Operation: Target support mission to Saumer and Tours bridges in France

Date: 9th July 1944 (Sunday)

Unit No: 375th Fighter Squadron, 361st Fighter Group, 8th Air Force

Type: P-51D Mustang

Serial: 44-13576

Code: E2:P

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

Location: 5 km (3 mls) NE of Louviers in France

Pilot: 1st Lt. Leroy Henry Sypher DFC O-804067 AAF Age 23. Id No: 78276 *, PoW No: 8155 **

Above: 1st Lt. Sypher (Courtesy of the Hartford Courant, dated June, 2nd, 1943)

* 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).

Returning from operations on the 8th March 1944 2nd Lt. Sypher belly landed his P-47 at Bottisham (Station #374) and was uninjured.

REASON FOR LOSS:

The 361st Fighter Group took off from Bottisham (Station #374) on the morning of the 9th July 1944 to support the 8th Air Force mission #462 tasked with bombing the bridges at Saumer and Tours in France.

1st Lt. Sypher’s aircraft was the only Mustang to be lost on this mission. The circumstance leading to the loss of his Mustang was described by two after mission statements:

Maj. Roswell Freedman DFC, O-424740:

‘On Sunday, 9th July 1844, ‘Cadet’ Squadron had just bounced four (4) white-nosed P-47s [unknown squadron] in the vicinity of Bonnières-sur-Seine, France, and was regaining altitude in a northerly direction. Very accurate flak was fired at us at 12000 feet. One of the first bursts hit Lt. Sypher’s ship and I saw coolant streaming from him. He said that he had been hit and asked me how far he was from the Normandy front. I told him 40 miles. I advised him to try reaching the front but if the motor quit to glide south and jump. I told him to turn left, that I would try and fly alongside; but I was unable to distinguish his plane for others. His wingman said he saw him jettison his canopy and go down through a hole in the clouds. He was under control at that time’.

2nd Lt. James A. Eason O-705561:

‘On Sunday, 9th July 1944, at approximately 10:00 hrs, while flying at 12,000 feet, visibility unlimited, Lt. Sypher called on radio “I’ve had direct hit on coolant and may have to jump”, was to jettison canopy, then went through clouds at about 4000 feet with plane under control. That was the last I saw of him’.

1st Lt. Sypher bailed out before the aircraft crashed at 10:02 hrs about 5 km (3 mls) NE of Louviers, about 40 km (25 mls) NE of Bonnières-sur-Seine, France.

The details of 1st Lt. Sypher’s escape and evasion are unknown. However it is known that he was betrayed and arrested by the Gestapo in Paris on the 5th August 1944 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 receiving 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. The pilot survived

Leroy Henry Sypher was born on the 18th March 1921 in Willimantic, Connecticut. He died on the 4th February 2006, aged 84, in Windham, New Hampshire. Leroy H. Sypher Obituary.

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot (Jan 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