Shot down on 5 March 1944 in B-24 #42100430 by German fighters. He said the tail assembly of the plane was shot off by the enemy fire. He was able to control the plane to some extent as it started on a slow circular pattern down. He ordered his crew out of the plane. One crew member had been killed. He managed to climb out of the plane and straddled the rear of the fuselage before he kicked off and parachuted to the ground. Upon landing, he was met by two Frenchmen (underground) on bicycles and given one to ride. He said he was pretty banged up and thought he had probably broken a few ribs and riding the bicycle was very painful. He was given civilian clothes. He was able to understand that he must hurry as the area was surrounded by the Germans looking for his plane. None of his crew were around and was told later that they had all run away. Some were captured. The Frenchmen led him through the German occupied town on the bicycles feeling that it was safer that way. An attempt to evade the German troops would be suspicious. He was taken to a barn and led to a place under the roof and told not to come out for any reason. I'm not sure how or where he obtained the wood for a pipe he carved. He started carving a pipe to keep him occupied through the long days. Very occassionally at night, some one would come and take him outside for a few minutes. He was moved several times to other places, once over a small shop. In early June 1944, he and five other evaders were taken by truck to a small railroad siding and put on a train to Tours. They were given newspapers and instructed to avoid speaking to anyone and not to attempt to converse with each other. He later heard that the three other Evaders had been captured by the Germans. They were taken to the French/ Spanish border. There they met by four or five other Evaders and were guided over the Pyrenees--starting late in the night. They were met in Madrid by U. S. mMilitary personnel