Shot down 14 October 1943 in B-17 #42-3436. Prisoner of War (POW).



POW



From Mr Linrud’s obituary in Minot Daily News - 4 Sept 2012: After base training at St. Petersburg, Fla., he was assigned to Air Force Mechanic School in Keesler Field, Miss., in November 1942. He graduated from advanced training in aircraft maintenance on B-17 Boeing Aircraft at Lockheed-Vega Aircraft Corp., Burbank, Calif., on May 4, 1943. He was sent to air gunnery training at Army Aerial Gunnery School in Las Vegas, Nev. He also had additional training at Johnson Field in Goldsboro, N.C., and from there was sent to Camp Kilmer, N.J., for an overseas assignment on July 28, 1943.



Arthur was assigned to the 305th Bomb Group 364th Squadron, 8th Air Force, Chelveston, North Hampton County, England. He took part in bombing missions during World War II over Europe as a flight engineer/top turret gunner on a B-17 bomber until the plane was destroyed by enemy aircraft on Oct. 14, 1943 (Black Thursday-Schweinfurt Mission). After parachuting to the ground, he was taken prisoner, interrogated at Dulag Luft (Frankfurt), and transferred to Stalag XVII B, Krems, Austria, where he spent 18 months as a prisoner of war. He was liberated by the U.S. Army on May 3, 1945, at Brunau, Austria, after a 100-mile forced march. He was discharged as a technical sergeant in November 1945.



Know more? See http://home.kpn.nl/slang075/breeden-linrud-fe-ttg.html