On December 12, 1942, 2nd Lt. Jack E. Williams and his crew were flying over the coast of France when, according to his report, “We hit the ground; that is, made a crash landing, at 12:40, after having been violently attacked by fighters.” The actions of Williams and his crewmates following the crash are documented in his Escape and Evasion Report.
We are pleased to announce that Williams’ report along with 2,952 others have been digitized and added as PDFs to our online catalog. These reports were maintained by the Administration Branch of the Escape and Evasion Section of the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff (G-2) of the European Theater of Operations, U.S. Army, of the War Department. The reports contain information on escape and evasion activities and training of U.S. soldiers serving in the European theater during World War II.
To search the reports, go to NARA’s online catalog at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/305270
You may browse the files by clicking the link that reads “2953 file units described in the catalog”. Or you may search for a particular individual’s file by clicking the “Search within this Series” link and then entering a name in the search box.
Once you find a file you would like to see, click the title of the file to open the full description, then click the “Digital Copies” tab, and then click the PDF icon twice.
To read the rest of Second Lieutenant Williams’ report go to https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5554651
I have tried to link the following on your Escape & Evasion Reports but it appears to be outdated. http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ExternalIdSearch?id=305270
A search of the online catalog for Escape & evasion Reports brought me full circle back to this old 2010 post.
Hi John,
Thank you for catching that outdated link! Here is the new link to the Escape & Evasion Reports in our online catalog: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/305270
We have also updated the links within the post.
Best of luck with your research,
Meredith