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I called out Foster's (navigator) and Smith's names as I scrambled through the aircraft to the rear entrance. There was no response - and there was no one in the area of the main fuselage. Once outside the aircraft I checked the tail-gunners position and it was also vacant, I then assumed that all crew members had bailed out. I initially departed the immediate vicinity of the B-17, fearing the JU -88 might strafe the downed aircraft. Seeking cover I ran across the field to a hedge growth at the edge of the clearing. A few minutes after taking cover, the JU-88 flying at low altitude, flew directly overhead and started a climb to altitude. With departure of the JU-88 from the area and no one in sight, I returned to the aircraft, intending to destroy the B-17 by firing a flare into the #3 engine nacelle where fuel was still flowing down the wing-root. I found the flares but could not find the flare-pistol. I found the canister designed to destroy an aircraft, but I could not get the firing mechanism to work. While thus engaged I was startled to hear voices outside the aircraft. I immediately leaped out of the rear exit and began to run. I heard a sharp order to "Halt", glanced over my shoulder and saw a man holding a rifle that was pointed right at me. I stopped running, raised my arms and walked back to the aircraft. Two ME-109's flew over, dipping their wings. In front and to the right of the grounded B-17 was a "36" Ford. Incredibly, two Germans in civilian clothes, had driven directly on the field - apparently coming from a small village located at the south edge of the clearing - providing me with only 10 or 15 minutes of freedom after the crash landing.
I was held at the aircraft for a short period and during that time one of the German's discovered Sgt Smith's body behind the bulkhead located aft of the main entrance door. This area is not visible from the main fuselage interior and was an area, that in my haste, I had not searched. Sgt. Smith had evidently left his gun position and had crawled forward toward the main fuselage interior. The Germans would not let me view his body. I was told he had been killed by massive wounds in his chest. He could have been wounded during the fighter attacks, but more than likely, in my opinion, he was killed by gunfire from the JU-88. The radio operator, S/Sgt. Kuhlman, reported that Sgt Smith was unconscious during the time frame that crew members were complying with my bail-out order and he, Kuhlman, stated he saw no wounds or other indications that Smith had been hit by gunfire. I will always believe he was initially suffering from anoxia and would have survived had it not been for our last encounter with the JU-88. I was taken from the vicinity of the aircraft before Sgt Claud Smith's body was removed.
…………………… The events immediately following capture on 14 Oct.1943 are still vividly clear; however, it is sufficient to state that all crew members with the exception of the navigator, Lt. Foster, were captured - most within hours of the bailout. The radio operator, S/Sgt Kuhlman, received the only injury - a broken shoulder. The bombardier, Lt. Runner, delayed parachute opening and was on the ground waving to me when I made the first pass over the area where I crash-landed. The crew of the Ju-88 sighted him and fired at him. He was knocked to the ground by the force of an explosion from a 20mm cannon shell . A shell fragment from the JU-88's gunfire entered his shoe and lodged under his big toe. He took cover in a wooded area and was free for 2 days before being captured. The navigator, Glen Foster, relates that he was initially captured after bail-out, but was able to "subdue" his two captors, get in touch with the underground (French Resistance) and with assistance from the underground make his way to Switzerland. In Switzerland he was granted asylum as an "escaped POW". When American forces reached the Swiss border in September 44, he was allowed to leave. He was in in London for a month of debriefing before returning to the United States.
Although not held in the same prison camp as the officers, all imprisoned enlisted members of my crew survived and were released at the end of World War II - the exception was the radio operator who did not receive timely or proper medical treatment for his broken shoulder and he was subsequently hospitalized during his days as a captive. S/Sgt Kuhlman's medical condition made it possible for him to eventually - through the Red Cross - be exchanged as a wounded prisoner. He was held prisoner less than a year.
The three officers , after undergoing an initial interrogation period of solitary confinement in a "Dulag Luft" at Frankfort, Germany, were sent to the prison camp southeast of Berlin, Stalag Luft III.
I was assigned , as was my copilot, LT. Joe Johnson, to Room 15, Block 36 in the South Compound. Eight prisoners occupied Room 15 at that time - the additional two brought the total to ten and before the forced evacuation of Stalag Luft III in late January of 1945, total room occupancy was fourteen. Lt Bill Runner was in the same Compound but was assigned to another block .Assigned to a room adjacent to room 15 was Lt. Glenn Oster who was later to participate in an escape attempt with me.
When the forced march from Stalag Luft III was ordered on the 27th of January, 1945, the undersigned was in solitary confinement - serving a sentence as punishment for an escape attempt on 15 January, 1945. That escape was the first of four.
The escapes are another story!
Robert M. Slane
Col. USAF (Ret)
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