We had dinner a few weeks ago with a lawyer and wife (who taught with my stoker) we hadn’t seen for 5 years or so. When catching up he mentioned a trip to Eastern Europe and visiting town where his dad was hospitalized during WWII.
What followed was a truly amazing story. His dad documented his war experiences a 35 page booklet a copy of which my friend sent to me. I asked him if I can share the story and he said definitely.
Some highlights.
His dad was a B 24 Pilot stationed in Italy. He arrived in April 1944. Fresh out of training and with a 10 person crew (4 officers and 6 enlisted) He flew his brand new B 24 from California, to Florida, to Brazil, to North Africa, and finally to Italy. Good training for his navigator who became is best friend on the crew. The airfield in Italy was dirt, with metal mats on the runway landing zone, tents with dirt floors and no permanent buildings. The nearest Italian village was in bad shape and still recovering from the effects of German occupation. A 13 year-old Italian boy became a good friend. (The boy became a maître d' in Rome and they had a Reunion years after the war) They arrived at the Italian base in considerable sorrow. Just the previous day, only one bomber returned from a mission of 16.. On his very fist mission, to the Ploiesti Oil refinery in Romania, his navigator was killed from flack. (I saw a B 24 at the Wright Patterson Museum and the navigator is like a sitting duck in the nose). His vivid description of the flack guns and shrapnel is like nothing I have read before and I have read a lot about our bombers. He saw B 24's exploding with crew and airplane parts thrown in all directions. On one mission, his bomber was the only one to return from a squadron of 6. On another he has to return to Italy and land with no ailerons. Very difficult. After 50 missions, the airmen would be sent home. The dad reported that he didn't dwell on the considerable danger; his only prayer was that when his time came, death would be quick. On his 50th mission, my friend's dad was shot down. The #2 engine caught fire and they could not put it out, they bailed out before the aircraft exploded. He was the last to leave the burning bomber. As he descended, he heard gun fire from below and assumed they were shooting at the crew and he was over Nazi territory. He waited as long as possible before opening his chute and landed in tall trees, his chute became fouled in the trees and a free fell to the ground from 50 or 60 feet. He injured his spine and couldn't move. Passed out and woke up to kids looking at him, soon adults came and carried him in his chute to a village in Slovenia. He was in the hands of Partisans who hated the Germans but where the Germans hadn't occupied. He was treated by a Jewish refugee doctor who trained in Detroit and spoke fluent English. Placed in a body cast. Finally the Germans came, and he became a POW. Transported to Vienna and taken to a hospital where dozens of downed and injured American Airmen were being cared for. Vienna was an important rail hub for German logistics and troop movement and the Americans regularly bombed it. If the target was clouded they dropped the bombs on the city. When the sirens went off, on a cloudy day, the patients were moved to the basement. In one such raid, the hospital suffered a direct hit, collapsed and he and a few others were buried in total darkness for an unknown length of time. Finally they were dug out by German soldiers. He was taken to Frankfurt and held in a pitch black small cell, literally fed bread and water through a trap door in the ceiling. Again for an unknown period of time because of complete darkness. Then was questioned by the Gestapo and threatened with beatings and a firing squad, both of which happened where he could hear and see. But he was subjected to neither. Yet he only would say name, rank and serial number. His interrogator gave him a file, that amazingly contained his home town, phone number, college, training, route taken to Italy, a description of the base in Italy, and that he was shot down on his 50th mission. He was moved to a POW medical facility and cared for by captured British doctors.. He finally was placed in a POW camp where he had access to supplies from the American Red Cross. He was very thankful for the Red Cross. Then elements of Patton's Third Army liberated the camp and he survived.
Back to the 13 year old Italian boy. The boy waited near the runway for 24 hours with wine and flowers to celebrate his friend's 50th mission. The bomber never landed.
This was truly the greatest generation.
Postscript. The dad/pilot became a successful rancher in Western Nebraska and is a member of the Nebraska Aviation Hall of Fame. When my friend visited the town in Slovenia where his dad was first taken, some of the old timers remembered him.
What followed was a truly amazing story. His dad documented his war experiences a 35 page booklet a copy of which my friend sent to me. I asked him if I can share the story and he said definitely.
Some highlights.
His dad was a B 24 Pilot stationed in Italy. He arrived in April 1944. Fresh out of training and with a 10 person crew (4 officers and 6 enlisted) He flew his brand new B 24 from California, to Florida, to Brazil, to North Africa, and finally to Italy. Good training for his navigator who became is best friend on the crew. The airfield in Italy was dirt, with metal mats on the runway landing zone, tents with dirt floors and no permanent buildings. The nearest Italian village was in bad shape and still recovering from the effects of German occupation. A 13 year-old Italian boy became a good friend. (The boy became a maître d' in Rome and they had a Reunion years after the war) They arrived at the Italian base in considerable sorrow. Just the previous day, only one bomber returned from a mission of 16.. On his very fist mission, to the Ploiesti Oil refinery in Romania, his navigator was killed from flack. (I saw a B 24 at the Wright Patterson Museum and the navigator is like a sitting duck in the nose). His vivid description of the flack guns and shrapnel is like nothing I have read before and I have read a lot about our bombers. He saw B 24's exploding with crew and airplane parts thrown in all directions. On one mission, his bomber was the only one to return from a squadron of 6. On another he has to return to Italy and land with no ailerons. Very difficult. After 50 missions, the airmen would be sent home. The dad reported that he didn't dwell on the considerable danger; his only prayer was that when his time came, death would be quick. On his 50th mission, my friend's dad was shot down. The #2 engine caught fire and they could not put it out, they bailed out before the aircraft exploded. He was the last to leave the burning bomber. As he descended, he heard gun fire from below and assumed they were shooting at the crew and he was over Nazi territory. He waited as long as possible before opening his chute and landed in tall trees, his chute became fouled in the trees and a free fell to the ground from 50 or 60 feet. He injured his spine and couldn't move. Passed out and woke up to kids looking at him, soon adults came and carried him in his chute to a village in Slovenia. He was in the hands of Partisans who hated the Germans but where the Germans hadn't occupied. He was treated by a Jewish refugee doctor who trained in Detroit and spoke fluent English. Placed in a body cast. Finally the Germans came, and he became a POW. Transported to Vienna and taken to a hospital where dozens of downed and injured American Airmen were being cared for. Vienna was an important rail hub for German logistics and troop movement and the Americans regularly bombed it. If the target was clouded they dropped the bombs on the city. When the sirens went off, on a cloudy day, the patients were moved to the basement. In one such raid, the hospital suffered a direct hit, collapsed and he and a few others were buried in total darkness for an unknown length of time. Finally they were dug out by German soldiers. He was taken to Frankfurt and held in a pitch black small cell, literally fed bread and water through a trap door in the ceiling. Again for an unknown period of time because of complete darkness. Then was questioned by the Gestapo and threatened with beatings and a firing squad, both of which happened where he could hear and see. But he was subjected to neither. Yet he only would say name, rank and serial number. His interrogator gave him a file, that amazingly contained his home town, phone number, college, training, route taken to Italy, a description of the base in Italy, and that he was shot down on his 50th mission. He was moved to a POW medical facility and cared for by captured British doctors.. He finally was placed in a POW camp where he had access to supplies from the American Red Cross. He was very thankful for the Red Cross. Then elements of Patton's Third Army liberated the camp and he survived.
Back to the 13 year old Italian boy. The boy waited near the runway for 24 hours with wine and flowers to celebrate his friend's 50th mission. The bomber never landed.
This was truly the greatest generation.
Postscript. The dad/pilot became a successful rancher in Western Nebraska and is a member of the Nebraska Aviation Hall of Fame. When my friend visited the town in Slovenia where his dad was first taken, some of the old timers remembered him.
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