Wings lost and found in Portugal

Mechanical breakdowns, fuel shortages and combat damage obliged more than 100 aircraft to end their missions in Portugal, a neutral country in the political landscape of Europe during the Second World War. A cross-over point for the United Kingdom and its allies, Portugal witnessed intense aerial activity. This had an impact on the country from north to south.

Carlos Guerreiro, a journalist and correspondent for Television channel TVI, wanted to trace these events, many of which have been forgotten in Portugal’s contemporary history.

His “mission” started in 1993 with an article written about a fisherman from Faro. On a cold and distant night in November 1943, Jaime Nunes (since deceased) was fishing a few miles out of Faro, when he heard a huge explosion at sea. A lost PB4Y-1 (a naval version of the four-engined B-24 Liberator) dive-bombed into the water. The fishing boat returned home with a full load of everything but fish - Jaime Nunes and two other fishermen had saved the lives of six American pilots.

Inspired by this story, the journalist decided to investigate further and look into other events like this in Portugal. “This is not an academic piece of research. It was a process that gradually starting taking shape as my objectives developed. Initially I was only interested in stories told by survivors, but soon enough someone sent me a photograph and I starting collecting all the material I could find.” Ten years down the line his work has culminated in a book.

When he started, “investigation was slow, difficult and lengthy. I would send letters that would take forever to arrive. Occasionally I received a reply. With the advent of the Internet towards the end on the 90s this became easier and I discovered that a lot of war veterans were on-line,” he recounts.

“Today the Internet is widely used, but in the 90s it was still embryonic. I remember being surprised to find people over 80 using it with amazing ease,” he tells.

Besides some odd news items published in newspapers of the time, and certainly censored by Salazar’s repressive regime, Guerreiro had little information on the pilots who were forced to land in Portugal.

Mário Canongia Lopes, researcher and author of «Os aviões da Cruz de Cristo» - a book about all the aircraft that served the Portuguese Air Force and which therefore identifies many of the aircraft that landed in Portugal between 1938 and 1945 - gave the journalist invaluable help. “He deserves a lot of the merit for this book. At the time, he had already consulted several English and American archives and had some information. The most important thing for me was the names,” Guerreiro continues.

“Each time I discovered the name of a member of the crew I would consult the Internet’s telephone directories and look for all the people with the same surname. If there were twenty names, I would send twenty letters – introducing myself, explaining how in a certain year a person of that name had been part of the crew of an airplane that had landed in my country, and asking for any information they might have on this,” he recalls.

The telephone directory helped but it did not always provide an e-mail contact. “There were months that I would send fifty, sixty, seventy letters. I would allocate part of my salary to pay for stamps and also place ads in magazines and newspapers that I knew veterans read,” he adds.

This way, “I didn’t just find survivors, but also their families.” This was the case, for example, with Novo Maryonovich, a North American pilot whose B-17 fell into the sea in a forced landing near Sesimbra. “His nephew replied to my letter. He sent me photographs and even a diary.”

Curiosity was his driving force. But what else did this journalist learn in the end? “This is an excellent question. Besides discovering an important part of our recent history, I think I now have a better understanding of the Portuguese of the time.”

Remember that Portugal was a rural country which had never been industrialized. During those years, the war was close and far away at the same time.

The majority of the population was involved in agriculture; illiteracy and poverty were commonplace. This fact surprised the airmen, who were, after a time, interned in Elvas before being repatriated. Many, however, have very fond memories of the days they spent in Portugal; of their interactions with people and the leniency of the authorities. In this town in the Alentejo, some people still have photographs in their family albums of the airmen they met.

Another interesting aspect is that, besides its neutral and non-belligerent status - and the fact that it sold wolfram and raw materials to Germany - Portugal’s sympathies lay with the allies.

English diplomats, who had old and strong ties with our country, were easily able to evacuate allied crews.

Spain on the other hand supported the Reich and this may explain why there are only six recorded landings of German aircraft in distress, in Portugal.

Furthermore, the use of the verb “aterrar” (land) in the imperative, suggests exactly this. “During the war, thousands of planes flew over Portuguese skies.

According to some of the pilots I spoke to, there was an un-stated order to land in Portugal if they should experience problems during a flight.”

Guerreiro adds, “I developed a huge respect for all the people I interviewed. In many cases, it was not easy to get people to speak openly. Many had had traumatic experiences - companions who’d been killed, danger, problems and severe difficulties. I remember a gentleman who never replied to any of the letters I wrote to him. Later, I understood why. I learnt that all his companions from Elvas had subsequently died in battle. He had been the only survivor. These situations obviously leave their mark. Encouraging people to trust me and send me documents and information was also a challenge. All these interactions have given me precious experience as a journalist.”

Thanks to the efforts of this journalist, the fisherman from Faro was awarded for his heroic deed by the North American Embassy, nearly seventy years after the event. Guerreiro even managed to hold a video-conference in 1999, where he united all the veterans who played a lead role in this period of history. Two of the three crew members who made an emergency landing in Serpa in 1943 were re-united after more than sixty years.

“I hope this is only the beginning and that other people will continue with this research,” he concludes.