Operation: Bomber support (Mission #400), Chartres area, France

Date: 8th June 1944 (Thursday)

Unit No: 374th Fighter Squadron, 361st Fighter Group, 67th Fighter Wing, 8th Air Force

Type: P-51B Bette of Brooklyn II

Serial: 43-6982

Code: B7:T

Base: Bottisham (Station #374), Cambridgeshire, England

Location: 3¼ km (2 mls) south of Anet, France

Pilot: 1st Lt. James Dales Hastin DFC O-676788 AAF Age 22. Id No: 78354 *, PoW No. 8140 **

* Buchenwald concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Germany in July 1937.

** Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia, Germany, now Żagań in Poland. (Moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser, Bavaria).

REASON FOR LOSS:

1st Lt. Hastin DFC took off on the afternoon of the 8th June on a bomber escort mission over the Chartres area, France.

At about 14:30 hrs his Mustang flew through an explosion resulting in the destruction of the control surfaces. He was forced to bail out and his aircraft crashed 3¼ km (2 mls) south of Anet, 16 km (10 mls) NNE of Dreux, France.

The after mission report by Capt. Shelby Jackson Harris, O-664526 provides additional information:

“I was leading Noggin Red Flight in the vicinity of Eureux, France at an altitude of about 4,000 ft. Lt. Haskin, flying #2 position in Noggin Blue Flight, reported engine trouble and said he was returning. I was escorting him home and a few minutes later he called again and said “My plane is on fire, guess I’ll have to jump”. He jumped and I saw his chute open and later saw him land in some woods.”

1st Lt. Hastin’s evaded for 20 days before being betrayed and arrested by the Gestapo on the 28th June in Paris.He was then taken to the Fresnes prison located to the south of Paris.

This was where French political prisoners were held and ordinarily Allied airmen, after questioning, were moved to a PoW Camp. In the summer of 1944, with the Allies having liberated Paris and closing in, the Gestapo guards started reducing the prison population by execution, and then relocating surviving prisoners to various concentration camps east of France. On the 15th August 1944 he was amongst 169 Allied PoWs and hundreds of French men and women who were packed into a freight train and transported to Buchenwald concentration camp on a journey lasting five days. Buchenwald was located 8 km (5 mls) north of Weimar, in the German province of Thüringen. It was established and administered by the Schutzstaffel (SS).

Fg Off. Joel Mathews ‘Tex’ Stevenson C27788 RCAF, the pilot of 419 (Moose) Squadron, RCAF Lancaster X KB727 VR:H escaped from the train and successfully evaded.

Sqn Ldr. Lamason and Fg Off. Chapman succeeded in getting all but two of the Allied PoWs transferred to Stalag Luft 3. Two airmen,1st Lt. Levitt Clinton Beck Jr. O-736945, US AAF and Fg Off. Philip Derek Hemmens, 152583, RAFVR died in the sick barrack.

Recognition:

For decades the International Red Cross (IRC) had stated that there were no military personnel in Buchenwald despite the overwhelming documentary and anecdotal evidence. It was not until 1988 that the IRC eventually confirmed the airmen were illegally held at Buchenwald.

The Australian, New Zealand and Canadian governments also consistently denied that any of their service personnel were ever held in concentration camps and refused to investigate the claims made by a 'mere’ handful of men.

Reparations were made to the British airmen who had been illegally held at Buchenwald in 1965. Eventually in 1988 the Australian, New Zealand and it is believed the Canadian governments acknowledged that their airmen had been illegally held in concentration camps.

American airmen were among those who received compensation and the US Air force have acknowledged the Buchenwald airmen with an exhibit at the Air Force Museum, albeit the airmen are shown in uniform rather than in civilian attire. Furthermore, there is no mention of decades-long denial of their experiences by other branches of the government.

Above: Courtesy of The Bellingham Herald, dated June 27th, 1945

He was transferred to Stalag Luft 3 over the period 15th to 20th October 1944.

On the night of the 27th January 1945, with Soviet troops only 26 km (16 mls) away, orders were received to evacuate the PoWs to Spremberg which is to the West in Germany. The PoW’s were informed of the evacuation, which was on foot, at about 22:00 hrs the same night and were given 30 mins to pack and prepare everything for the March. The weather conditions were very difficult, with freezing temperatures, and it was snowing accompanied by strong winds. There was 15 cm (6 in) of snow and 2000 PoWs were assigned to clear the road ahead of the main groups.

The first groups of American PoW’s set out from the South Compound with the last PoW leaving at 23:00 hrs. The next group of American PoWs set out from the West Compound. At 03:45 hrs the North Compound left, followed by the Centre Compound. At 06:00 hrs the East Compound left. All the groups were accompanied by guards.

After a 55 km (34 mls) march, the PoWs arrived in Bad Muskau where they rested for 30 hours. The PoWs were then marched the remaining 26 km (16 mls) to Spremberg where they were housed in empty garages, storerooms and in military barracks. There they were provided with warm soup and bread.

During next days, PoWs were divided up according to Compounds, and they were led to railway sidings and loaded into tightly packed carriages.

On the 31st January, the South Compound prisoners plus 200 men from the West Compound were sent to Stalag 7A at Moosburg followed by the Centre Compound prisoners on the 7th February.

The camp was liberated on the 29th April 1945 by units of the 14th Armoured Division from Patton’s 3rd Army.

Burial details:

None. The pilot survived

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot (Feb 2023). Update to include forced-march information (Jun 2024).

Other sources listed below:

Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them. Franklin Delano Roosevelt