WAR STORIES

Shot Down Within Sight of England
By
Albert H. Redwine
Engineer and Top Turrent Gunner, 568th Squadron

We were on our 13th mission on January 21, 1944 to bomb an assigned German V2 installation on the coast of France near Calais. We were carrying 38 incendiary bombs. It was a fairly nice day over the target. There was some snow with some overcast. We went in at 18,000 feet, but had trouble locating the target on the first pass. There was a lot of flak! Too much! Our #4 engine was hit by flak. The propeller was feathered, but we lagged behind the Group formation.

Our Pilot said that we would make one more pass at any cost and we went in again, but we were all by ourselves. On the second run we still couldn't find the target. We took a small hit in the waist which injured our "fill-in" Left Waist Gunner. We also took a hit in the bombardier's compartment, which was not too bad. We took a bad hit on the #2 engine which set us on fire. It was impossible to extinguish the fire. Chuck put the plane into a dive and used all kinds of evasive action. All of the fire extinguishers were emptied, but nothing worked. We were losing altitude. Chuck said to stay with the ship since he thought he could hold altitude. We did for a short time.

The situation got worse and we still had all 38 incendiary bombs on board. Since I was the Engineer, I told Chuck that we would have to abandon ship, but he said to stay with it. My better judgement forced me to say on the intercom, "To Hell with the ship - I'm bailing out." Needless to say, I was the first out. We were at 9500 feet by that time. The Co-Pilot, Elmer Swankel, turned in his position and looked at me. I waved for him to follow, but he didn't. As I went toward the exit near the navigator's compartment, I saw Bombardier Paul Fabian firing at the ground. I slapped Navigator Lee on his back and told him to come on, which he did. Chuck, Elmer and Paul stayed. I saw the "Dinah-Mite" blow long before I hit the ground. I could see the White Cliffs of Dover through the flak and overcast. So near and yet so far!

Lee followed me. Four chutes followed us - Marizzaldi, Lunsford, Beach and Chin. The "fill-in" left waist gunner's chute didn't open. Whether he was unconscious from his injuries received on the second run and unable to open the chute or whether it was a faulty chute, no one will ever know. I saw his body later. The Jerrys wanted me to identify him and I did.

The Germans rounded all of us up by evening. Six in all made it to this point. We were lucky, but we lost four good men. We were all sent to Frankfurt, Germany for interrogation. We spent five to seven days there. Lee was sent to the POW camp at Barth. The rest of us were sent to Stalag Luft IV at Heidekrug, East Prussia. I spent 16 months as a POW and was liberated on April 27, 1945. I never saw or heard of my crew after the Black March of February 2, 1945 to April 27, 1945.