Giethoorn weekend

Giethoorn
- 6 mi NE of Vollenhove -
SGLO - T3483
Lockheed P-38J-10-LO "Lightning" - #42-67404 - MACR #2745
O-22512 - Lt. Col. Frederick C. Grambo - Tue 29 Feb. 1944
Commanding Officer 364th Fighter Group - 8th Air Force - USA
1 KIA
364th FG
HQ 364th FG - ( Headquarters Group )
383rd FS - - - - - - - 384th FS - - - - - - - 385th FS - - - - - 8th Air Force
Frederick on his college days - 1936 - - - - - - Relaxing in the garden - 1942
Fenn College of Engineering at Cleveland State University
O-22512 - Lt. Col. Frederick C. Grambo - Height 5'9½" - Weight 160
was prior to service overseas, stationed in the following camps
-----------------------------------------------Los Angeles, CA - Feb 1942 - June 1942
Hamilton Field, CA - July 1942 - June 1943
Hendale, CA - July 1943 - Nov 1943
-----------------------------------------------source IDPF
On 1 February 1944 the Group was loaded on the luxury liner, Queen Elizabeth,
and started the journey to England the next day. On 8 February the "Queen"
arrived at Glasgow, Scotland and the next day was sent to Honington Air Base near Bury St. Edmunds.
The base was a former Royal Air Force Base.
The rest of February was spent receiving aircraft and testing them, setting up equipment and getting organized
Both pilots and ground crews were sent to other bases to enhance their skills.
HQ 364th FG - ( Headquarters Group )
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Crew: Lockheed P-38J-10-LO "Lightning" - #42-67404 - Tuesday 29 Feb 1944 - mission orientation
------------------------------------------------------------------------------O-22512 - Lt. Col. - Pilot - Frederick Charles Grambo - Cuyahoga Co., OH - KIA
------------------------------------------------------------------------------During this period Lt. Col. Frederick Charles Grambo and Captain Joseph Bradley McManus
went to the 20th Fighter Group for mission orientation.
McManus completed three successful flights but
Col. Frederick Charles Grambo was shot down over Holland on his second mission and lost his life.
He never had the opportunity to lead the 364th FG on a mission.
Statement of O-753734 - 2nd Lt. Benjamin N. Rader - MACR 2745 - 2 March 1944 :
" I was easing over Lt. Col. Grambo on safe course home. He said his left engine was hit
by flak and he had feathered it. He was constantly losing altitude until he reached 8000 feet
when his dead engine burst into flame. He turned right and down into the clouds.
When I saw him his canopy was off and he was climbing out of the cockpit.
This was in the vicinity of Meppel and the time was 1218, February 29, 1944."
Map - Last sighted Lt. Col. Grambo near Meppel - from MACR 2745
Statement of O-740557 - 1st Lt. Russell G. Quinn - MACR 2745 - 2 March 1944 :
" I was flying at 25000 ft and saw Lt. Col. Grambo plane smoking from left engine
in the vicinity of Meppel at 8000 ft. He banked toward right and down
Right after this I saw a chute going down into the clouds.
This was at 1218, February 29, 1944."
1st Lt. Russell G. Ouinn was KIA on 13rd of June 1944 - Bréal sans Montfort, Bretagne, France ( near Rennes )
Capt. Benjamin Neale Rader was MIA on 20th of October 1950 - Korea War
Wreckage #42-67404 - Lt. Col. Grambo - recovered May 1971 BY RNLAF-68(56)
West off Giethoorn, more wreckage recovered Aug 1974
reinterred at: Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten-NL
Plot: H Row: 5 Grave 13
Burial 6 March 1944, Giethoorn-North, Local Cemetery, Grave Number 1
Temporarily interred and subsequently reinterred in US Military Cemetery, Margraten
The initial plot number in Margraten for Lt. Col. Grambo - BBB-1-19 - former X-2104 Remains found in 1974 were - Unknown X-9421 S/R 5119 - later confirmed and added to H-5-13
- Lt. Col. Frederick C. Grambo - Margraten - 25 May 2008 -
Images Lt. Col. Frederick Charles Grambo courtesy of his sister Ms. Betty Jean Grambo
In a letter - No. 441 - 1 March 1946 - Subject: Information for Dutch Consulate, Cleveland, USA
from Burgomaster J. Voetelink of the Municipality Giethoorn
to Mr. N.C. Nelson, Vriesestraat 9, Dordrecht
There are some phrases about the days after the crash on Tuesday 29 Februari 1944
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------According our info a plane came down near the 'Walengracht', a canal which
is on the border of the municipalities Giethoorn and Vollenhove
-----In a 1st investigation lead by 'Post-commandant der Marrechaussee' W. Visscher,
Head 'Luchtbeschermings dienst' W.E. Mulder and Burgomaster J. Voetelink
it seems that the whole plane was sinked in the soft peat soil
At that moment there were no remains discovered of the pilot
-----On Friday 3 March in a 2nd attempt and assisted by local doctor R. A. Prins, MD and H. Sloothaak
the corps of F. C. Grambo was found, proofed by his name and numbers on several items
It was brought to the morgue on the General Cemetery Giethoorn-North
and put in the coffin by 'Grave digger' H. Sloothaak in the late afternoon
under supervision of 'Police Post-commandant' W. Nijman and Burgomaster J. Voetelink
-----The burial took place Monday 6 March 1944 - 09.00 am The service and a prayer was done by Reverend J. J. Ket - Dutch Reform Church in presents of Doctor Prins and Burgomaster Voetelink
After liberation the gentlemen H. Keizer, K. Hoekstra and J. Scheur were involved
for the grave monument of Lt. Col. Frederick Charles Grambo
Flowers were always on the grave - even placed in secret during war time
-----Transcription clips letter - 05 Jul 2008 - PATS -
Rev. Ket and his sister were for a longtime in contact with the Grambo family
Nowadays the Wooden Grave Marker is still on display in the "Dutch Reform Church" at Giethoorn
- see also older image taken just after the war - top right -
- note Nov 28 2007 - from Ms. Betty J. Grambo (sister) Frederick was born - 18 Nov 1915 - Cleveland, Ohio
as a son from Mr. Julius Frederick Grambo and Mrs. Jessie Bernice Grambo (née Newcomer)
Birthdate on his Identification Card - copy by Wiebe H. de Vries
Identification Card - issued 28 Oct 1939, 2 Identification Tags for Frederick C. Grambo - O-22512
were found during salvage of the wreck - 15, 16 and 17 Oct 1974
Salvage cost made by Fa. P. Wiers & Zn, Zwartsluis - Fl. 5776,80 (guilders)
"LETTER FROM UNCLE JOHN"
Clips of the letter from Grambo's buddy Lt. Colonel John H. Lowell - O-431332
to Mrs. Doris Ellen Grambo (née Feltham), Freddie's wife, Monday 21st of May 1945
After he flew 10 days after "V" day to Holland. ( Tuesday, 15th of May )
Cockpit photos via Footnote.com - source: National Archives He had requested Lt. Col. George F. Ceuleers - O-659099 of the 383rd to go with him
but when the teletype came in unexpectedly he grabbed his toothbrush and camera
and together with Capt. Douglas J. Pick - O-750678 ( 20752693 ), one of Freddie's original boys
in his squadron, he took off to investigate the happenings of the last day he saw him
Capt. Douglas J. Pick in front of "Mustang" P-51D 5Y-U 'LILLAMAE' - 10 Dec 1944
Maj. Pick flew also "Lightning" P-38J #42-104269 5Y-U while with 384th Figther Squadron
Douglas J. Pick - born 1922, MN - died 30 May 1948 - Age 26 - ( Car Accident )
Did land near Enschede and were heading by truck towards Meppel, were they arrived 12:00 o'clock
The sun was behind the clouds and it was twilight efffect when they arrived at Giethoorn, Holland
Made contact with the Burgomaster, who spoke two words of English, "Yes" and "No"
but his assistant and also schoolmaster spoke fairly well English
Finallly all people were rounded up with some knowledge of the incident
They left Giethoorn towards Zwolle on Sunday the 20th of May - arriving 11:30 pm - were they
stayed with a British Tank Corps. The next day they made it back to the field
Due the weather, steady rain, they were grounded for about four days
The weather in England was a little bit better so Pick and Lowell flew instuments home
He did write down 28th of February 1944 as the fatal day
What explains the one day differcence
According the MACR it was 29th of February 1944
Photo in Cleveland Heights Newspaper - 28-March-1946 and the poem "MY SON" in memory book of the Grambo family
Cleveland Heights, OH - Header Newspaper clip - 28-March-1946 - - - transcription from Cleveland Heights Newspaper article - - ..................
Col. Grambo was 28. He enlisted in the Air Corps early in 1938
shortly after graduation from Fenn College. He was graduated from Heights High school in 1933.
He was interested as a youth in flying, having been an enthusiastic model plane builder.
He was married while stationed at Selfridge Field, Michigan, and a son was born to them.
He participated in the 1938 air races in Cleveland.
Grambo was stationed on the West coast during the early years of the war
organizing trained pilots into fighter groups. He went overseas in Feb., 1944,
as commanding officer of the 364th Fighter Group.
Mrs. Grambo and her six-year old son have moved to Orlando, Florida.
The mother and father continue to live at 3301 Cedarbrook rd., Cleveland Heights.
.................
- - - transcription from Cleveland Heights Newspaper article - - "FREDERICK GRAMBO'S LAST FLIGHT"
"Salvage Lockhead P-38J - #42-67404 by KLU -"
Newspaperclip- Meppeler Courant - Friday 18 Oct 1974
Article about the aircraft salvage in 1974
"Lockhead P-38J - from Pilot's manual -"
Lt. Col. Frederick Charles Crambo - Margraten - May 2007
Lt. Col. Frederick Charles Crambo - collage by PATS - 21 Jan 2009
Three things are not corresponding
#1 - Accident on 29th of Feb. 1944 - Cemetery / Church of Giethoorn - 28th of Feb 1944 - see photo
#2 - Army serial number is O-22512 - On cemetery Margraten O-22412 !!! - see photo
I also did have various dates about his BD - 16 Nov 1916 - and 1918 ( according Dutch Newsclip - 1974)
When I got a copy of his Identification Card it was 18 November 1915
#3 - Burial date, isolated grave Giethoorn is given as 6 March 1944 - Dutch records
on captured German records and translated IDPF forms you also will find 7 March 1944
Overview - lake area around Ronduite
click on yellow star for appropriate section and info
SGLO - T3483
P-38J-10-LO - #42-67404 - 29 Feb 1944 - WALENGRACHT - CREW 1
- 1 KIA GRAMBO(†)
Contact Grambo is pending - 08 Feb 2008 - PATS
Request - 20 Feb 2008 - for IDPF - received 147 pages - 22 Sep 2008 via Ms. Betty Grambo, Sister
Last updated - 10 Jan 2012 – PATS
Latest info always on:
www.teunispats.net/jack-edward-gibbs.htm
Teunis Schuurman – aka – PATS, Volunteer WWII researcher area Vollenhove
0527-242316
email: teun.pats@gmail.com