Eli Baker fonds
https://www.cjhn.ca/en/permalink/cjhn80325
- Collection
- Eli Baker fonds
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 1 file, 1 photograph
- Fonds No.
- I0062
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of two copied B&W photographs and two documents from his prisoner of war period as well as a photocopy of an article from the Ottawa Citizen from June 5, 1944 anouncing Baker missing in action and recipient of Distinguished Flying Cross.
- Archival / Genealogical
- Archival Descriptions
- Collection
- Eli Baker fonds
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 1 file, 1 photograph
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of two copied B&W photographs and two documents from his prisoner of war period as well as a photocopy of an article from the Ottawa Citizen from June 5, 1944 anouncing Baker missing in action and recipient of Distinguished Flying Cross.
- Date
- 1944
- Fonds No.
- I0062
- History Biographical
- Eli Baker was born November 20, 1920 in Ottawa, the son of Jacob and Fanny Baker. Eli attended York Street School, followed by Lisgar Collegiate. He was a member of the Maccabean Athletic Association. In 1941, Eli enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He trained as a mechanic in Toronto and St. Thomas, Ontario, as well as Bella Bella, British Columbia. He completed basic training in Edmonton, Alberta, and then attended the Air Observer School where he training as a navigator. He became a Pilot Officer and went overseas in 1942 eventually joining Canada's "Goose Squadron." He flew 45 missions over Europe as part of the Pathfinders. They only flew at night and were the first over the target to drop flares for other planes in bomber command. He flew in Wellingtons, Halifax and Lancaster bombers which had a crew of 8 men. Eli recalled a close call during a return sortie, when an an incendiary bomb from an allied plane above Eli Baker’s, dropped through this plane and damaged the navigational instruments. He was able to use his “celestial navigator” training and bring the plane safely back to base. Eli Baker was shot down over Holland during his 46th mission on May 23, 1944. Incidentally Eli and his pilot volunteered their services to another flight crew who needed to make one last mission to make 45 in total. Eli survived but the pilot did not. Six of the crew of eight survived. They were transported by passenger train to Sagan, Poland and were made prisoners of war in Stalag 3. When the Russians broke through in 1945, they were marched to Hamburg, Germany. Then when the British broke through German lines, he and other POW's were marched to the Kiel Canal. Eli was liberated on May 6, 1945. He weighed 114 pounds, 26 pounds less than when he entered the service. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross in June, 1944. Because Eli Baker had been registered with the Red Cross he was allowed to write two letters each month, one to his parents and one to his pen pal (and future wife) Lillian Greenblatt. Lillian and Eli became pen pals after Harry Pollock, an friend of Eli's, visited his uncle in Hollywood and met Lillian while delivering bread to the Greenblatt Deli. Prior to Harry's trip, Eli had jokingly said that if Harry found him a nice gal in Hollywood, he would write to her. It happened. Lillian made a trip to Ottawa by train in 1944 to visit the Baker family before ever meeting Eli. Lillian was born in Los Angeles, California. Lillian’s letters were sent to Ottawa and Eli’s sister Ann forwarded them to Lillan. Lillian had forward her responses to Eli through Ann as well. Eli returned Canada, first landing in Halifax on the Louis Pasteur in the summer of 1945. Shortly aftewrward, Eli travelled to Los Angeles where he and Lillian met and married. He went on to work as stock broker with Meryl Lynch in Los Angeles. Eli’s two sisters, Malca (Baker) Lebell of Santa Barbara, California, and Betty (Baker) Kotzer of Toronto remember Yom Kippur of 1944 very well. Both Betty and Malca were too young to fast so they returned to home at lunch time. A telegram or letter was delivered stating that that Eli had been taken as POW. Previously they had not known if he had survived the plane crash tmonths earlier. The two girls ran to the shul, Agudath Israel on Fairmount Avenue, and delivered the message to their parents. The shul erupted in thanksgiving. Malca Baker Lebell descibed the day as “the most momentous event of her life.”
- Notes
- 1. Information obtained by past Archivist Dawn Logan via a telephone conversation with Eli Baker, July 18, 2007. Additional notes from Dawn Logan speaking with Eli Baker at Hillel Lodge while he visited Ottawa, August 27, 2008. 2. A day or two after being shot down over Holland, Eli Baker briefly met a Dutch farmer in his field and gave him his Ottawa address. After the war, to the surprise of Fanny and Jacob Baker, the Dutch family Kuensten wrote the Bakers and they sponsored the family's immigration to Canada.
- Related Material
- There I was ... a collection of reminiscences by members of the Ottawa Jewish Community who served in World War II.
- Archival / Genealogical
- Archival Descriptions
- Repository
- Ottawa Jewish Archives
