James Clinton Hussong

Military

Assigned to 714BS, 448BG, 8AF USAAF. Shot down 30-Dec-43 in B-24 41-28599. Evaded capture (EVD). Returned to Duty (RTD).



Awards: PH, WWII Victory, EAME.



The Morning Herald from Hagerstown, Maryland · Page 9 · April 20, 1944



"The most thrilling part of it all," says Sgt. James C. Hussong, local airmail who turned up in England in February after his plane failed to return from its December 30th mission, "were the moments when I was hanging upside down out of the rear escape hatch of my plane, my-foot caught in the door, my body swinging up against the underside of the ship and nothing but several thousand feet of space between me and the ground."

"We took off early in the morning," Jim said, recalling the fatal fourth flight of the Liberator bomber of which he was tail gunner. "Making our formation over the southern North Sea, we climbed to the coast of France, proceeded to Germany, and dropped our bombs on the designated targets. "Returning off our targets and starting out for home on the prescribed course, we met some heavy fighter attacks over the French-German border. Our ship was knocked out of formation when a shell hit one engine. We were unable to climb and stay with the formation, so we descended to medium altitude. There we were met by at least ten Fw190's, members of Hitler's famous 'Abbeville Kids / reputed to be his best fighters. "We carried on a 30 minute battle, diving for clouds all the time. But one of the fighters had put shells into another of our engines, and the pilot signalled the crew to bail out, diving into a cloud for our benefit. "Just as prescribed in training we started to bail out. I was the last to leave the rear of the ship but caught my foot in the escape hatch door and had some bad minutes before I pushed myself free of the plane, after seeing two of my crew members bail out of the nose." This was Jim's second experience with a parachute. The berth to which his 'chute carried him turned out to be the top of a large tree in a dense woods. It wasn't until the youngster had freed himself from his 'chute run away from the spot where he'd landed (German aerial spotters he explained, watched for abandoned chutes), and buried some of his flying equipment, that he noticed one of his feet was injured. "Funny," he says with a grin, "but it must have happened during the battle up there, and I was too excited to notice it. "I removed the bullet and treated the wound with my first aid kit. Finding a small timber" path, I followed it until I sighted a group of men near a farmhouse, and judged by their speech that I was in France. When one walked away from the group I approached him, identified myself as an American airman, and was ordered to follow him. "When I arrived at the farmhouse I found two other members of my bomber's crew; one of them was wounded in the shoulder and both had injured their legs when they fell, unlike myself, on hard ground." For the next several weeks Jim and his buddies were initiated into the intricacies of the French Underground, which he maintains "even the Germans fear." After they had received medical attention the boys were moved from the area. At their new refuge they met three other members of their crew. In two weeks, Jim's wound was healed, he was given civilian clothing and false identification papers, and together with a French guide he set out for Spain. From Spain via Gibraltar to England.

Connections

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Units served with

The insignia of the 448th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 448th Bomb Group 714th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-745907
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Unit: 448th Bomb Group 714th Bomb Squadron

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Hagerstown, MD 2 May 1923 Son of M L Hussong.

Enlisted

Maryland, USA 25 January 1943 Maryland

Other

Evaded capture (EVD)

Andorra 30 December 1943 Evaded capture (EVD). With resistance help via Spain to Gibraltar and then the UK.

Other

Shot down

Cul-des-Sarts, 5660 Couvin, Belgium 30 December 1943 Shot down 30-Dec-43 in B-24 41-28599. Evaded capture (EVD).

Other

Returned ZI

la guardia airport, 38 W 31st St, New York, NY 10001, USA 26 March 1944 Returned stateside.

Died

11 January 1990

Buried

Fort Logan National Cemetery Denver, Denver County, CO 14 January 1990 Fort Logan National Cemetery Denver, Denver County, Colorado
Hagerstown, Maryland, USA

Based

Seething 30 December 1943 Assigned to 714BS, 448BG, 8AF USAAF.

Revisions

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added a "#" to the A/C serial number in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 4177 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database