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S E C R E T
HQ EUROPEAN THEATRE OF OPERATIONS
P/W and X Detachment
Military Intelligence Service
21 August 1944
E & E REPORT NO.
9230 (I.S.9)(WEA)7/30/71
ESCAPE FROM FRANCE |
Ray M. Johnson,
Pfc, 34392827
508 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82 Airborne
Division |
MIA 6 June 1944
Arrived in UK
9 August 1944 |
DROPPED
6 JUNE
CAPTURED
|
I
was dropped about 0230 hours6 June near
BRICQUEBEC, I assembled with other members of my
squad to form a road block, but we never did find
our equipment bundles. On 7 June we fund
our S/SGT and some others and went along the DOUVRE
[sic] River. In the afternoon we meat a
Lieutenant from C Company who had some men with him.
We lay over for the night and then sent out patrols
which
ran into the Germans. The next day we went up
the DOUVRE and contacted the enemy.
We fought until 2230 hours. Then the Germans
waved a white flag from a house and we went in to
take prisoners as we thought they were surrendering.
It was a rue, and our group was surrounded and
captured by them. |
|
TO NOTRE-DAME-D'ELLE |
After
being searched and relieved of all our equipment and
personal items, we were taken to a regimental Hq on
the night of 11 June. There were 30 of us and
the interrogation was brief - mostly about our unit
and what our objective was. We were taken to
the PWE the Germans had at NOTRE-DAME-D'ELLE |
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P-47's
ESCAPE |
On 22 June about 5430 of us were put on trucks for
evacuation. As we went by some railroad tracks
in the vicinity of ARGENTAN. Some P-47s came over
and made three swoops over us. The Germans
held us in the column until the strafing began and
it looked as if they wanted us to be killed.
The column broke in the confusion an d everyone
scattered. I hid in a quarry and then met JOHN
W. PECK (E&E Report No.884) and a QM man. We
decided to make a break. The Germans started
to round up the column and blew whistles and yelled
at us, the the three of us made oaf through the
woods von the other side of the quarry and across
some fields. We stopped to dig some potatoes
and then moved on. PECK and I saw that the QM
lad was not with us, so we went back 300 yards and
found him. He was very weakand sick and he
told us to go on and make our escape if we could. |
|
FRENCH HELP |
PECK and I traveled for some hour. About 0100
24 June we went to a farmhouse and woke up a man.
He thought we were Germans but let us hide in his
barn. The next day e headed SW and ran arcos
some French in a field near *JAVRON. They took us to
a barn and brought us food and civilian clothes.
They contacted an English-speaking girl and from
there on arrangements were made for our return. |
| |
Compiled by
/s/FRANK A.
WRENSCH
1ST Lt, MIS |
Approved by
/s/ W. S. HOLT
Lt Col, AG
Commanding |
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"A" DISTRIBUTION
No Appendices B,
C, or D
*Jumpmaster note:
reference may have been to Javron-les-Chapelles |
