1943 found Ernst’s radar stationed mostly in Calais and Dunkirk, but Ilse was always on his mind. Weekends were spent together and some weeks his diaries note daily letters to her. Yet the airwar was ever present. On January 20th he noted over 100 aircraft overhead; February 16th, two aircraft shot down over Dunkirk. Then Ernst and Ilse started talking about marriage; on May 5, 1943 she secured a copy of her birth certificate - the first step in securing a marriage license. But the war wouldn’t give them up. Bombing raids became more frequent, more intense, and with the 8th Air Force hitting by day and the Brits by night a radar operator saw little rest. On April 5, 1943 he wrote, “Terrorangriff on Mortsel, Antwerp, 2007 victims". On this date, the US Eighth Air Force launched Mission No. 50, targeting the Erla aircraft repair works in Mortsel, which manufactured engines for the Luftwaffe. The raid was a catastrophic failure in precision; of the bombs dropped by the B-17 Flying Fortresses, the vast majority missed the factory and obliterated the surrounding residential areas. Historical records confirm 936 deaths, including 209 children, making it the deadliest single air raid in Belgian history. His terminology of a “terror raid” and the inflated number of casualties reflects the German propaganda framing of area bombing.
1943 Turning Tides
1943 Engaged
Ernst and Ilse's engagement announcement.
Changing Tides
In November they were engaged and both received leave to go home and celebrate with their families. On the 13th they departed Calais for Grünberg and stopped in Berlin to see her father’s brother Otto Wansky. On the 17th they celebrated their engagement with her family in Silesien but their joy was pierced with anxiety as they sheltered from air raids on the 18th then left for his family near Stuttgart. On November 22 they took a train through Berlin as it was bombed and Otto’s house was destroyed. They found themselves in the beginning of the Battle of Berlin as the airwar pounded Germany 24/7 - Berlin was no longer the leisurely break they had the year before. On the 23rd they were in Kirchheim and Ernst’s parents met their future daughter-in-law for the first time. On the 25th there was joy as his brother Heiner returned from the Russian front to meet his future sister-in-law but the next day Ernst wrote in his diary Stuttgart was hit as 178 planes rained bombs on that city in the distance. The next day Heiner shipped out for Russia again, Ernst for Calais, and Ilse for Lille. The war was ever present.
On December 16th Ernst took a blood test for the marriage license and eventually spent the rest of December tracking the bombers.
Ernst & Ilse on April 5, 1943 in Lille celebrating her 26th. Sadly on that same day tragedy befell Antwerp when nearly 1000 Belgian civilians were killed, including 209 children, in an air raid. Residential areas were hit by 24 tons of bombs dropped by the 8th Air Force targeting the Erla aircraft factory.
Meeting the in-laws in Kirchheim on November 24, 1943. The couple are in their uniforms, likely having just arrived by train. Ernst's father Adolf stands at the top of the stairs with his wife Pauline in front of him and behind Ilse who is holding the child.
Ilse's birth certificate was part of the necessary documents gathered for the marriage license. As part of their racist policies the Nazi regime required a host of paperwork to prove "pure" German blood.
