LEMONS, John Ray (b. 1919) | Oral History

LEMONS, John Ray (b. 1919)

Oral Histories

Tax consultant. His experiences as a crew member on a B-24 in the European Theater; and his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Germans during World War II. Conscription into the Army, December, 1942; basic training, Camp Wolters, Mineral Wells, Texas; transfer to the Air Force, February, 1943, and further basic training, Miami Beach, Florida; aerial gunnery training, Fort Myers, Florida, 1943; aircraft mechanic training, Sheppard Field, Wichita Falls, Texas, 1943; crew assignment, Kerns, Utah, 1943-44; combat crew training, Peterson Field, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1944; ocean voyage to England aboard the Queen Elizabeth, June, 1944; assignment to the 702nd Bomb Squadron at Tibenham; base living conditions; his description of the war damage in London; his first mission, August 6, 1944, to Hamburg; comments about flak; procedures on a typical mission from beginning to end; mission to Dessau, Germany, August 16, 1944; his plane being shot down on a mission to Kassel, Germany, September 27, 1944, and his subsequent capture; initial hostility of German civilians; Dulag Luft, Wetzlar, Germany, October, 1944, and interrogation; Stalag Luft IV, Gross Tychow, Germany, October 10, 1944-Feburary 1, 1945; comments about prison camp life; Red Cross parcels; evacuation of Stalag Luft IV and train trip to Stalag Luft XII-D, Nürnberg, Germany, February 1-7, 1945; evacuation of Stalag Luft XII-D and forced march to Stalag VII-A, Moosburg, Germany, April 4-16, 1945; liberation on April 29, 1945; Camp Lucky Strike, May 8-June 7, 1945; postwar adjustments and career.
Date of Interview: January 30, 2001

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