Robert Post (journalist)
Encyclopedia
Robert Perkins Post worked as a reporter for the New York Times during WWII
. He was part of a group of eight reporters, known as the Legion of the Doomed or the Writing 69th, selected to fly bomber missions with United States Eighth Air Force
over Germany
. Post died over Oldenburg
, Germany.
. Post attended prep schools until he made it to Harvard and graduated there in 1932 with plans to become a journalist. During summer vacations from school Post spent time working at various publications including the Putnam Patriot and the New York World
.
, the head of the New York Times Washington bureau, as a junior correspondent. Krock told post to do it the hard way and work his way up, he offered him a position as an office boy running messages for the phone operator. He took it. Post, however, briefly left Washington bound for New York City where he would work on Fiorello H. La Guardia's mayoral re-election campaign and, simultaneously his brother, Langdon Ward Post's, bid for borough president. After his brother lost Post returned to Washington.
Post worked for the Times in Washington as a White House correspondent during in 1936 and 1937. He was in the Times Washington bureau for several years from 1934-1938. It was during this time, in 1935 that he married Margaret "Margot" Lapsley in Brooklyn, Connecticut
. After honeymooning in the West Indies, Post and his new wife settled in Washington while he worked at the Times. While in Washington, Post built a friendship with then President Franklin Roosevelt.
One of the more well known anecdotes revolving around Post and FDR involved the all-important question of whether or not Roosevelt would seek a third term. At a press conference Post asked FDR about his intentions to which Roosevelt gave a nonchalant reply and joked about the weather. Undeterred, Post pressed him on the issue. More than a little annoyed FDR retorted, "Bob, go put on the dunce cap and stand in the corner." As Roosevelt exited the press conference he gave Post a thumbs down. The press had quite the field day with the incident and used it as a microcosm on FDR dodging or ignoring important questions. Three years later FDR was indeed nominated for a third term and accepted. Post sent him a congratulatory message that said, "Who's the dunce now?"
In December 1937 Post found out he was to be moved to London. In London he reported on the Battle of Britain
. He filed a number of stories on that battle and used to sit on Shakespeare Cliff, west of Dover and watch air battles unfold. As a firsthand witness to the bombing of London he put into words what he saw after a German air raid destroyed Commons Chamber of the Houses of Parliament
and blew the roof off Westminster Abbey
.
By the early 1940s the Times London bureau included, Post, bureau chief Raymond "Pete" Daniell, Tania Long (who later married Daniell), David Anderson, Hal Denny, Walter Leysmith, Jamie MacDonald, Drew Middleton, Bob Post, and James Reston
. After a Sept. 7, 1940 air raid destroyed their headquarters Daniell moved the staff to the Savoy Hotel
where many journalists had gathered after the fall of France.
He was one of the first reporters to file the story about Rudolf Hess
parachuting into Scotland in May 1941. He likened Hess' arrival to "something out of a mystery thriller." Post was one of the eight reporters who trained with the United States Eighth Air Force in 1943 in order to fly along on B-24 and B-17 Flying Fortress bomber missions into Germany. After a week of high-altitude training Post flew his first mission on a B-24 Liberator on February 26, 1943. During the raid Post's aircraft encountered German fighter aircraft and was shot down over Oldenburg, Germany
. Post and most of the crew did not survive the encounter.
and war correspondent Helen Millbank of the Chicago Daily News
, tried to reassure him, but Post insisted he wasn't coming back.
At the time, Post had been trying to hitch a ride on a bomber for two years, first with the RAF and later with the U.S. Army Air Force. He and the other journalists trained with the Air Force for a week, learning relevant skills such as adjustment to high-altitude flying, parachuting and weapons use. After the training period the Writing 69th were assigned to their first mission.
In addition to the writers of the 69th five newsreel cameramen took part in the training with the Writing 69th. They and their affiliations were:
". The first and last mission for the 69th would come on February 26, 1943. An American group of B-24s and B-17s were dispatched to take out the Focke-Wulf
aircraft factory in Bremen, Germany. As fate would have it, the skies over Bremen were overcast and the bombing run had to be diverted to a secondary target, the submarine pens at Wilhelmshaven
.
Of the eight journalists who comprised the Legion of the Doomed, six went on that fateful mission: Post, Cronkite, Rooney, Wade, Bigart, and Hill. Over Oldenburg, Germany, the group encountered German fighters. Post's B-24 was shot down and exploded in mid-air. Eight Air Force crew members were killed along with Post. The other planes returned safely, though the plane Rooney was on sustained some flak damage. Post's death effectively ended the days of reporters flying on bombing missions. Others, including Scott and Manning (who both missed the Wilhelmshaven raid), did fly after Post's mission, but it was not nearly as common after Post's death. Post is buried in the U.S. Military Cemetery at Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium.
Upon hearing of Post's loss, an officer at the 44th Bomb Group wrote:
One of the two crew members who did survive the explosion, Second Lieutenant Wayne Gotke, later wrote about the experience after he was released from a German POW camp. The mission was unique because of the large number of firsthand accounts from the reporters. The German fighter pilot who shot down the bomber, Heinz Knoke
, wrote about the incident in a book, I Flew Further, after the war.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He was part of a group of eight reporters, known as the Legion of the Doomed or the Writing 69th, selected to fly bomber missions with United States Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
over Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Post died over Oldenburg
Oldenburg
Oldenburg is an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western part of the state between the cities of Bremen and Groningen, Netherlands, at the Hunte river. It has a population of 160,279 which makes it the fourth biggest city in Lower Saxony after Hanover, Braunschweig...
, Germany.
Early life
Post was the son of a well-to-do New York lawyer; his family summered in a mansion called Strandhome on Long Island's Great South BayGreat South Bay
Great South Bay is a lagoon situated between Long Island and Fire Island, in the State of New York. It is approximately long. It's protected from the Atlantic Ocean by Fire Island, a barrier island, as well as the eastern end of Jones Beach Island and Captree Island.Robert Moses Causeway adjoins...
. Post attended prep schools until he made it to Harvard and graduated there in 1932 with plans to become a journalist. During summer vacations from school Post spent time working at various publications including the Putnam Patriot and the New York World
New York World
The New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...
.
Career
Upon graduation from Harvard Post took a position with the Boston American and in 1933 he applied for a job with Arthur KrockArthur Krock
Arthur Krock was a journalist and received the nickname "Dean of Washington newsmen". Born in Glasgow, Kentucky in 1887, he grew up with his grandparents, Emmanuel and Henrietta Morris...
, the head of the New York Times Washington bureau, as a junior correspondent. Krock told post to do it the hard way and work his way up, he offered him a position as an office boy running messages for the phone operator. He took it. Post, however, briefly left Washington bound for New York City where he would work on Fiorello H. La Guardia's mayoral re-election campaign and, simultaneously his brother, Langdon Ward Post's, bid for borough president. After his brother lost Post returned to Washington.
Post worked for the Times in Washington as a White House correspondent during in 1936 and 1937. He was in the Times Washington bureau for several years from 1934-1938. It was during this time, in 1935 that he married Margaret "Margot" Lapsley in Brooklyn, Connecticut
Brooklyn, Connecticut
Brooklyn is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 7,173 at the 2000 census. The town center village is listed by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place...
. After honeymooning in the West Indies, Post and his new wife settled in Washington while he worked at the Times. While in Washington, Post built a friendship with then President Franklin Roosevelt.
One of the more well known anecdotes revolving around Post and FDR involved the all-important question of whether or not Roosevelt would seek a third term. At a press conference Post asked FDR about his intentions to which Roosevelt gave a nonchalant reply and joked about the weather. Undeterred, Post pressed him on the issue. More than a little annoyed FDR retorted, "Bob, go put on the dunce cap and stand in the corner." As Roosevelt exited the press conference he gave Post a thumbs down. The press had quite the field day with the incident and used it as a microcosm on FDR dodging or ignoring important questions. Three years later FDR was indeed nominated for a third term and accepted. Post sent him a congratulatory message that said, "Who's the dunce now?"
In December 1937 Post found out he was to be moved to London. In London he reported on the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
. He filed a number of stories on that battle and used to sit on Shakespeare Cliff, west of Dover and watch air battles unfold. As a firsthand witness to the bombing of London he put into words what he saw after a German air raid destroyed Commons Chamber of the Houses of Parliament
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
and blew the roof off Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
.
The sun rose red over London yesterday after one of the worst air raids that London has experienced. Weary and drawn after a night of horror and fire - a night that even women living alone spent in putting out incendiaries - London began to make a preliminary reckoning of what happened...It is perhaps not important to the historian that little shops have been blasted or that a street of little homes has been destroyed: but it is vital to men who own and work in those shops and live in those houses. But Londoners recovering from this raid - and though it was bad it is too early yet to say that it was one of the worst in history - felt a savage satisfaction when they read in their papers or heard on their radios that thirty-three raiders had been shot down, four by anti-aircraft fire and twenty-nine by fighters. It was good news and it would probably have been better news if all the speculation had been told, because it is probable that many more Nazi planes were damaged or brought down. Some speculations go far beyond the official figure and in any case it was a very fair percentage of the total raiders over England.
- Robert Perkins Post, New York Times, May 12, 1941
By the early 1940s the Times London bureau included, Post, bureau chief Raymond "Pete" Daniell, Tania Long (who later married Daniell), David Anderson, Hal Denny, Walter Leysmith, Jamie MacDonald, Drew Middleton, Bob Post, and James Reston
James Reston
James Barrett Reston , nicknamed "Scotty," was an American journalist whose career spanned the mid 1930s to the early 1990s. He was associated for many years with the New York Times.-Life:...
. After a Sept. 7, 1940 air raid destroyed their headquarters Daniell moved the staff to the Savoy Hotel
Savoy Hotel
The Savoy Hotel is a hotel located on the Strand, in the City of Westminster in central London. Built by impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan operas, the hotel opened on 6 August 1889. It was the first in the Savoy group of hotels and restaurants owned by...
where many journalists had gathered after the fall of France.
He was one of the first reporters to file the story about Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Walter Richard Hess was a prominent Nazi politician who was Adolf Hitler's deputy in the Nazi Party during the 1930s and early 1940s...
parachuting into Scotland in May 1941. He likened Hess' arrival to "something out of a mystery thriller." Post was one of the eight reporters who trained with the United States Eighth Air Force in 1943 in order to fly along on B-24 and B-17 Flying Fortress bomber missions into Germany. After a week of high-altitude training Post flew his first mission on a B-24 Liberator on February 26, 1943. During the raid Post's aircraft encountered German fighter aircraft and was shot down over Oldenburg, Germany
Oldenburg
Oldenburg is an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western part of the state between the cities of Bremen and Groningen, Netherlands, at the Hunte river. It has a population of 160,279 which makes it the fourth biggest city in Lower Saxony after Hanover, Braunschweig...
. Post and most of the crew did not survive the encounter.
The Writing 69th
In February 1943 Post stunned two friends with the admission that he thought he was going to die. He had been selected to accompany bomber missions with the 8th U.S. Air Force and would soon be departing for Germany. Post's friends, actress Leonora CorbettLeonora Corbett
Leonora Corbett was a British film actress.On leaving school she studied art but later decided that she would prefer the stage. She made her debut at Cambridge and later appeared on the London stage before appearing on the screen, with Love on Wheels her film debut.-Selected filmography:* Love on...
and war correspondent Helen Millbank of the Chicago Daily News
Chicago Daily News
The Chicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper published between 1876 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.-History:The Daily News was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty in 1875 and began publishing early the next year...
, tried to reassure him, but Post insisted he wasn't coming back.
At the time, Post had been trying to hitch a ride on a bomber for two years, first with the RAF and later with the U.S. Army Air Force. He and the other journalists trained with the Air Force for a week, learning relevant skills such as adjustment to high-altitude flying, parachuting and weapons use. After the training period the Writing 69th were assigned to their first mission.
Members
The seven members of the 69th and their affiliation besides Post:- Homer BigartHomer BigartHomer William Bigart was a reporter for the New York Herald Tribune from 1929 to 1955 and the New York Times from 1955 to his retirement in 1972...
: New York Herald TribuneNew York Herald TribuneThe New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to... - Walter CronkiteWalter CronkiteWalter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
: United Press - Gladwin HillGladwin HillGladwin Hill was an American journalist who was a member of the famed Writing 69th, a group of reporters who trained and flew on bombing missions with the Eighth Air Force.-The Writing 69th:...
: Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists... - Paul Manning: CBS RadioCBS RadioCBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
- Andy Rooney: Stars and StripesStars and Stripes (newspaper)Stars and Stripes is a news source that operates from inside the United States Department of Defense but is editorially separate from it. The First Amendment protection which Stars and Stripes enjoys is safeguarded by Congress to whom an independent ombudsman, who serves the readers' interests,...
- Denton Scott: YankYank, the Army WeeklyYank, the Army Weekly was a weekly magazine published by the United States military during World War II. The idea for the magazine came from Egbert White, who had worked on Stars and Stripes during World War I. He proposed the idea to the Army in early 1942, and accepted a commission as Lieutenant...
- William WadeWilliam Wade (journalist)William Warren Wade was an American war correspondent during World War II. He was a member of an eight man team of journalists who flew bombing missions over Germany with the U.S. Air Force while he was working for the International News Service.- Early life :Wade was born in Manhattan, son of a...
: International News ServiceInternational News ServiceInternational News Service was a U.S.-based news agency founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.Established two years after the Scripps family founded the United Press Association, INS scrapped among the newswires...
In addition to the writers of the 69th five newsreel cameramen took part in the training with the Writing 69th. They and their affiliations were:
- George B. Oswald: Universal NewsreelUniversal NewsreelUniversal Newsreel was a series of 7- to 10-minute newsreels that were released twice a week between 1929 and 1967 by Universal Studios. A Universal publicity official, Sam B. Jacobson, was involved in originating and producing the newsreels...
- Ernest J.H. Wright: Paramount NewsParamount NewsParamount News is the name on the newsreels produced by Paramount Pictures .-History:The Paramount Newsreel began operation in 1927 and distributed roughly two movie theater issues per week until their closing in 1957. Movie theaters across the country would run these issues, usually on 35mm...
- J.L. Ransden: Movietone NewsMovietone NewsMovietone News is a newsreel that ran from 1928 to 1963 in the United States, and from 1929 to 1979 in the United Kingdom.-History:It is known in the U.S. as Fox Movietone News, produced cinema, sound newsreels from 1928 to 1963 in the U.S., from 1929 to 1979 in the UK , and from 1929 to 1975 in...
- Robert K.L. Gordon: Passe Gazette News
- Harold J. Morley: Gaumont BritishGaumont BritishGaumont-British Picture Corporation was the British arm of the French film company Gaumont. The company became independent of its French parent in 1922, when Isidore Ostrer acquired control of Gaumont-British....
Death
Post belonged to the elite group of eight journalists participating in what was known as "The Flying Typewriters", "Legion of the Doomed", or "The Writing 69thThe Writing 69th
The Writing 69th was a group of eight American journalists who trained to fly and flew on bomber missions over Germany with the U.S. Eighth Air Force.- The beginnings :...
". The first and last mission for the 69th would come on February 26, 1943. An American group of B-24s and B-17s were dispatched to take out the Focke-Wulf
Focke-Wulf
Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG was a German manufacturer of civil and military aircraft before and during World War II. Many of the company's successful fighter aircraft designs were slight modifications of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190.-History:...
aircraft factory in Bremen, Germany. As fate would have it, the skies over Bremen were overcast and the bombing run had to be diverted to a secondary target, the submarine pens at Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
.
Of the eight journalists who comprised the Legion of the Doomed, six went on that fateful mission: Post, Cronkite, Rooney, Wade, Bigart, and Hill. Over Oldenburg, Germany, the group encountered German fighters. Post's B-24 was shot down and exploded in mid-air. Eight Air Force crew members were killed along with Post. The other planes returned safely, though the plane Rooney was on sustained some flak damage. Post's death effectively ended the days of reporters flying on bombing missions. Others, including Scott and Manning (who both missed the Wilhelmshaven raid), did fly after Post's mission, but it was not nearly as common after Post's death. Post is buried in the U.S. Military Cemetery at Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium.
Upon hearing of Post's loss, an officer at the 44th Bomb Group wrote:
During the ten days he was here, Post won the confidence of all men and officers. They recognized his sincerity and his courage, for they constantly go through the same dangers themselves and they know the odds. He came at a time when the group had been badly shot up, when our losses had been heavy, when it seemed few people appreciated what they were suffering. Bob Post got close to our men. They poured out their story to him and felt his purpose was to help them win the war. It encouraged them to have the feeling that the people of the United States would be given a true picture of what they were trying to do and what must be done at home if democracy is to survive.
One of the two crew members who did survive the explosion, Second Lieutenant Wayne Gotke, later wrote about the experience after he was released from a German POW camp. The mission was unique because of the large number of firsthand accounts from the reporters. The German fighter pilot who shot down the bomber, Heinz Knoke
Heinz Knoke
Heinz Knoke was a World War II Luftwaffe flying ace. He is credited with 33 confirmed aerial victories, all claimed over the Western theatre of operations, and claimed a further five unconfirmed kills in over 2000 flights...
, wrote about the incident in a book, I Flew Further, after the war.
External links
- On the Writing 69th By: Andy Rooney