Bossier Native Survives WWII Prison Camp, Part 2

As you will recall from last week's column, Pittman requested to be assigned to a combat crew rather than play football for the Army here in the states. The following is a summary of his experience in combat and as a POW.

Jan. 16, 1945, was a day that he would never forget. It was his crew's 13th mission, and Berlin was their primary target. According to Pittman, "it was nearly impossible for bombers to get in and out without casualties. It was actually impossible at that time because they had the whole city surrounded with anti-aircraft." His crew took the lead in the mission, and before they knew it, they took on heavy German "flak" (anti-aircraft fire).

B-24 Liberator Through flak and over the destruction created by preceding waves of bombers, these 15th Air Force B-24s leave Ploesti, Rumania, after one of the long series of attacks against the No. 1 oil target in Europe. (U.S. Air Force photo)^[1]

The aircraft was going down, and the crew had to bail out of the plane. Fellow crew member Moose Meyers, the tail gunner, was bleeding profusely and appeared to be mortally wounded. Pittman pulled him out and asked him if he could bail out. When Moose said yes, he helped him to the escape hatch and watched as his parachute opened. All of the crew members bailed out, and by the end of the day, they had all been captured by German soldiers, becoming prisoners of war.

After being captured, they took him to the Gestapo Chief, where he was interrogated and beaten. Next, they forced Pittman to remove all of his clothing. They allowed him only to wear his thin gabardine flight suit, which offered no protection from the bitter cold. They put him in a dungeon where most of his crew members were. From there, they went to a jail where he was shown kindness by the jailer, who saw how cold he was, seating him near a radiator for warmth and giving him a cup of hot soup and a blanket.

The following day the Burgermeister (which roughly translates to mayor) and other dignitaries came to the jail to look over the prisoners. The same jailer that showed Pittman kindness went into his cell and kicked him while his back was turned, lifting him off the floor. After the dignitaries left, he apologized for his actions; the jailer said it was because "he had to put on a front" while the dignitaries were there.

Next, the prisoners boarded a train which took them to the Central Interrogation Center for all of Germany in Frankfurt. According to Pittman, it was really rough there. They were professional interrogators with the facilities needed to torture men for information. Pittman was put on another train and taken to Wetzler, a small POW camp about 20 or 30 miles north of Frankfurt. Over the next few days, most of the members of his crew arrived there as well.

Pittman described this camp as a permanent POW camp that did not feed the prisoners; they were all literally starving to death there. A few weeks later, they were moved to a large POW camp in Nuremberg, where conditions were even worse. Many of the men there were sick, and some were dying. These sick, malnourished men were taken to a new location, this time on foot. Unbeknownst to them, General Patton was nearby on the Rhine River.

They marched for about two weeks, during which they stole food from local farmers, taking anything they could get their hands on. During this time, Patton began sending a plane over every morning and dropping leaflets providing reports of the war to the prisoners. In his messages, he urged the men to "stick together and don't try to escape," that they were right behind them and would come and get them just any time.

Source: Robert D. Reeves - Peoria to Munich - A Prisoner of War
http://www.moosburg.org/info/stalag/ree7eng.html

Their march brought them to an overcrowded POW camp in Moosburg. It contained thousands of prisoners, many having to sleep outside. One afternoon a rumor began to circulate that Patton and his men were just across a small ravine and would come to get them the next morning. Sure enough, Pittman woke to the sound of a gun. Being outside, he quickly saw that the front gate had been pushed in by a big tank and drove right up to the barbed wired compound he was in, and General Patton jumped out of it. A few days later, the war ended.

General Patton on liberation day at Camp Stalag VII A, 29 Apr 1945

Before returning to the states, the men were brought to Camp Lucky Strike in France, where they were disinfected, bathed, given haircuts and clean clothes. For some, this was their first bath since being captured. Pittman fondly remembers being allowed to bathe in the Danube during their march to camp Moosburg—his first bath since arriving in Germany. From there, the liberated prisoners were either placed on a ship or plane to return home.

View of Camp Lucky Strike - Saint-Valery, France. 1945.
Source: State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory.
<https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/136556>.

Pittman tells his audience that "during our captivity—it was the roughest part of my life! The combat was bad, the flying combat was very nerve-wracking, everybody was tense, and you were literally scared! But to me, staying there in that prison camp and being tortured with hunger, I think, was probably the worst experience I had. We were threatened several times with our lives, but that didn't bother us too much. It was just the dream of food, and it was wanting food and not being able to get it that was a nightmare! You would go to sleep, and you'd dream about food. When you'd wake up, and you were talking, all you would talk about was food!"

Pittman lost 50 pounds during his imprisonment, but other survivors who had been there longer being reduced to skin and bones. Some would consider being shot down on the 13th mission bad luck, but Pittman felt it was good luck because he lived to tell about it.

To read the full transcript of Pittman's story and the discussion that followed after his talk, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. Donations are a large part of our collection and are vital in helping us preserve Bossier Parish's history. Visit, call, or email the Bossier Parish Library History Center for help with your research. We are at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City, 318-746-7717, history-center@bossierlibrary.org.

By: Amy Robertson