78th FG, 83rd FS: Lt Kuehl from Denver, Colorado, was forced to abandon his aircraft on 16th April 1945 while on a mission over Germany.

‘The bombers had just finished attacking Brasndenburg/Briest, when Lt Kuehl went down to strafe. Light AA guns opened up on him making some hits in vulnerable areas, but Lt Kuehl also pulled a number of “slugs” in two of their a/c before he was ventilated. He pulled up and managed as far as Helmstedt where he bailed out over the middle of a forest, so that he might have better coverage after landing. After landing, he walked to the west edge of the forest and hid until it was dark. After dark, he started walking west through fields, avoiding towns and farms.



It became so dark that he couldn’t see good enough to walk in the fields, so he started walking on the roads. He passed several people and since they took no notice of him, he became more confident and walked through towns, staying on the main roads headed west. He approached a bridge over a canal guarded by German soldiers, and though he succeeded in passing a number of German soldiers, including officers, he was stopped by a solitary soldier at the far end and taken prisoner. They took his gun and knife, then marched him east. He dragged as much as possible during the marching, claiming he couldn’t walk any faster when they prodded him. They turned him over to a German officer and was held at a mock Red Cross until 84th Division came through and liberated him.’