Post by jdd2 on Apr 9, 2024 19:05:57 GMT -5
I've watched the whole apple+ series. I preferred the earlier episodes (maybe first 2/3 - 3/4? of them all)--more continuity. After that, it seemed to broaden its scope to the entire (air) war, tho in the final episode or two it did bring some of the people central to the earlier episodes back into focus. I think my dad would have enjoyed it, he was radio and belly gunner on one, and spent a year and a half in stalag XVIIB, walked west at the end, and the series captures a lot of it all. Also watched the companion "The Bloody 100th".
My sister and nephew are going to Norway in early May, to participate in the dedication of something set up last fall (80th anniversary), to commemorate the farmer who sheltered the crew and my dad for about a week before the germans found them (they'd bailed out after a mission there). The farmer has passed, but apparently some of his family will be there.
This is what one of his crew members wrote up later:
My sister and nephew are going to Norway in early May, to participate in the dedication of something set up last fall (80th anniversary), to commemorate the farmer who sheltered the crew and my dad for about a week before the germans found them (they'd bailed out after a mission there). The farmer has passed, but apparently some of his family will be there.
This is what one of his crew members wrote up later:
On November 15, 1943, the 92nd Bomb Group was scheduled for a bombing mission on a target in Germany. I had a cold so the doctor grounded me. The mission, however, was scrubbed (canceled) due to bad weather.
The next morning, November 16, the Group was scheduled to bomb the molybdenum mines at Knaben. Molybdenum is used in making steel, which the Germans needed to make various military weapons. Although ti would be a long mission because of the distance and the fact that there would be little opposition from the ack-ack guns, ti was considered a "milk run". Even though I felt miserable with my cold, I wanted to make the mission with the rest of the crew. Hartnett, Trammer and I were from the original crew formed in the States._ This was ot be our 18" mission, and we hoped to complete the required 25 together. This also influenced my decision to go on this mission. Since this was to be an easy mission, some brass from a higher echelon also wanted to go. So our usual B-17 was turned over to them and we were assigned to an old stand-by plane that had been dragged through numerous missions.
By the time we reached the coast of Norway we were experiencing trouble with the #2 engine. This is the engine on left side next to the plane's fuselage. The propeller on this type of engine was equipped with a device that allows the pilot to control the pitch of the propeller blades. When the engine is not running, the pilot can "feather the prop" or set the blades so the propeller wouldn't windmil. Because of the engine failure we were unable to keep up with the rest of our Group. We continued to the target area and dropped our bombs. The device to "feather" the propeller failed and by this time the propeller was windmilling so fast that the pilot feared it would come off, something that would have severely damaged the plane. At that point the pilot told us to get our parachutes on and be ready to abandon the plane if it became necessary.
The ball turret was located beneath the waist area of the plane's fuselage. To get into the ball, the gunner had to crank the turret open to a point where its two 50 caliber guns are pointing downward. Once inside, the gunner must get into a breech position in order for the turret to be closed. Once it is closed, the gunner is in a position so he can look through the gun sight level with the guns' barrels.
The turret itself was mounted so ti could be rotated in a complete circle and at the same time to be operated from any position, from horizontal to downward 90 degrees. This enabled the gunner to follow a moving target. Two control handles accomplished this. When the gunner pushed or pulled the handles he caused the turret to rise or lower and at the same time by tilting the handles right or left the turret would rotate ni a circular direction. On top of each handle, there was a button to fire the gun. The sight was a computer type; a screen with a vertical post on either side.
You controlled it setting dial to the size of your target. For example, fi the wingspan of your target were 28 feet, you would set the computer at 28. Then, when the plane was within 1000 yards ti would fil the screen between the two vertical posts. The sight was controlled by a foot pedal and for the sight to properly operate it was necessary to use the foot pedal to keep the target framed between the two vertical posts as the guns were being fired.
The intercom is operated by a talk and receives switch by the right foot. At high altitude the temperature ni the turret dropped drastically, sometimes as low as 40 or 50 degrees below zero. For this reason the gunner wore an electrically heated suit. The suit was made with the same principle as an electric blanket. The gunner would also wear electrically heated liners in his flying boots.
Because of the lack of space in the ball turret I couldn't have my chute with me, so I had to leave ti in the waist area of the plane by the turret exit. Upon the pilot's order to prepare to abandon the plane, I got out of the turret, put on my parachute, and joined Tech Sergeant Dennis in the radio room. Staff Sergeant Galloway the tail gunner joined Staff Sergeants Hartnett and Trammer at their positions in the waist area of the plane. Several times I heard the pilot calling on the intercom for Lieutenant Bresbris, the navigator. After several attempts and no answer, he sent Tech Sergeant GeeGee, the top turret gunner, down to the nose of the plane to contact the navigator. Upon arriving there he found the escape hatch of the nose compartment of the plane gone and no navigator. Lieutenant Carmell, the bombardier, was sitting at his station with his headset off, staring into space.
During a previous mission to Stuttgart, Germany, on which I did not go, the plane ran out of gas and was forced to ditch about six miles of the French Coast. The crew had just enough time to inflate one rubber dinghy before the plane sank. Al ten men had waited for several hours in waist-high water until a rescue could be made under cover of darkness. Lieutenant Thornton knew fi we were forced down now into the icy waters of the North Sea, that our survival time would b e minutes, not hours. Accordingly, he had been attempting to contact the navigator to obtain a course toSweden, a neutral country. We had already lost 20 to 30 minutes flying in the wrong direction. He then changed course hoping to reach Sweden. At least fi we had to bail out we would be over land.
After returning to the Coast of Norway, the fighter planes had enough time to refuel and attack us. One of the fighters made a pass at us from the rear, which was not protected due to the pilot's earlier command to be ready to bail out. A 20 - millimeter shell from the fighter hit our #4 engine, which caught fire and became inoperative. Fragments from the shell's explosion passed through the radio room, one piece striking the bridge of my nose, and two others grazing my face. Tech Sergeant Dennis saw the blood on my face and called over the intercom "Sommers has been hit". Iquickly assured him it was minor.
It was too far to fight our way to Sweden in a crippled plane so the pilot gave the order to "hit the silk". Hitting the silk was another way to say "bailout".
The term came from the fact that parachutes had been made of silk. For those men whose lives were saved by parachutes, the Irvin Parachute Company established the "Caterpillar Club". As a member you were given a lapel pin in the image of a caterpillar worm.
When Tech Sergeant Dennis and I got to the escape hatch in the waist of the plane, Staff Sergeant Trammer was trying to pull the emergency release to open the hatch door. Dennis quickly grabbed the release from Trammer and, while pulling the release with a hard jerk, kicked the door open. Just as fast as he had done this, he bailed out. The entire thing went by in one continuous movement. Galloway, who was nearby, went next. Ifollowed him. Later Hartnett told me that Trammer had still been standing in the same place when he bailed out. I suppose seeing us jump had given him the courage to do the same. I don't recall having any doubts or fear about jumping. I suppose it was just a reaction to the conditions at hand. The only instructions I had about the use of the parachute was to count to ten before pulling the rip cord which would prevent the chute from becoming entangled with the plane.
I believe the altitude was about 10,000 feet when I jumped. I hadn't actually jumped, but tumbled out of the plane, which combined with the slip - stream from the moving plane sent me spinning in al directions. Once Ihad recovered from my slip into space I tried to pull the ripcord on my chute. In order to avoid accidentally opening the chute, the ripcord handle was sewn to the cover of the chute. After two or three attempts Iwas able to pull the ripcord.
I must have been falling headfirst when the chute opened as the sudden stop almost jerked off one of my boots. As I swung to and fro I experienced a few momentsof tranquillity. I even started singing the old Hymn, "In the Garden". Shortly after that, I remember seeing a German fighter plane approaching. At first I feared that ti would fly close enough to spill my chute, or knock the air out of it, making it useless. I had heard aboutsuchthingshappening. Oncemyfearhadceased,Inoticedoneofmycrewmen. He had just landed and his chute was entangled on a tree on a rocky ledge. That was when I realized how fast I was falling. It appeared that I, too, would land on the ledge, but instead I was carried past .ti The wind blowing down the ravine made my feet swing out from under me and I landed on my butt. I had always heard of seeing stars when you get hit on the head. The same applies to your butt. I had been told when using the small chute, the impact was the equivalent of jumping from the second floor of a building. I thought I had my chute spilled, but as I started to get up the wind blew me down. I tried again and this time was successful in getting ti of.
The crewman I had seen on the ledge was Galloway. I didn't have a watch but estimated the time to be near 2:00 p.m. Galloway and I hid our chutes and started walking. We tried to conceal ourselves as much as possible. We came to an area where we could see a house and barn. We decided to watch the farm to see if there were any military personnel there. As we sat there enjoying the warmth of the fast setting sun we saw a man bring a team of horses, which he hooked to a wagon and drove away into the woods. As we continued our surveillance we noted a woman moving around the farmyard, apparently doing the evening chores. We decided it would be sate to approach this place.
When we approached the yard, a woman and three girls met us. I would guess the girls to be between five and ten years of age. Galloway and Ihad no knowledge of the Norwegian language and it became clear that they didn't speak English. Ihad cut a piece from my parachute and Iwas now using it to try to indicate that we were American fliers. The woman appeared to be nervous or frightened, and she kept shaking her head, but the girls seemed to be rather amused by all of this, or at least they weren't afraid. If we had stopped to think, we might have realized that the woman was wel aware that we were Americans. We must have presented quite a sight. Galloway needed a shave and at his best gave a rather gruff appearance. I couldn't have looked much better with my face covered in cuts and scratches. I really don't know what we expected from these people except that they just might be able to help us avoid capture.
We then left the farm, and eventually came to a lake and followed along the shore for a while. By now it was getting dark. In the distance we could see a house. We approached it and knocked on the door. A woman greeted us and motioned for us to come inside. There were also an older man and woman there. She gave us food and while we were eating a man came in who I figured was the woman's husband. He spoke enough English that we could understand that one of our crewmen had contacted him and he would take us to him.
We followed him through the woods to a shed, where Lt. Carmell was waiting. He told us that when he opened his chute his left arm had been dislocated and that the Norwegians were getting a doctor. It wasn't long before the doctor arrived. He could speak English but did not have much to say to us except to instruct us on setting Carmell's arm. Another man came with the doctor. He was tall and appeared to be quite strong. Iwil call him Hans since we were involved with him in the next few days.
Our escape kits contained morphine which the doctor gave Carmell to help relieve the pain. The doctor tied a belt around Carmell's wrist and Hans pulled on it in various directions as instructed by the doctor. Galloway and I were trying to hold Carmell, pulling in the opposite direction. The belt broke and Hans said something we didn't understand. He disappeared, and when he returned he had a rope in his hand,
in place.
Hans indicated for us to stay in the shed and, by pointing at his watch, told us he would return at six o'clock the next morning. The three of us buried ourselves in some loose hay and waited for six o'clock to come. Sometime during the night I heard my name being called from somewhere outside. I recognized the voice as Tech Sergeant Dennis. He told us he had landed in the lake and had managed to keep enough wind in his chute to pull him to shore. A Norwegian family had taken him in and dried his clothes. By the time we bedded down, and after talking with Dennis and wondering what the next day would bring, we realized that it had been almost 24 hours since we had been awakened to commence our bombing mission.
As promised, the next morning Hans came to the shed bringing a container of hot milk and something similar to American pancakes. He then led us through the woods and up a hil to where there were some large boulders. Again, he pointed to his watch to tell us when he would return and then left. Of course, it was still quite dark. As the day progressed Lt. Carmell complained of being cold and wanted to build a fire. By now the rest of us figured his officer's status had ceased and we al told him, "NO FIRE". He had been raised in Boston and obviously hadn't spent much time outdoors and as a result, had never learned to "rough it". We decided that building a fire would be like sending a smoke signal to anyone who wanted to find us. Shortly before noon we saw people gathering on a cliff across the valley from us. We hid behind the large boulders and soon heard voices coming closer to us. The German soldiers had spread out and were working their way across the valley to search for us. From my position Icould see a soldier pass through the woods, only about 100 yards from us. The rest of day was uneventful, and as he had promised, Hans showed up in the darkness with hot milk and pancakes. Hans also noted that my clothing consisted of lightweight coveralls over my electrically heated suit and brought me a cardigan sweater. When Hans took out his watch to indicate when he would return, I realized it was going to be another very long night amongst the boulders. The nights in Norway this time of the year were very long.
By morning my cold had become worse and I spent most of the day feeling miserable, dozing of frequently due to fever. The others thought Ishould turn myself ni to the Germans where I could get medical attention. I refused, as I knew the Germans would be putting a lot of pressure on me to divulge the whereabouts of my crewmen and the Norwegian who had been helping us. That night Hans returned and took us to his barn. Galloway and I realized this was the same farm we had first stopped at for help. That night ti snowed. Hans must have been aware of the oncoming snow as he gave us shelter in his barn that night.
Early the next morning he came to the barn with his horse-drawn sleigh and carried us into the woods to a shed. Idon't believe ti was the shed we were taken to the first night. As all of our moves were made during the night I had no sense of direction and was unable to see any landmarks. This shed must have been built to shelter ahorse or cow. One side was open and it had a half loft, which contained some hay. As there was some snow on the ground we remained there that day and night. The next morning Hans arrived with the usual hot milk and pancakes. As most of the snow had melted he led us to a hillside where we could hide amongst some rocks and brush. By some miracle my cold had improved and I did not have any fever. To the best of my knowledge, this was our fourth day, i.e., November 20, 1943.
As I recall it was Sunday evening when a Norwegian came to the shed with a
m e m b e r s , T h e E o t e r Tu t h e r s t a t e d t h e y w a t e m i n g a r e a n g e me n t s t o t a k e u s i n t e a remote area where there was a cabin supplied with food. It would be necessary for us to remain there until Spring, or until such time the snow melted on the mountain trails, and we could cross into Sweden a neutral country.
The next morning Hans did not show up and as ti started to get daylight we went up the hil to our usual hiding place. It was only a short time until the German soldiers appeared, not more than one hundred yards below us. Galloway had gone further into the woods to relieve himself and saw them in time to hide. The soldiers held up four fingers indicating they were looking for our fourth man. Not getting any information from us they motioned for us to keep our hands up and locked behind our heads and marched us away. tI was very difficult to walk through the rough terrain in this manner. After a mile or so we arrived at a house, which we recognized as Hans. We were lined up facing the wall with our hands still locked behind our heads and searched for any concealed weapons. At this time several soldiers came out of Hans' house and we could hear them closing the bolts on their rifles as they loaded them. I remember thinking, "Surely they wouldn't shoot us".
We were taken to a village where there was a detachment of soldiers stationed and placed in a building with Thornton, Bray, Hartnett, Trammer and GeeGee. They had all been captured the first day. Lt. Thornton, who was six feet tall, said the Germans had taken his uniform from him for two days. A tall German who spoke English interrogated us. He was about the same height as Thornton and I figured he had used Thornton's uniform to approach the Norwegians posing as our pilot.
Later that night they brought Galloway in. He said that after the soldiers took us away they returned and searched the hillside, but missed the bush he was hiding under. That night he had returned to the shed and hid in the hay. After a while a soldier had come in with a bayonet and began punching the hay. One of his thrusts struck Galloway's ear but he remained quiet. The soldier himself thought there was no one there and got ready to bed down for the night. When he was digging into the hay ot make a bed he was quite startled to find Galloway there as wel. The Germans were impressed that he had stayed quiet even after being cut by the bayonet.
I assume the Germans realized our tenth crewmen, *Lt. Bresbris, was not in the area, and on November 23' took us to Oslo where we were placed ni individual rooms. My room did not have a window and was just large enough for a cot. The only time I was let out of the room was to go to the toilet. The building must have been close to an airport as I could hear airplanes arriving and departing. I don't recall what I was fed, except Thanksgiving Day I had a bowl of broth with noodles.
November 28th we were removed from solitary and placed on a small cargo ship for the trip across the Baltic Sea. There were 25 to 30 men in the ships hold with us. It was our understanding these men were being sent to a work camp. One was a German soldier who had taken a radio to the home of his girl friend. It was illegal for the Norwegians to have radios. That night we could see the lights on the coast of Sweden, which as a neutral country did not have blackouts. Our ship docked at Arhus, Denmark, the afternoon of November 291h. Iwas impressed with the clean appearance of the city.
The next morning we were placed on a train to continue our trip to Germany. Al nine of us were placed in a compartment built for eight. This did keep us away from the other passengers and easy for the soldiers to guard us. tI was necessary to change trains at Hamburg, Germany and the train was stopped short of the station and we were removed. One seven-day period during July, the British bombed Hamburg at night and the Americans during daylight. The guards were afraid that the civilians would cause trouble if they saw us.
*Due to Bresbris' early bailout he was in a remote area some distance from where we were. After the war I learned he was able to get into Sweden the following spring and return to the States.
We were placed on another train and arrived at the regular passenger station, Frankfurt, Germany, December 2nd.This was a large station with many of the tracks covered bycanopies. Idid not note any damage due to bombing. Evidently the bombing at Frankfurt had been in the freight and industrial area. The civilians that I saw were well dressed and seemed to ignore us. They probably had seen hundreds POW's
as Dulag Luft, the German interrogation center was just a short distance out of town.
At Dulag Luft I was placed in solitary and as in Oslo the room was small and had no windows. December 5th I was taken out of solitary and used ni the kitchen to peelpotatoes; also, I was allowed to write a short letter to my folks. I did not see our three officers. They may have still remained in solitary or already gone to a POW camp for officers only. At Dulag Luft there were about 80 American Sergeants processed to be sent to a prisoner of war camp. December gth we were loaded into two small boxcars. During World War 1this size of car was referred to as 40 and 8, i.e., 40 men and 8 horses. Each end of the car had a deck about 30 inches above the floor. In the center of the cars they had a sandbox and a container where a fire could be built to help keep the cars from getting so cold. Our train spent a lot of time on sidetracks so other trains could pass. Idon't recall how we were fed or fi we were let out of car on any of the stops. I do recall having to relieve myself out of the box car door while the train was moving. I had to have another person hold me so as not to be thrown out. Dennis and I slept on the floor beneath the second deck. This gave us enough room to actually lay down.
Our train arrived at Krems, Austria, about midnight December 10th and we walked to Stalag 17-B prison camp, a distance of about 4 miles. Upon arrival there our hair was sheared; we were given a cold shower and sprayed with some type of chemical to delouse us. By the time we arrived at our assigned barrack, No. 18-A, it was almost daylight.
...
About the middle of October 1943, the American flyers arrived at Stalag XVII-B, which was located about 30 miles upstream on the Danube River from Vienna. Originally it has been an old military camp built around 1937 or 1938. After the war commenced it nominally was responsible for about 65,000 prisoners of war, although usually only about 10,000 were confined at any one time as the balance were in satellite camps scattered about the area. There were initially four compounds for the American prisoners, one compound for German Guards and kitchen facilities. In addition there was a compound consisting of various nationalities, but basically Russians.
The barracks were capable of holding 300 men; that is 150 in each end with a wash area consisting of a few water taps located in the center. The water to these taps was only turned on for a two-hour period three times a day. In addition the wash area had a hearth with a large kettle of approximately 30 gallons capacity. This was our source of hot water. While each end of the barrack had a heating stove, the allotment of coal was not enough to heat the barrack; therefore, we used our coal allotment to heat water in the kettle. Each compound had an outhouse consisting of 10 or 12 holes and a trough. With 800 or 900 men to a compound this place was very congested at times.
Our sleeping facilities were wooden bunks with a plywood bottom and a burlap pallet filled with about one and one-half inches of wood excelsior. The bunks were constructed to accommodate eight men. There were two doublewide tiers. Hartnett and Iwere on the top tier and Geegee and Trammer on the other end. Joe Wilbert and Robert Nicholson were on the bottom tier below Hartnett and me. As there was no table to eat on, our bunk was kitchen and dining room as well as bedroom.
The next morning, November 16, the Group was scheduled to bomb the molybdenum mines at Knaben. Molybdenum is used in making steel, which the Germans needed to make various military weapons. Although ti would be a long mission because of the distance and the fact that there would be little opposition from the ack-ack guns, ti was considered a "milk run". Even though I felt miserable with my cold, I wanted to make the mission with the rest of the crew. Hartnett, Trammer and I were from the original crew formed in the States._ This was ot be our 18" mission, and we hoped to complete the required 25 together. This also influenced my decision to go on this mission. Since this was to be an easy mission, some brass from a higher echelon also wanted to go. So our usual B-17 was turned over to them and we were assigned to an old stand-by plane that had been dragged through numerous missions.
By the time we reached the coast of Norway we were experiencing trouble with the #2 engine. This is the engine on left side next to the plane's fuselage. The propeller on this type of engine was equipped with a device that allows the pilot to control the pitch of the propeller blades. When the engine is not running, the pilot can "feather the prop" or set the blades so the propeller wouldn't windmil. Because of the engine failure we were unable to keep up with the rest of our Group. We continued to the target area and dropped our bombs. The device to "feather" the propeller failed and by this time the propeller was windmilling so fast that the pilot feared it would come off, something that would have severely damaged the plane. At that point the pilot told us to get our parachutes on and be ready to abandon the plane if it became necessary.
The ball turret was located beneath the waist area of the plane's fuselage. To get into the ball, the gunner had to crank the turret open to a point where its two 50 caliber guns are pointing downward. Once inside, the gunner must get into a breech position in order for the turret to be closed. Once it is closed, the gunner is in a position so he can look through the gun sight level with the guns' barrels.
The turret itself was mounted so ti could be rotated in a complete circle and at the same time to be operated from any position, from horizontal to downward 90 degrees. This enabled the gunner to follow a moving target. Two control handles accomplished this. When the gunner pushed or pulled the handles he caused the turret to rise or lower and at the same time by tilting the handles right or left the turret would rotate ni a circular direction. On top of each handle, there was a button to fire the gun. The sight was a computer type; a screen with a vertical post on either side.
You controlled it setting dial to the size of your target. For example, fi the wingspan of your target were 28 feet, you would set the computer at 28. Then, when the plane was within 1000 yards ti would fil the screen between the two vertical posts. The sight was controlled by a foot pedal and for the sight to properly operate it was necessary to use the foot pedal to keep the target framed between the two vertical posts as the guns were being fired.
The intercom is operated by a talk and receives switch by the right foot. At high altitude the temperature ni the turret dropped drastically, sometimes as low as 40 or 50 degrees below zero. For this reason the gunner wore an electrically heated suit. The suit was made with the same principle as an electric blanket. The gunner would also wear electrically heated liners in his flying boots.
Because of the lack of space in the ball turret I couldn't have my chute with me, so I had to leave ti in the waist area of the plane by the turret exit. Upon the pilot's order to prepare to abandon the plane, I got out of the turret, put on my parachute, and joined Tech Sergeant Dennis in the radio room. Staff Sergeant Galloway the tail gunner joined Staff Sergeants Hartnett and Trammer at their positions in the waist area of the plane. Several times I heard the pilot calling on the intercom for Lieutenant Bresbris, the navigator. After several attempts and no answer, he sent Tech Sergeant GeeGee, the top turret gunner, down to the nose of the plane to contact the navigator. Upon arriving there he found the escape hatch of the nose compartment of the plane gone and no navigator. Lieutenant Carmell, the bombardier, was sitting at his station with his headset off, staring into space.
During a previous mission to Stuttgart, Germany, on which I did not go, the plane ran out of gas and was forced to ditch about six miles of the French Coast. The crew had just enough time to inflate one rubber dinghy before the plane sank. Al ten men had waited for several hours in waist-high water until a rescue could be made under cover of darkness. Lieutenant Thornton knew fi we were forced down now into the icy waters of the North Sea, that our survival time would b e minutes, not hours. Accordingly, he had been attempting to contact the navigator to obtain a course toSweden, a neutral country. We had already lost 20 to 30 minutes flying in the wrong direction. He then changed course hoping to reach Sweden. At least fi we had to bail out we would be over land.
After returning to the Coast of Norway, the fighter planes had enough time to refuel and attack us. One of the fighters made a pass at us from the rear, which was not protected due to the pilot's earlier command to be ready to bail out. A 20 - millimeter shell from the fighter hit our #4 engine, which caught fire and became inoperative. Fragments from the shell's explosion passed through the radio room, one piece striking the bridge of my nose, and two others grazing my face. Tech Sergeant Dennis saw the blood on my face and called over the intercom "Sommers has been hit". Iquickly assured him it was minor.
It was too far to fight our way to Sweden in a crippled plane so the pilot gave the order to "hit the silk". Hitting the silk was another way to say "bailout".
The term came from the fact that parachutes had been made of silk. For those men whose lives were saved by parachutes, the Irvin Parachute Company established the "Caterpillar Club". As a member you were given a lapel pin in the image of a caterpillar worm.
When Tech Sergeant Dennis and I got to the escape hatch in the waist of the plane, Staff Sergeant Trammer was trying to pull the emergency release to open the hatch door. Dennis quickly grabbed the release from Trammer and, while pulling the release with a hard jerk, kicked the door open. Just as fast as he had done this, he bailed out. The entire thing went by in one continuous movement. Galloway, who was nearby, went next. Ifollowed him. Later Hartnett told me that Trammer had still been standing in the same place when he bailed out. I suppose seeing us jump had given him the courage to do the same. I don't recall having any doubts or fear about jumping. I suppose it was just a reaction to the conditions at hand. The only instructions I had about the use of the parachute was to count to ten before pulling the rip cord which would prevent the chute from becoming entangled with the plane.
I believe the altitude was about 10,000 feet when I jumped. I hadn't actually jumped, but tumbled out of the plane, which combined with the slip - stream from the moving plane sent me spinning in al directions. Once Ihad recovered from my slip into space I tried to pull the ripcord on my chute. In order to avoid accidentally opening the chute, the ripcord handle was sewn to the cover of the chute. After two or three attempts Iwas able to pull the ripcord.
I must have been falling headfirst when the chute opened as the sudden stop almost jerked off one of my boots. As I swung to and fro I experienced a few momentsof tranquillity. I even started singing the old Hymn, "In the Garden". Shortly after that, I remember seeing a German fighter plane approaching. At first I feared that ti would fly close enough to spill my chute, or knock the air out of it, making it useless. I had heard aboutsuchthingshappening. Oncemyfearhadceased,Inoticedoneofmycrewmen. He had just landed and his chute was entangled on a tree on a rocky ledge. That was when I realized how fast I was falling. It appeared that I, too, would land on the ledge, but instead I was carried past .ti The wind blowing down the ravine made my feet swing out from under me and I landed on my butt. I had always heard of seeing stars when you get hit on the head. The same applies to your butt. I had been told when using the small chute, the impact was the equivalent of jumping from the second floor of a building. I thought I had my chute spilled, but as I started to get up the wind blew me down. I tried again and this time was successful in getting ti of.
The crewman I had seen on the ledge was Galloway. I didn't have a watch but estimated the time to be near 2:00 p.m. Galloway and I hid our chutes and started walking. We tried to conceal ourselves as much as possible. We came to an area where we could see a house and barn. We decided to watch the farm to see if there were any military personnel there. As we sat there enjoying the warmth of the fast setting sun we saw a man bring a team of horses, which he hooked to a wagon and drove away into the woods. As we continued our surveillance we noted a woman moving around the farmyard, apparently doing the evening chores. We decided it would be sate to approach this place.
When we approached the yard, a woman and three girls met us. I would guess the girls to be between five and ten years of age. Galloway and Ihad no knowledge of the Norwegian language and it became clear that they didn't speak English. Ihad cut a piece from my parachute and Iwas now using it to try to indicate that we were American fliers. The woman appeared to be nervous or frightened, and she kept shaking her head, but the girls seemed to be rather amused by all of this, or at least they weren't afraid. If we had stopped to think, we might have realized that the woman was wel aware that we were Americans. We must have presented quite a sight. Galloway needed a shave and at his best gave a rather gruff appearance. I couldn't have looked much better with my face covered in cuts and scratches. I really don't know what we expected from these people except that they just might be able to help us avoid capture.
We then left the farm, and eventually came to a lake and followed along the shore for a while. By now it was getting dark. In the distance we could see a house. We approached it and knocked on the door. A woman greeted us and motioned for us to come inside. There were also an older man and woman there. She gave us food and while we were eating a man came in who I figured was the woman's husband. He spoke enough English that we could understand that one of our crewmen had contacted him and he would take us to him.
We followed him through the woods to a shed, where Lt. Carmell was waiting. He told us that when he opened his chute his left arm had been dislocated and that the Norwegians were getting a doctor. It wasn't long before the doctor arrived. He could speak English but did not have much to say to us except to instruct us on setting Carmell's arm. Another man came with the doctor. He was tall and appeared to be quite strong. Iwil call him Hans since we were involved with him in the next few days.
Our escape kits contained morphine which the doctor gave Carmell to help relieve the pain. The doctor tied a belt around Carmell's wrist and Hans pulled on it in various directions as instructed by the doctor. Galloway and I were trying to hold Carmell, pulling in the opposite direction. The belt broke and Hans said something we didn't understand. He disappeared, and when he returned he had a rope in his hand,
in place.
Hans indicated for us to stay in the shed and, by pointing at his watch, told us he would return at six o'clock the next morning. The three of us buried ourselves in some loose hay and waited for six o'clock to come. Sometime during the night I heard my name being called from somewhere outside. I recognized the voice as Tech Sergeant Dennis. He told us he had landed in the lake and had managed to keep enough wind in his chute to pull him to shore. A Norwegian family had taken him in and dried his clothes. By the time we bedded down, and after talking with Dennis and wondering what the next day would bring, we realized that it had been almost 24 hours since we had been awakened to commence our bombing mission.
As promised, the next morning Hans came to the shed bringing a container of hot milk and something similar to American pancakes. He then led us through the woods and up a hil to where there were some large boulders. Again, he pointed to his watch to tell us when he would return and then left. Of course, it was still quite dark. As the day progressed Lt. Carmell complained of being cold and wanted to build a fire. By now the rest of us figured his officer's status had ceased and we al told him, "NO FIRE". He had been raised in Boston and obviously hadn't spent much time outdoors and as a result, had never learned to "rough it". We decided that building a fire would be like sending a smoke signal to anyone who wanted to find us. Shortly before noon we saw people gathering on a cliff across the valley from us. We hid behind the large boulders and soon heard voices coming closer to us. The German soldiers had spread out and were working their way across the valley to search for us. From my position Icould see a soldier pass through the woods, only about 100 yards from us. The rest of day was uneventful, and as he had promised, Hans showed up in the darkness with hot milk and pancakes. Hans also noted that my clothing consisted of lightweight coveralls over my electrically heated suit and brought me a cardigan sweater. When Hans took out his watch to indicate when he would return, I realized it was going to be another very long night amongst the boulders. The nights in Norway this time of the year were very long.
By morning my cold had become worse and I spent most of the day feeling miserable, dozing of frequently due to fever. The others thought Ishould turn myself ni to the Germans where I could get medical attention. I refused, as I knew the Germans would be putting a lot of pressure on me to divulge the whereabouts of my crewmen and the Norwegian who had been helping us. That night Hans returned and took us to his barn. Galloway and I realized this was the same farm we had first stopped at for help. That night ti snowed. Hans must have been aware of the oncoming snow as he gave us shelter in his barn that night.
Early the next morning he came to the barn with his horse-drawn sleigh and carried us into the woods to a shed. Idon't believe ti was the shed we were taken to the first night. As all of our moves were made during the night I had no sense of direction and was unable to see any landmarks. This shed must have been built to shelter ahorse or cow. One side was open and it had a half loft, which contained some hay. As there was some snow on the ground we remained there that day and night. The next morning Hans arrived with the usual hot milk and pancakes. As most of the snow had melted he led us to a hillside where we could hide amongst some rocks and brush. By some miracle my cold had improved and I did not have any fever. To the best of my knowledge, this was our fourth day, i.e., November 20, 1943.
As I recall it was Sunday evening when a Norwegian came to the shed with a
m e m b e r s , T h e E o t e r Tu t h e r s t a t e d t h e y w a t e m i n g a r e a n g e me n t s t o t a k e u s i n t e a remote area where there was a cabin supplied with food. It would be necessary for us to remain there until Spring, or until such time the snow melted on the mountain trails, and we could cross into Sweden a neutral country.
The next morning Hans did not show up and as ti started to get daylight we went up the hil to our usual hiding place. It was only a short time until the German soldiers appeared, not more than one hundred yards below us. Galloway had gone further into the woods to relieve himself and saw them in time to hide. The soldiers held up four fingers indicating they were looking for our fourth man. Not getting any information from us they motioned for us to keep our hands up and locked behind our heads and marched us away. tI was very difficult to walk through the rough terrain in this manner. After a mile or so we arrived at a house, which we recognized as Hans. We were lined up facing the wall with our hands still locked behind our heads and searched for any concealed weapons. At this time several soldiers came out of Hans' house and we could hear them closing the bolts on their rifles as they loaded them. I remember thinking, "Surely they wouldn't shoot us".
We were taken to a village where there was a detachment of soldiers stationed and placed in a building with Thornton, Bray, Hartnett, Trammer and GeeGee. They had all been captured the first day. Lt. Thornton, who was six feet tall, said the Germans had taken his uniform from him for two days. A tall German who spoke English interrogated us. He was about the same height as Thornton and I figured he had used Thornton's uniform to approach the Norwegians posing as our pilot.
Later that night they brought Galloway in. He said that after the soldiers took us away they returned and searched the hillside, but missed the bush he was hiding under. That night he had returned to the shed and hid in the hay. After a while a soldier had come in with a bayonet and began punching the hay. One of his thrusts struck Galloway's ear but he remained quiet. The soldier himself thought there was no one there and got ready to bed down for the night. When he was digging into the hay ot make a bed he was quite startled to find Galloway there as wel. The Germans were impressed that he had stayed quiet even after being cut by the bayonet.
I assume the Germans realized our tenth crewmen, *Lt. Bresbris, was not in the area, and on November 23' took us to Oslo where we were placed ni individual rooms. My room did not have a window and was just large enough for a cot. The only time I was let out of the room was to go to the toilet. The building must have been close to an airport as I could hear airplanes arriving and departing. I don't recall what I was fed, except Thanksgiving Day I had a bowl of broth with noodles.
November 28th we were removed from solitary and placed on a small cargo ship for the trip across the Baltic Sea. There were 25 to 30 men in the ships hold with us. It was our understanding these men were being sent to a work camp. One was a German soldier who had taken a radio to the home of his girl friend. It was illegal for the Norwegians to have radios. That night we could see the lights on the coast of Sweden, which as a neutral country did not have blackouts. Our ship docked at Arhus, Denmark, the afternoon of November 291h. Iwas impressed with the clean appearance of the city.
The next morning we were placed on a train to continue our trip to Germany. Al nine of us were placed in a compartment built for eight. This did keep us away from the other passengers and easy for the soldiers to guard us. tI was necessary to change trains at Hamburg, Germany and the train was stopped short of the station and we were removed. One seven-day period during July, the British bombed Hamburg at night and the Americans during daylight. The guards were afraid that the civilians would cause trouble if they saw us.
*Due to Bresbris' early bailout he was in a remote area some distance from where we were. After the war I learned he was able to get into Sweden the following spring and return to the States.
We were placed on another train and arrived at the regular passenger station, Frankfurt, Germany, December 2nd.This was a large station with many of the tracks covered bycanopies. Idid not note any damage due to bombing. Evidently the bombing at Frankfurt had been in the freight and industrial area. The civilians that I saw were well dressed and seemed to ignore us. They probably had seen hundreds POW's
as Dulag Luft, the German interrogation center was just a short distance out of town.
At Dulag Luft I was placed in solitary and as in Oslo the room was small and had no windows. December 5th I was taken out of solitary and used ni the kitchen to peelpotatoes; also, I was allowed to write a short letter to my folks. I did not see our three officers. They may have still remained in solitary or already gone to a POW camp for officers only. At Dulag Luft there were about 80 American Sergeants processed to be sent to a prisoner of war camp. December gth we were loaded into two small boxcars. During World War 1this size of car was referred to as 40 and 8, i.e., 40 men and 8 horses. Each end of the car had a deck about 30 inches above the floor. In the center of the cars they had a sandbox and a container where a fire could be built to help keep the cars from getting so cold. Our train spent a lot of time on sidetracks so other trains could pass. Idon't recall how we were fed or fi we were let out of car on any of the stops. I do recall having to relieve myself out of the box car door while the train was moving. I had to have another person hold me so as not to be thrown out. Dennis and I slept on the floor beneath the second deck. This gave us enough room to actually lay down.
Our train arrived at Krems, Austria, about midnight December 10th and we walked to Stalag 17-B prison camp, a distance of about 4 miles. Upon arrival there our hair was sheared; we were given a cold shower and sprayed with some type of chemical to delouse us. By the time we arrived at our assigned barrack, No. 18-A, it was almost daylight.
...
About the middle of October 1943, the American flyers arrived at Stalag XVII-B, which was located about 30 miles upstream on the Danube River from Vienna. Originally it has been an old military camp built around 1937 or 1938. After the war commenced it nominally was responsible for about 65,000 prisoners of war, although usually only about 10,000 were confined at any one time as the balance were in satellite camps scattered about the area. There were initially four compounds for the American prisoners, one compound for German Guards and kitchen facilities. In addition there was a compound consisting of various nationalities, but basically Russians.
The barracks were capable of holding 300 men; that is 150 in each end with a wash area consisting of a few water taps located in the center. The water to these taps was only turned on for a two-hour period three times a day. In addition the wash area had a hearth with a large kettle of approximately 30 gallons capacity. This was our source of hot water. While each end of the barrack had a heating stove, the allotment of coal was not enough to heat the barrack; therefore, we used our coal allotment to heat water in the kettle. Each compound had an outhouse consisting of 10 or 12 holes and a trough. With 800 or 900 men to a compound this place was very congested at times.
Our sleeping facilities were wooden bunks with a plywood bottom and a burlap pallet filled with about one and one-half inches of wood excelsior. The bunks were constructed to accommodate eight men. There were two doublewide tiers. Hartnett and Iwere on the top tier and Geegee and Trammer on the other end. Joe Wilbert and Robert Nicholson were on the bottom tier below Hartnett and me. As there was no table to eat on, our bunk was kitchen and dining room as well as bedroom.