The Ones Who Got Away: Mighty Eighth Airmen on the run in Occupied Europe

The Ones Who Got Away: Mighty Eighth Airmen on the run in Occupied Europe
With Bill Yenne
Part of the Shot Down - Air Crew and POW stories series on WW2TV
• Shot Down - Air Crew a...
Part of our 8th Air Force series on WW2TV
• 8th Air Force Week
To be an airman in the Eighth Air Force flying over the war-torn skies of Europe required skill, tenacity, and luck. Those who were shot down and evaded capture needed all of that and more if they were to make it back to friendly lines. These are a few of their stories. Each is compiled from the original intelligence debrief written by the pilots or aircrew themselves. Our guest will explain how a spider web of escape routes sprang up, created by the local Résistance. Downed airmen were clothed, given false papers, and hidden so they could be smuggled back to England. These efforts were then supplemented by Allied intelligence agents. But the risks remained the same. Capture could mean death.
Bill Yenne is the author of ten novels and more than three dozen non-fiction books, his most recent being America's Few: Marine Aces in the South Pacific (Osprey, 2022). His work has been selected for the Chief of Staff of the Air Force Reading List. He is the recipient of the Air Force Association's Gill Robb Wilson Award for the “most outstanding contribution in the field of arts and letters [as an author] whose works have shaped how thousands of Americans understand and appreciate air power.” He lives in California, USA.
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[@user-qs7gx7rp7m]

Got wrapped up in the evasion story over 35 years ago for family reasons. Started by meeting/corresponding with both airmen and their helpers about a 'false' Belgian evacuation line run by the Abwehr and those involved in it. Went on to study all the evacuation organizations, the German security forces operating against them and betrayers who gave airmen & helpers away. By 2000 most were ill or had passed away so serious archive study replaced their absence. Still has me hooked, so this episode was extra special. Only regret is I'll not be able to spend an evening with host & guest over a pint. The subject is too obscure for most folks today to talk about. Thanks for the excellent treat.

[@robertwatson9359]

The father of a friend on mine told the story of how he became a large engine mechanic, He was a tail gunner on a B-17, they went on their first bombing mission over Germany in late 1943, they were damaged by flack and kept loosing power and engines on their way back, they tried to get back but had to jump over Belgium, they all made it out and only one was injured landing on the ground. They, all but one, got back to England within one week, they were helped by people and took a fishing boat out and met an English boat that took them back to England. He said that they were not allowed to fly over enemy controlled territory again, the crew was all reassigned to new duties, he was trained to work on airplane engines and did that for the rest of the war. The pilot was assigned to the US to transport planes around and train new pilots. One crewman was captured in the first day because he freaked out when German troops were looking for them. they took him and believed he did not know where the rest were, and they were only 50 meters away under a bridge standing in 4 feet of water for 8 hours waiting for dark to start moving the way the pilot was leading them. He said he never was so cold and exhausted having not slept for two days. they were moved at night and spent the days sleeping in barns and he was surprised how lucky they were to get back so easily. Did not happen that way most of the time.

[@user-qs7gx7rp7m]

@@robertwatson9359 Very interesting. If you or your friend are curious about certain elements of the evasion, let me know. Will certainly have there E&Es, possibly something on their helpers and if they met any Brits who ever gossip they offered in their excellent SPG Reports (Brit version of E&E).

[@spencerbaldwin8589]

Hi Paul, it's Spencer here from your Recce days. Good to see you mate. You have an amazing knowledge of WW2, always did. Well done with creating such a brilliant channel and having such interesting guests on. I knew a B17 Pilot who was in the 384th BG (H) and his plane was shot down on his 25th and final mission south of Paris on the return leg. He made it back to the UK after 8 months. His name was Bill Harvey. I stayed with Bill and his wife at their home in Florida in 1993..

[@WW2TV]

Hey Spencer, great to hear from you mate. What a blast from the past! Yep, this is what I do now, over 1050 shows on the channel now - crazy!

[@spencerbaldwin8589]

@@WW2TV I just had to contact you mate. What an amazing experience we had in the Recce, meeting the veterans and Monty's Men of course all those years back. Lifetime friends made.

[@mcmoose64]

You should get Michael veitch on to talk about Barney Gretrex. Barney was shot down over France on his 20th mission with Bomber Command. He then joined the French Resistance and continued his war with them. Micheal wrote a book on his adventures.

[@KevinJones-yh2jb]

Wow that was an excellent presentation by Bill, I was enthralled by it, such young guys endured so much during the war. Woody, WW2TV always at its best 👍

[@douglasschoppert8856]

Really fascinating and inspiring. Thanks to Paul & Bill!!!

[@loreleikomm5802]

great show today, very interesting to hear about some of these stories. Bill is a charming and knowledgeable speaker, sorry to have missed it live w/ the sidebar troops. thank you!

[@scottgrimwood8868]

What amazing stories and the people that lived them.

[@daryn_Canada_1066]

Wow, another excellent guest. Great work Woody. I will put this on my book list. Thanks for doing this live chat Bill!

[@1089maul]

Woody/Bill, Having at last watched the final episode of MOTA, only yesterday, this made your presentation even more interesting and enjoyable. Really enjoyed Bill’s style of presentation. Thanks, Bob

[@jim99west46]

These E &. E stories are always amazing.

[@user-uz1bf3wj2l]

Paul, thanks for your coverage of the Allied Escape Lines, and the bravery of ordinary citizens in Nazi-occupied countries during WW2. Another reference to Harry Roach. He credited his evasion primarily to an Irish priest, Fr. Patrick Kelly, in Agen. Harry’s family still regard Fr. Kelly as a hero. He himself had an interesting war and post-war story.

[@WW2TV]

Thanks for sharing that. Someone asked earlier about if the church helped and I wasn't sure

[@chuckb9867]

This was a great show❤❤❤❤

[@WW2TV]

Yes indeed

[@elijenkins6129]

WW2TV RULES!

[@Thumpalumpacus]

Shades of Robert Jordan in Joel's story.

[@blueboats]

Definitely more engrossing than most Hollywood scripts

[@JakubUrbanowicz-bc1td]

Doing nothing is asking for trouble. In one of polish survivors of german concentration camps, a Pole, from rather shady background from the left bank of Warsaw, had a remarkable way of avoiding sending to the rocks extraction.(every morning prisoners were rounded up for assembly, those who were sent "to the rocks", were very likely to get injured during work, and work itself was so exhausting people were dying everyday). His name was Stanislaw Grzesiuk, and he said he used to ignore the appointment and when people where rushed to their work brigades, using moment of crowd and mess, he run through and grab a wheelbarrow. On his account, several times he used this method, to dodge work. He simply used to spent a whole day in german concentration camp circle around with the wheelbarrow, from one subcamp to another. He knew all the SS personnel names. So when german guards asked him what is he doing, he replied that he is going to other subcamp on the order of "x", and then go back repeat the same routine, just saying now he need to pick up something on the order of "Y". His insolent way of being saved his life. Lesson is always have something in your hand and look busy.

[@richardbennett1856]

Chuck Yeager got shot down, made bombs for the Marqis, went on two resistance operations, then escaped over the Pyrenees, with a bombidier who got shot in the leg by a German patrol, stayed with the airman and slid him down the mountain, still alive. After returning to England, Yeager was interviewed by Eisenhower and was able to fly P51s again. DDay was on by then, his Marquis knowledge was worthless to the Gestapo, as France was openly fighting. The few airmen that escaped hardly ever returned to aireal combat.

[@conemadam]

oh I love these!

[@therealuncleowen2588]

39:00 "You're not lost, Lieutenant, you're in Europe." 🇪🇺

[@jimwalsh1958space]

to survive capture in enemy space the most basic and useful technique would be similar today to the average shoplifter. try to do what you're doing with minimum attention. the most succesful escapers were or had a natural abiity to con folk. do not panic. every child has stolen at least once i did so did you. (no offence meant). please bring bill back on again so many more questions on this subject. thank you.

[@pauliewalnuts240]

While I agree with keeping a low profile, without knowing the language or having money, your going to be in for a rough time.

[@jimwalsh1958space]

@@pauliewalnuts240 Q: what does 'knowing the language' mean to you ? even if you learn french for 50 years you will not pass for a french person to even a child. also they were each issued with a lot of cash. hope this helps.

[@therealchiamac]

I noticed your guest mentioned Agen France, and this got me thinking, since you also mentioned that is a long way away from where that airman landed. Was the church involved and using the Camino de Santiago routes to funnel individuals into Spain? I get that the Germans would have known about this, everyone would have, but it would have been a mostly marked trail across France, with a series of houses for Pilgrams along the way. I'm just wondering out loud, since no mention was made about how they navigated across country.

[@WW2TV]

I don't think so, but I may be wrong

[@maikelvane5185]

Didn’t the army had french classes? Or at least some basics. Nowadays our European countries are very race-mixed. But i imagine in those war years you can recognize someone with another nationality easier. Also body language reveals a lot.

[@WW2TV]

Even if they had done some basic language classes, there's a big difference between being able to say a few phrases in French and sounding French. Trust me, I have lived in France for 23 years and it's rare for anyone from outside of France to truly sound French, even years later

[@maikelvane5185]

@@WW2TV Yes you’re right. I haven’t thought about that. But it could still be useful to talk to french citizens or blend in a little bit. Or the army could have provided some ‘french identity’ to every army men. Just guessing. Hehe. Maybe they’ve thought the chance they’d come back was small anyway. Better improve their flying/fighting skills.