Escape and Evasion Reports Available On Line

According to an item on page 40 of the August 2006 issue of the newsletter of the Air Forces Escape and Evasion Society, Escape and Evasion numbers exist primarily for members of the 8th and 9th Air Forces, who were debriefed in London.  They were not recorded for airmen debriefed only at group or Air Force headquarters.  Airmen liberated by Allied ground forces, Swiss internees, those who went down in the Balkans, or who became POW after evading for some time do not normally have an E&E number.

The escape and evasion (E&E) reports of American airmen are available online, thanks to National Archives II (NAII) at College Park, Maryland. I have found it easy to use to access the E&E reports of American airmen.  Use the steps listed below.  (The instructions and links were updated as of late December 2022.)

See the list of airmen and their report numbers farther down on this page for the correct E&E number for the E&E reports of the first 248 airmen.  For a complete list of the reports by E&E# all the way up to #2986, go to Keith Janes’ website, WWII Escape and Evasion Information Exchange at http://www.conscript-heroes.com/escapelines/index.htm.  You can go directly to his list of E&E numbers at http://www.conscript-heroes.com/Art38-MIS-X.html.

See also the list of American airmen and their Escape and Evasion report numbers compiled by Leslee Atkinson which is part of the Atkinson papers at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio.  Click the following title, List of American airmen with E&E nos. by Atkinson AR.2009.064 index AFEES (1), to open the pdf file of the Atkinson list.  They are organized alphabetically by the first letter of the last name and then in numerical order of the E&E report number.  Atkinson was a French Air Force officer who, with Ralph Patton, was instrumental in bringing together airmen and their helpers after the war that led to the creation of the Air Forces Escape and Evasion Society.

Prior to creation of the new National Archives Catalog (catalog.archives.gov.id) indexing system, I sometimes found it useful to search using the E&E# for a search, such as airman Tom Applewhite’s “E&E 324”, rather than his name, which avoided the problem of misspelled names or whether or not a middle initial is used.  Note that sometimes airmen’s reports are combined.  For example, if searching for the report of Leroy Winter or Henry Farley, their reports are combined as 177 and 178, respectively.   To find the report, use either “E&E 177” or “E&E 177, 178”.  Using just “E&E 178” will not work.  However, the new indexing system does not seem to require the E&E number as much as it used to.

Watch out for misspellings in the way the airmen’s names were indexed.  In searching for the airman Applewhite, I tried “Tom Applewhite” and “Thomas Applewhite” but without success.  When I tried just “Applewhite” I found him listed as “AppleWhite, Jr. Thomas B.”  Note the erroneous capital letter in the middle of his last name.

Use the following steps to find an E&E report:

1. I learned in January 2023 that the National Archives now makes available the series of E&E reports at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/305270.  Their instructions said that “While viewing the series webpage there is the option to search within the series where you are able to search by name.”  When I searched for “Applewhite, Thomas”, his file was the first to appear, followed by a great many unrelated Applewhites.

2.  Another way to describe the search procedure is as follows:

a. Click on this link: catalog.archives.gov.id. In the search field on this page insert the airman’s name, last name first.  Then click on the magnifying glass symbol or click on your keyboard’s Enter key.

b. Next click on the name of the airman highlighted in blue when it appears.

c. That will bring up a grey screen for displaying the report.  You can wait for the report to appear and scroll down through the pages which appear in miniature on the right side of the screen.

d. Or you can go ahead and download the report as a pdf file.  In the lower left part of the screen is the heading “Files Available for Download” where you can click to download the pdf file.

e. Note that variations on how you spell the airman’s name doing your search may produce useful different results.  When I entered “Applewhite, Thomas”, the first result listed was his E&E report.  But when I entered “Applewhite, Tom”, the files on two of his helpers, one Dutch and the other Belgian, appeared near the top of the results.

Note that files of some helpers of the airman may appear listed below the listing of the E&E report of the airman and may depend on how you spell the name of the airman.  For example, searching for the file of airman “Tom” Applewhite rather than “Thomas”, also produced the file of one of his helpers, Alphonse Escrinier.

Note that the order in which the airmen were assigned E&E numbers can be a useful source of information.  The numbers appear to have been assigned as the airmen completed their escapes and were debriefed.   If you don’t know what other airmen accompanied your airman in his journey, the E&E numbers may tell you.   For example, Tom Applewhite’s E&E number was #324.  If I had not already known from other sources which airmen traveled with him, by following up on  the numbers near his on the list, E&E # 322 (Elton Kevil), 323 (John K. Hurst), and 327 (Thelma B. “Jockey” Wiggins), I soon would have learned.  Kevil and Wiggins crossed the Pyrenees with Tom Applewhite and Hurst was in the Norwegian ship on which they sailed from Seville to Gibraltar.  The only airman missing from the above is Stan Munns (RAF).  The British used a different numbering system for their escape and evasion reports.  Their records are at the British National Archives at Kew, London.

Note also that the reports for more than one airman may appear under the same report number.  Be sure to search through the entire report because what you are looking for may be father into the set of documents under that number.  Also, the report you want may be included in an adjacent report in the series, so check the reports with adjacent numbers if you do not find what you want where it should have been.  An  extreme example of reports being included under another report number was brought to my attention by researcher John Howes: E&E report #353 of Shapiro, Morton also includes the Appendix C reports of E&E #’s 354-397!

If the airman you are interested in was an American who was shot down over The Netherlands and who evaded capture, take a look at the Atkinson List from the Dutch National Archives elsewhere in this website.  Note that links that were provided directly from the names of the airmen to the E&E reports no longer work because of the new cataloguing system.

As mentioned above, to assist in the above type of inquiry, I have compiled an index to the E&E reports #’s 1-248 directly from the online records at NARA, which you will find at the bottom of this page.   There are two lists, the first in numerical order, the second in alphabetical order.  These lists should be compared with the list discovered at the Dutch National Archives of American airmen shot down over The Netherlands who evaded capture.

Another source is the eight-page  Index of E&E Reports – American in Western Europe, which I obtained from the Air Force Historical Research Agency.  That index commences with E&E #249 and ends at #1000 and appears on the following pages of this website.  If you have difficulty reading them, try clicking on the image once, then once again.  You will get a greatly enlarged image.

Keith Janes’ excellent website, Conscript Heroes, contains a comprehensive numerical list of E&E #’s 1-2986, to be found at http://www.conscript-heroes.com/Art38-MIS-X.html.  It includes information on the airman’s unit, plane, date failed to return, and escape line.

E&E reports for others who traveled with your airman for part or all of his journey will be a valuable source of information, particularly if your man’s report abruptly ends with language such as, “The rest of his journey was the same as that of  _________.)

A separate document from the E&E Report is the Appendix C.  Sometimes it appears as part of the E&E report, sometimes not.  It can be an invaluable source of information.  For a discussion on Appendix C’s, click here.

There is also a commercial service called “Paperless Archives” that offers E&E reports on DVD.  I have no experience with it.

Numerical Index to E&E Reports #’s 1-248 (note that the following links no longer work)

Alphabetical Index to E&E Reports #’s 1-248

  • Adams, Richard D., Cpt., #26
  • Aguiar, William, S/Sgt, #82
  • Aquino, Joseph M., S/Sgt, #227
  • Austin, H.W., Jr., 1st Lt, #185
  • Ballinger, Olof M., 1st Lt, #248
  • Bell, Cecil Earl, Sgt, #85
  • Bennett, Charles A., 1st Lt, #223
  • Berry, James Lyle, S/Sgt, #238
  • Bertrand, Rene O., Pvt., #34
  • Bieger, John W., 2nd Lt, #133
  • Biggs, Robert E., 1st Lt., #41
  • Blackwell, George F., Sgt, #97
  • Blakeney, Robert, S/Sgt, #149
  • Boren, William T., Maj., #194
  • Bossinger, George A., T/Sgt, #174
  • Boyle, John T., 2nd Lt, #138
  • Breuer, Charles, 2nd Lt, #204
  • Brohard, Marius L., S/Sgt, #132
  • Brooke, Russell, 2nd Lt, #241
  • Brown, Dewey C., Jr., 2nd Lt, #165
  • Brown, Lester Jr., S/Sgt, #52
  • Browning, Herbert M., T/Sgt, #191
  • Buice, John Frank, T/Sgt, #202
  • Burdick, Clayton H., T/Sgt, #240
  • Cagle, Joseph W., Sgt, #215
  • Canaday, Denver M., S/Sgt, #160
  • Carl, Floyd M., S/Sgt, #246
  • Carpenter, John Leroy, #100
  • Carrol, Albert V.H., S/Sgt, #123
  • Carter, Grant, T/Sgt, #213
  • Chichester, Stanley R., 2nd Lt, #205
  • Chonskie, Edward F., Sgt, #121
  • Cimini, James T., Sgt, #106
  • Claytor, Roy F., 1st Lt, #120
  • Cole, Clifford E., Maj., #119
  • Cole, Edgar Boyd, Maj., #50
  • Conroy, Robert Thomas, 2nd Lt, #61
  • Contopidis, Homer, 2nd Lt., #42
  • Corcoran, James A., T/Sgt, #199
  • Cornwall, Joseph E., S/Sgt, #125
  • Cowherd, Ford C., T/Sgt, #124
  • Cox, Arthur B., Jr., T/Sgt., # 47
  • Cox, Vincent J., S/Sgt, #219
  • Crooks, William B., Jr., 2nd Lt., #2
  • Crowe, William F., S/Sgt, #83
  • Cucinotta, Anthony F., S/Sgt, #71
  • Cunningham, Richard M., 2nd Lt, #131
  • Darcy, Michael F., S/Sgt, #167
  • Davitt, Richard Stewart, S/Sgt, #99
  • Delvento, Pasquale J., S/Sgt, #184
  • Demetrios, Karnezis, 1st Lt, #126
  • Derosier, Sylvion, Pvt., #35
  • Des Rochers, John M., T/Sgt, #193
  • Devers, Sidney, T/Sgt., #17
  • Diminno, Albert D., S/Sgt, #187
  • Dones, Isabelino, S/Sgt, #146
  • Douthett, Lorin F., 2nd Lt, #232
  • Dunbar, John L., 2nd Lt, #90
  • Eastman, Harry L., S/Sgt, #112
  • Elliott, George G., S/Sgt, #161
  • Erickson, Gordon B., F/O, #65
  • Evans, George W., 2nd Lt, #55
  • Fahncke, Kenneth F., S/Sgt, #225
  • Farley, Henry R., S/Sgt, #178
  • Faulkiner, Russel R., 1st Lt, #172
  • Fegette, Iva Lee, S/Sgt, #32
  • Fink, Leonard J., 2nd Lt, #180
  • Fink, Phillip J., S/Sgt, #113
  • Fisher, Charles A., S/Sgt, #141
  • Fitzgerald, Allen Michael, Sgt, #60
  • Fleszar, Mike, T/Sgt, #216
  • Ford, Carey Bernard, S/Sgt., #49
  • Frazier, Melvin L., S/Sgt, #159
  • Funk, Leroy A., S/Sgt, #94
  • Gallerani, Bruno M., T/Sgt, #93
  • Genz, Raymond A., S/Sgt, #171
  • George, Ashworth, S/Sgt, #66
  • George, John W., 2nd Lt., #102
  • Gise, William John, Jr., 2nd Lt., #15
  • Glouderman, George H., F/O, #57
  • Gordon, Bruce W., 2nd Lt., #21
  • Graff, Warren E., F/O, #130
  • Green, Francis M., S/Sgt, #105
  • Greene, Frank W., S/Sgt, #51
  • Greene, Roscoe F., 2nd Lt, #87
  • Grodi, Wilmont C., 1st Lt, #156
  • Hager, Joseph M., S/Sgt, #84
  • Haltom, Louis L., 1st Lt, #76
  • Hamblin, Oscar Klass, T/Sgt, #210
  • Harding, Donald E., T/Sgt, #111
  • Harkins, Francis X., 2nd Lt, #115
  • Harnly, William E., 2nd Lt, #182
  • Harrison, Kee Hastinas, Capt, #91
  • Hartigan, William Robert, 2nd Lt, #231
  • Hartin, Forrest D., 2nd Lt., #5
  • Hartung, Frederick A., Jr., T/Sgt., #20
  • Hawes, Harry A., 2nd Lt, #211
  • Hess, John F., S/Sgt, #150
  • Hickerson, Glenn E., S/Sgt, #147
  • Hildebrand, Kenneth Gilbert, T/Sgt., #18
  • Hoehn, Duglas C., 2nd Lt., #38
  • Hollingsworth, Dal O., Cpt., #1
  • Hollingsworth, Leroy S., Cpt.,#4
  • Hooker, Billy J., F/O, #226
  • Hoover, Charles H., 2nd Lt, #195
  • Houghton, Jon H., S/Sgt, #53
  • Houser, Ralph E., T/Sgt, #197
  • Hughes, John K., 2nd Lt, #157
  • Hunt, Tom J.E., 2nd Lt, #81
  • Jaworowski, Alfred A., Sgt, #208
  • Jett, Joseph W.B., T/Sgt, #151
  • Johnson, Merle, 2nd Lt, #220
  • Johnston, Allen G., 2nd Lt, #212
  • Jones, Miles B., T/Sgt., #29
  • Judd, Frank E, T/Sgt. #3
  • Judy, Leland G., S/Sgt, #188
  • Kelly, Howard W., 2nd Lt., #30
  • Kimotek, Frank, S/Sgt, #134
  • Klein, Ellis H., S/Sgt, #192
  • Kneale, Adelbert D., Jr., 2nd Lt, #158
  • Koening, Bernard H., T/Sgt, #63
  • Kramer, Alfred, 1st Lt, #128
  • Kreitenstein, Norman, T/Sgt, #181
  • Kuberski, John H., S/Sgt, #56
  • Kylius, Robert E., 2nd Lt., #45
  • Lawhead, Duane J., S/Sgt, #245
  • Lee, Dale V., S/Sgt, #152
  • Leuhrs, Jack O., T/Sgt., #40
  • Long, Vern P., T/Sgt, #166
  • Loudenslager, Niles D., S/Sgt, #80
  • Lowell, Ford D., 2nd Lt, #164
  • Maddox, Harold Barnes, T/Sgt, 207
  • Maher, William P., 2nd Lt, #118
  • Manos, Joseph Emanuel, S/Sgt, #234
  • Marandola, Anthony, S/Sgt, #209
  • Markland, Dale, S/Sgt., # 48
  • Marshall, Herman, T/Sgt, #74
  • Martin, Roy A., S/Sgt, #77
  • Martin, William C., S/Sgt, #78
  • Maslanka, Edward L., 2nd Lt, #222
  • Matthews, Joseph G., 1st Lt, #117
  • Mayo, Thomas Palmer, 1st Lt., #23
  • Mays, Robert L., 2nd Lt.,#6
  • McDermott, Mark L., 2nd Lt., #12
  • McElroy, James D., 2nd Lt, #203
  • McKee, John R., 1st Lt., #10
  • McKee, Ralph D., 1st Lt, #89
  • McMath, James G., 2nd Lt, #183
  • McNemar, Charles H., T/Sgt, #110
  • McTaggart, Elmer E., Cpt., #37
  • Middledorf, William I., 2nd Lt, #114
  • Milasius, Peter P., S/Sgt, #73
  • Minnich, Martin G., 2nd Lt, #229
  • Minor, Walter E., Sgt., #43
  • Monser, George S., S/Sgt, #169
  • Moore, Kenneth R., Sgt, #214
  • Moriarity, Ernest T., Sgt., #24
  • Muir, Robert D., S/Sgt, #217
  • Munday, James S., 1st Lt., #104
  • Mundell, Robert F., T/Sgt, #153
  • Murray, Fred Lenton, T/Sgt, #206
  • Murray, Keith W., 1st Lt, #196
  • Myers, Edwin R., T/Sgt, #135
  • Nelson, Robert E., 1st Lt, #170
  • Nicholls, Robert W., S/Sgt, #145
  • Nichols, Donald Lee, 2nd Lt, #75
  • Normile, Joseph P., 2nd Lt, #58
  • Penly, Robert H., T/Sgt, #67
  • Perkins, Asbury Lee, T/Sgt, #221
  • Perrica, Frank R., 2nd Lt, #64
  • Peterson, Theodore, M., 1st Lt, #69
  • Polk, Jefferson Davis, S/Sgt, #109
  • Potvin, Samuel E., T/Sgt, #101
  • Pulcipher, Ralph R., 1st Lt, #168
  • Purcell, Thomas Q., ____, #148
  • Quirk, Josep F., Jr., Sgt, #247
  • Rader, Wayne S., 2nd Lt, #137
  • Ransom, Glen F., 2nd Lt, #163
  • Resseguie, Frank B., 2nd Lt, #228
  • Richardson, Herschell L., S/Sgt/ #176
  • Roach, Harry E., Jr., 2nd Lt., #44
  • Robertson, Archibald L., 2nd Lt, #116
  • Robinson, Allen N., S/Sgt, #103
  • Roper, Grandy W., 2nd Lt., #27
  • Rosio, Joseph, 2nd Lt., #54
  • Rothrock, Clarence H., Sgt, #144
  • Rowland, Henry Cabot, 2nd Lt, #243
  • Ruby, Edward C., T/Sgt, #108
  • Ruppe, Eldon T., 2nd Lt., #22
  • Ryan, Jack E., 2nd Lt, #136
  • Ryan, John L., Cpt., #25
  • Sarnow, Henry P., 2nd Lt, #230
  • Schowalter, Gilbert, 1st Lt., 8
  • Scott, John M., T/Sgt, #70
  • Scott, William E., _____, #173
  • Senlawsky, Peter, S/Sgt, #239
  • Sharpless, Claude, S/Sgt, #162
  • Shipe, Paul F., S/Sgt, #237
  • Sigle, Michael P., S/Sgt, #201
  • Slattery, Dennis E., T/Sgt, #186
  • Smith, Robert E., 2nd Lt., #7
  • Spaarks, Gerald A., S/Sgt, #189
  • Spence, John W., 2nd Lt., #16
  • Spevak, Edward J., 1st Lt, #59
  • Steinmetz, Arthur, _____, #233
  • Strandberg, Clarence W., T/Sgt, #236
  • Swanson, Ernest V., S/Sgt, #198
  • Swap, Arthur M., 2nd Lt, #127
  • Tafoya, Salvadore, S/Sgt, #72
  • Temple, George W., 2nd Lt, #142
  • Templeton, Lawrence H., S/Sgt, #86
  • Teraberry, Phillip Frederick, S/Sgt, #200
  • Theiss, Bertram R., 2nd Lt, #218
  • Therrien, Norman Peter, T/Sgt., #14
  • Thompson, Harold E., 2nd Lt, #242
  • Tilbury, Harold E., S/Sgt., #33
  • Toney, James Robert, ____#19
  • Trost, John S., 2nd Lt., #28
  • Turner, David Hamilton, Jr., 2nd Lt., #98
  • Tyler, Albert P., T/Sgt, #139
  • Vickless, William H., S/Sgt, #129
  • Vogel, Robert, S/Sgt, #143
  • Vogel, Sebastian L., S/Sgt., #13
  • Wagner, James L., S/Sgt, #140
  • Wagner, Norman R., Sgt, #175
  • Walls, Raymond Earl, S/Sgt., #39
  • Walters, Joseph J., S/Sgt, #224
  • Warth, Charles J., S/Sgt, #235
  • Watson, Cody Lisry, 1st Lt, #62
  • Watts, Floyd Bentley, 1st Lt, #92
  • Wells, Glen, T/Sgt, #79
  • Wemheuer, Joseph E., 2nd Lt., #36
  • Wetzel, William C., 1st Lt, #88
  • Whalen, Arthur T., S/Sgt, #190
  • Whitby, Ray L., S/Sgt, #154
  • White, John, S/Sgt, #95
  • Whitman, William A., T/Sgt, #31
  • Williams, Jack E., 2nd Lt., #9
  • Wilson, Claiborne W., T/Sgt., #46
  • Wingerter, Frank J., S/Sgt, #68
  • Winter, Leroy R., T/Sgt, #177
  • Winters, August, 1st Lt, #179
  • Wissenback, Erwin D., T/Sgt., #11
  • Woodside, Merle Elsworth, 2nd Lt, #244
  • Woodstock, Joseph S., S/Sgt, #96
  • Zelanak, Michael G., S/Sgt, #107
  • Zimmerman, Wesley L., T/Sgt, #155
  • Zioance, John, S/Sgt, #122

If your airman is not in the above list, go to the following pages and search the Index of E&E Reports – American in Western Europe which begin here.

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