Bert Carlberg was bombardier/navigator on 67 Sqdn's B-24 42-95049 'Flying Fosdick' which ran out of fuel on the way home following a raid on Munich. The date was 1st March 1945 and they had hoped to land near the fleshpots of Paris but were directed instead to a make a landing near St Quentin. The pilot made several attempts but due to thick cloud cover were unable to effect a landing, instead having to climb to 12,000 ft so that the crew could evacuate by parachute. Bert recalled floating to earth in complete silence, an eerie experience. He initially went to a nearby farmhouse, where the occupants sent for an English speaker who turned out to be the local Comte who took him back to his chateau. There Bert found his flight engineer already scoffing a large meal. They had a grand evening as the Comte de la Pagerie brought out all the food and drink he had been saving for just such an occasion, followed by the sheer luxury of a night asleep in a feather bed. A few days later they returned to Shipdham.



Bert was subsequently re-assigned to Edward Reynolds crew as lead bombardier, his original crew went down over Wesel, Germany aboard 42-100314 'Kay Bar' on 24-Mar-45, his replacement Will Hummer died with the crew.



Awards: SS, BS, WWII Victory, EAME.