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On 28 January 1944 the United States Army Air Force bombed a bridge near Allerona, Italy. On the bridge at the time was a train carrying Allied prisoners of war from PG Camp 54, Fara in Sabina, to Germany
320th Bombardment Group (M)
SAW IT THIS WAY...
Headquarters 320th Bombardment Group (M)
Office of the Group Intelligence Officer
APO 520
Intelligence Narrative no.142. Day Operation. 28th Jan. 1944
Flight Commander: Major Friday
A. 320th Bombardment Group (M)
B. At 1050 hours, 28 B-26's of the 320th Bombardment Group (M) took off (from Decimomannu, Sardinia) to bomb Orvieto RR Bridge, North, Italy. They were unescorted. 1 B-26 returned early because of engine trouble. 27 B-26's were over the target and 27 B-26's dropped 84 x 1000 lb demolition bombs (1/10,·025 second delay fuses) and 36 x 500lb demolition bombs (18-1; 18-12 hour delay fuses) on the target at 1300hrs from 11,300'. 25 B-26's returned at 1604 hrs and 2 B-26's returned at 1655 having landed at Ghisonaccia (Corsica) to refuel.
C. RESULTS: An excellent concentration of bombs bracketed the bridge with direct hits at the south and completely destroying 2 spans. 100ft of the bridge has been wiped out. 1 train of 40/50 cars standing across the bridge received direct hits destroying 10 cars, derailing 3 and the remainder buckled up in an arch.
William Cook
Captain, Air Corps
Gp Intelligence O
320 Bomb Group Official Website SAW IT THIS WAY...
Group Marauders caught a German troop train stalled on Orvieto North bridge the 28th and exploded bombs among the fleeing enemy soldiers.
After a complaint by Sue Finley, daughter of Richard A. Morris, they have now amended their site as follows:
Tragically, it was discovered afterwards that Allied POWs were amongst those on the unmarked train.
B. At 1050 hours, 28 B-26's of the 320th Bombardment Group (M) took off (from Decimomannu, Sardinia) to bomb Orvieto RR Bridge, North, Italy. They were unescorted. 1 B-26 returned early because of engine trouble. 27 B-26's were over the target and 27 B-26's dropped 84 x 1000 lb demolition bombs (1/10,·025 second delay fuses) and 36 x 500lb demolition bombs (18-1; 18-12 hour delay fuses) on the target at 1300hrs from 11,300'. 25 B-26's returned at 1604 hrs and 2 B-26's returned at 1655 having landed at Ghisonaccia (Corsica) to refuel.
C. RESULTS: An excellent concentration of bombs bracketed the bridge with direct hits at the south and completely destroying 2 spans. 100ft of the bridge has been wiped out. 1 train of 40/50 cars standing across the bridge received direct hits destroying 10 cars, derailing 3 and the remainder buckled up in an arch.
William Cook
Captain, Air Corps
Gp Intelligence O
320 Bomb Group Official Website SAW IT THIS WAY...
Group Marauders caught a German troop train stalled on Orvieto North bridge the 28th and exploded bombs among the fleeing enemy soldiers.
After a complaint by Sue Finley, daughter of Richard A. Morris, they have now amended their site as follows:
Tragically, it was discovered afterwards that Allied POWs were amongst those on the unmarked train.
O-652760 Bombardier 2/Lt. Charles W. Olmsted, 442 Squadron 320 Bomb Group SAW IT THIS WAY
2/Lt.Olmsted's plane, no. 31, with 1/Lt. Probasco at the controls, took off from Decimomannu in Sardinia at 1050 hrs on 28 January 1944 to bomb the railway bridge at Orvieto North (Allerona). No. 31 was the fourth plane in the first formation - he calls it a squadron. Here is an extract from his diary:
JAN 28. ORVIETO ITALY R/R BRIDGE NORTH
500lb bombs (DELAY). Posn.4 Backed up Speegle & Darby again. Today Speeg has (?) one more to go & then will probably lead the group. Today we were lucky for the first time, in getting the north bridge. The 17th went in ahead of us & missed it. Our squadron hit a little to the right, but the 2nd squadron blew hell out of the middle of the bridge. Also a train was crossing the bridge at that time. Now it should be out for a while.
(Added in afterwards with a different pen) Later found out train on bridge was loaded with our own men (Prisoners) being transferred to a different Prisoner Camp.
(The 17th he refers to is 17 Bomb Group which in January 1944 was operating with Twelfth Air Force, flying interdictory and close-support missions, bombing bridges, rail lines, marshalling yards, harbors, shipping, gun emplacements, troop concentrations, and other targets.)
2/Lt.Olmsted's plane, no. 31, with 1/Lt. Probasco at the controls, took off from Decimomannu in Sardinia at 1050 hrs on 28 January 1944 to bomb the railway bridge at Orvieto North (Allerona). No. 31 was the fourth plane in the first formation - he calls it a squadron. Here is an extract from his diary:
JAN 28. ORVIETO ITALY R/R BRIDGE NORTH
500lb bombs (DELAY). Posn.4 Backed up Speegle & Darby again. Today Speeg has (?) one more to go & then will probably lead the group. Today we were lucky for the first time, in getting the north bridge. The 17th went in ahead of us & missed it. Our squadron hit a little to the right, but the 2nd squadron blew hell out of the middle of the bridge. Also a train was crossing the bridge at that time. Now it should be out for a while.
(Added in afterwards with a different pen) Later found out train on bridge was loaded with our own men (Prisoners) being transferred to a different Prisoner Camp.
(The 17th he refers to is 17 Bomb Group which in January 1944 was operating with Twelfth Air Force, flying interdictory and close-support missions, bombing bridges, rail lines, marshalling yards, harbors, shipping, gun emplacements, troop concentrations, and other targets.)
La Nazione (newspaper published in Florence, which at the time of the bombing was under the Fascist Republic of Salò) SAW IT THIS WAY
Saturday 5 February 1944 500 British prisoners of war victims of bombing
Enemy propaganda would have us believe that the attack on the train carried out by American bombers on 28 January was directed not at the train itself but at the bridge which, moreover, remained intact. Anyway, more than 500 prisoners of war, all British, were victims of the ferocious and violent attack.
Saturday 5 February 1944 500 British prisoners of war victims of bombing
Enemy propaganda would have us believe that the attack on the train carried out by American bombers on 28 January was directed not at the train itself but at the bridge which, moreover, remained intact. Anyway, more than 500 prisoners of war, all British, were victims of the ferocious and violent attack.
2932159 Signalman E.S. Sutherland SAW IT THIS WAY...
On 28 January 1944 all the prisoners of war (between 800/900 men) accommodated in the POW Camp of Fara (in) Sabina, were transported by rail en route to Germany. The train consisted of trucks and approximately forty men travelled in each truck. While passing over the Ponte Ortona, near Orvieto, it was bombed and machine-gunned by Allied bombers and fighters. The bridge received a direct hit and according to what Sutherland could see three trucks were burned out. The one in which he was travelling was partially destroyed but none of the occupants received injuries of a serious nature. They all jumped out of the truck and off the bridge before the second wave of bombers passed over.
On 28 January 1944 all the prisoners of war (between 800/900 men) accommodated in the POW Camp of Fara (in) Sabina, were transported by rail en route to Germany. The train consisted of trucks and approximately forty men travelled in each truck. While passing over the Ponte Ortona, near Orvieto, it was bombed and machine-gunned by Allied bombers and fighters. The bridge received a direct hit and according to what Sutherland could see three trucks were burned out. The one in which he was travelling was partially destroyed but none of the occupants received injuries of a serious nature. They all jumped out of the truck and off the bridge before the second wave of bombers passed over.
7676195 Private Cyril F. Morris RAOC SAW IT THIS WAY...
On January 28th 1944 I was one of a number of recaptured Allied prisoners-of-war being transported from Italy to Germany by rail. We had left a transit camp near Rome, known before the Italian Armistice as Camp 54, and were travelling in closed box-cars. At approx.13 hrs on 28 January 1944, near Orvieto, this train was bombed by an Allied formation while crossing a bridge over a river. Some cars in the centre of the train received a direct hit, while the one in which I was travelling was damaged, enabling myself and other occupants to vacate.
13 August 1945 (National Archives WO361/668)
On January 28th 1944 I was one of a number of recaptured Allied prisoners-of-war being transported from Italy to Germany by rail. We had left a transit camp near Rome, known before the Italian Armistice as Camp 54, and were travelling in closed box-cars. At approx.13 hrs on 28 January 1944, near Orvieto, this train was bombed by an Allied formation while crossing a bridge over a river. Some cars in the centre of the train received a direct hit, while the one in which I was travelling was damaged, enabling myself and other occupants to vacate.
13 August 1945 (National Archives WO361/668)
27677 Private N. Stanley Wainer Royal Natal Carbineers SAW IT THIS WAY...
It was well into morning when we slowly crossed the bridge just outside Orvieto station. A tall Afrikaaner looking through the air vent high in the truck's side commented that he could see ack-ack guns near the end of the bridge and their barrels were pointing up and their crews were about them. He informed us too, as the train pulled up in the station, that a train-load of Czechoslovaks (they wore distinctive blue uniforms), was alongside. Then came the low roar of planes.
Our train then jerked backwards, kept reversing on, and when we stopped on the bridge we sensed with a forlorn sort of horror that German S.S. spite and ruthlessness were about to make us targets together with the bridge.
The first wave dropped mostly missed, with one hit we heard loud above the cracking of the ack-ack. The Afrikaans chap called out that the planes were Mitchell bombers, four in a line formation, and in the silence before the second wave came he said to someone outside, “Maak oop jong.” The lever rattled and the truck's door was opened. I glimpsed a black face in the opening as our rescuer looked in from the walk-way, then everyone scrambled to the doorway.
It was well into morning when we slowly crossed the bridge just outside Orvieto station. A tall Afrikaaner looking through the air vent high in the truck's side commented that he could see ack-ack guns near the end of the bridge and their barrels were pointing up and their crews were about them. He informed us too, as the train pulled up in the station, that a train-load of Czechoslovaks (they wore distinctive blue uniforms), was alongside. Then came the low roar of planes.
Our train then jerked backwards, kept reversing on, and when we stopped on the bridge we sensed with a forlorn sort of horror that German S.S. spite and ruthlessness were about to make us targets together with the bridge.
The first wave dropped mostly missed, with one hit we heard loud above the cracking of the ack-ack. The Afrikaans chap called out that the planes were Mitchell bombers, four in a line formation, and in the silence before the second wave came he said to someone outside, “Maak oop jong.” The lever rattled and the truck's door was opened. I glimpsed a black face in the opening as our rescuer looked in from the walk-way, then everyone scrambled to the doorway.
14208010 Trooper Robert W. Calvey 46 Recce Regiment SAW IT THIS WAY
Suddenly there was a violent explosion, the train came to a shuddering halt, throwing us higgledy-piggledy to the floor. We had just disentangled ourselves when another ear-shattering explosion rocked our truck on its tracks, rendering us helpless again back on the floor. Shrapnel had torn a jagged hole in the roof, and the blast had ripped the door completely off. Coming to my senses, and through the smoke and choking straw, dust and other debris, I saw daylight filtering through the doorway.
Untangling myself from a heap of bodies, I made for the door without hesitation, others were desperately pushing from behind. I just managed to save myself being pushed into a sheer drop of some 150 feet. We were perched perilously on a viaduct most of which had been demolished. The train and four or five trucks lay embedded at the bottom of the valley, with other trucks hanging and still linked together. Our truck was balancing precariously on the very edge, and could have gone over at any minute. ,It was a ghastly, unbelievable sight.
Untangling myself from a heap of bodies, I made for the door without hesitation, others were desperately pushing from behind. I just managed to save myself being pushed into a sheer drop of some 150 feet. We were perched perilously on a viaduct most of which had been demolished. The train and four or five trucks lay embedded at the bottom of the valley, with other trucks hanging and still linked together. Our truck was balancing precariously on the very edge, and could have gone over at any minute. ,It was a ghastly, unbelievable sight.
7895023 Private Bill Blewitt 1 Battalion Sherwood Foresters (201st Guards Brigade) SAW IT THIS WAY
...suddenly, a huge piece of shrapnel buried itself into the side of the truck...Until that moment, I'd heard neither bombs nor machine gun fire, and then all hell was let loose. There was a short lull, while I buried my head in my arms, and then another wave of bombers attacked the train, this time with more ferocity. Most of us got to our feet, trying to keep calm, but somehow, we had to find a way of getting out. Suddenly, the truck shook violently, and one of the doors was partly loosened. We tried to prise it open fully, but our task proved impossible, due to the barbed wire, but we did manage to enlarge the gap, sufficient for one person at a time to squeeze through, so we formed an orderly queue in order to make our escape from the train. We did not panic, as we awaited our turn to get out.
3908767 Corporal Bill Marsh 1 Battalion The South Wales Borderers SAW IT THIS WAY
photo taken whilst in Camp 54
On the 28th January, while crossing a bridge...US Air Force Liberators bombed the bridge while we were stationary on it. It was a terrible sight. We were all locked in cattle trucks with only a small window in the top corner of the truck, which was made fast with strands of barbed wire. Sergeant 'Posh' Price, Private Vince Read and myself were in one of these trucks along with 20 to 25 others, and we were lying on the floor while the bombing took place.
20838320 Staff/Sergeant Richard A. Morris C Company, 45 Division, 157 Infantry, US Army SAW IT THIS WAY..
The convoy moved slowly through the station at Orvieto and headed for the Allerona bridge...Out of the window we could see many bomb craters...When the train reached the bridge it slowed down to a pace one could match by strolling beside it.. I could see that many bombs (in previous air raids. Author's note) had hit their target. The stone arches had been blasted away and the rails, fastened to their ties, lay precariously over the remaining stumps. The bridge's condition explained the train's tentative crossing. I dozed off to sleep.
The rain of rocks and shrapnel against the side of the car awakened me. My first thought was that B-51 fighter planes based on Corsica were strafing us. A few seconds later the whirlwind of air which falling bombs produce corrected this first assumption. I lay as prostrate as possible and prayed earnestly and selfishly to the Lord to spare me just one more time. There was no way I could make my brain deny the danger and transfer it elsewhere. This was the second stick of bombs and when they exploded, the entire train, now stopped on the tracks, shuddered and shook wildly. What was keeping the box-cars from falling through the jerry-built bridge and into the river below?
There was a pause between the bombs dropped by the lead planes and those following; I stood up to look out the window. The train was standing still on the tracks, heading towards the north. The German guards were fleeing to the East. They looked comically awkward in their boots, trying to run over the stones which covered the valley bottom. These stones lay under water when the river was in flood stage. A soldier thrust his face in the window beside me and screamed at the fleeing Germans, 'Come back you dirty bastards and let us out of here!'
Even if the guards were proficient enough in English to understand the request and tolerant enough to overlook the insult to their mothers, it was most unlikely that they would return to the target and unlock the box cars under a hail of bombs. The American airmen had just arrived on a mission to blow up the Allerona bridge at the moment we were passing over their target.
The sound of the third bomb cluster's approach drowned out the fervent prayers of the men in the car. The bridge and train heaved convulsively when the bombs exploded. Larger holes appeared in the side of the car as bomb shrapnel tore through the walls
The rain of rocks and shrapnel against the side of the car awakened me. My first thought was that B-51 fighter planes based on Corsica were strafing us. A few seconds later the whirlwind of air which falling bombs produce corrected this first assumption. I lay as prostrate as possible and prayed earnestly and selfishly to the Lord to spare me just one more time. There was no way I could make my brain deny the danger and transfer it elsewhere. This was the second stick of bombs and when they exploded, the entire train, now stopped on the tracks, shuddered and shook wildly. What was keeping the box-cars from falling through the jerry-built bridge and into the river below?
There was a pause between the bombs dropped by the lead planes and those following; I stood up to look out the window. The train was standing still on the tracks, heading towards the north. The German guards were fleeing to the East. They looked comically awkward in their boots, trying to run over the stones which covered the valley bottom. These stones lay under water when the river was in flood stage. A soldier thrust his face in the window beside me and screamed at the fleeing Germans, 'Come back you dirty bastards and let us out of here!'
Even if the guards were proficient enough in English to understand the request and tolerant enough to overlook the insult to their mothers, it was most unlikely that they would return to the target and unlock the box cars under a hail of bombs. The American airmen had just arrived on a mission to blow up the Allerona bridge at the moment we were passing over their target.
The sound of the third bomb cluster's approach drowned out the fervent prayers of the men in the car. The bridge and train heaved convulsively when the bombs exploded. Larger holes appeared in the side of the car as bomb shrapnel tore through the walls
37548471 Private Russel Eugene Kurzhal 168 Regiment 34 US Infantry Division SAW IT THIS WAY
...we were traveling along and the old train was making a noise as we were going down the road. This guy I used to write to—he’s dead now, too—from South Carolina, he got to dreaming and he dreamt we were getting bombed, so he shakes me and wakes me up. 'Hey Kurzhal,' he says, 'They’re bombing the shit out of us!' I told him to go back to sleep, it was just the train making a noise as we were going down the tracks. We went back to sleep and got through the night.
Next day about 10 o’clock we’re setting there in the boxcar and talking about that and laughing about him waking me up. About an hour later, we got it. The planes bombed us as we were going across a bridge...They let us have it.
2659382 Sergeant Jim Mulhall 3 Coldstream Guards
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On about 28th January 1944 a train was bombed at Orvieto in Italy by the RAF stationed in southern Italy, and I escaped alone easily in the chaos, as many were killed and the German guards were badly shaken.
JIM MULHALL'S story is told in his book: Jim Mulhall's MIlitary Memories available from the British Red Cross, Newcastle upon Tyne |
68985977 Fusilier Timothy Conlan 2 Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
Fusilier Conlan testified that the carriage in which he was riding was only partially wrecked, but the carriage immediately in front was totally wrecked. There were about forty-six men in his truck and about half of these were wounded. A coloured South African forced open the doors through whcih the prisoners were able to escape.
N/4736 Corporal Leonong Matlakala Native Military Corps driver with 2 South African Division
Corporal Leonong Matlakala went to the immediate assistance of his fellow prisoners. He and three others forced their way out of their truck and ran up and down the train, releasing the rest of the POWs who had not been able to break out of their cattle trucks. The strafing from the aircraft continued all the while and some of the trucks caught alight, but their actions succeeded in saving many lives.
3253567 Rifleman J.L. Leeson 2 Battalion The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
Rifleman Leeson testified that before the bombing began - while the train was travelling slowly - approximately six men made an escape from the train, but he had no knowledge as to what happened to them after that. After the bombing began the train stopped about 200 yards over the viaduct and a number of men made an escape including Leeson himself. Nobody was injured in the carriage as far as Leeson knew. Everyone climbed out in the confusion and ran off to the hills immediately. It was the case of every man for himself at the time. When he got to the hills he turned to see if he was being chased and saw four or five carriages burst into flames. He did not see if there were any men left in any carriage although there were men running from them. Some native troops went from carriage to carriage opening the doors so that everyone could get out.
Corporal Leonong Matlakala went to the immediate assistance of his fellow prisoners. He and three others forced their way out of their truck and ran up and down the train, releasing the rest of the POWs who had not been able to break out of their cattle trucks. The strafing from the aircraft continued all the while and some of the trucks caught alight, but their actions succeeded in saving many lives.
3253567 Rifleman J.L. Leeson 2 Battalion The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
Rifleman Leeson testified that before the bombing began - while the train was travelling slowly - approximately six men made an escape from the train, but he had no knowledge as to what happened to them after that. After the bombing began the train stopped about 200 yards over the viaduct and a number of men made an escape including Leeson himself. Nobody was injured in the carriage as far as Leeson knew. Everyone climbed out in the confusion and ran off to the hills immediately. It was the case of every man for himself at the time. When he got to the hills he turned to see if he was being chased and saw four or five carriages burst into flames. He did not see if there were any men left in any carriage although there were men running from them. Some native troops went from carriage to carriage opening the doors so that everyone could get out.
7895023 Private Bill Blewitt, 1 Battalion Sherwood Foresters (201st Guards Brigade)
Most of us got to our feet, trying to keep calm, but somehow, we had to find a way of getting out. Suddenly, the truck shook violently, and one of the doors was partly loosened. We tried to prise it open fully, but our task proved impossible, due to the barbed wire, but we did manage to enlarge the gap, sufficient for one person at a time to squeeze through, so we formed an orderly queue in order to make our escape from the train. We did not panic, as we awaited our turn to get out. Arthur and Bob were ahead of me, and by the time I reached the opening, they were already clear. There was only one prisoner in front of me, when another wave of fighter bombers began to strafe the train. Obviously, he was in a particularly vulnerable position, being half in and half out of the truck, and panic seemed to seize him, as he tried to force his way back into the truck. This of course made the whole situation worse, and there was a danger that the panic would spread throughout the rest of us. Suddenly, someone shouted 'kick him out', and as I was the nearest to him, it was left to me to perform this task. I did not hesitate, and placing my bare foot against his chest, I heaved with all my might. He fell, with a scream, and because he was trying to remain on board by clutching at the side of the truck, his clothing snagged in the barbed wire. Fortunately, it did not hold, and he fell down the embankment, followed by myself. I flung myself as far clear of the wire as I could manage, but just as I landed, a bomb exploded close by, flinging me, with considerable force, on to my back. Dazed, I tried to get up, but found that I could not.
My whole body shuddered as I hit the ground, but as I felt no pain in my legs, I could not understand how it was not possible for me to regain my feet. However, I felt numb from the waist down. I was panic stricken; the train was still under attack and I was unable to move. Just then, I heard Arthur calling me, so I began to crawl in the direction of his voice. He came to my assistance, and together we made it to the stanchion of a the bridge, half uprooted by the bombing. Here, together with Bob and an American, we took stock of our situation. Soon the American left us, and it was obvious, that, soon, we would also have to make a move. I still felt numb in my legs, particularly the left leg, but I suggested to Arthur that I could perhaps get away from the vicinity of the bombing, where I could possibly lay up for a while, until I felt better.
Papers of William Blewitt, courtesy of his son Michael Blewitt
14208010 Trooper Robert W. Calvey 46 Recce Regiment
The only safe way to escape lay five or six trucks back along the remaining viaduct. My hands grabbed impatiently at the barbed wire reinforcing, luckily missing the vicious sharp points, but glad of its presence. I went hand over hand along the outside of the trucks until I reached a safe place to jump down. The rear end of the train had been untouched by the bombing, therefore the occupants were still sealed up inside, trying to release themselves. I could not be concerned with their plight, my only ambition was to get as far away from the scene as soon as possible. As I scrambled breathlessly up a steep grassy slope I heard German guards shouting, then a machine gun opened fire, sending bullets whistling dangerously close. This proved other prisoners had survived the horrific bombing, and had also escaped.
Most of us got to our feet, trying to keep calm, but somehow, we had to find a way of getting out. Suddenly, the truck shook violently, and one of the doors was partly loosened. We tried to prise it open fully, but our task proved impossible, due to the barbed wire, but we did manage to enlarge the gap, sufficient for one person at a time to squeeze through, so we formed an orderly queue in order to make our escape from the train. We did not panic, as we awaited our turn to get out. Arthur and Bob were ahead of me, and by the time I reached the opening, they were already clear. There was only one prisoner in front of me, when another wave of fighter bombers began to strafe the train. Obviously, he was in a particularly vulnerable position, being half in and half out of the truck, and panic seemed to seize him, as he tried to force his way back into the truck. This of course made the whole situation worse, and there was a danger that the panic would spread throughout the rest of us. Suddenly, someone shouted 'kick him out', and as I was the nearest to him, it was left to me to perform this task. I did not hesitate, and placing my bare foot against his chest, I heaved with all my might. He fell, with a scream, and because he was trying to remain on board by clutching at the side of the truck, his clothing snagged in the barbed wire. Fortunately, it did not hold, and he fell down the embankment, followed by myself. I flung myself as far clear of the wire as I could manage, but just as I landed, a bomb exploded close by, flinging me, with considerable force, on to my back. Dazed, I tried to get up, but found that I could not.
My whole body shuddered as I hit the ground, but as I felt no pain in my legs, I could not understand how it was not possible for me to regain my feet. However, I felt numb from the waist down. I was panic stricken; the train was still under attack and I was unable to move. Just then, I heard Arthur calling me, so I began to crawl in the direction of his voice. He came to my assistance, and together we made it to the stanchion of a the bridge, half uprooted by the bombing. Here, together with Bob and an American, we took stock of our situation. Soon the American left us, and it was obvious, that, soon, we would also have to make a move. I still felt numb in my legs, particularly the left leg, but I suggested to Arthur that I could perhaps get away from the vicinity of the bombing, where I could possibly lay up for a while, until I felt better.
Papers of William Blewitt, courtesy of his son Michael Blewitt
14208010 Trooper Robert W. Calvey 46 Recce Regiment
The only safe way to escape lay five or six trucks back along the remaining viaduct. My hands grabbed impatiently at the barbed wire reinforcing, luckily missing the vicious sharp points, but glad of its presence. I went hand over hand along the outside of the trucks until I reached a safe place to jump down. The rear end of the train had been untouched by the bombing, therefore the occupants were still sealed up inside, trying to release themselves. I could not be concerned with their plight, my only ambition was to get as far away from the scene as soon as possible. As I scrambled breathlessly up a steep grassy slope I heard German guards shouting, then a machine gun opened fire, sending bullets whistling dangerously close. This proved other prisoners had survived the horrific bombing, and had also escaped.
27677 Private N. Stanley Wainer Royal Natal Carbineers
Jumping down three or four at a time, we moved in a tight mass along the plank side-walk, mixed with those from our rescuer's truck and then with stragglers from the trucks ahead. In front I saw some duck beneath a truck to reach the opposite side-walk. Vere (Gardner, his companion - see The Men and Prisoners of War) was among them. I followed. When I emerged from under the truck the second wave was approaching. The group Vere was among was running along the side-walk, with someone shouting advice. Then suddenly they stopped, staring through the side rails as if they saw a way down off the bridge. Even today I can recall that tense scene, and see again the side of Vere's face as he stared down with them.
But bombs were shrieking then, and I flattened on the side-walk. The terrific crack of a hit just behind set the truck alongside me jumping on the rails. I froze in sheer terror, expecting it to fall sideways, expecting also a closer bomb blast. But the rest were misses, exploding in the river bed, creating a brown mist. The third wave of Mitchells was drawing close, high up, as I scrambled up to run along the side-walk. Ahead I noticed someone jump off the bridge. I reached the place. Shoring up a damaged pier there was broken stone reaching almost to the bridge's edge. One short jump, with only ragged socks between pained feet and stones, and down that steep slope of rubble I slithered. As the third wave went for target I was racing along the river's bank, stumbling through a hot and stinking crater left by the second wave. It was an easy getaway- the nearest sentries were just beyond the ends of the bridge, rounding up anyone reaching them.
5633535580 Private Green 'Duke' Cox 133 Infantry Regiment, 34 US Infantry Division
There were about 800 men on the train. The train should have been marked with a Red Cross, but it wasn't. Our father said that the U.S./Allies bombed the train over a large river... Our father was in the car next to the engine. The car next to him was hanging down ready to fall into the river. He was in a cattle car with no seats just straw on the floor. One of his buddies that he was captured with – Paul Raskus or Raskin (I do not have spelling on last name - believe he was from California) and another man picked up a steel pot that the men used as a toilet and beat a hole through the wooden door. Wounded men were all around him. A time bomb came through the roof of the train and cut off the legs of one of them.
My father was the first one through the hole and about six other soldiers came out with him. The Germans were shooting at them while they were trying to escape. One of them shot our father near the ankle.
37548471 Private Russel Eugene Kurzhal 168 Regiment 34 US Infantry Division
And it so happens, they always put the Americans up front for some reason or another. We were in the front car behind the engine. And then they put the British and then the South African negroes. There were a bunch of them. They had a direct hit on the ones in the center of the train. We figured over 300 were dead out of the 800. Killed them. Dumped them right in the river.
We were on the move again when the bombing started. By the time the first wave had dropped their bombs, the train was stopped. There was five waves of planes that flew over. The first wave dropped theirs, the second wave dropped theirs, and by the third wave, I was out of the car by that time... The car I was in...some of the shrapnel hit it 'cause it knocked the slider door half way off - a door that slides back and forth. ..The guys took that toilet and used it as a battering ram and knocked the rest of that door off the hinges. Then they went out that door. And it also knocked those boards - some right under that window ...the one with the wires crossed over it. The shrapnel hit there...I went out the window. What happened is this. I looked at the window and the guys lined up. I looked at the door and the guys lined up to go out the door. I was going to go whichever way was open. I looked back at the window and the guys were all gone already, so I grabbed those two rails above the window and swung my feet through that window and down to the ground. About a 15 foot drop to the ground. And hit the ground running.
...we lost four Americans there. How many of them were our bunch, I don’t know. Four more got killed on that train... It couldn’t be helped, I guess. They didn’t know it was a prison train and they bombed it. It seemed funny, though. I thought our intelligence should have been smarter than that, cause we’d been on the road now for two days. They should have known there was a POW train going up through there. It wasn’t marked, though, as a prison train, but there at each end of each boxcar, there was a little hallway built and that’s where the guards sat. That’s the way it was on all those prison trains.
C/JX 160639 Able Seaman Arthur Ross Pinnell HMS Saracen Royal Navy
As the train was crossing a bridge near Orvieto in Italy the train was bombed by 32 American planes and around 600 people were killed. The Americans obviously had not known that they were bombing Allied prisoners and their objective was the bridge, not the train, but the result was carnage. I recall him saying that he saw that the man next to him was decapitated and in his dazed state he wasn’t sure whether or not he was looking at his own decapitated body. He was slightly injured but managed to escape in the confusion...
As the train was crossing a bridge near Orvieto in Italy the train was bombed by 32 American planes and around 600 people were killed. The Americans obviously had not known that they were bombing Allied prisoners and their objective was the bridge, not the train, but the result was carnage. I recall him saying that he saw that the man next to him was decapitated and in his dazed state he wasn’t sure whether or not he was looking at his own decapitated body. He was slightly injured but managed to escape in the confusion...
D/JX 302102 Able Seaman Arthur Melling HMS Saracen Royal Navy
...no idea of time but some time before noon we heard an aircraft, then by the sound of it we knew we were about to be attacked. It zoomed in and strafed us with machine guns. Three POWs had been hit, one was in a bad way – room was made for them to lie down. The train had made a stop on a bridge. Outside I could make out a steep slope running down to a river. It was not long after this I saw three Yankee bombers. Hell, it looked as though they were coming in to attack.
All hell was let loose. A large boulder came through the roof. I saw a chance to get out...and jumped up to the roof. A sergeant-major pulled me down. He said I would be shot. I told him I would take my chance of a bullet rather than a bomb. I jumped again and someone gave me a push up. On top of the wagon I noticed that we were next but one wagon to the engine. I saw a German guard some distance away – I could make out three chevrons upside down and he had a Luger (pistol) in his hand. He would have had to be a good shot to hit me. He was distracted by an aircraft coming.
I was on my way down the bank. I ran for about three strides then I found myself at the bottom and close to a bomb crater. I scrambled into this to save myself from shrapnel. I saw another guy inside. I told him I was going to get to the other side of the river as we had a better chance if we did this. I got no response so I made my way to the river at a run. I dived in. The water was not deep. I hurt a little bit but was able to walk half way – the water was muddy due to the bombs. I made it to the other side.
Read the story of Saracen's crew in 'Twixt the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea ' by Janet Kinrade Dethick and Anne M. Corke Lulu.com
All hell was let loose. A large boulder came through the roof. I saw a chance to get out...and jumped up to the roof. A sergeant-major pulled me down. He said I would be shot. I told him I would take my chance of a bullet rather than a bomb. I jumped again and someone gave me a push up. On top of the wagon I noticed that we were next but one wagon to the engine. I saw a German guard some distance away – I could make out three chevrons upside down and he had a Luger (pistol) in his hand. He would have had to be a good shot to hit me. He was distracted by an aircraft coming.
I was on my way down the bank. I ran for about three strides then I found myself at the bottom and close to a bomb crater. I scrambled into this to save myself from shrapnel. I saw another guy inside. I told him I was going to get to the other side of the river as we had a better chance if we did this. I got no response so I made my way to the river at a run. I dived in. The water was not deep. I hurt a little bit but was able to walk half way – the water was muddy due to the bombs. I made it to the other side.
Read the story of Saracen's crew in 'Twixt the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea ' by Janet Kinrade Dethick and Anne M. Corke Lulu.com
3908767 Corporal Bill Marsh 1 Battalion, The South Wales Borderers
I jumped up and made for the window tearing at the barbed wire with my bare hands. The wire broke away and allowed me to escape. I jumped onto the railway lines and ran back in the direction from which we had come. Beside the line was a bomb crater which I jumped into. There was one of our German guards already in there! He did nothing, so I waited a few seconds in the crater until another of the bombs exploded then I made a run for it, going about 100 yards at a time, then lying down during the explosions. It was while lying face down between these dashes that something hard and heavy hit me on the head causing a wound, but I still carried on, making my getaway. And all this was done in bare feet as the guards had taken our boots away from us before we left on our journey.
7676195 Private Cyril F. Morris RAOC
On reaching the safety of the hills I looked back on the scene of the bombing an perceived the bridge to be almost completely destroyed together with a number of cars in which Allied POWs had been travelling. The remainder of the train, on either side of the bridge, appeared to be in flames.
20838320 Staff/Sergeant Richard A. Morris C Company, 45 Division, 157 Infantry, US Army
During the pause which followed the third stick of bombs John (Tourtillotte) and I began hustling the men out (of) a large hole produced by bomb shrapnel...John and I looked at each other. Why were we wasting so much time urging a certain number of reluctant men to make a break for freedom some of them might well have been content to wait out the war in a German Camp and exist on Red Cross food parcels.? We squirmed through a hole the bombs had opened and jumped down onto what remained of the bridge.
We ran frantically along the bridge beside the halted train in the direction of the locomotive up front. Many of the newer British prisoners had no shoes. Some of the old 'Desert Rats' had escaped the night before (see The Train) and the Germans had taken away the shoes of all those who remained behind in the car. This was intended to discourage the others from escaping later. Ahead a bottleneck was developing between the locomotive and the side of the bridge. There was not enough space for so many escapees to pass through at the same time. I scrambled through the bridge framework and jumped with no thought as to the space between the bridge and the river bed below.
The landing in an old bomb crater jarred my whole body. The fourth cluster fell...the blast blew away the tops of the cars in that section, leaving only the flat beds. Was our former car in that part of the train?
There was John on the river bank. 'This is our chance, Dick, let's go!' Some 150 prisoners were streaming towards the hills in the west. Thirty more prisoners were milling about near us. A lone German officer menaced us with a pistol. 'Komm! Komm!'
'You heard him guys, we gotta go with him,' said an American voice. The statement dumbfounded me. Was the voice mocking or serious? The Germans were supposed to be those who submitted meekly to authority. For a moment I looked at the officer. What threat was his little pistol compared to the American bombs? The planes circled above us. They looked like B-26s...The officer must have thought the planes were getting into position for another attack. He dived into a crater.
With the exception of that officer, all the Germans were on the eastern side of the train, separated from us. The freed prisoners, in a group, were flocking west in the opposite direction. John and I headed north, away from the direction which was certain to be searched first. In the north lay the Po, France, and a submarine ride to freedom in England or Naples.
I jumped up and made for the window tearing at the barbed wire with my bare hands. The wire broke away and allowed me to escape. I jumped onto the railway lines and ran back in the direction from which we had come. Beside the line was a bomb crater which I jumped into. There was one of our German guards already in there! He did nothing, so I waited a few seconds in the crater until another of the bombs exploded then I made a run for it, going about 100 yards at a time, then lying down during the explosions. It was while lying face down between these dashes that something hard and heavy hit me on the head causing a wound, but I still carried on, making my getaway. And all this was done in bare feet as the guards had taken our boots away from us before we left on our journey.
7676195 Private Cyril F. Morris RAOC
On reaching the safety of the hills I looked back on the scene of the bombing an perceived the bridge to be almost completely destroyed together with a number of cars in which Allied POWs had been travelling. The remainder of the train, on either side of the bridge, appeared to be in flames.
20838320 Staff/Sergeant Richard A. Morris C Company, 45 Division, 157 Infantry, US Army
During the pause which followed the third stick of bombs John (Tourtillotte) and I began hustling the men out (of) a large hole produced by bomb shrapnel...John and I looked at each other. Why were we wasting so much time urging a certain number of reluctant men to make a break for freedom some of them might well have been content to wait out the war in a German Camp and exist on Red Cross food parcels.? We squirmed through a hole the bombs had opened and jumped down onto what remained of the bridge.
We ran frantically along the bridge beside the halted train in the direction of the locomotive up front. Many of the newer British prisoners had no shoes. Some of the old 'Desert Rats' had escaped the night before (see The Train) and the Germans had taken away the shoes of all those who remained behind in the car. This was intended to discourage the others from escaping later. Ahead a bottleneck was developing between the locomotive and the side of the bridge. There was not enough space for so many escapees to pass through at the same time. I scrambled through the bridge framework and jumped with no thought as to the space between the bridge and the river bed below.
The landing in an old bomb crater jarred my whole body. The fourth cluster fell...the blast blew away the tops of the cars in that section, leaving only the flat beds. Was our former car in that part of the train?
There was John on the river bank. 'This is our chance, Dick, let's go!' Some 150 prisoners were streaming towards the hills in the west. Thirty more prisoners were milling about near us. A lone German officer menaced us with a pistol. 'Komm! Komm!'
'You heard him guys, we gotta go with him,' said an American voice. The statement dumbfounded me. Was the voice mocking or serious? The Germans were supposed to be those who submitted meekly to authority. For a moment I looked at the officer. What threat was his little pistol compared to the American bombs? The planes circled above us. They looked like B-26s...The officer must have thought the planes were getting into position for another attack. He dived into a crater.
With the exception of that officer, all the Germans were on the eastern side of the train, separated from us. The freed prisoners, in a group, were flocking west in the opposite direction. John and I headed north, away from the direction which was certain to be searched first. In the north lay the Po, France, and a submarine ride to freedom in England or Naples.
Private Henry Suetsane NMC, attached 1 S.A. Irish, 5 Brigade, 1 South African Division, when giving evidence in a War Crimes trial involving the shooting of Private Cornelius Oliphant at PG 54 Fara in Sabina in December 1943, asked for the incident at the Bridge to be brought to the notice of the relevant authorities:
Others stopped to help....
10600221 Corporal A Handy 46 Recce Regiment
As soon as the raid was over we organised parties to get in those who had been hurt, the seriously wounded were temporarily dressed and the Germans brought down another train and took them straight to hospitals. The others had their wounds dressed and continued the journey to Germany where we arrived approx. 350. There was a piece of high ground on the east side and those who were not hurt were all making over the top, some were retaken because I saw them later in Stalag VIIA …
4464558 Private A. Hunter Leicester Regiment
I was in a carriage that was wrecked but as far as I know we all got out and after the bombing myself and others went to the assistance of the injured.
10602810 Trooper Adam Stein 46 Recce Regiment
Our wagon was damaged and then fell over the viaduct with 20-30 British inside. Sergeant V. Townsend of 48 Stanley St., Blyth, Northumberland did a lot of rescue work and was injured when he came back to the wagon to look for myself and others. Many time bombs exploded on the bridge and below, which buried many. Some men I saw doing good work were Sergeant Townsend, Petty Officer Len (?) of London from a submarine and a South African negro who opened many wagon doors including ours whilst bombs were dropping, also a SA medical orderly, a Corporal, did first aid of a sort on the spot.
14394012 Fusilier E. Dorlin Royal Fusiliers
A Petty Officer (name not known) did very good work in dressing wounds and organising rescue parties.
10600221 Corporal A Handy 46 Recce Regiment
As soon as the raid was over we organised parties to get in those who had been hurt, the seriously wounded were temporarily dressed and the Germans brought down another train and took them straight to hospitals. The others had their wounds dressed and continued the journey to Germany where we arrived approx. 350. There was a piece of high ground on the east side and those who were not hurt were all making over the top, some were retaken because I saw them later in Stalag VIIA …
4464558 Private A. Hunter Leicester Regiment
I was in a carriage that was wrecked but as far as I know we all got out and after the bombing myself and others went to the assistance of the injured.
10602810 Trooper Adam Stein 46 Recce Regiment
Our wagon was damaged and then fell over the viaduct with 20-30 British inside. Sergeant V. Townsend of 48 Stanley St., Blyth, Northumberland did a lot of rescue work and was injured when he came back to the wagon to look for myself and others. Many time bombs exploded on the bridge and below, which buried many. Some men I saw doing good work were Sergeant Townsend, Petty Officer Len (?) of London from a submarine and a South African negro who opened many wagon doors including ours whilst bombs were dropping, also a SA medical orderly, a Corporal, did first aid of a sort on the spot.
14394012 Fusilier E. Dorlin Royal Fusiliers
A Petty Officer (name not known) did very good work in dressing wounds and organising rescue parties.
2932490 Private S.K. Gillespie 6 Seaforth Highlanders
A Petty Officer who had been captured off Corsica and was Camp leader at Camp 54 Italy in Jan. 1944 stayed with the wounded and may be able to give some information. This P.O. was off a submarine which was sunk.
A Petty Officer who had been captured off Corsica and was Camp leader at Camp 54 Italy in Jan. 1944 stayed with the wounded and may be able to give some information. This P.O. was off a submarine which was sunk.
D/JX.143367 Leonard C. Roberts of the Saracen
Leading Torpedoman Petty Officer Len Roberts was the man described by Stein, Dorlin and Gillespie whilst the South African negro was N/4736 Corporal Leonong Matlakala and the SA medical orderly could have been T/Corporal 53981 Norman Alexander Norval.
(In 1940 Len Roberts was serving on a submarine called the Tuna which attacked and sank a Norwegian troop ship flying under the German flag. It later was discovered that the vessel was carrying 600 British POWs. Only a handful survived.)
(In 1940 Len Roberts was serving on a submarine called the Tuna which attacked and sank a Norwegian troop ship flying under the German flag. It later was discovered that the vessel was carrying 600 British POWs. Only a handful survived.)
53522 Gunner Graham B.Tennant 6th Battery, 2nd Field Regiment, Natal Field Artillery, South Africa
Gunner Graham Tennant was put on the train together with 43590 Gunner Arthur Joscelyne of the same unit.
Gunner Tennant's son Owen says:
'When the train was bombed on the 28th January 1944, my father was not injured and could have tried to escape again, but remained to assist a fellow soldier, A (Arthur ) Joscelyne (53490), who was from the same RSA unit and was badly injured...he survived and made it back home after the war.' (See The Men)
Gunner Tennant's son Owen says:
'When the train was bombed on the 28th January 1944, my father was not injured and could have tried to escape again, but remained to assist a fellow soldier, A (Arthur ) Joscelyne (53490), who was from the same RSA unit and was badly injured...he survived and made it back home after the war.' (See The Men)
Some were taken to hospital...
84050 Sergeant Robert James Maddern South African Forces
On the second day of the journey, while the train was halted on a bridge North of Orvieto, the date being the 28th Jan., the transport fell under the bombardment of three flights of Allied heavy bombers. 200 of our men were killed on the spot, some scores dying later in hospitals in the town. I was suffering from spinal concussion, and was paralysed in both legs.
3905173 Sergeant Ernest 'Posh' Price 1 South Wales Borderers as told by his friend Bill Marsh
...he also escaped... but was caught by an explosion and completely buried except for his head. He also received shrapnel wounds. He said the first thought that came into his mind was that if they didn't find him he'd die as he was unable to get out from underneath the earth which covered him. He said that about 400 were wounded and many killed that day. All the wounded were collected and those who did not get away were kept in a camp until the bridge was repaired. Then, he said, they went on to Germany.
(Sergeant Price suffered multiple slight wounds to head and lower left leg and was admitted to the hospital at Orvieto. After being discharged he was sent on to Stalag 344 at Lamsdorf in Poland)
don Marzio Miscetti, priest of Monterubiaglio, testified to the enquiry that
Amongst the destroyed wagons, some of which had precipitated into the river, lay the dead and wounded. The people of Orvieto looked on as a procession of lorries took the wounded to the hospital, where some even ended up having to lie on straw mattresses in the corridors. Other men were taken further afield to the hospital at Acquapendente.There were considerable numbers of wounded, most of them lightly, and there were about three hundred prisoners who reported no injuries at all. The wounded received immediate first aid both by the priest and by the German Red Cross. Late that same evening the Bishop of Chiusi together with some other priests visited the wounded. All the station staff were to be commended for the assistance they gave.
4386573 Private George Mason
3 Green Howards
I got a piece of shrapnel in my foot, spent a fortnight in a civilian hospital at Orvieto. From there I went to Lamsdorf 344 arriving on 16 February 1944.
Many died and some were shot...
don Marzio Miscetti, priest of Monterubiaglio
...the first raid and the second, with the accompanying rush of air and the flying debris, were responsible straight away for about one hundred deaths. The third attack made a direct hit on the train and the bridge, splitting it up into three pieces. The fourth raid, made with delayed action bombs, brought the number of dead to around four hundred. A considerable number of men were wounded, for the most part lightly, whilst about three hundred reported no injuries at all. The dead, round about three hundred between British, blacks, Algerians and French, were laid in a mass grave in the bomb craters. The priest wanted to transfer them to Orvieto Cemetery but was not allowed to do so. The one hundred Germans who also died in the attack were buried in the same way. The priest arrived on the scene after about five minutes and wanted to make a list of all the prisoners but a German lieutenant holding a pistol refused him permission. Later bombings, which took place between February and May, destroyed the resting place of the victims. And now there is nothing to be seen except a few bones and remnants of the prisoners' clothing.
2932490 Private S.K. Gillespie 6 Seaforth Highlanders
...the third stick of bombs was dropping as the carriage was being evacuated, and dropped on the left of the viaduct, that is, as the train was travelling. Anyone on that side could scarcely escape without injury...
6983002 Fusilier F. Daniels 2 Inniskilling Fusiliers
Out of our carriage a number were killed through a bomb falling just alongside as a number of us were just about to make a dash for safety... The carriage was wrecked completely but I am sure that all personnel had evacuated before it disappeared into the river running underneath the viaduct. After the raid was over the German officer in charge would let no-one go near the wrecked train as D.A. Bombs were exploding all along the banks.
Latino Persieri working under the Germans for the Todt
Serious damage had been done to the bridge, and workmen were brought in to carry out repairs. Amongst them was Latino Persieri, who didn't know exactly what had happened, but in the darkness had been able to pick out several wagons which were lying on the river bed. It was obvious that what had taken place was not the usual bombing raid. All became clearer when he went under the bridge to collect some stone: there were human remains everywhere, and the insides of the ruined wagons were covered in blood.
27677 Private N. Stanley Wainer Royal Natal Carbineers talking about 242989 Private Vere Gardner Natal Mounted Rifles
If, as you said, no memorial in Italy bears Vere's name and no record of his having been killed on Orvieto Bridge exists, then the hit by the second bomber wave literally wiped out some of that group. Vere was wearing his fibre identity disc in the camps and later. It was secured to a light cord hung around bis neck. But that too would have disintegrated.
14515613 Fusilier John Kean 2 Royal Scots Fusiliers giving evidence about two other men from his battalion, 7902981 Corporal Sidney Couzens and 3317999 Fusilier John Wright
I met Cpl S.E. Cousens 2 RSF in a German transit camp at Phara Sabina in Italy in the Rome Area about the 19th January 1944. He was alright, he was not wounded – I met him when he was in the HLI (Higland Light Infantry) in England. He was about 5'11” in height and lightly built, I do not know his home address, but I know he was a regular soldier. He was in India and Palestine. We left the camp on 25th Jan. 1944 and the train was bombed on the 28th Jan. I left the train on my own and made for the mountains, I did not see Cpl. Cousins again.
The same story applies to 3317999 Fus. J. Wright. I also know he comes from Glasgow, he was also in the HLI. He was abut 5'7” in height and veryt heavily built, he had red hair and a fresh complexion. He was about 30 years of age. I never saw him again after the train was bombed.
(Signed 17 September 1944 Leeds and held in WO 361/668 Sheet 4B)
I met Cpl S.E. Cousens 2 RSF in a German transit camp at Phara Sabina in Italy in the Rome Area about the 19th January 1944. He was alright, he was not wounded – I met him when he was in the HLI (Higland Light Infantry) in England. He was about 5'11” in height and lightly built, I do not know his home address, but I know he was a regular soldier. He was in India and Palestine. We left the camp on 25th Jan. 1944 and the train was bombed on the 28th Jan. I left the train on my own and made for the mountains, I did not see Cpl. Cousins again.
The same story applies to 3317999 Fus. J. Wright. I also know he comes from Glasgow, he was also in the HLI. He was abut 5'7” in height and veryt heavily built, he had red hair and a fresh complexion. He was about 30 years of age. I never saw him again after the train was bombed.
(Signed 17 September 1944 Leeds and held in WO 361/668 Sheet 4B)
4802210 Private T. Fieldson,6 Seaforth Highlanders, talking about 2820578 Sergeant Ian McLean
There was one man I know that got killed. When the bombs exploded a boulder was thrown in the air and coming through the roof of the carriage crushing the U/M head: 2820578 Sgt. I McLean.
353 7223 Private H Taylor, 6 Cheshire Regiment , giving evidence to the Commission on 20 July 1944
Many escaped and many were shot by German guards.
5574536 L/Cpl T. Clarey, 2 Wiltshire Regiment, giving evidence to the Commission on 07 and 28 December 1944
My carriage was derailed and was hanging over the edge of the ravine. It did not fall. I saw 30 men (South African and British) escape from the train. I saw two men shot. They were both South Africans.
There was one man I know that got killed. When the bombs exploded a boulder was thrown in the air and coming through the roof of the carriage crushing the U/M head: 2820578 Sgt. I McLean.
353 7223 Private H Taylor, 6 Cheshire Regiment , giving evidence to the Commission on 20 July 1944
Many escaped and many were shot by German guards.
5574536 L/Cpl T. Clarey, 2 Wiltshire Regiment, giving evidence to the Commission on 07 and 28 December 1944
My carriage was derailed and was hanging over the edge of the ravine. It did not fall. I saw 30 men (South African and British) escape from the train. I saw two men shot. They were both South Africans.
One man was deeply saddened
14064402 Gunner Pvt. George W. 'Bill' Gleason, 442 Squadron 320 Bomb Group
Private Gleason started as a tail gunner and later became a togglier bombardier (dropped bombs following the lead bombardiers instead of using the bomb site to pinpoint the drop) when they lost a lot of men and were short of bombardiers. On 28 January 1944 he was flying in ship number 29, which was classed as one of the formation's 'Spares' on that particular mission. The plane took off from its base at Decimomannu in Sardinia at 1055 hours and touched back down at 1458 hours. The crew members were:
2/Lt. Hampton Pilot, 2/Lt. Robertson Co-Pilot, 2/Lt. Johnson Bombardier, Sgt. Yule Engineer, Sgt. Marschke Radio, Pvt. Gleason Gunner.
Everything had been going pretty well with the war until the invasion of Anzio back on January 22, 1944. Around that time, we were involved in bombing the beachhead to pave the wave for our troops to land in southern Italy for the D-Day Invasion of Southern France. We lost a number of planes, and there was a lot of damage to other planes. There were days that we thought we were losing the war. Until the weather cleared up, there wasn’t much we could do but sit and wait for clear skies and pray, which we did many times. When the skies cleared, the 320th flew two and three missions a day to the Anzio beachhead. It was nip and tuck, trying to bomb in between our troops on the beach and the attacking Germans that were trying to push us back into the sea. During the bad weather, the Germans had brought in a lot of heavy guns and tanks using the super highway from northern Italy all the way to Naples. That was why we tried so hard to knock out the north and south Orvieto bridges -- to cut their supply line. That was a tragic time because, in that battle, they called for us to strike the German lines on the beachhead and, by the time we got there, our ground troops had advanced and were where the Germans were supposed to be. It was unbearably sad and we all cried, but we knew it was war and things like that sometimes happen in war, no matter how much you wish it wouldn’t. ….
The month of January, 1944, had been a very busy one for the Group as the 320th broke all its past records for combat activity and bombing results obtained. It had also been an expensive one and they paid the price…seven crews lost to flak and fighters…eleven B26’s destroyed...
JANUARY 28TH MISSION
Another sad day for the 320th Bomb Group
What Olmstead wrote about was correct -- our guys caught the German troop train stalled on the bridge and exploded bombs among the fleeing enemy soldiers, only to later learn that some of our POWs were on the train. January was a tragic and serious time for us all, and it broke all our hearts when we heard about (that) some of our men were on that train.
(Bill's daughter Donna Guidry says: This information did not come from a diary written at the time, but rather from Bill's recollection that he documented in approximately 2004. Together, after hundreds of hours of going over his memories of that time, we wrote a 440 page book that was to be shared privately within our family. He has approved your use of the data he shared with you.)
2/Lt. Hampton Pilot, 2/Lt. Robertson Co-Pilot, 2/Lt. Johnson Bombardier, Sgt. Yule Engineer, Sgt. Marschke Radio, Pvt. Gleason Gunner.
Everything had been going pretty well with the war until the invasion of Anzio back on January 22, 1944. Around that time, we were involved in bombing the beachhead to pave the wave for our troops to land in southern Italy for the D-Day Invasion of Southern France. We lost a number of planes, and there was a lot of damage to other planes. There were days that we thought we were losing the war. Until the weather cleared up, there wasn’t much we could do but sit and wait for clear skies and pray, which we did many times. When the skies cleared, the 320th flew two and three missions a day to the Anzio beachhead. It was nip and tuck, trying to bomb in between our troops on the beach and the attacking Germans that were trying to push us back into the sea. During the bad weather, the Germans had brought in a lot of heavy guns and tanks using the super highway from northern Italy all the way to Naples. That was why we tried so hard to knock out the north and south Orvieto bridges -- to cut their supply line. That was a tragic time because, in that battle, they called for us to strike the German lines on the beachhead and, by the time we got there, our ground troops had advanced and were where the Germans were supposed to be. It was unbearably sad and we all cried, but we knew it was war and things like that sometimes happen in war, no matter how much you wish it wouldn’t. ….
The month of January, 1944, had been a very busy one for the Group as the 320th broke all its past records for combat activity and bombing results obtained. It had also been an expensive one and they paid the price…seven crews lost to flak and fighters…eleven B26’s destroyed...
JANUARY 28TH MISSION
Another sad day for the 320th Bomb Group
What Olmstead wrote about was correct -- our guys caught the German troop train stalled on the bridge and exploded bombs among the fleeing enemy soldiers, only to later learn that some of our POWs were on the train. January was a tragic and serious time for us all, and it broke all our hearts when we heard about (that) some of our men were on that train.
(Bill's daughter Donna Guidry says: This information did not come from a diary written at the time, but rather from Bill's recollection that he documented in approximately 2004. Together, after hundreds of hours of going over his memories of that time, we wrote a 440 page book that was to be shared privately within our family. He has approved your use of the data he shared with you.)
FOR SOURCES SEE LAST PAGE OF THIS WEBSITE
NB Italics in the text indicate an eye-witness account IN THE FIRST PERSON
For photographs of the bombed bridge visit www.montegabbione.net CLICK HERE
Details of the missions and crews of all planes can be found on http://320thbg.org/320th_missions.html
to read the whole of Charles.W Olmsted's diary visit http://b-26mhs.org/archives/indexes/diaries.html
This website is © Janet Kinrade Dethick 2 November 2012
Now available in book form CLICK HERE
NB Italics in the text indicate an eye-witness account IN THE FIRST PERSON
For photographs of the bombed bridge visit www.montegabbione.net CLICK HERE
Details of the missions and crews of all planes can be found on http://320thbg.org/320th_missions.html
to read the whole of Charles.W Olmsted's diary visit http://b-26mhs.org/archives/indexes/diaries.html
This website is © Janet Kinrade Dethick 2 November 2012
Now available in book form CLICK HERE
