Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 5, 2020 8:16:29 GMT 12
"LIKE A NIGHTMARE"
N.Z. AIRMAN'S 60 PRISONERS
(Special P.A. Correspondent.)
LONDON, July 3.
A British Tommy near Caen was surprised one morning to be hailed by a New Zealand airman, but when he learnt that the airman had 60 German prisoners for him he could hardly believe his ears. The New Zealander was Flight Sergeant N. P. Burgess, of Christchurch, and this is how he and the crew of his bomber obtained their "capture."
"I was the radio operator in a four-engined bomber detailed to take supplies to the Normandy beach-head on D Day," said Sergeant Burgess. "This we did successfully, and set a course for England, but the aircraft was hit by flak while crossing the French coast, causing a large fire in the port wing. Because of the number of ships standing off the beach-head, we were unable to make a forced landing in the sea, and as a result crashed behind the German lines, just north of Caen. Everyone in the crew miraculously got out without a scratch from the blazing bomber, but we were no sooner congratulating ourselves than we found Germans covering us with tommy-guns.
"They were evidently retreating, but decided to take us along. Our four officers were ordered to carry a wounded German on an improvised stretcher, while the flight engineer was given a motor-cycle to push. I was given a bicycle on which was a heavy radio set. We marched that night, taking rests at frequent intervals, and were thankful when a German tank took the wounded man aboard. At dawn on June 7 we arrived at a chateau which had been shelled rather badly. We were put into a barn containing baled hay and were given a meal of very hard black German bread and sausages. We had quite a surprise when, asking for water, we received a bottle of champagne labelled 'To be consumed by German army officers only.' We also had a pot of coffee and plenty of real butter, so managed to make a good meal.
"We passed the day listening to British and German shells whizzing overhead; but the high light came when eight Junkers 88's appeared, only to be sent crashing in flames by about 30 Spitfires in a matter of a couple of minutes. British mortars were now getting the range of the chateau, and the commandant told us to get into a slit trench with his men, for it would be much safer.
"CRAZIER AND CRAZIER."
"As we sat in the trench the Huns passing backward and forward would say, 'Excuse, please, British soldier, and give a little bow. They were all very apologetic to us, and things seemed to get crazier and crazier. We were very glad to be in the trench, because just after we left the barn it was hit by a mortar shell and went up in flames. Till now the Germans had not mentioned surrendering, but after British Tommies had lobbed some grenades into each end of the trench, they wanted us to march out of the trench in front of them to surrender, but we said that if they wanted to surrender they could do so themselves, as it would be rather worse than suicide to go out in the open at that time.
"When everything was quiet again, 60 of the Huns and ourselves shifted our lodgings to the basement of a burnt-out chateau, and for the remainder of the night things were pretty hot, as lots of bombs fell, in addition to British naval shells. The whole place seemed to have gone mad, and sleep was impossible. At last daylight came, but we were pretty miserable. It was then that the commandant asked me 'to take him and his men prisoners and scout round for a British Tommy.'
"Though our advance had passed on ahead, it was still dangerous, as the place was rotten with German snipers. But after one or two exciting moments the navigator and I managed to find a Tommy. He had a great surprise seeing us but received a bigger one when I told him we had 60 prisoners for him. We lined up the Germans and marched them to brigade headquarters, where, with the commandant, we handed them over. We spent the next few hours with Tommies in the trenches, and then managed to obtain a captured German staff car to get to the beach-head. There we found a ship about to sail for England, and I'll never forget the welcome sight of England next morning. It all seemed like a nightmare."
EVENING POST, 5 JULY 1944
N.Z. AIRMAN'S 60 PRISONERS
(Special P.A. Correspondent.)
LONDON, July 3.
A British Tommy near Caen was surprised one morning to be hailed by a New Zealand airman, but when he learnt that the airman had 60 German prisoners for him he could hardly believe his ears. The New Zealander was Flight Sergeant N. P. Burgess, of Christchurch, and this is how he and the crew of his bomber obtained their "capture."
"I was the radio operator in a four-engined bomber detailed to take supplies to the Normandy beach-head on D Day," said Sergeant Burgess. "This we did successfully, and set a course for England, but the aircraft was hit by flak while crossing the French coast, causing a large fire in the port wing. Because of the number of ships standing off the beach-head, we were unable to make a forced landing in the sea, and as a result crashed behind the German lines, just north of Caen. Everyone in the crew miraculously got out without a scratch from the blazing bomber, but we were no sooner congratulating ourselves than we found Germans covering us with tommy-guns.
"They were evidently retreating, but decided to take us along. Our four officers were ordered to carry a wounded German on an improvised stretcher, while the flight engineer was given a motor-cycle to push. I was given a bicycle on which was a heavy radio set. We marched that night, taking rests at frequent intervals, and were thankful when a German tank took the wounded man aboard. At dawn on June 7 we arrived at a chateau which had been shelled rather badly. We were put into a barn containing baled hay and were given a meal of very hard black German bread and sausages. We had quite a surprise when, asking for water, we received a bottle of champagne labelled 'To be consumed by German army officers only.' We also had a pot of coffee and plenty of real butter, so managed to make a good meal.
"We passed the day listening to British and German shells whizzing overhead; but the high light came when eight Junkers 88's appeared, only to be sent crashing in flames by about 30 Spitfires in a matter of a couple of minutes. British mortars were now getting the range of the chateau, and the commandant told us to get into a slit trench with his men, for it would be much safer.
"CRAZIER AND CRAZIER."
"As we sat in the trench the Huns passing backward and forward would say, 'Excuse, please, British soldier, and give a little bow. They were all very apologetic to us, and things seemed to get crazier and crazier. We were very glad to be in the trench, because just after we left the barn it was hit by a mortar shell and went up in flames. Till now the Germans had not mentioned surrendering, but after British Tommies had lobbed some grenades into each end of the trench, they wanted us to march out of the trench in front of them to surrender, but we said that if they wanted to surrender they could do so themselves, as it would be rather worse than suicide to go out in the open at that time.
"When everything was quiet again, 60 of the Huns and ourselves shifted our lodgings to the basement of a burnt-out chateau, and for the remainder of the night things were pretty hot, as lots of bombs fell, in addition to British naval shells. The whole place seemed to have gone mad, and sleep was impossible. At last daylight came, but we were pretty miserable. It was then that the commandant asked me 'to take him and his men prisoners and scout round for a British Tommy.'
"Though our advance had passed on ahead, it was still dangerous, as the place was rotten with German snipers. But after one or two exciting moments the navigator and I managed to find a Tommy. He had a great surprise seeing us but received a bigger one when I told him we had 60 prisoners for him. We lined up the Germans and marched them to brigade headquarters, where, with the commandant, we handed them over. We spent the next few hours with Tommies in the trenches, and then managed to obtain a captured German staff car to get to the beach-head. There we found a ship about to sail for England, and I'll never forget the welcome sight of England next morning. It all seemed like a nightmare."
EVENING POST, 5 JULY 1944
