Harold “Keith” Fredericksen, the middle son of Harriet and F. Christian Fredericksen has been serving in England with the 548th Bomber Squadron, 385th Bomber Group since Fall, 1944. Thirty-five missions are required before he can be returned stateside. In the last set of letters, his pilot was reassigned, leaving Keith to struggle getting those last few missions.
The last German offensive of the war has begun. The Allies are close to defeating Adolph Hitler. From December 1944 to April 1945, the 385th Bomber Group is credited with attacking German communications and fortifications during the Battle of the Bulge and bombing troop concentrations and communications centers in Germany and France to assist the final thrust into Germany.
In these letters exchanged with Grandma Fred, Keith discovers that while he's been downplaying the danger of his day-to-day combat life, Grandma Fred has been guarding other family news. Arden Lannigan, Keith's friend and Nada's brother has disappeared in Europe after his B-17 bomber crashed.
March 4, 1945 - V-mail - I still haven't seen Dean but will before I leave here. Jack surely must be sick, it's been almost six weeks now, hasn't it? I surely hope he will be okay. Well, we got everything under control, don't worry.
March 7, 1945 - V-mail - I should be a Staff Sgt pretty soon. We were put in for it a couple of missions ago. That's probably as far as I'll ever get in this Army.
March 12, 1945 - Try to write you a real letter tonite. I finally got everything under control here, my S/Sgt rating came through and I'm satisfied. I heard from both Chuck and Orval the past week. It seems Chuck has gone to sea. What kind of a boat is this U.S.S. Guadalcanal? He didn't say which ocean he was going to either. It looks like everything is about wound up over here. I keep tellin' myself. I heard from Dean. He wasn't finished yet. They are going to make him stay and work on the ground for a couple of months when he finishes. I don't know what they will do with me. I hope to come home but I don't imagine they will let me stay there (U.S.) very long. About two months at the most then they send you right overseas again. But I'm coming home anyway. You say Orval plans on getting another leave. He will be lucky if he does. I hope he does, it will be nice for both you and Nada. I bet those two kids of his are really getting big. They should be lots of company in the days to come. Jack must be really sicker than I ever realized. He has been sick a long time, I keep thinking I'll hear from you saying he is okay. He has been sick for more than two months. It doesn't sound practical at all for he and you to try to farm this coming summer. Anything you do is okay with me. Let it go for one year, I mean rent it and take a year's vacation. After 25 years you surely deserve it, go to town and live or something. Hope to be home soon and I'll help you decide. Hope she does okay in Eastport.
March 15, 1945 - V-mail - We're finally getting a furlough. My next letter to you will be from Scotland. Don't write to me there. I had detail today and didn't fly but the rest of the crew did….See you in Scotland.
March 25, 1945 - Hi Chuck, We just got back from a swell seven day furlough in Scotland. I hope to be practically finished by Easter. I was surely glad to hear that Jack is getting better. Hope mother rents the land instead of trying to run it herself. Too many worries for her and Jack both.
March 30, 1945 (postmarked March 25) - Well, I hope to be finished real soon. Oscar finished the other day, but us gunners have to complete our own 35. But this is a couple of days if they don't send us on pass. From Jack's and Chuck's letters I picked up some stuff I guess you didn't want to tell me. I never knew Arden was missing until Jack wrote. But as long as Arden is okay and on the way home it's okay. You are having trouble with the well too, aren't you. I surely hope I can come home quickly and help you get things straightened out. Boy you had about twice as many things to worry about that I thought you did. But I guess that's the way you wanted it. I surely don't hold it against you, in fact I'm very proud of my mother. That's enough of that stuff!
March 1945 - Individual Flight Records - 11 Missions, 79:55 In-flight time, longest 9:35
April 2, 1945 - V-mail - Looks like we're going to have to settle for a V-mail today. Yesterday was Easter Sunday, made me six months since that fateful day we took off and left the good old U.S. I went to church like a good boy, like I have been doing every Sunday that I have a chance. So you finally got the land straightened out, I think you really played it smart. You wouldn't get rich in a year anyway. Things might be entirely different the next summer. It all depends of the world's affairs. I haven't flown for several days now, this finishing is kind of rough when you haven't got a pilot of your own. I'm going to write both Chuck and Orval the afternoon.
20 April, 1945, 4:16 PM
THE SECRETARY OF WAR DESIRES ME TO EXPRESS HIS DEEP REGRET THAT YOUR SON S/SGT FREDERICKSEN HAROLD K HAS BEEN MISSING IN ACTION SINCE 4 APRIL 45 IF FURTHER DETAILS OR OTHER INFORMATION ARE RECEIVED YOU WILL BE PROMPTLY NOTIFIED CONFIRMING LETTER FOLLOWS
May 18, 1945
Dear Miss Fredericksen (Addressed to Jean and postmarked Chicago, Ill.)
It was my intention to write to your mother as soon as regulations permitted, however your letter is such that warrants an answer. Keith - we called him "Whitey" went down as a result of a mid-air collision en-route to the target. It happened over the North Sea about 30 miles out of the Frission Islands. If you have a map, the coordinates were approximately 54 north and 04 east. It was his last mission as you surmised.
I was not flying with him that day but I was in a plane above and to the left of him. It happened when the plane he was in overshot the plane ahead of them in the formation and then pulled up, evidently to lose speed, but in a mistake in judgment, cracked into the underside of the ship it has passed. The entire tail section of Whitey's ship broke off and started down. No one reported seeing a chute, although he may have made a delayed jump into the sea. Air-Sea Rescue reported negative.
Those are the facts as I know them, Jean, as you may tell your mother what you think best. Whitey was one of the best friends I've had in the Army and you can appreciate how I felt as I watched him and five other men from our barracks going down, out of control, into the sea.
I know the other boys in the crew will write also but if there is still something I can tell you, don't hesitate to ask. I wish you would write again and acknowledge this letter. I'm very sorry I couldn't hold out to your optimism but extend my sincere wishes to you and your mother and pray that you're right. I feel so miserably helpless about the whole thing and thankful for you for I don't know if I could write to your mother as I have to you. I'm trying to be just and honest for I think it would be an act of cruelty to be indirect in a matter such as this. I hope I haven't failed.
Sincerely, Tony Erbacci
Source:
“Two B-17’s Collide, Uncle Keith Died” by Gary Fredericksen, August 2009.
Family Archives and copies of official records
Historical Record: 385th Bomber Group
Harold Keith Fredericksen:
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VII
Part VIII
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