Issue 16.13
In all wars there are four main categories of casualties. They are killed, wounded, missing in action and prisoners of war or POW. Germany thought they could subdue nations by bombing population places such as Rotterdam, Coventry and then the population of London. It did not work. This tactic stiffened the resolve of the Brits. In the air battle to subdue Germany, The Royal Air Force used the same tactic on Germany and it did no better.
I had always thought that the RAF bombed population centers because they bombed at night and could not do any better but in a book by Max Hastings called Armageddon he shows that getting revenge on German population centers was the will of Churchill and Air Marshal Tedder.
The Americans Bombed in daylight and targeted industrial targets. When RAF or American planes were shot town and crew members got to the ground alive, they were often killed by civilians because the civilians saw their cities in ruins. We flyers had the option of carrying a .45 cal hand gun in a shoulder holster. The negative is that no matter what the reason, if a flyer killed a civilian, he would be executed or he may be executed as a saboteur. Those taken prisoner by the German military were intensely interrogated and then were interned in a Stalag Luft. Do not let “Hogan’s Heroes” on TV influence your perception of POW life.
Now two stories of POW’S:
1. Two brothers, Clyde and Sterling Patton from Orem, Utah went into the military during World War 2. Clyde went into the Army Air Corp and a crew member of a B-17 heavy bomber crew that flew bombing missions over Germany. Sterling was a company commander of an engineering unit also in the war against Germany; Clyde’s bomber was shot down over Germany and was a POW until final victory. As the war was nearing an end, Clyde awoke one morning singing and whistling. His fellow prisoners asked Clyde why he was so upbeat and happy. Clyde answered, “Today my brother, Sterling, is going to liberate us”. His buddies scoffed at Clyde but that didn’t slow down the exuberance of Clyde.
Later that afternoon the American Army drove to the camp and took over as the German guards melted away. Sure enough, Clyde’s brother Sterling was in charge of the unit that liberated the prisoners. Clyde and Sterling had a very unusual and joyful reunion. We don’t know how Clyde knew when he was to be liberated and that it would be his brother that would liberate him.
As told to Sam Wyrouck by Wilfred Green.
2. Two cousins from Broken Bow, Nebraska were both in the military. Johnnie Imbaden was in a tank Battalion fighting the Germans in North Africa. This was at a time when the Americans were just learning the fighting business and Johnny was taken prisoner. He was a POW for 37 long months. Cousin Paul Robison was a crew man in a B-17and was shot down over Germany. These two cousins’ mothers lived just two blocks apart so they compared letters from their sons. Together they made up Red Cross packages for their boys. Paul’s mother sent him a football in one of her packages and that ball gave the prisoners a great diversion. Paul was forced to walk 287 miles near the end of the war.
When these two brothers were separately liberated, they ended up at Camp Lucky Strike at LeHarvre, France. One day in the chow line, Paul looked back and five spaces from him he saw his cousin. What a joyous reunion. Paul came home and Johnnie stayed some time in England. Paul still lives in Nebraska but Johnny passed away in 1995.
As told by Maxine Hewitt of Cedar City, Utah.