A Father’s 3-Year Search Ends- Captain Ellis S Middleton Found in German Grave

SN 790698

Ellis Spear Middleton, Sr made it his life goal to bring home the body of his only son, Captain Ellis Middleton, II. Captain Middleton, a US Army Air Corps pilot, was declared missing in action (MIA) in 1944. That search ended May 20, 1948, when Ellis S Middleton received word from the US Army that his son’s remains had been located in a single grave near Reichswald, Germany, four years after his son’s fighter plane went missing. The news ended a 3-year campaign which involved Middleton distributing 30,000 fliers with his son’s picture and plane description all over Holland, Belgium, and Germany. Captain Ellis S Middleton's II plane crashed during the Arnhem Offensive in Holland.

Captain Middleton was a fighter pilot with the 350th Fighter Squadron of the 353rd Fighter Group based in England. On September 23, 1944, he volunteered to participate in a mission to support the paratroopers landing in Arnhem, Holland. Middleton was piloting a P-47 Thunderbolt #42-26525 when it failed to return. He was reported missing although his plane was not witnessed to go down.

Capt Middleton’s father, who himself had been a fighter pilot during WWI, began preparing a search campaign well before the war was over. He gathered information from his son’s ground crew, the description of the plane, and any other information about his son’s final flight that he thought would be helpful. He compiled this information into a circular that included a photo of his son. The circular was translated and mailed to every town “ burgomaster” in the region. He asked that the circulars be posted in public places where as many people as possible could see them.

When mail service returned to the war-torn areas of Europe, the circulars were sent out. Then Middleton waited. Very soon letters from hundreds of sympathetic Europeans offering help came in. A Dutch railway executive requested 5,000 circulars to be posted in his streetcars and trains.

One of those circulars was viewed by a German forester named Karl Reimer. Reimer went to American officials and told them that he had witnessed an American plane crash in September of 1944 in the Reichswald forest in the western part of Germany. He also described seeing the pilot being buried by paratroopers who erected a crude birch cross over the grave. Soon afterwards, Riemer was evacuated from the area due to increased war time fighting. Many months after he returned, he was surprised to see the cross had been replaced with a sign that said “Unknown German Soldier”.

After hearing Riemer’s story, Army personnel examined the grave and found it to contain the remains of an American soldier. Dental charts and items contained in the pockets of the deceased soldier were used to help positively identify the body as Capt Ellis S Middleton, II. In his pocket were the keys to a Ford car that he had owned as well as a lighter belonging to Capt Middleton. Additionally, the nearby wreckage of the P-47 plane also had machine guns which had matching numbers to those that were known to be on Middleton’s plane he was flying the day he went missing.

“It is a great relief,” said Ellis Middleton, Sr., who never gave up hope of locating his son. The Stamford, Connecticut attorney said it was his one aim in life- to locate his boy’s body.

It should also be noted that in addition to locating the body of his son, between 6-8 other missing American soldiers' remains were found as a direct result of the circulars that Middleton had so painstakingly distributed! Not only did the Middleton family find closure, but many other American families do not have to lie awake at night wondering what happened to their loved one.

Captain Middleton’s body was transferred to a US military cemetery at Neville-En Condroz, Belguim as it awaited to be returned to the US for final burial.

Captain Ellis Spear Middleton II was born December 1, 1919 in Washington, DC, to Ellis S Middleton, Sr and Anna (Blake) Middleton. He attended the University of Virginia where he received a law degree and was a member of the Virginia Bar. He enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in November of 1941. In 1943, he married Anne Hooe Rust, the daughter of Virginia State Senator John Rust. The couple was blessed with a daughter named Eleanor Hart Middleton. These are his only survivors.

Capt. Middleton was buried in Arlington National Cemetery on May 2, 1949, with full military honors. His final resting place is in Section 11, Grave 38.

Awards:

Distinguished Flying Cross

Air Medal with 5 Oak Leaf Clusters

Purple Heart

American Defense Service Medal

World War II Victory Medal

European/African/Middle Eastern Campaign

American Campaign Medal

Translated Missing Flier Poster:

Have you seen this American pilot?

Last seen in his Thunderbolt in the Arnhem Area on September 23, 1944.
In case of memory loss, he may respond to the name of his wife Anne Hooe, or his daughter Hart or his Danish dog Beowulf. He smokes by preference American “Camel” cigarettes, likes poetry and cards. And to amuse, he likes to imitate a monkey.
In the last section they talk about his teeth, the ones he misses and has fillings for identification.
If you have any information, please tell your mayor.
Ellis S Middleton

Sources:

The Journal (Meriden, Connecticut) 20 May 1948, Thu

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99949164/capt-ellis-s-middleton-body-is-found-19/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99952007/london-quest-not-in-vain/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99952262/search-for-missing-sons-body-ends/

https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=369566

https://www.fold3.com/memorial/638749243/ellis-s-middleton

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/200934

https://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/56925

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

If you notice anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to add, please contact me at dklehman81@gmail.com. Debi Lehman SBTS Writer

SBTSProject/Alabama/Talladega County

Middleton, Ellis Spear, II, Capt