Operation: Chartres airfield, France

Date: 3rd June 1944 (Saturday)

Unit No: 668th Bombardment Squadron (L), 416th Bombardment Group (L), 97th Bombardment Wing, 9th Air Force

Type: A-20G Havoc

Serial No: 43-9360

Code: 5H:S

Location: Le Breuil, 32 km (20 ml) east of Chartres, France

Base: Wethersfield (Station #170), Essex, England

Pilot: 2nd Lt. Anton Peter Nikas O-813560 AAF Age 26. PoW *

Turret Gunner: S/Sgt. Arlington W. Newkirk 13157600 AAF Age 20. Evader (1)

Tunnel Gunner: Sgt. George Wayne Scott 35548906 AAF Age 20. Id No: 78330 **, PoW No. 8191 * (2)

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

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

REASON FOR LOSS:

2nd Lt. Nikas’ A-20G Havoc took off from Wethersfield in the evening of the 3rd June 1944 to join a mission to bomb the Chartres airfield in France.

Chartres airfield was 75 km (46½ ml) SW of Paris and 2 km (1¼ ml) NE of Chartres itself. On this day the airfield was attacked by 104 aircraft from the 9th Air Force. 200 hits were claimed on the runway and 47 on the taxiways. The electricity supply was cut off, three Flak guns destroyed and one damaged. (Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45 France – Henry L. deZeng IV).

After mission reports described that the aircraft was hit by flak over the target flying at about 12,000 ft, but continued in the formation and dropped its bombs. On the homebound flight the aircraft lost altitude and made a crash landing near Bourd Arhard [sic] in France. The aircraft did not explode and no parachutes were observed.

(1) S/Sgt. Newkirk baled out at about 800 ft and did not see any other parachutes. He landed in a wheat field, at about 21:30 hrs, close to a passing German convoy but managed to get away without apparently being seen or pursued. He crawled to the edge of the wheat field where he stopped and attended to an injury to his hand sustained aboard the aircraft.

As he was burying his parachute and Mae West, three French people spotted him. One of them called out, "American" but motioned that they couldn't help him and pointed him to the south. He headed south and by morning he was in a woods north of Rambouillet where he came across a lone cabin next to a lumber mill. He took a chance and knocked on the door and it was opened by a man who immediately said "American" seeing his .45 pistol.

He was provided with civilian clothes and then taken to Rombouillet, where a helper took him to Les Essants-le-Roi, some 9½ km (6 mls) to the NE.

He later found out from the French resistance that 2nd Lt. Nikas had made a forced landing at 21:30 hrs, 100 m. (110 yards) to the left of the road from Garancières to Boissy-sans-Avoir at Le Breuil, 32 km (20 ml) east of Chartres. They confirmed that this from the largely intact aircraft and its Sqn Code 5H:S. 2nd Lt. Nikas was immediately captured and became a PoW. They knew nothing about the fate of Sgt. Scott.

On the 5th June he was told that arrangements had been made for him and 20 other Americans to escape to Spain. Unfortunately that afternoon the railroad was bombed and the journey to Spain was called off. Later on that day he was taken to Saint-Hubert, 3 km (2ml) to the west of Les Essants-le-Roi, and then onto Paris where he remained until about the 14th August. He joined with a group of French Forces of the Interior (FFI) and remained with them until liberated by American forces. He was interviewed on the 28th August 1944 after which he returned to his unit.

(2) The escape and evasion details for Sgt. Scott are unknown other than he was betrayed and captured on the 28th June 1944.

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 they were 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.

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 - Survived

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