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Our B-17 crew had left East Anglia, England in the early
morning hours of July 19, 1944 to attack the ball bearing complex at Schweinfurt,
Germany. Moments after we had released our bombs (on the target), an
anti-aircraft shell (flak) crashed through the bomb bay and out the top of the
plane, where it exploded. Had the bombs still been in the plane, this story
would not have been written! A second shell knocked out two of the four engines.
With greatly reduced power and damaged controls, we dropped out of formation.
Chuck Quinby, the pilot managed to keep us on course for about an hour. Finally,
unable to control the plane, he gave the order to bail out.
It was 10:23 am BDST (British daylight savings time).
Actually it was BDDST - Double D. S. T. - in July, it was still daylight
at 1:00 am.) When I bailed out of my B-17 type aircraft (over Germany). Despite
the fact that it was my first experience at parachuting, I had been well
prepared for such an eventuality through the medium of well-experienced
lecturers. Consequently, it was not a case of doing something entirely new, but
rather of putting into practice knowledge I had already gained. - Bailed out
head first (better your feet should hit something!) - caught in the slip stream
and turned over and over - came out with feet above my head - had altitude of
14,000 feet (originally) - tried gymnastics to note effect and to get feet down
- when half-way down (feet), finally pulled handle - slight jolt (different from
R. A . Mc Cormick’s experience. He disregarded instructions to always keep
your leg straps tight. His dangled around his knees. When the chute opened the
straps suddenly snapped up! It was a painful experience. In the German hospital,
a nurse pointed at the affected area, and commented “Allus kaput”.) - took
good look at the ground (had seen snatches of it in my whirling before opening
chute) and saw I was coming down into trees - no sign of life - looked up and
saw only one chute above me and saw no plane - looked back at ground and saw
that it was coming up fast - crossed legs - flexed legs - pulled leather flying
helmet over my eyes and face - expected worst - came to a gentle stop - looked
around - parachute draped over a single pine tree - I was hanging two feet from
the trunk of the tree - feet a yard from the ground - no scratches, no
bruises - semi-steep hill - perfect quiet - path a couple of yards away - looked
at watch - 10:27 -
Change of noise remarkable - after several hours of
listening to the roar of engines and flak bursts, rush of air in slip stream,
diminishing sound in minute or less of floating with the chute, then perfect
stillness after landing - utter stillness as I hung close to ground - in perfect
comfort - wondered if I had delayed jump (pulling the rip cord to open the
chute) long enough to escape detection - knew I could not safely have waited any
longer, for I am sure that I floated under the parachute less than a minute-
Began to think about all the escape devices that I had been
told about - first task was to get out of the chute harness - attempted to get
out by undoing straps - great difficulty - finally got one undone - unable to
get other undone - dropped backwards, placing hands on ground, grasped tree
trunk - removed heavy boot from imprisoned leg (while hanging upside down), also
electric boot - slipped leg through harness (did shoulder roll to ground) -
replaced boot - attempted to pull chute from tree to bury same - unsuccessful -
decided to go uphill and away from France - first went several yards eastward
and placed Mae West (floatation vest) under a tree - had been told that Jerries
would stand and look into tree for minutes at a time if they suspected that
someone was in it - then took off along path, eastward for several hundred
yards, running (away from France and possible assistance) - then ran and
scrambled uphill for some distance - (wonder if I fooled anyone?)
Very hot with all the equipment - removed helmet, summer
flying suit, heavy boots, electric flying suit - also wearing O.D. (olive drab)
shirt, green pants, green tie, insignia, woolen underwear, long wool socks and
electric flying boots (it was July, but it got very cold in an unheated plane at
30,000 feet) - removed items from pockets - O.D. handkerchief, several small
British coins, escape kit, map and money kit, a green comb, John’s compass
(brother had given it to me, just in case I would need it.), black pocket
notebook, a piece of aluminum, which flak had knocked out of plane two missions
before - also wearing dog tags and silver name bracelet and G.I. watch
(navigator’s) - buried helmet, summer flying suit, electric flying suit and
heavy boots (these were lambs wool, like slippers and not suitable for walking)
- also had in pockets a pair of leather gloves and a pocket book, Daymon
Runyon’s “The Best of D. R.”.
Ran uphill for several minutes till I found a well
concealed spot - had tried to rip out the heavy tongues from the heavy boots, to
pad the electric flying boots, which were large - failed - came to regret that I
had no shoes - flying boots had rubber soles (thin, with wires running through
them - very uncomfortable)
Broke branches, covered legs - natural camouflage in green
shirt, pants boots & handkerchief - opened escape kit - rationed food
tablets for 6 days - contents: needle & thread, file, compass, water
purifying tablets, Benzedrine tablets, gum, matches and water bag - opened map
case - contents: cloth maps of Germany, France, Spain and N. Africa, 20,000
francs and a compass (I was well stocked with compasses!) - checked position -
uncertain - we had changed our heading a few minutes before over
Ludwigshaven-Manheim and were on a direct course to our base in England maps
were not detailed enough to determine exact position knew that we had flown for
45 minutes from the target (Schweinfurt).
Decided to go to France and not Switzerland (Allied Armies
were still contained near the Normandy beaches, but it seemed to offer the best
chance) - took epaulets & pockets off shirt (to look more ‘civilian’ and
avoid being noticed by Germans. I kept my insignia in my pocket)
No wind - warm - spent afternoon there - no noticeable
shock from the experience - worry over crew - had seen only one chute - probably
Finnegan’s (waist gunner) - regret losing ship - relief that shooting was over
- wondering and worrying over affect of news at home.
Wondering how close to a village I was - planned, slept and
read D. Runyan - buried most British coins - also had in pocket a yellow GI
language book and some gum - practiced German phrases.
Left hiding place a 2200 hours - decided to head SW to
France - climbed tree to look over land - down hill - stream at bottom - already
warm - climbed opposite hill - thick trees - took path which turned into dirt
road - close to river - road began to follow river westward - passed village in
valley - grape vines on all sides all along valley - filled water bag from a
rain reservoir used by the grape growers - used water purifying tablets - passed
through several villages - the first few, I skirted carefully - no sign of life,
so I went directly through them later on - very thirsty - several times I tried
to get down to the river to drink - each time, I found long stretches of garden
before reaching bank - swampy ground - feet soaked - usually failed to get water
- heard paddling and youthful voices on river - guitar and singing - stopped to
listen for awhile - always looking for a place to cross river - no luck - river
began to swing north - contemplated swimming, but decided against this - once
trying to get drink, heard human-like sound - dropped to ground in swampy area -
heard no more, but lost gloves, which had been a great help to me - also lost
matches and water bag - disliked the taste of food tablets - tried to steal a
row boat - was chased away - - pulley type boat here.
Beginning to get light - looking for a place to hide -
captured by farmers - taken to office in the village center - threw away yellow
phrase book - few early risers attracted and they watched through windows -
Hitler & Bismarck pictures - also some of officers in Luftwaffe - feet
soaked - friendly at first - took my possessions - boy pointed out location -
called and 45 minutes later a policeman (or an army sergeant? arrived) -
indignant because I didn’t come to attention when he entered room - much delay
- boy to act as translator - asked where plane, chute, etc. were - declared that
I would give only my name, rank and serial number - confusion - he became
indignant - hit me in face - I was greatly surprised - hadn’t expected them to
use force - I yelled something about the Geneva Convention and International Law
- hit me twice more with him yelling at me and vice-versa in different languages
- as fourth blow came, raised hands to protect face - officer reached for my
throat - used hands to protect myself - pandemonium broke loose as six or seven
men, who had been sitting around room, joined officer in attack - we fell all
over the room, knocking over furniture - knees and blows fell all over me as I
struggled to cover up - can still picture one peasant aiming a knee at my groin!
- after several minutes, I was on the floor and officer ordered others away from
me - he had a fireplace poker and proceeded to strike me over the head several
times (over eye and left side of head- almost passed out - dragged to feet,
bleeding - handcuffs put on, at least two notches too tight - nearly went out
from pain - they took watch at this time - had retained one of my escape
compasses by dropping it in chair before being searched - asked more questions -
taken out in bright sunshine and placed with face against wall - nearly out
again - expected to be shot on spot - instead, they took me to a cart under a
tree next to the river - gave me a drink of water (they took drink of wine) -
crowd gathered in semi-circle - curious children & several spiteful, bitter
old people snarling oaths in German - young girl (looked like my cousin, Eleanor
Coulter) now acted as interpreter - asked name, home address and where and when
I went down - also why we bombed and strafed women and children! Man asked if I
spoke French or Spanish - original boy interpreter asked what effect the
“V-1” (German rockets that were bombing London) - replied that I didn’t
know.
River at back - sat there for about three hours - car
arrives - two party men - handcuffs still on - forced to back seat - taken on
tour to a larger town - taken to police headquarters - tall man with limp -
office half full of women workers - dog tags, crash bracelet, notebook, comb and
handkerchief taken - a Mae West life jacket, unopened parachute & A-10
jacket in office - hoped that these items didn’t belong to one of my crew -
world map on wall - taken to cell - a bed, table & bench - stove in corner -
stand with urinal container in other corner - told that I could not lie on bed
until night - still no food or water - rusty pan of water - strained & drank
that through handkerchief when they would not give me fresh water - worn out
& slept on bench - they took handcuffs off in office - great relief, but
hands still numb - tried to restore circulation while in room - man who had
beaten me came up with ‘Limpy’ & two or three party men - looked at cuts
on face & head - when I thought that it was nearly dark, finally went to bed
- ‘Limpy’ came in and swore at me for getting into bed before ‘dark’ -
got up for another hour or so - after falling asleep, was awakened by a
policeman - swore at me, calling me gangster, etc. - sat up in bed - was hit in
mouth three times - he then left
Next morning was taken to office where policeman &
‘Limpy’ worked - stood there for an hour and a half while they worked on
reports - asked no questions - policeman threatened me with a 50 mm shell -
looked at map - ‘Limpy’ pointed at U.S. & made some crack - young woman
with baby came in - ‘Limpy’ played with kid - boy of five brought in a
pencil that he had found - he popped to on entering with the ‘Heil Hitler’
routine - taken back to room - air raid alarm while in street - going up steep
steps to jail cell, received a hearty kick plus curses - finally received some
food about 6 o’clock - introduction to German bread - had sour, white spread -
burned mouth, but finally got it down - also cup of ‘coffee’ - later, a
kindly, old woman brought soup - noted that the prisoner across hall looked like
an American - window overlooked residential flats - saw several people,
including a good-looking babe - raining in morning - taken out with the American
and a youth who later turned out to be a Belgium - American and I carried belly
tanks (evidently dropped by American fighter planes) through town to the
railroad station - slippery - tried to drain the second tank - no luck - too
slippery to carry - borrowed street cleaner’s wagon - we were taken back to
office - American in one corner and I in another for a couple of hours - package
of bread, cheese, etc. Brought in - looked to be an escape package - handcuffed
to boy who looked like American - long tiresome train ride - changed trains -
small station - stood with faces to wall - people would gather in railroad
station and wait for trains, never knowing when to expect them - plenty of
passenger cars, but they had to wait for engines - got on train and was seated
across from policeman (same one who had struck me in the mouth in the room) -
two girls in same compartment - policeman taunted my companion and I for their
benefit - followed Mosel to Koblenz - RR yard recently hit - much damage -
noticed movie house - crossed bridge (float type) - buildings throughout town
hit - crossed long park - had been dug up and a large air raid shelter
constructed - came to a building with ‘Statz Police’ above the door -
Gestapo Headquarters - taken to room with companion - sent down two flights of
stairs, past several steel doors - stripped - clothes searched - taken to cell.
Herb Jackson (co-pilot), Dupe (Joe Duplechain engineer),
Paul Nulton (waist gunner) & Jones, (John, radio) were in cell - first that
I had seen of them since bailing out - tried not to let on that I knew them
until I was sure my companion was an American and that there were no microphones
hidden in the room - boys had been there two or three days - Joe (Bernstein,
bombardier) and Finnegan (Walter, tail gunner) had been moved out to make room
for us - my companion turned out to be from S. Dakota - cell crowded,
evil-smelling and poorly lighted - bedding taken in morning and returned in
evening - three board beds - food: jerry bread, sometimes with spread, soup and
‘tea’ - Sunday dinner was potatoes with gravy! - Spent time with stories,
checkers, ‘salvo’ - got to go to latrine only three times a day - Frenchman
distributed food - he was a prisoner himself - gave us ‘V’ sign and smile -
strange gnome-like guard, constantly jabbering - Poles or Russians exercised
once in the yard above us - sad looking - official-looking individuals
constantly checking our bars - night of the 26th (one week after shot down day),
marched through the streets of Koblenz, up-hill to camp on outskirts - placed in
individual cells - kept overnight - next day, marched back through streets to
railroad station -saw first German airplane, a ME-110, when it flew low over
city - waited in station - saw a lot of Hitler youth girls in uniform - had some
of our clothes and belongings returned - escape kit returned, except for
compass, file, etc. - maps! Were included with my leather notebook and Daymon
Runyan book - taken to Wetzler, NW of Frankfurt/Main.
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