Operation: Marshalling yards, SE of Paris (Mission #432), France

Date: 22th June 1944 (Thursday)

Unit No: 862nd Bombardment Squadron (H), 493rd Bombardment Group (H), 3rd Air Division, 8th Air Force

Type: B-24H

Serial No: 42-52759

Code: Issued but not displayed

Location: 3 km (1¾ mls) NW of Huisseau-sur-Cosson, France

Base: Debach airfield (Station #152), Suffolk, England

Pilot: 2nd Lt. William Kaplan O-693991 AAF Age 25. Evader (1 & 2)

Co Pilot: 2nd Lt. Kenneth P. Klemstine O-819117 AAF Age 22. Evader (2)

Bombardier: 2nd Lt. James Henry Smith O-698929 AAF Age 25. ID No. 78323 *, PoW No. 8154 ** (3)

Radio/Op: T/Sgt. Roy Joseph Horrigan 14079690 AAF Age 23. ID No. 78321 *, PoW No. 8172 ** (3)

Engineer: S/Sgt. Robert Franklin Sexton 34506888 AAF Age 31. PoW ***

Nose Gnr: S/Sgt. Robert Max Shockey 35161193 AAF Age 25. Evader (4)

Ball Turret Gnr: S/Sgt. Stanley Keith Paxton 39127836 AAF Age 20. ID No. 78320 *, PoW No. 8181 ** (3)

Flex Waist Gnr: T/Sgt. Frontis Wright Evins 34588971 AAF Age 21. PoW ****

Tail Gnr: S/Sgt. Charles Robert Craig Jr. 11093394 AAF Age 22. PoW ** (5)

The B-24 had 10 crew positions. Crew complements evolved during the war and comprised 9 personnel who were typically, but not always, Pilot, Co-Pilot, Bombardier, Navigator, Flight Engineer/Top Turret gunner, Radio Operator/Waist gunner, Nose gunner, Ball Turret gunner, Waist gunner, Tail gunner.

* 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).

*** Stalag Luft 4 Groß-Tychow, Pomerania, Prussia now Tychowo, Poland (Moved from Stalag Luft 6 Heydekrug on 28th May 1944. Moved to Wöbbelin near Ludwigslust and then to Usedom near Swinemünde).

**** Stalag Luft 1 Barth-Vogelsang, today situated in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.

REASON FOR LOSS:

The aircraft took off from Debach airfield on the 22nd June 1944 at 16:00 hrs to join a force of bombers on a mission to attack the railway marshalling yard at Tournan-en-Brie near Paris.

Enroute to the target the aircraft suffered engine trouble forcing the #1 engine to be feathered before reaching the French coast. Then the #2 engine shut down followed by the supercharger of #3 engine cutting out. The bomb load was salvoed onto an airfield SW of Orléans in France.

This may have been Romorantin airfield which was 61 km (40 mls) SSW of Orléans albeit there is no record of any attacks or incidents on the 22nd June 1944.

The aircraft became a straggler and was attacked by enemy fighters which damaged the tail. The order to abandon the aircraft was given and all nine of the crew bailed out near Montlivault, about 9¾ km (6 mls) NE of Blois.

The aircraft crashed 3 km (1¾ mls) NW of Huisseau-sur-Cosson at 20:00 hrs, some 3¼ km (2 mls) SE of where the crew bailed out.

Where and T/Sgt. Evins and S/Sgt. Sexton were captured is not recorded. The other seven members of the crew managed to initially evade the enemy searches and three went on to be liberated by US forces.

(1) 2nd Lt. Kaplan’s Escape and Evasion statement describes his evasion and his return to Allied control:

“After baling out I came down in a wheat field 3 km (1¾ mls) NW of Huisseau-sur-Cosson. Almost at the moment of my landing a crowd had gathered. I asked them where to hide and they pointed to a wood to which I headed, staying there until dark. During the time I was there I could hear the Germans searching high and low for me. When it became dark I looked around and found a better place to sleep. The next morning at 09:00 hrs I climbed a tree and had a look around again.

I then decided to make my way into Huisseau-sur-Cosson where I obtained help and remained there for 8 days. From here I went to Saint-Claude-de-Direy, some 3¾ km (2¼ mls) to the NW, where I remained another 8 days. Unfortunately a woman in the town talked too much with the result I had to be hustled back again to Huisseau-sur-Cosson. The next day I joined Lt. Klemstine at Montlivault, some 3½ km (2¼ mls) to the NE, staying with him from the 9th July until 19th July. On the 19th we both went back Huisseau-sur-Cosson because of a Gestapo scare, where we remained until 23rd July. On that day Lt. Klemstine went once more to Montlivault while I hid overnight in the woods because there were Germans in the town.

On the 24th July a note came from Lt. Klemstine telling me to join him at Montlivault. This I speedily did, and from there on my story is the same as his”.

(2) 2nd Lt. Klemstine’s Escape and Evasion statement describes his evasion and his return to Allied control:

“The moment I landed some Frenchmen were waiting for me at the edge of the field onto which I dropped.

They put me into civilian clothes, and put me on a bicycle on which I peddled 100 yds (90 m) to fork of the road. There I met another Frenchmen on a bicycle, and the two of us peddled to the town of Saint-Dyé-sur-Loire.

I spent the night there and the next evening on the 23rd June at 21:00 hrs I was taken to Montlivault, some 3½ km (2¼ mls) to the ESE, where I remained until 18th August. During the time I was in Montlivault I was joined by Lt. Kaplan on the 9th July.

He stayed at the same place as myself until 19th July when we both went to Huisseau-sur-Casson. I returned to Montlivault on the 23rd July, so in fact I was away from Montlivault for 4 days.

On 18th August the French Resistance took me across the river Loire at Montlivault. On the other side we, I had been joined that day by Lt. Kaplan, were picked up by the Maquis, put in an auto, and started west towards Blois, some 10 km (6¼ mls) to the SW. After we had been travelling about 4 km (2½ mls), we ran into a truck load of US soldiers who started us back into US territory”.

2nd Lt. Kaplan and 2nd Lt. Klemstine were repatriated to the USA aboard the same Air Transport Command flight to Washington DC on the 17th September 1944.

(3) The circumstances of the evasion for 2nd Lt. Smith, T/Sgt. Horrigan and S/Sgt. Paxton are not reported, however, all three were captured in Paris on the 15th July 1944

They were 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 the 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.

2nd Lt. Smith, T/Sgt. Horrigan and S/Sgt. Paxton were transferred to Stalag Luft 3 over the period 15th to 20th August 1944. In early April 1945 they joined the forced march to Stalag 7a, Moosburg in Southern Bavaria. The camp was liberated on the 29th April 1945 by units of the 14th Armoured Division from Patton’s 3rd Army.

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.

2nd Lt. Smith, T/Sgt. Horrigan and S/Sgt. Paxton were 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.

(4) S/Sgt. Shocky’s Escape and Evasion report provides little information of his evasion nor of his helpers.

The location and time of his reported baling out of the aircraft does not correlate with the time-line and location reported by the other crew.

He was in French hands for the entirety of his evasion and was taken to a camp at Cloyes-sur-le-Loir on or about the 2nd July 1944. Cloyes-sur-le-Loir was liberated by US forces on the 15th August 1944 and he was interviewed on the same day.

(5) During his time being hidden by the French S/Sgt. Craig developed appendicitis and visited a French physician in La Ville-aux-Cleres on the 30th July. French police at La Ville-aux-Cleres were notified by the physician and took S/Sgt. Craig to the hospital in Vendôme, some 14 km (8¾ mls) to the south, where he was captured and became a PoW.

La Ville-aux-Cleres is some 41 km (25½ mls) to the NW of where he bailed out of the aircraft.

Burial details:

None. The crew survived

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this crew (Mar 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