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Show w 17 April 5, 2331 April 5, 2001 - y : . ) wlH a ) ' V had this massive airlift and removed almost 8,500 of our men...It was a very We v ' rewarding mission for me to fly. - row vA '"ii V . ir Stat nv (5 Hilltop Times si7mJ"u - . J V$r sWr Ji j y 1 j v 1 U LAZ. llUmVAFTEN l 'Tr v 1 XX STALAG U I A k-- j MAR1AGMIUG -- j .AG XI gi TD0UEsfALAGJ57 , STALAG ID iTtcun5 y loaAGXl(79' C IU F IHUII yT STALAG - t- ; CZECHOSLO j When parcels did come each man was supposed to get one per week, but Birch said two or three men ended up sharing each package. rT T Af ' fas -- r 1H tjfe .f r mKnmut MICOEBURO J During Birch's 17th mission, the weather changed and the crew was forced to deviate from their flight plan and instead of the briefed 25,000 feet. fly at 29,000 feet "We were leading the squadron and climbed above the clouds and when we arrived up there, our squadron of 12 planes was alone and the other three squadrons had turned to an alternate target," Birch said. Birch notes they didn't drop bombs on the initial target because they were afraid of hitting the rest of the group. Instead, they turned to an alternate target and were hit by German fighter planes after dropping their bombs. Seven of the squadron's 12 aircraft were shot down in Germany and the crew was forced to bail out Some crew members landed in close proximity to the town. Birch landed in the center of a German base's parade grounds and was immediately captured. He spent a month in solitary confinement in a camp near Frankfurt and was interrogated, then was moved to Stalag Luft 1. Birch said at the camp in Barth, there were 28 men to a foot room sleeping in bunks that were three tiers high. They had a table to eat on, but not much else. The men were officers and because of the Geneva Convention were not permitted to work. Birch said the worst part of the stay was the lack of food. The men were supposed to receive Red Cross parcels, but from February to April of that year didn't receive any. They f RES. LAZ. nl rsTAlAG j ""0E Birch's capture STETTiaV I j s, B-1- I ! m P C S GERMANY C I Hundreds of planes from 8th Air Force- ,headquartered in rc.Dnc JL. Nuthampsted, 3 Eng- - I frsmB. ' ii.Nicorn ' mission May 12-11945 to pick up almost 9,000 Allied Force Pris- oners of War from Sta- - lii6 2U Plag 4, Luft 1 , located on Baltic Sea. I. STALAG V aT l$BZc?x - ySjfe p& ' 'M Bj?g 3Sal j m V J"tu .nZt 24-by-- 24 f J H!1!L3Z XIII RESLI ) gg j SS'"'"" V Pgi ?MMk Sfc JotHQ STALAG nTAlTrvAT,,.yi,t,riM rswus iv a jM i J STALAG IV G - land -f- lew a recovery t' ion-Glv- - ' ' A y V although they didn't know one another B-1- ITGJJ 1 1 "Ss 4, until after the recovery. Birch, a 7 navigator, was shot down during his 17th mission on Nov. 21, 1944 before 7 a Moy, pilot, joined the group. MUIltlIi!P ( 12-1- England) mmMx lived primarily on bread supplied by the Germans. I J , t. Of Tlie pilots never even shut their motors off. They stayed there with their engines 1 Bt m mm running and loaded them. He also has era photographs, a piece of German bread saved from his rations, his camp journal and drawI ings he made of the camp while there, a collection of telegraphs and letters his v- u I wife received while he was encamped and several vintage books documenting the camp. Among the items Moy will share with audience members is an emergency navigation kit for airman who crash landed (it includes a period compass) . One of the most significant items is a movie reel shot in the camp as the liberated POWs were rescued. The film was discovered in the National Archives while Don Menard, another Stalag Luft 1 POW, was doing research. Moy and Birch were given a videotape copy of the film. Birch added a voice over describing the events, people and places and can even be spotted for a few seconds on the - from Stalag Luft (German for "prison camp") 1 in Barth, Germany on the Baltic Sea during a 1945. The POW massive three-da- y operation May in sector of the what located became Russian was camp Germany and was under Soviet control at the war's conclusion. Included in that POW group was 1st Lt Oral Birch. Among the pilots flying the men out of the camp was retired Lt. Col. Newt Moy. Both will speak about their experiences Saturday at the Hill Aerospace Museum's "Airplane Talk" in the museum classroom at 1 p.m. The program is free and open to the public. Both airmen were members of the 398th Bomb Group (part of the 8th Air Force that was based in Nuthampsted, i Newt Moy (and runner). Germany were nearing freedom. Almost 9,000 men were evacuated t stalac iurr .w fc Saturday's audience. Birch joked he got the flag because he was the fastest climber staff Oral Birch was captured during B; World War II, and Newt Moy was a pilot that helped evacuate that prison camp. Both will share their recollections Saturday. I A of the memorabilia that he'll share with by Mary Galbraith y the spring of 1945, World II was coming to an end in Europe and thousands of American and other Allied forces being held as Prisoners of War in rs. i "C l. (SS X - 7nw - Ml in tH8 ttuswic ii IVM.'lit I :: "Ooi ."ar.. Camp run as military base r . , . . Germans left the camp on May 1, and for two weeks it was commanded by Col. Hubert Zemke, the senior American officer. German soldiers lowered the Swastika flag replacing it with a flag featuring the Iron Cross before they left. As soon as Germans pulled out, Zemke (who ran the base like a military base) ordered the flag be replaced with the Stars and Stripes. Birch described Zemke as an American hero who took charge of almost 9,000 men and brought ordento the temporary base. It's this experience hell focus on during Saturday's presentation. Birch said the colonel refused to consent to a Russian plan that would force the men to walk a great distance to be rescued. "There were about 14 days when we didn't have the Germans controlling us," he said. "When the Russians came they thought we should be freer and they took the fences down. A lot of the prisoners went in to the surrounding town. During this time we took several walks around and visited the German's political prison camp." single-h- andedly The evacuation After nearly two weeks of negotiation, on May 11 the Russians granted permission to evacuate the prisoners from an airport near the camp. Moy said they were required by the Russians to fly in a very restricted air corridor. "We had this massive airlift and removed almost 8,500 of our men on those days. It was a very rewarding mission for me to fly," Moy said, adding 200 flew in on the 13th in addition to several and 100 on the 14th. There were about 30-3- men to an airplane. Plywood covered 7 bomb bays to provide additional room for seatB-1- 7s B-1-7s s, 5 B-1- ing. "The pilots never even shut their engines off," Birch said. "They stayed there with their engines running while the POWs boarded the planes. Planes were lined up one behind ' another to takeoff." Moy said he momentarily exited the plane against instructions. "I jumped out to see who was boarding the airplane and had about 30 pairs of eyes look at me telling me to get my butt back on the plane and letting me know they wanted out of there," he said with a chuckle. Memorabilia'1 ' f In addition to sharing their experiences, Moy and Birch will share some of their vintage items from World War II. When Stalag Luft 1 was deserted by the Germans and the American flag replaced the German camp flag, Birch seized the opportunity and now has the German camp flag (with an authentic World War II bullet hole) , which is part Oral Birch WaMjuAn f ., Oti.w.w-.- . TKriMR-- VF'l)mmrvr.S- . te film. .Mr-M-Ji- Men bring history to light Much of the history was brought to light about a year ago when Moy wrote in to the 8th Air Force News Magazine requesting information about the rescue. He said that inquiry hit home with a lot of readers and since that time, eight articles have been published on the .Ot n r. Hi-'- . AwMb) dcr Kinder: - . m' ' mU8 vm - J . iiMSS!i'faifj. mini? , ,'';",-;- . - i ,.tr...iJrr.r..(f (ifrft.,.H)lr subject. think it's a part of history that's being brought to the forefront," Moy said. "The other thing about this particular scenario is that I don't think it's ever been very well documented." Through research and speaking engagements, both men hope to highlight their World War II experiences. In addition to speaking at this week's "Airplane Talk," Birch speaks at public schools primarily to 6th graders when they study World War II. "I tell them that I was in high school during Pearl Harbor. Before Pearl Harbor in my Social Studies class the instructor took a poll on Friday as to whether we should or whether we stay an isolationist out of the war two should join," he said. "There were only that said we should join. Then Sunday was Pearl Harbor. On Monday he took another poll and there were only two that said we should stay out. The people got behind everything. Everybody was dedicated. In the Vietnam and Korean Wars there were a lot of dissenters. In World War II there were very few. It was dedication by the whole country." Birch said despite 6th graders being an active age group, he's never had any problems while speaking to them about his experiences and says they really seem interested. Moy concurs and said when he spoke to high school students they were very well behaved and seemed genuinely fascinated by his encounters during the war. Aerospace and military history is discussed every Saturday in the museum classroom during "Airplane Talk." For more information on upcoming programs, call Ext. "I : r nA '''.' m mmMiF-n- ' ii " . I . ir.. ( 1 - 1 1 "I - SI llX!'" k. . t n . 'I"...-.'-. MllllUm (Vlllift'" ' . ' , "k - - 11,4 v 1.... f" f When German forces left Stalag Luft 1, Birch went through camp files and recovered his Prisoner of War paperwork. Note the handwritten misspellings of Sandy (listed as Santy) and Bingham (listed as Blgham). The lower half of the document describes his build, height, complexion and other identifying features. |