History

My father was inducted into the Army Air Corps in Niagara Falls, NY. After undergoing training he was assigned to the 407th Bomb Squadron of the 92nd Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force with the home base in Podington, England. He was shot down on his 4th mission – a mission to Frankfurt, Germany, on February 4, 1944. They reached their target, dropped their bombs and, as they turned to return to England, the number 2 engine was shot out by anti-aircraft artillery from the ground (flak). He and the other nine crew members were forced to bail out of the crippled aircraft over Belgium. The bomber crashed in Koersel and the crew members landed scattered throughout the area. My Father was captured almost immediately. He spent 2 days of interrogation in Belgium and was taken by train to Frankfurt for interrogation in “Dulag Luft”, Oberursel, Germany. His first Camp as a POW was at Stalag Luft VI in Heydekrug, East Prussia which is Silute, Lithuania, today. He was transferred after 5 months to Stalag Luft IV in Gross Tychow, Pomerania, which is present day Tychowo, Poland. The railroad station they arrived at was in Kiefheide which is now Podborsko. From Poland he was transferred to Stalag Luft I in Barth, Germany.  He was liberated on May 1, 1945, and was flown out of Barth in a B-17 on May 13, 1945!  Finally free!