Edward J. Haviland Jr., a retired Social Security Administration lawyer who participated in one of World War II's most daring escapes, died Oct. 29 of cancer at his West Joppa Road residence. He was 69.
Born and reared on Evesham Avenue in Govans, he left Loyola High School during his senior year in 1943 to join the Army Air Forces.
In 1945, he was a turret gunner on a B-24 Liberator that was on bombing run to destroy Japanese battleships that were refueling off the coast of Borneo in the South Pacific. The plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire, and the pilot and two crewmen were killed.
Mr. Haviland and seven other crewmen parachuted onto the island of Borneo and were taken in by the Dyaks, a tribe of headhunters who hid them from Japanese search parties.
For nine months, the Americans were listed by the War Department as "missing in action and presumed dead." Then one day, they stumbled on a group of Australian soldiers, who had been operating behind enemy lines, gathering intelligence for a planned invasion by combined American and Australian forces. Reunion with American troops was at hand.
But first they "needed a boat to go down the river and the natives were reluctant to barter for it until [Mr. Haviland] convinced them to take his Loyola High School ring for it -- and somewhere in Borneo to this day is a Loyola class ring," said Robert F. Sweeney, Chief Judge of the District Court of Maryland, a friend since seventh grade and golfing companion for 50 years.
Using the Australians' radio, the Americans contacted the Royal Australian Air Force, which flew out the survivors aboard a Piper Cub airplane after the Dyaks built a bamboo airstrip.
The escape was covered in newspapers and magazines, but Mr. Haviland seldom spoke about it until he was near death and recorded his memories, reasoning that "Someday I would like my grandchildren to know this story," according to a daughter, Margaret Haviland Stansbury of Baltimore.
After the war, he earned a bachelor's degree in 1947 from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and a law degree from the University of Baltimore in 1955. He worked for several years for Eastern Airlines before joining SSA in 1958. He retired in 1988.
He was awarded his high school diploma in May.
"He had a gift for humor and an even rarer gift of having people consider him their best friend. He was totally without prejudice and there was no rancor or hostility in him. This is a special loss to me," said Judge Sweeney.
A Mass of Christian burial was to offered at 1 p.m. today at St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Church, Calvert and Madison streets, Baltimore.
Besides his daughter, he is survived by his wife of 44 years, the former Ann Beeler; two sons, E. Joseph Haviland III of Baltimore and Michael P. Haviland of Atlanta; two other daughters, Nancy Haviland Fish of McDaniel and Mary S. Haviland of Baltimore; three sisters, Frances E. Bolth of Baltimore, and Margaret H. Calta and Nancy C. Haviland, both of Red Bank, N.J.; and seven grandchildren.
Memorial donations may be made to the Kennedy Krieger
Institute, 707 N. Broadway, Baltimore 21205; or Loyola High School, 500 Chestnut Ave., Towson 21204.