Studiegroep Luchtoorlog 1939-1945

						Sgt. Norman Huntley Michie was the mid upper gunner of Halifax LK956. On the return flight from a bombing mission to Leverkusen the aircraft was hit by Flak (according to other sources a night fighter). After bailing out Michie landed near Son. He first slept for a couple of hours in a ditch close to where he had landed. The next morning at around 5.30 AM he started walking. He was lucky, because he ran into the hands of a resistance worker. He was taken to the farm of Johannes Corsten at B 19 in Lieshout. Here he met his captain, F/Sgt. H.C. Shepherd (E0198) again. The two airmen remained on this address for ten days - from 20 until 30 November - on the hayloft. In this period the Family Jack and Jo Staadegaard of the farm “Woodsplace” in Mariahout assisted by providing food and clothes.

On 1 December 1943 Shepherd and Michie left to a butchery at Grubbenvorst. The day after they moved on to Neeritter. From here they were escorted to Ell. They remained in this village for a few days before, on 12 December, they travelled to Weert and from there to the farm of family Willem J. and Anna Bardoel in nearby Sterksel from 12 to 17 December. They arrived here on the same day as an American airman, LCol. Thomas H. Hubbard (E0194). On 17 December, Hubbard, Shepherd and Michie cycled to Maarheeze escorted by five policemen from Weert. In Maarheeze, the airmen hid in the cellar of a place called 'De Rode Kar' (the Red Wagon), a railway wagon converted into a two-room dwelling, owned by Harrie and Trien Semler. In Maarheeze they joined S/Sgt. Francis McDermott (E0220) and an unnamed Russian escapee. Before these men crossed the border into Belgium, they had to give their name, rank and service number and fill in a short questionnaire. This information was transmitted to London via Belgium for verification. In return the resistance group was informed that Hubbard had to be sent on alone, due to his rank and the military information he knew. Hubbard left at the end of December.

Shepherd and Michie had to wait longer. Because the Germans patrolled intensely in the border area during these weeks, it took until the beginning of January before the two could cross the border. They first went to the house of Frans Wijnen. After one night here the moved on to Overpelt the next day. In the house of shoemaker Bert Spooren they stayed for two days. On 7 January 1944, Charel Willekens escorted Michie and Shepherd first to Antwerp and then on to Brussels by tram. Here both airmen each went their own way. Shepherd was arrested in Brussels on 28 January 1944. Michie wasn't captured. Possibly he first stayed for fifteen days on the address of Marguerite Nicholls at Savarinstraat 92 in Elsene-Brussel. Michie found also shelter, from 21 January until 3 February, in the house of Georgette and Régine De Vreucht at the Arnold Delvauxlaan 23 in Ukkel. In February 1944 Émile Pecriau, a member of the 'Secret Army' escorted Michie from Brussels to Boussu-lez-Walcourt, south of Charleroi and from there to a camp nearby in the Bois de Falemprise. He hid here with others in a hut, among whom were several airmen: Sgt. J.P. Healey, Sgt. W.F. Renner, F/Sgt. V.E. Horn, Sgt. H.A. Lucas, 1/Lt. D.C. Roraback, 2/Lt. E.C. Gilcrease (E0216) and  S/Sgt. C.J. Higgins (E0219). It seems that he also hid in this period a few days in the house of Mrs. Wauthier de Beaumont and eight days in the house of Mr. Ghislain Pavot at the Grand-Rue in Boussu-lez-Walcourt. He eventually ended up in the little village of Fairoul near Walcourt in the Belgian province of Namen. Here he hid on a farm until the end of July 1944. On 30 July 1944, the Germans began to retreat from the area around Fairoul, whereupon Michie was forced to vacate his hiding-place in favor of the woods. He was liberated on 5 September 1944 by military of the First American Army. On 17 September 1944 he flew back to England.