Finds home in Rommel's HQ
A Little Sojourn Into France
When First Lieutenant Richard M. Douglas, bombardier of a B17, and members of his crew were forced down in France on the return to their Eighth Air Force bomber station in England, they had a
pretty interesting time of it, if one is to judge from the Lieutenant's own account in a letter received last week by his wife, Mrs. Blanche E. Douglas of 7 Lamartine place, Jamaica Plain.
"In a separate envelope you will find the Paris edition of Stars and Stripes and the only place you can get such an edition is to land in France," Lieutenant Douglas writes, "yes, now I can say I've been on the Continent in France. I can't tell you where it was but there are a few things I will tell you.
"It all has to do with the mission that is covered by the Stars and Stripes, and it was, to put it mildly, the long haul. On the way back we were bucking a real head wind and by the time we get back into France, gas supply reared its ugly head. We probably could have made England but the thought of having to ditch in the Channel or bail out over it made us think twice.
"So we took the best choice and decided to land at a field in France. As we came over the field bomb craters were in evidence everywhere. Of course, all those on the runway and perimeter track had been repaired by this late date and so we landed.
"A German JU-88 was parked near us, apparently left by the Germans in their flight - it being in no condition to take off and get away. We also learned that the craters were the result of American bombing during that German occupation. Our crew had been in on that bombing, but of course that was a short while before we arrived over here. They did a pretty good job of it, too, from what I could see.
"After we cut our engines and got out, we looked around. In one of the old hangars now in disuse, on the back wall were the words "Rauchen Verboten," which if my German stands me in good stead, means "smoking forbidden." All traces of Nazis had been had long since been carted away and there was no chance of finding any souvenirs. However, one of the boys found a discarded casing of an 88-mm flak shell, which is the type generally used by the Jerries for anti-aircraft work.
"We made all the necessary arrangements and then we were taken by truck about 10 miles to the suburbs of the nearby town. It turned out to be a Chateau, a romantic sounding name, which did not hold true in this case. Oh, I imagine it isn't bad looking in the summer, although it could stand some repairs. When we got there, it was misting, it was muddy outside and we were tired and hungry.
"We walked into a hallway and on the wall was tacked a bulletin board with the word "Bekanntmachung" at the top. It means nothing more or less than "Notice." Then too our utter amazement we were told that the house had been Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's HQ. The Desert Fox.
"Then - Food! We sat at tables and while French women served us our food, we hungrily gulped down everything in sight; and immediately afterwards relax gracefully....illegible....few remaining cigarettes. All this, you understand is run by the Air Force, the place being used for just such an emergency. The French women are from the town and help out with the cooking, etc. Then we were issued a couple of GI blankets, went upstairs, found an empty room, spread our blankets on the floor and went to sleep. There were no cots available, but for all that I slept surprisingly well. There was steam heat from somewhere, so we were warm as toast. About 10 hours later we woke up in time for breakfast. I had no aches and pains and had never really wakened at all during the night, except to get more comfortable.
"After breakfast, we went out and wandered around the area until the trucks came to pick us up. There was a beautiful little church in the small town square. I looked inside for a moment and it was really lovely. It was very musty, though, as if there had been no heat in there or the windows had not been opened all winter. The little French kids were prominent everywhere, and some are bold enough to ask for candy or gum which we gave them, if we had it. My pal went to a couple of little little French girls and offer them some. They smiled with joy, but before they would accept anything, they ran to their chicken yard and brought him back two fresh eggs.
"By this time the trucks had come to take us back to the airfield. We piled aboard and rode back waving all the way to farmers, housewives and the kids. At the field, the ships were gassed up, and we took off immediately and arrived at the base about noon time with no mishaps. So ended our little sojourn into France."
The Lieutenant recently completed his required number of missions as bombardier of the B17 lead crew and has accepted the position of squadron bombardier.
[Note: The mission in this article was Feb 6, 1945. Below is from Richard’s diary about the same flight] FEB. 6 — #141 CHEMNITZ (CENTER OF CITY) Time – 9:00 LEAD OF HIGH SQUADRON. VEHLOW BACK FROM HOSPITAL. PRIMARY — BöHLEN OIL REFINERY (VISUALLY ONLY). AS 10/10 WENT TO SECONDARY. NEW WITHDRAWAL ROUTE SENT BY 8TH AF. APPARENTLY LEAD OF DIVISION MISSED IT. TOOK US ALL OVER GERMANY SO THAT WE FINALLY COULD NOT GET BACK TO ENGLAND BECAUSE OF LOW GAS. LANDED AT A LAON COUVRON. STAYED AT ROMMEL’S H’QTRS IN LAON. CAME BACK TO BASE NEXT DAY. FOUND THAT NO MISSION WENT OUT BECAUSE THERE WERE SO MANY PLANES ON THE CONTINENT. NO FLAK OVER TARGET. GOT HOLE IN WING GOING THROUGH IMJUIDEN CORRIDOR.