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ourneUNDA *!3ILLY • J; ^Waily^'Tttnes CorrespondentII^ELINGDAI^E ^After 29 ^§ara,-JosepK Quirk learned the J^ople of. the Small French town :/£;Lamllis, near the. seaport of direst; Still have a heart. ^.Quirkr of/1031 Walnut St’, a /member of the Collingdale jScfiool Board, recently returned/t£': ItenHlis and was accorded /||wHrm reception — mixed with J|Je:a|r s .//la u'.g-h ti r ..a n d l^mmiscences , ~ /from the jwople, who helped him in a Zprrowing escape/during World |#ar-ii;-/ /XsgMost :pf the: People who hid JiQuirk from the/Nazis during 13 .terror-filled days were on hand tp-meet him/ Quick was so Ihoved at the' reception that he jvyept, unashamedly,. / /‘-it was / unbelievable,” he nsaid. ‘‘People who had risked /their Hves^for me were thrilled that I had come back.”bouses in Brest by the FrenchResistance and made his escape by; rowboat vrith several other men to awaiting gunboats. Thehe met; -again'.for: the/first • time in.29 years last inohth; ;-.gu,nboats evaded G e r m a npatrols and made it to England. Quirk said two other gunboats got lost and never made it'-' During- . -his ‘■ stay with the farmers, no.one knew anyone’s name fearing' capture.ON HIS RETURN, Quirk saidhad' hidden p^ngtthe -war/andkfeit aii this.time.” .'••./• ■ //■. He ' ^sp/ was: shown/his; dog tags which were' remoyeii/from him prior to his escape/ Onefarmer, retrieved -a' ••^rtion/pf his plane’' after jit Crashedgave him the sefial pjkte whicjh he brought home as a ndomentd.Quirk has been corresponding with. Mr. Bodiger and a -few others since 1945. He took bnly a portion of the parachute because “they had it as a keepsake during this'time/*; ...i m' ‘ lt;■ * *-Hp .WAS escorted to ali the places he hid during his plight.He found out that items .of clothing he had sent to. the families^ including winter coats, and clothing, had never, arrived. Somewhere in the shipment, the parcels were emptied aiid delivered empty, ;Sine his return to the United States, Quirk' has rweived a letter from Mr. Bodiger saying that two women. arrived after he left. They brought the cap of one of the airmen found nearthe bomber.• • ‘ • r s.;He plans to return .again ina few . years , and bring Mrs.• • i * *. • 1 *•Quirk, who only knows the people through, letters. 'Quirk, who lives with his 'wife • Mildred,, has a son George who is married-; arid 'lives' inCollingdale ,and i, a - daughter. Linda, Mrs. Joseph Kelly, living in Darby -.Township. Quirk, is employed by, .the Boeing Co., Vertol,,. pivision,.,. ih. -. the production- control section.he immediately recognized all those who helped him, even though 29 years had passed.He especially recalled the look of fear on Mrs..Robert Jestin’s face as she kept watch for the Germans while she prepared for the escape drive into Brest.“The look of terror in her face is one of the most vivid memories 1 have,” Quirk said.. QUIRK MADE' the trip to France with Collingd ale’s exchange student program. For seven years the district has. been trading a student annually. However, this year a group trip was planned and 3 students and seven adults made the excursion from Collingdale.The group stayed -with hostfamilies in San Malo, 125 milesfrom. Lannillis. A previous exchange student to Collingdale, Mary Yvonne Calos, now an airline stewardess, made arrangements ..for Quirk’s side trip to Lanniliis and accompanied himand his daughter Eileen, and two other friends.Quirk said all the people involved in his escape came to greet him. He was glad his daughter was there to witness the excitement and hear firsthand from the actual confidants./._QlJiRK\ FIRST', went to. some farm xhouses but no one , would ariswer so -he decided • to hide. He met an i old - man. ;whogave liim bread and fallowed him up a nearby -hill. Just ' as they reached the, top, .they saw three Germans with their backs ' to them. ....“Lran info the wcwds to hide,” Quirk said,” and near froze in the woods for two nights.” . .Then, three men came to, get, Quirk in a car -becaute theyheard he still hadn’t' been■ 1 ■ •captured. Quirk said he, doesn't know how they found him since it was so dark. Mr. Joseph Jestin, Amedee Holland and Mr. Bodiger escorted Quirk to the road, and drove him to the outskirts of Lanillis where he was fed and given civilian clothes. • ■Robert Jestin, . brother of. Joseph, drove; Quirk’ into/the port city of .Brest where he was interviewed by the : French 1 Resistance- who- were . verifying his story.WHILE WAITING to-get in thecar:, for ' the ’ trip,; • h'e saw - a German soldier pasfe.the .window. He didn’t. know until after the war that. dhe. soldier, had, gotten in the car and had accompanied Jestin and him,into the city of -Brest.: 11 -.He had . wondered why his accomplice had .kept talking constantly and. waving his cigarette the whole trip.He was hidden in different111$$»■»mmmmimmimmf}_ QUIRK, ;:-WHOu was/$3 at,the time,'Nov. 8,1943..w^s returning to Englahd -from a .mission with his 'bomber / group, when • his: plane first;became lost; then was Hit 'with anti-aircraft fire. Qitirk, a tailgunher on: the giant B-24, ; b ailed out along with 13fellow crew members. ,Ten were captured immediately by tee Germans,’- two. were -killed and .Quirk and one other 'escaped ~r in different directions. •’.; \Duri ng / the next: 13 drama-pa^ck'ed. days, Quirk was hidden, ■fed and prepared for' his 'subsequent escape by the peopleA FEAST was prepared with a tableful of food, champagne and wines.“I returned there to thank them,” he said, “and left thanking them again,“The .residents,- presented, me with my parachute, which1 theyJOSEPH QUIRJC with World War II paracHute remnantDelaware CountySPORTSCLASSIFIEDCOMICSWEDNESDAY,. - MAY/ 1%--19.72By LINDA REILLY
Newspaper Details
Delaware County Daily Times
Chester, Pennsylvania, US
Wed, May 17, 1972
Page 27
Full Page
Clipped by
George Q.
NA, 09 Oct 2019
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