Among Airmen Released From Romanian Camp
15TH AAF IN ITALY—When Romania capitulated to the Allies on August 23, 1944, a total of 1126 American airmen, held prisoner there, in stockades in and near Bucharest, were technically “freed.” Among them was S/Sgt. Arthur R. Pyne of Norwood.
That is, the doors to their military cages were thrown open. The ex-prisoners, officers, and enlisted men alike, were told they could do as they pleased.
They were “pleased” to return to their home bases in Italy. To do that seemed immediately impossible. There were hundreds of miles of enemy territory to cross. Revengeful and stubborn German forces were still active in the vicinity.
Romanians and Germans clashed in Bucharest, the very city where most of the Americans stood “liberated.”
The next day, August 24, the German Luftwaffe, sometimes still powerful in local actions, loosed an infuriated bombing attack on Bucharest, which lasted almost continuously for 72 hours. One American ex-prisoner was killed in it.
Each of these newly freed prisoners had already partaken of more than his share of war.
Beginning with the famous low-level attack by American heavy bombers on the vital Ploesti oil fields, August 1, 1943, and in the many subsequent bombings of Romanian targets, principally Ploesti installations, they had ‘chuted to enemy territory at or near the “toughest target in the world.”
Their numbers steadily increased, particularly after April 4, when Ploesti became a top priority target for the 15th AAF. Some 1052 of the prisoners were 15th AAF men, 74 were 8th and 9th AAF men and there were a few RAF fliers in addition.
These men had not only gone through the unenviable experience of being shot down at “hot” targets; as prisoners they had sweated out terrific bombings from their brother airmen. At last “free,” they were caught between the Roumanians and the Germans in furious ground and air actions.
American resourcefulness, determination, humaneness and team spirit went into action. Most of the prisoners had been held in two places: the capital city of Bucharest and Timis, a small town south of Brasov. At Bucharest the cantonment was in two parts, one for enlisted men and hospital cases, at a hospital on the north side of town and the other for officers, in a schoolhouse on the south side. These prisoners were mostly 15th AAF men captured since April 4, 1944. The prisoners at Timis were mostly those from the 8th and 9th AAF low-level attack of August, 1943.
It was Lt. Col. James A. Gunn of Kelseyville, Calif., whose plane was shot from under him at Ploesti shortly before the Roumanian capitulation, who joined the prison membership and offered the unorthodox solution to the men’s problem.
“Why not have the Fifteenth Air Force fly us out?” he asked. Many of the men were skeptical, but were willing to help Col. Gunn who confidently started to make arrangements.
“I started asking for someone to see, and finally was taken to the new government to see the minister of war,” Gunn states.
“I asked to be allowed to fly to Italy to make known our situation. The minister agreed to help me.”
The Romanians gave Col. Gunn the use of a pilot and a “beaten-up” Savoia-Marchetti plane for the trip. A half-hour out, the plane developed engine trouble and was forced back to the airfield. That was August 25. The next day, Captain Carl Cantacuzino, top Romanian fighter pilot, offered to fly Col. Gunn to Italy in an ME 109, and arrangements were made. They took off for. Italy August 28.
Two days later, the evacuation, the largest of its kind ever undertaken, began. Ex-prisoners had been moved to the field and were segregated in little plane-load groups. On schedule, formations of escorted Flying Fortresses landed, picked up the “missing-in-action” airmen and flew them to Italy and actual freedom.
More than 700 airmen were flown to Italy that first day, August 31. All the remainder were flown out the day following, September 1. Most of the men freed will be or have been sent home.
The 15th AAF returned to its business of bombing enemy targets.
The erstwhile prisoners had varied stories to tell. They agreed, however, that they were not treated badly at their prison camps. The men were not required to work. The food was not too bad, the Roumanians were rather friendly. Medical treatment was furnished, and the men were allowed to send and receive mail and packages through the Red Cross. A prison paper was printed by hand and a radio, smuggled in, furnished news. It was the waiting and the unpredictable future and the definite separation from home ties which depressed many of the men.
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(All articles originally published in the Norwood Messenger)