I'll check it out.

I poked around for a bit but didn't have any luck with trying to search for other deaths around 9/18/44 in India. I'm thinking there should be some site that would have a way to search for that info but didn't have time to dig any further.

http://www.468thbombgroup.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=VIuYtm7gsQ4%3D&tabid=105&mid=555

Wow, thanks! So Nurse Maybelle died before she could be removed from the wreckage, but the radio operator and the engineer were still alive. In the article chowder66 posted above, it said everyone on board was mortally wounded but Saunders, so apparently the radio operator and engineer later died too. I'd like to know their names, but I'm very happy that I'm getting closer to the full story now.

From the writing on the back of your picture, I thought that LtCol. Anderson's first name was "Audy", but now I believe that his name was Andrew, especially since all of the n's in the notation appear to be be u's. I found information that leads me to believe that he died on March 27, 1944, and not in the crash on Sept. 27, 1944. I believe that the note only refers to the nurse's death. He was in the Indian Medical Services, and in the British armed forces. Appears that he was English, as he was married in England, and his will was probated in England.

Here is a link to Find A Grave that gives information about a LtCol. James Andrew Anderson's death date and location (Pune (Poona), Maharashtra, India). It appears that he is buried in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/123888127 This is basically the information on the site with a picture of his memorial stone:
Name: Ltc Andrew Anderson
Birth Date: 1915
Death Date: 27 Mar 1944
Death Place: Pune (Poona), Maharashtra, India
Cemetery: St John the Evangelist Churchyard
Burial or Cremation Place: Roundhay, Metropolitan Borough of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
Has Bio?: Y
Spouse: Rita Anderson

Good luck with your search!

History of 217 Field Ambulance, diary/scrapbook of Lieutenant Colonel R.A. Anderson, RAMC, the unit's first commanding officer
Date
1940-1941

Genre
Archives
Browse more like this
Royal Army Medical Corps archives

Originals held by
Wellcome Library

https://wellcomelibrary.org/item/b18632737#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=2&z=-0.5286%2C-0.12%2C2.2651%2C1.4228

He apparently isn't the same person as James Andrew Anderson, but his diary was really fascinating to read. It was hard to make out some of the words because of the handwriting, but I gathered that the diary entries were from 1940 and that because "Aylesbury" is mentioned several times, the action took place in England.

Thanks for this! It's wonderful that historic records like this are online!

Britain was involved in India during WW2. The combined Chiefs of Staff (Britain and USA) worked together in the Far East. If this Lt. Col. Anderson was commander of a mobile military hospital (field ambulance) unit in England, he could have been moved where he was needed most in 1944. The diary covers 1940-41.

The Royal Army Medical Corp archives seems to use rank and military branch initials instead of first names. He's the only Lt. Colonel Anderson in their archives.

Anyway, reading your thread with great interest

I did know that the Brits and Americans worked together during WWII, but since the journal doesn't include anything past 1941 including his service in India if he was there, I thought he'd probably remained in England.

I'm going to see what else about him might be out there - including a photo, I hope!

Thank you again.

that was used as a Christmas card.

they're remarkable. It was great to be able to enlarge them to see facial details. I didn't see anyone resembling the Anderson in my photo among the group, but my photo isn't very clear.

cap insignia appears to be a WW2 U.S. military officer insignia. I used a magnifying glass to try to see it better in my photo, and it does look like this one to me:

and the shapes, including for the one in the photo you posted, weren't right for the one in my photo. I wish I could sharpen my photo. I tried at Imgur but to no avail.

This is certainly a promising lead to follow.

According to information at links posted on this thread, General Saunders was the sole survivor of the crash. Lt. Maybelle Hostetter died at the scene before she could be taken from the wreckage, and the other two crew members (albeit both sergeants) were treated at the crash site for their injuries. Apparently they later died. If LtCol. Anderson was one of them, his death in March 1944 fits.

I know what I'm going to be doing today!

Thanks again!

These are the kinds of posts and threads that illuminate the true beauty of DU. The respect for history and heros with the generous intelligence that when shared like this make us all better for it.

I love history and these representations of our shared humanity, I love even more.

Thanks so much for sharing this, frogmarch.❤

This is a great example of why I have stayed an active participant on this forum for over 16 years. It represents what is truly the wonderful nature of the group that makes up Democratic Underground. Yet again displaying an incredible ability to reach out and an extraordinary depth of knowledge, and as such, never ceases to amaze.

they are no longer here to share. There are so many questions I now want to ask my parents, that I never thought to ask when I was younger.

Glad you're able to piece together some very interesting history of your stepmom, thanks to the help of the folks here on DU. As she was also a Red Cross nurse, and evidently a friend of Lt Hostetter, I'm sure that was a difficult time for her.

sites like DU, I wouldn't know a fraction of what I know now about my family. In fact, as a child I knew so little about my roots that I convinced myself for a while that I was an alien from Mars. (Okay, it was kinda fun.)

I don't know how much my step-mother knew about my genealogy, but I did learn about, and even meet, some of her Red Cross friends after the war. One of them, whom I called Aunt Fran, remained a close friend of mine until her death in the 1980s.

My dad died when I was a young teenager and didn't speak of his ancestors. From old letters I found, I learned that he knew that his paternal grandfather came to the U.S. from England in the mid-1800s and fought on the Union side in the Civil War, but I doubt my dad knew that many of his earlier paternal ancestors were involved, as either accusers or accused, in the Salem Witch Trials, and that earlier than that, several ancestors arrived here on the Mayflower. Thanks to the Internet, I've connected with cousins on my birth mother's side and they've filled me in on my India ancestry.

DUers have helped me find information and make connections more than once since I've been here. Thanks, all!

My 10th Great Grandfather Edmund Towne was the son of William and Joanna Towne who immigrated from Yarmouth England, to the Massachusetts Bay Colony around 1635. They were the parents of 9 children. Three of their daughters were convicted of being witches; Rebecca, Mary and Sarah. Mary and Rebecca were hanged. They were Edmund's sisters. The movie, Three Sovereigns for Sarah, is based on their history. Rebecca's homestead in Salem is now a historical site.

only one relative of mine was hanged: Mary Ayer Parker. Two of my distant great-grandfathers, John Peabody and Thomas Perley, were jurors during the 1692 trials, and my distant great-grandfather Ayer (I'll have to look up his first name), who was Mary Ayer Parker's brother, served on the grand jury in 1693. Several of my direct ancestors were accused and some stood trial but pleaded guilty and weren't hanged. Many other of my ancestors were accusers.

Were Edmund's sisters Rebecca Nurse, Mary Eastey, and Sarah Cloyce?

Sarah was awesome!

Wiki snip:

Sarah was accused of witchcraft the day after she had defended her sister Rebecca against the same charge by walking out of church, and pointedly slamming the church door (an action seemingly without precedent in New England), when Rebecca was being denounced. A few days later she was named in warrants and arrested, and transferred to Boston prison. The complaint was filed by Jonathan Walcott and Nathaniel Ingersoll, accusing Sarah of having afflicted Abigail Williams, the niece of the Reverend Samuel Parris, as well as tormenting Mary Walcott.[1]

On April 11, 1692, she was brought before an examiner and refused to confess, attacking her accusers, Tituba and her husband John with great spirit: "oh you are grevious liars". She was then sent to jail in Salem, where her sister Rebecca was already being held. Both Sarah and her sister Mary were suspected of bewitching their niece, Rebecca Towne, daughter of their late brother Edmund Towne.[2]

On September 9, 1692, an indictment was made out against Sarah, "for certain detestable arts called witchcraft and sorceries, wickedly, maliciously and feloniously hath used practiced and exercised... in, upon and against one Rebecca Towne of Topsfield...and also for sundry other acts of witchcraft." [3]

Sarah petitioned the court for an opportunity to present evidence which supported her innocence, and to exclude spectral evidence (testimony that the spirit of someone did something).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Cloyce

I love this stuff!

Yes tracking your ancestry can be pretty exciting. But also very frustrating. You get little threads but then end up at a dead end. With so much info online today, plus services like ancestry.com, it’s more rewarding than it was 20 years ago when I first started trying to track my families’ ancestry.

Good luck in your search.

the information! (I sent you a PM.) He really looks a lot like the Anderson in my photo, so this is exciting!

The information in the pdf bio is wonderful, and I've been following the leads I've found in it. As soon as I give my poodle his breakfast I will keep on doing that.

Thank you again!

Don't have an account to click for more info...

https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/joseph-william-anderson-24-1cdr0

Born in Minnesota on Nov 04 1920 to Joseph William Anderson and Margaret Jeanette Mollison. Joseph William Anderson married Mary Bowe. He passed away on Mar 24 2007 in Smithfield, Isle of Wight, Virginia.

found birth, death, and census records for him, but that is all besides for a military photo and one taken when he was much older.

What I need is to know if he ever served in India during the war. So far, nothing I've found about him says he did.

The photos of him do look like Anderson in my photo, so I'm not ready to give up yet.

This link details the relay supply routes which connected the war zones. It may be that Anderson was also one of the relay pilots over the Himalayas or was involved in flying in supplies to the hospital or transferring the wounded(?)

Air Transport Command – Airlift During WWII

https://amcmuseum.org/history/air-transport-command-airlift-during-wwii/

PS - IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OF THIS LINK PEOPLE ARE POSTING INFORMATION REQUESTS ABOUT SERVICE MEMBERS, ETC.

I just found this on Google:

Class 1943-A – World War II Flight Training Museum and the ...
https://wwiiflighttraining.org › Cadets
Anderson, Joseph William “Andy” ... with the Air Transport Command based at Jorhat, India flying supply missions over the southern Himalayas into China. LT

The link takes me here: https://wwiiflighttraining.org/?page_id=331

He was in India. It looks as if he really could be the Anderson we've been looking for!

That blurb you found belongs to cadet Autrey on the same page ... another cadet on that page was killed flying over the Himalayas

I'd never in a million years have come across that link had you not found this Anderson in the first place.

I am grateful for all your help. I'll let you know if I get any further with it.

Whew.

But it seems that the supply transport was an *enormous* undertaking.

Well, onward I go!

Thanks!

Just to let you know that my father JWAnderson, class of 43A NEVER served overseas in WWII. His only brother was killed in the spring of 1944 in the Pacific and as a surviving son Dad was not allowed to serve in combat. He had a 34 year career in the military, ANG and USAF. He was NEVER in India in the War, so you can move on with someone else. He and his brother were not the only Andersons in that flight class and Andy is quite a common nickname. My Dad was "Bill" to his friends and only was known as Andy later in his career.
He retired in 1972 as a Colonel (O-6) and lived in Phoenix AZ until 2005 when he came to live with me in VA. Good Luck on your search!

Joseph William Anderson, Jr
BIRTH 4 Nov 1920
DEATH 24 Mar 2007 (aged 86)
BURIAL
Fort Snelling National Cemetery
Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota, USA
MEMORIAL ID 49916094 · View Source

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49916094/joseph-william-anderson

to the person sponsoring this page at Find A Grave, but got a notice saying he/she was accepting no messages. I don't know if the sponsor knew this Anderson, but I thought I'd ask if they knew if he ever served in India during WW2.

I'm going to pursue this Anderson and see what all I can find.

Thanks!

2Lt Alan Sigurd Anderson
BIRTH 29 Apr 1919
Hennepin County, Minnesota, USA
DEATH 19 Mar 1944 (aged 24)
East Sepik, Papua New Guinea

BURIAL
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
Manila, Capital District, National Capital Region, Philippines
PLOT Walls Of The Missing
MEMORIAL ID 56778401 · View Source





Alan served as a Second Lieutenant & Pilot on B-25D "Miss Ellen" #41-30185, 499th Bomber Squadron, 345th Bomber Group, Medium, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.

He resided in Hennepin County, Minnesota & was a member of the Minnesota National Guard prior to the war.

His National Guard unit was called into full time active Army service on February 10, 1941, prior to the war, from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was noted, at that time, as being employed as a Actor and also as Single, without dependents.

B-25D #41-30185 took off on a bombing mission over Cape Moem near Wewak, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. An eyewitness noticed that 3 bombs dropped by a B-25 ahead of them exploded near their B-25 which possibly caused them to become damaged and they crashed on Mum Point, Cape Moem during the war. The remains of the crew have never been found.

Alan was declared "Missing In Action" in this crash during the war.

He was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.

Service # O-795474

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56778401/alan-sigurd-anderson

with relatives of other Andersons I find. Thanks!

MIA in the crash at age 24. Very sad.

B-25D-10 "Miss Ellen" Serial Number 41-30185

© Pacific Wrecks - B-25D-10 "Miss Ellen" Serial Number 41-30185

Source: https://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-25/41-30185.html

not in as much detail. It's not the same crash as the Saunders one. His plane was a B-25 Mitchell and wasn't on a bombing mission at the time of the crash. What I'm trying to do now is find out who Saunders' crew was - their names - so I can rule out the Anderson in my photo as having been on board if he wasn't.

Thanks for your continuing help!

EDIT: Of course it wasn't. It was the the crash that killed this Anderson's brother. (Need coffee. Stupid time change.)

His father having the same name, was also a Lt Col, and was also in WW2

This site catalogues and sells copies of USAAF accident reports. I don't know if the report would give you the names of the crew on Saunders' crashed plane, but here's the plane's serial# in case it helps you research elsewhere.

Thanks! Getting company soon, so I'll check it out tomorrow - or as soon as they leave.

Thank you!