USAAF WORLD WAR II
Bombardier 2nd/Lt. Emery R. Lundy POW
Hometown: Newburg, Oregon
Squadron: 506th Sq. 44th Bomb Group
Service# 0-752872
Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart
Pilot 2nd/Lt. James H. Walsh JR. EVD/RTD
MACR #4849
Target: Mulhouse, France
Mission Date: 11-May-44
Serial Number: #42-94999
Aircraft Model B-24
Aircraft Letter: Bar-B,
Aircraft Name:
Location: 80 miles south of Paris
Cause:
Crew of 10 7POW 3EVD
The Marshalling Yards at Mulhouse was the briefed primary target, but it was obscured by clouds, so several targets of opportunity were hit, including Orleons/Bricy Airdrome and Belfort Marshalling Yards. The 506th Squadron was attacked by enemy aircraft, losing 2nd Lt. James H. Walsh and crew.
The MACR for Walsh’s aircraft states that it was last seen at 1411 hours. An attack by enemy aircraft set their #1 engine afire. It left the formation “in difficulty” but still under control. Ten chutes were seen. Sgt. Peloquin, engineer, gave me his story, “As I recall, the time of day was very close to 1420. It’s always been a habit of mine to look at watches when things occur – and I do recall that very well. We were shot down by Me 109s. Our position in the formation was Purple Heart Corner. It turned out to be just that!
“As an engineer, my position was the top turret, and that is where I was just before it all started. Things were rather quiet, and as we had a fighter escort, Lt. Walsh suggested that I go back and transfer my fuel. It would seem to be a good time as we had used enough from our main tanks to transfer in from the outer cells. And the fuel would be out of the way in case we ran into trouble later and couldn’t spare the time. So I went back to the waist section and told Sgt. Lawrence Richards to cover my position while I was doing my job of transferring the fuel. I could take his position if anything happened.
“Well, I had just had time to finish and was on my way back to the waist position when all hell broke loose. There was flak banging around us as well as fighters firing at us. One Me 109 hit us in the #2 engine, setting it on fire. Another shell exploded in front of us and blasted my head gear off just as I was scrambling to get my chest chute. Sgt. Puksta helped me to snap it on and hat’s when I could see that he had been hit also. I opened the escape hatch and told him to jump. He looked at me and said, ‘You go first!’ “The plane was going down and he didn’t look too good, so I told him to be damned sure to follow me. Up to this day, that was the last time I saw Sgt. Puksta. Yes, he bailed out and was captured to become a POW.
“As for my experiences, they are ones that I still have nightmares about. When I jumped, I counted to about ten – enough to clear the plane. We were at about 15,000 feet at that time, and I pulled my ripcord – and nothing happened. No chute came out! So I was falling free at 120 mph and I tugged and pulled at the flaps on my chute – and finally pulled out a little of the silk or nylon. As I kept pulling, the pilot chute came out and it, in turn, released the main chute. All of this took so long that when it finally blossomed out, I was about 300 feet from the ground! This is one of the reasons why the Germans did not spot me coming down. “When I landed, I injured my left heel and I, too, had been hit by the shrapnel from that exploding shell that had hit Puksta. I had one in my arm above the elbow and several small ones in my face, and another one in my neck, which I still have there. It just missed my jugular vein.
“This all took place near a little village which is about 20 miles from Orleans, or 80 miles south of Paris. The name is Patay, and is known for its association with Jeanne D’Arc (Joan of Arc). “I met up with Richards a couple of weeks or so after we bailed out. To my surprise, we met on a bus, along with our Free French escorts, going to a farm camp about which the enclosed article was written. (Forest Of Hidden Men – Canadian Weekend Magazine). When the camp was started, there were only about eight or ten of us. But things changed rapidly and soon there were several hundred of us evadees.”
The location was Forest of Freteval, where the Germans had an ammunition dump, and these men all hid out successfully, right under the German noses. Most of these men were liberated by the U.S. Third Army on 13 August, 1944. The article is well written, explicit, but not appropriate
for this record.
Crew of #42-94999
2nd/Lt. James H. Walsh Jr. Pilot EVD/RTD
Flt/Of. Warren F. Bauder Co Pilot POW
2nd/Lt. Peter O’Shanick Navigator POW
2nd/Lt. Emery R. Lundy Bombardier POW
T/Sgt. Joseph O. Peloquin Engineer EVD/RTD
S/Sgt. Donald R. Martin Radio Op. POW
S/Sgt. Sydney Roper Gunner POW
Sgt. Edwin A. Puksta Gunner POW
Sgt. Lawrence C. Richards Gunner EVD/RTD
Sgt. Thomas J. Fanara Gunner POW
Military Information: CAPT, US AIR FORCE
Bombardier 2nd/Lt. Emery R. Lundy POW
Hometown: Newburg, Oregon
Squadron: 506th Sq. 44th Bomb Group
Service# 0-752872
Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart
Pilot 2nd/Lt. James H. Walsh JR. EVD/RTD
MACR #4849
Target: Mulhouse, France
Mission Date: 11-May-44
Serial Number: #42-94999
Aircraft Model B-24
Aircraft Letter: Bar-B,
Aircraft Name:
Location: 80 miles south of Paris
Cause:
Crew of 10 7POW 3EVD
The Marshalling Yards at Mulhouse was the briefed primary target, but it was obscured by clouds, so several targets of opportunity were hit, including Orleons/Bricy Airdrome and Belfort Marshalling Yards. The 506th Squadron was attacked by enemy aircraft, losing 2nd Lt. James H. Walsh and crew.
The MACR for Walsh’s aircraft states that it was last seen at 1411 hours. An attack by enemy aircraft set their #1 engine afire. It left the formation “in difficulty” but still under control. Ten chutes were seen. Sgt. Peloquin, engineer, gave me his story, “As I recall, the time of day was very close to 1420. It’s always been a habit of mine to look at watches when things occur – and I do recall that very well. We were shot down by Me 109s. Our position in the formation was Purple Heart Corner. It turned out to be just that!
“As an engineer, my position was the top turret, and that is where I was just before it all started. Things were rather quiet, and as we had a fighter escort, Lt. Walsh suggested that I go back and transfer my fuel. It would seem to be a good time as we had used enough from our main tanks to transfer in from the outer cells. And the fuel would be out of the way in case we ran into trouble later and couldn’t spare the time. So I went back to the waist section and told Sgt. Lawrence Richards to cover my position while I was doing my job of transferring the fuel. I could take his position if anything happened.
“Well, I had just had time to finish and was on my way back to the waist position when all hell broke loose. There was flak banging around us as well as fighters firing at us. One Me 109 hit us in the #2 engine, setting it on fire. Another shell exploded in front of us and blasted my head gear off just as I was scrambling to get my chest chute. Sgt. Puksta helped me to snap it on and hat’s when I could see that he had been hit also. I opened the escape hatch and told him to jump. He looked at me and said, ‘You go first!’ “The plane was going down and he didn’t look too good, so I told him to be damned sure to follow me. Up to this day, that was the last time I saw Sgt. Puksta. Yes, he bailed out and was captured to become a POW.
“As for my experiences, they are ones that I still have nightmares about. When I jumped, I counted to about ten – enough to clear the plane. We were at about 15,000 feet at that time, and I pulled my ripcord – and nothing happened. No chute came out! So I was falling free at 120 mph and I tugged and pulled at the flaps on my chute – and finally pulled out a little of the silk or nylon. As I kept pulling, the pilot chute came out and it, in turn, released the main chute. All of this took so long that when it finally blossomed out, I was about 300 feet from the ground! This is one of the reasons why the Germans did not spot me coming down. “When I landed, I injured my left heel and I, too, had been hit by the shrapnel from that exploding shell that had hit Puksta. I had one in my arm above the elbow and several small ones in my face, and another one in my neck, which I still have there. It just missed my jugular vein.
“This all took place near a little village which is about 20 miles from Orleans, or 80 miles south of Paris. The name is Patay, and is known for its association with Jeanne D’Arc (Joan of Arc). “I met up with Richards a couple of weeks or so after we bailed out. To my surprise, we met on a bus, along with our Free French escorts, going to a farm camp about which the enclosed article was written. (Forest Of Hidden Men – Canadian Weekend Magazine). When the camp was started, there were only about eight or ten of us. But things changed rapidly and soon there were several hundred of us evadees.”
The location was Forest of Freteval, where the Germans had an ammunition dump, and these men all hid out successfully, right under the German noses. Most of these men were liberated by the U.S. Third Army on 13 August, 1944. The article is well written, explicit, but not appropriate
for this record.
Crew of #42-94999
2nd/Lt. James H. Walsh Jr. Pilot EVD/RTD
Flt/Of. Warren F. Bauder Co Pilot POW
2nd/Lt. Peter O’Shanick Navigator POW
2nd/Lt. Emery R. Lundy Bombardier POW
T/Sgt. Joseph O. Peloquin Engineer EVD/RTD
S/Sgt. Donald R. Martin Radio Op. POW
S/Sgt. Sydney Roper Gunner POW
Sgt. Edwin A. Puksta Gunner POW
Sgt. Lawrence C. Richards Gunner EVD/RTD
Sgt. Thomas J. Fanara Gunner POW
Military Information: CAPT, US AIR FORCE
USAAF WORLD WAR II
Bombardier 2nd/Lt. Emery R. Lundy POW
Hometown: Newburg, Oregon
Squadron: 506th Sq. 44th Bomb Group
Service# 0-752872
Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart
Pilot 2nd/Lt. James H. Walsh JR. EVD/RTD
MACR #4849
Target: Mulhouse, France
Mission Date: 11-May-44
Serial Number: #42-94999
Aircraft Model B-24
Aircraft Letter: Bar-B,
Aircraft Name:
Location: 80 miles south of Paris
Cause:
Crew of 10 7POW 3EVD
The Marshalling Yards at Mulhouse was the briefed primary target, but it was obscured by clouds, so several targets of opportunity were hit, including Orleons/Bricy Airdrome and Belfort Marshalling Yards. The 506th Squadron was attacked by enemy aircraft, losing 2nd Lt. James H. Walsh and crew.
The MACR for Walsh’s aircraft states that it was last seen at 1411 hours. An attack by enemy aircraft set their #1 engine afire. It left the formation “in difficulty” but still under control. Ten chutes were seen. Sgt. Peloquin, engineer, gave me his story, “As I recall, the time of day was very close to 1420. It’s always been a habit of mine to look at watches when things occur – and I do recall that very well. We were shot down by Me 109s. Our position in the formation was Purple Heart Corner. It turned out to be just that!
“As an engineer, my position was the top turret, and that is where I was just before it all started. Things were rather quiet, and as we had a fighter escort, Lt. Walsh suggested that I go back and transfer my fuel. It would seem to be a good time as we had used enough from our main tanks to transfer in from the outer cells. And the fuel would be out of the way in case we ran into trouble later and couldn’t spare the time. So I went back to the waist section and told Sgt. Lawrence Richards to cover my position while I was doing my job of transferring the fuel. I could take his position if anything happened.
“Well, I had just had time to finish and was on my way back to the waist position when all hell broke loose. There was flak banging around us as well as fighters firing at us. One Me 109 hit us in the #2 engine, setting it on fire. Another shell exploded in front of us and blasted my head gear off just as I was scrambling to get my chest chute. Sgt. Puksta helped me to snap it on and hat’s when I could see that he had been hit also. I opened the escape hatch and told him to jump. He looked at me and said, ‘You go first!’ “The plane was going down and he didn’t look too good, so I told him to be damned sure to follow me. Up to this day, that was the last time I saw Sgt. Puksta. Yes, he bailed out and was captured to become a POW.
“As for my experiences, they are ones that I still have nightmares about. When I jumped, I counted to about ten – enough to clear the plane. We were at about 15,000 feet at that time, and I pulled my ripcord – and nothing happened. No chute came out! So I was falling free at 120 mph and I tugged and pulled at the flaps on my chute – and finally pulled out a little of the silk or nylon. As I kept pulling, the pilot chute came out and it, in turn, released the main chute. All of this took so long that when it finally blossomed out, I was about 300 feet from the ground! This is one of the reasons why the Germans did not spot me coming down. “When I landed, I injured my left heel and I, too, had been hit by the shrapnel from that exploding shell that had hit Puksta. I had one in my arm above the elbow and several small ones in my face, and another one in my neck, which I still have there. It just missed my jugular vein.
“This all took place near a little village which is about 20 miles from Orleans, or 80 miles south of Paris. The name is Patay, and is known for its association with Jeanne D’Arc (Joan of Arc). “I met up with Richards a couple of weeks or so after we bailed out. To my surprise, we met on a bus, along with our Free French escorts, going to a farm camp about which the enclosed article was written. (Forest Of Hidden Men – Canadian Weekend Magazine). When the camp was started, there were only about eight or ten of us. But things changed rapidly and soon there were several hundred of us evadees.”
The location was Forest of Freteval, where the Germans had an ammunition dump, and these men all hid out successfully, right under the German noses. Most of these men were liberated by the U.S. Third Army on 13 August, 1944. The article is well written, explicit, but not appropriate
for this record.
Crew of #42-94999
2nd/Lt. James H. Walsh Jr. Pilot EVD/RTD
Flt/Of. Warren F. Bauder Co Pilot POW
2nd/Lt. Peter O’Shanick Navigator POW
2nd/Lt. Emery R. Lundy Bombardier POW
T/Sgt. Joseph O. Peloquin Engineer EVD/RTD
S/Sgt. Donald R. Martin Radio Op. POW
S/Sgt. Sydney Roper Gunner POW
Sgt. Edwin A. Puksta Gunner POW
Sgt. Lawrence C. Richards Gunner EVD/RTD
Sgt. Thomas J. Fanara Gunner POW
Military Information: CAPT, US AIR FORCE
Bombardier 2nd/Lt. Emery R. Lundy POW
Hometown: Newburg, Oregon
Squadron: 506th Sq. 44th Bomb Group
Service# 0-752872
Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart
Pilot 2nd/Lt. James H. Walsh JR. EVD/RTD
MACR #4849
Target: Mulhouse, France
Mission Date: 11-May-44
Serial Number: #42-94999
Aircraft Model B-24
Aircraft Letter: Bar-B,
Aircraft Name:
Location: 80 miles south of Paris
Cause:
Crew of 10 7POW 3EVD
The Marshalling Yards at Mulhouse was the briefed primary target, but it was obscured by clouds, so several targets of opportunity were hit, including Orleons/Bricy Airdrome and Belfort Marshalling Yards. The 506th Squadron was attacked by enemy aircraft, losing 2nd Lt. James H. Walsh and crew.
The MACR for Walsh’s aircraft states that it was last seen at 1411 hours. An attack by enemy aircraft set their #1 engine afire. It left the formation “in difficulty” but still under control. Ten chutes were seen. Sgt. Peloquin, engineer, gave me his story, “As I recall, the time of day was very close to 1420. It’s always been a habit of mine to look at watches when things occur – and I do recall that very well. We were shot down by Me 109s. Our position in the formation was Purple Heart Corner. It turned out to be just that!
“As an engineer, my position was the top turret, and that is where I was just before it all started. Things were rather quiet, and as we had a fighter escort, Lt. Walsh suggested that I go back and transfer my fuel. It would seem to be a good time as we had used enough from our main tanks to transfer in from the outer cells. And the fuel would be out of the way in case we ran into trouble later and couldn’t spare the time. So I went back to the waist section and told Sgt. Lawrence Richards to cover my position while I was doing my job of transferring the fuel. I could take his position if anything happened.
“Well, I had just had time to finish and was on my way back to the waist position when all hell broke loose. There was flak banging around us as well as fighters firing at us. One Me 109 hit us in the #2 engine, setting it on fire. Another shell exploded in front of us and blasted my head gear off just as I was scrambling to get my chest chute. Sgt. Puksta helped me to snap it on and hat’s when I could see that he had been hit also. I opened the escape hatch and told him to jump. He looked at me and said, ‘You go first!’ “The plane was going down and he didn’t look too good, so I told him to be damned sure to follow me. Up to this day, that was the last time I saw Sgt. Puksta. Yes, he bailed out and was captured to become a POW.
“As for my experiences, they are ones that I still have nightmares about. When I jumped, I counted to about ten – enough to clear the plane. We were at about 15,000 feet at that time, and I pulled my ripcord – and nothing happened. No chute came out! So I was falling free at 120 mph and I tugged and pulled at the flaps on my chute – and finally pulled out a little of the silk or nylon. As I kept pulling, the pilot chute came out and it, in turn, released the main chute. All of this took so long that when it finally blossomed out, I was about 300 feet from the ground! This is one of the reasons why the Germans did not spot me coming down. “When I landed, I injured my left heel and I, too, had been hit by the shrapnel from that exploding shell that had hit Puksta. I had one in my arm above the elbow and several small ones in my face, and another one in my neck, which I still have there. It just missed my jugular vein.
“This all took place near a little village which is about 20 miles from Orleans, or 80 miles south of Paris. The name is Patay, and is known for its association with Jeanne D’Arc (Joan of Arc). “I met up with Richards a couple of weeks or so after we bailed out. To my surprise, we met on a bus, along with our Free French escorts, going to a farm camp about which the enclosed article was written. (Forest Of Hidden Men – Canadian Weekend Magazine). When the camp was started, there were only about eight or ten of us. But things changed rapidly and soon there were several hundred of us evadees.”
The location was Forest of Freteval, where the Germans had an ammunition dump, and these men all hid out successfully, right under the German noses. Most of these men were liberated by the U.S. Third Army on 13 August, 1944. The article is well written, explicit, but not appropriate
for this record.
Crew of #42-94999
2nd/Lt. James H. Walsh Jr. Pilot EVD/RTD
Flt/Of. Warren F. Bauder Co Pilot POW
2nd/Lt. Peter O’Shanick Navigator POW
2nd/Lt. Emery R. Lundy Bombardier POW
T/Sgt. Joseph O. Peloquin Engineer EVD/RTD
S/Sgt. Donald R. Martin Radio Op. POW
S/Sgt. Sydney Roper Gunner POW
Sgt. Edwin A. Puksta Gunner POW
Sgt. Lawrence C. Richards Gunner EVD/RTD
Sgt. Thomas J. Fanara Gunner POW
Military Information: CAPT, US AIR FORCE
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