[303rd-Talk] O'Connor research

[M Hillesheim]

Several years ago I got so much encouragement and help
in my research to find information about my uncle,
Oran T. O'Connor.  My quest was to one day find his 
downed plane in France.  I had so many people say "no
way" (not on this list).  But this week the crash site
has been revealed to us!  I am overwhelmed with
excitement. To make a long story short, I met several
other researchers through my contacts on this list.
One in particular is a Frenchman also doing research
on a  B-17 that went down in France on the particular
day my uncle did.  He was 7 at the time and wanted to
find the plane he saw go down, (not my uncle's). Based
on all the acquired documentation and a lot of
research etc. he was able to figure out possible crash
sites of the five planes that went down that day. My
uncle died last fall and one of his daughters, upon
learning of all of this, decided to go to France and
meet with this man.  She is there now and our
Frenchman, a wonderful person, took her to the
hospital in Carhaix, France where she was shown the
register for that day, Jan 23, 1942, with his name
listed.  Then he took her to the farm of the crash
site where he had arranged for the Mayor and a
journalist to meet them.  There she met a woman that
was age 7 at the time and witnessed the crash, she saw
the little building where he was hidden in for just a
short time before the Germans came.  She also met
another woman that remembered him in that building and
she was presented with a piece of the windshield and a
bolt from a gun on board by the son of the land owner!
The search is now over; it has been a awesome journey
and I am now breathless to say the least.   I want to
thank everyone on this list that has helped along the
way.  I hope some of you are at least still lurking.  
    
    
    Margaret O'Connor Hillesheim



       
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