42-31361 THE PUNCHED FOWL
MACR 7710
MISSION #111
TARGET: BREMEN OIL REFINERY
MACR 7710
MISSION #111
TARGET: BREMEN OIL REFINERY
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CREW ON AUGUST 4, 1944
CREW ON AUGUST 4, 1944
The target for this mission was an oil refinery in Bremen, Germany.
Many crews reported the most intense flak to date, including unusual
red flak in big bursts of red flames. The Punched Fowl received a hit by
some of this flak right near the IP. One engine caught fire and the plane
peeled off from the formation. Near Cuxhaven, control of the plane was
partially lost and four of the crew bailed out. Arey thought he could
make it back to England, but the remainder of the crew bailed out near
Heligoland in the North Sea. Lt Thorp was picked up by a German
fisherman, became a POW, and spent the remainder of the war at Stalag
Luft III. Click on his name in the crew list to read his diary and also see a
bunch of nice pictures.
Many crews reported the most intense flak to date, including unusual
red flak in big bursts of red flames. The Punched Fowl received a hit by
some of this flak right near the IP. One engine caught fire and the plane
peeled off from the formation. Near Cuxhaven, control of the plane was
partially lost and four of the crew bailed out. Arey thought he could
make it back to England, but the remainder of the crew bailed out near
Heligoland in the North Sea. Lt Thorp was picked up by a German
fisherman, became a POW, and spent the remainder of the war at Stalag
Luft III. Click on his name in the crew list to read his diary and also see a
bunch of nice pictures.
HEYWORTH - If not for a German fisherman plucking him out of the North Sea on Aug. 4, 1944,
Ernest Thorp would never have lived to be imprisoned by Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich.
Rather than kill him, the fisherman turned Thorp over to German authorities. He spent the next
nine months in various German prison camps, finally arriving at Stalag Luft III, famous for “The
Great Escape” and the Steve McQueen movie of the same name.
Thorp remained there until Allied forces under the command of Gen. George Patton liberated
the camp on April 29, 1945.
As Thorp recalled, he and his fellow ex-POWs were taken to a bombed-out German airfield
following their liberation with scarcely anything but the shirts on their backs.
“All I could bring from prison camp was what I could carry on my back in a knapsack made out of
two shirts,” said Thorp.
Littering the airfield were scores of items abandoned by the Germans. Thorp thought he could
make use of some of them and picked up tin cans of rye and instant coffee, matches,
eyeglasses and other relics.
A later foray into a warehouse yielded a brand-new knife, canteen and a large canvas knapsack.
It’s those artifacts that Thorp and his wife, Helen, decided to donate to Gary Simpkins to for
display at the Simpkins War Museum, 605 E. Cole in Heyworth.
Simpkins plans to combine Thorp’s collection with other artifacts he already has in a new
display dedicated to former prisoners of war and those missing in action.
Simpkins will unveil the new display Oct. 6, when the museum will be open from 1 to 5 p.m.
Thorp plans to be on hand to take in the exhibit and talk about his experience as a POW.
“Why these relics are so important is because here sits the man who brought them home,”
Simpkins said. “To me, that adds so much more history because I had a chance to meet the
person that brought these things home.”
Thorp, now a spry 86-year-old living in Clinton, was a second lieutenant in the 8th Air Force,
452nd Bomb Group. He was the co-pilot of a B-17 on his 18th mission when his plane was shot
down.
The fisherman who rescued him from the frigid North Sea waters told Thorp he had been in a
prison camp in the first World War and was treated well. “You’ll be OK in the prison camp,” the
fisherman told Thorp.
“I was not mistreated physically,” Thorp said of his captors. “They were trying to break you
down with the interrogation.”
By following the Germans’ rules and regulations, most POWs got along fairly well, Thorp said.
“If you stepped out of line, you were shot,” added Thorp. “No question about it.”
The men lived on rations supplied by both the Germans and drops from the Red Cross. Soldiers
were supposed to get one Red Cross parcel per week, but as Thorp recounted, “I never in my
nine months I was in prison camp ever get more than one half. But we were lucky to get those.
They were the salvation of a lot of lives.”
Especially sought was Canadian sweet chocolate, which arrived by more infrequent Canadian
rations. The chocolate was better than the Americans’ rock hard Hershey bars, but “you’d give
your soul” to have one of the Hershey bars because they could be used in trade.
The POWs heard rumors that the Allies were in the area and sensed their liberation could be
near. Some with secret radios monitored English newscasts about the Allies’ advance, while
others who understood German gave accounts of the Germans’ reports.
“We’d take the two and split them, and that would be about the truth,” Thorp said.
The first inkling something big was about to happen came when an American P-51 Mustang flew
overhead and gunfire broke out.
The thin-walled barracks offered little protection for those imprisoned inside, and Thorp said
many thought they were going to die so they started eating up all their rations.
“If we were going to die, we were going to die with full stomachs,” Thorp said with a laugh.
It soon became clear the Allies had overrun the area, which was confirmed shortly after by
something Thorp said he’ll never forget.
“The most beautiful sight in the world was looking at the little town down the hill and seeing the
American flag go up,” Thorp recounted. “Talk about seeing a bunch of men cry and cheer and
pray - this is what you saw that day when that American flag went up. That meant we were free
men again.”
Over the years, Thorp has talked of his experiences in local schools.
“I tell kids this - I try to stress this - that you don’t know how well off you are until you lose your
freedom, and how wonderful it is to get it back.”
Newspaper article by Troy Semple
Ernest Thorp, a farmer near Clinton, Ill., was
captured by the Germans after he and nine other
pilots with the 8th Air Force, 452nd Bomb Group
ejected from a burning B17 bomber flying over the
North Sea. He was swimming in the icy waters
when a German fisherman cut his life jacket and
pulled him to safety.
"He could have stabbed me right there. But he
didn't. He saved my life," said Thorp, whose diary
he kept throughout the war is part of the project
archives. "He had been a POW (captured) by the
English in World War I. He said, 'I was treated all
right. I'll treat you all right.' When he docked (his
fishing boat), there were six German guards right
there. They took me prisoner."
captured by the Germans after he and nine other
pilots with the 8th Air Force, 452nd Bomb Group
ejected from a burning B17 bomber flying over the
North Sea. He was swimming in the icy waters
when a German fisherman cut his life jacket and
pulled him to safety.
"He could have stabbed me right there. But he
didn't. He saved my life," said Thorp, whose diary
he kept throughout the war is part of the project
archives. "He had been a POW (captured) by the
English in World War I. He said, 'I was treated all
right. I'll treat you all right.' When he docked (his
fishing boat), there were six German guards right
there. They took me prisoner."