Did you ever go to Europe? I sure did. How long was the time period between your training and when you went overseas? We went through two schools, then were assigned to a crew and spent three months out in West Texas-they called it OTU-Overseas Training Unit. From there, we flew to Scotland. I was a tailgunner on a B-17 bomber, and I was stationed with the 306 Bomb Group, 369th Squadron. The crew missioned over Germany dropping bombs, and I was shot down on my seventh mission. I was a prisoner of war for thirteen months. Seemed like thirteen years. What prison camp were you at? I was in Stalag 17-B. That was in Crims, Austria. That's on the Danube, and we were up on a 5,000 foot mountain. The Russians took Vienna, and we marched about 400 miles through the Austrian Alps to Bavaria, which is in the southwest part of Germany. What were the living quarters like in England? They called them Nielsen huts-just big, odd shaped tin buildings with some cots and an old pot bellied stove in the middle of it. That was it. It wasn't much. After being a prisoner, what was the morale coming back to America? It was great to get home. After you got into the war, was it a shock to see what you saw? It was a shock. Your introduction to combat is not too good. I got to this 306 Bomb Group one night about nine, and they woke me up about two o'clock in the morning to fly as a replacement tailgunner on a crew. BANG! I was over Germany and into Poland. The squadron has about sixteen planes, and I think we lost about eight planes that day. It was like Dante's Inferno-it was like hell.
Interview with Luther Victory, an aerial gunner and POW for the US Air Force during WWII. He describes life in the military and being captured by the Germans.
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