Prisoner of War (POW) crashed at Nachow on 14 Jan 45 in B-17 #448426

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I was born September 29, 1924 in Bruce, Calhoun County, Mississippi. I grew up on a cotton farm and attended grade and high school at Derma, Mississippi, graduating in the spring of 1943.



World War Two was in progress and I volunteered for military service in the United States Army Air Corps during the summer of 1943. I was not called to receive a physical examination and swearing in until October at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. I reported for basic training on November 20, 1943 at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, near St. Louis. After Basic Training, I attended the Air Force Aerial Gunnery School during February and March 1944. After completing school I was assigned to a ten-man crew as tail gunner on a B-17 Heavy Bomber for overseas training at Alexander Air Force Base in Louisiana during the summer of 1944.



My crew departed the United States by flight in a B-17 bomber for England with stops in Goose Bay, Labrador and Wales. We arrived in England on September 16, 1944. We were assigned as Crew 20, to the 8th Air Force, 390th Bomb Group, 568th Squadron near Farmlingham, England, 70 miles North of London, close to the North Sea. I flew 3 missions on Little Butch II (#231744), 6 missions on 'Tis a Mystery (#232026), and 11 missions on Little Butch III (#297807).



My first combat mission was aboard the Bob-Tail Battler/Mississippi Mission (#2102677) on October 7, 1944 to Bohlen-Bielfeld, Germany to hit an oil storage yard. Between my first and last mission on January 14, 1945, I flew 27 missions to various targets in Germany to destroy train marshalling yards, airfields, oil refineries, chemical plants, railroad bridges, storage depots, and other strategic targets. Our 27th mission on January 14, 1945 in a new plane was the last. Our target was an underground oil storage yard in Derben. On the way in, our squadron was attacked by a large group of FW-190s and ME-109 enemy fighters. Several of the fighters were hit or destroyed which I may claim one FW-190. On the negative side, all nine B-17s in our squadron were shot down. The plane I was in was hit several times and was on fire with no communications or oxygen. I parachuted out of the tail section door somewhere SW of Berlin. Of the nine man crew, five survived. The bodies of the other four were found in the wrecked plane (#48426) at Wachow.



I was picked up by Home Guard and turned over to German Soldiers who sent me to Dulag Luft, the Frankfurt Interrogation and Processing Center through which all Air Force personnel captured in Germany were sent. I was held in solitary confinement for three days and on January 19, 1945 I was sent to Stalag Luft 13D, a Prisoner of War camp for Airmen near Nurnberg.



When the U.S. Army ground forces began moving into enemy territory the Germans put the prisoners on the road April 4th to keep ahead of advancing American troops. All of the prisoners marched to Stalag Luft 7A, another POW Camp for Airmen near Moosburg, Germany, a distance of approximately 160 kilometers. After hiking for eight days between camps, I arrived



in Moosburg in tired but fair condition. The Big Day was on April 29, 1945, when the 14th Armored Division under General George Patton's 3rd Army liberated the camp.



On May 8, 1945, VE Day (Victory in Europe), I was one of many that were flown out of Germany on a C-47 transport plane to Paris and then on to LeHarve, France, port of departure. After a delay of two weeks waiting for a "Liberty Ship" we were finally on our way home to the USA. The ship pulled into New York Harbor on May 29, 1945, and I was sent to Camp Shanks, New York for supplies and received orders to report to Camp Shelby, Mississippi to pick up my leave orders.



I arrived home in Calhoun County, Mississippi on June 3, 1945, and spent the summer there awaiting further orders from the Air Corps. In early October I received orders to report to Miami, Florida. From Miami I was sent to the Army Air Force Discharge Center in San Antonio, Texas. On October 29, 1945, I received an honorable discharge with the rank of Staff Sargent and the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters.



In January 1946 I enrolled as a student at Mississippi State University and received the Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture with a major in Forestry. I was employed by the Mississippi Forestry Commission as Area Forester and served in Benton, Marshall, and Itawamba Counties until December 30, 1954.



I received an appointment with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in January 1955 and served as Forester at Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge near Starkville, Mississippi until December 14th, 1958. After transferring into the Refuge Management Service I was sent to Sabine National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana as Assistant Refuge Manager. I married Louise Bell Cockrell of Macon, Mississippi on December 4, 1958. On August 15, 1960, I was sent to the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge at Paris, Tennessee. In April 1965, I was promoted to Refuge Manager and served as Officer-in-Charge at Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge in Brownsville, Tennessee until May 30, 1970. I was then transferred to Cross Creeks Wildlife Refuge in Dover, Tennessee and retired from there on April 30, 1983, after 30 years of Federal Service.



I moved back to Starkville, Oktibbeha County, Mississippi in the Spring of 1983 and tried my hand at raising cattle but found that this was not profitable for me. After health problems for both my wife and me, we moved near Mississippi State University to enjoy sports and cultural events and alumni activities. My wife Louise passed away in March 1995 and I live in a quiet, relaxed neighborhood and hope to enjoy the remaining years of my life here. (Sam died Dec. 1, 2001 and is buried in Starkville, Mississippi-USA))