OH 1409 | Oral History

OH 1409

His experiences as a flight engineer on a B-24 in the European Theater and his subsequent experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Germans during World War II. His youth and education in Elkhart, Indiana; enlistment in the Aviation Cadet Program, 1943; basic and pre-flight training at Keesler Field, Biloxi, Mississippi, 1943; washing out of pilot training and reassignment to flight engineer school at Tyndall Field, Panama City, Florida, 1943; crew assembly and B-24 transition training at Chatham Air Force Base, Savannah, Georgia, 1943-44; assignment to the 763rd Bomb Squadron at Spinazzola, Italy, 1944; his first combat mission to Ploesti, Romania; comments about enemy flak; his description of a typical mission; the downing of his plane on a mission to Munich, November 16, 1944; his adventures in bailing out and landing in a blizzard in the Alps; evasion until capture on November 29 by German ski troops; temporary incarceration in Salzburg, Austria; interrogation at Dulag Luft, Wetzlar, Germany; incarceration at Stalag Luft IV, Gross Tychow, Germany, December, 1944-January, 1945; train trip to Stalag Luft I, Barth, Germany, January 6-14, 1945; internal POW camp organization; liberation by Soviet troops, April 29, 1945; rehabilitation and recuperation at Camp Lucky Strike, Le Havre, France; his return to the States and readjustment to civilian life.

About this Oral History

Physical Description 141 pp. plus documents (11 pp.)
Terms of Use Open
Interviewer(s) Peter B. Lane
Date of Interview September 7, 1999

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