42-32070 LONESOME POLECAT

Over the target, “Lonesome Polecat” was hit by flak . The #2 engine was knocked out and the tail
control surfaces were badly damaged and shot away. The tail section was hit again, this time by
German fighters. The fuselage was burning from the bombardier’s compartment to the radio room.
No one bailed out.

Pilot 2nd Lt Joseph R. Patterson left the formation and belly landed safely on the island of Lolland,
close to Ryde School. Green was pulled away from the aircraft while the rest of the crew set the
aircraft on fire. They then ran to a nearby wood leaving Green by a nearby road.

However the fire soon died leaving the aircraft to be dismantled by the Wehrmacht and to be sent
to Germany to serve as spare parts for those B-17's operated by the Luftwaffe.

Green was wounded in the left leg and taken to the Hospital in Nakskov near Falck, and operated
on by Doctor MacDougal. He stayed in the hospital until August 9 when he was sent to
Reservekriegslazarett Kopenhagen in Copenhagen. After a couple of days he was sent by train to
Dulag Luft in Oberursel. After having stayed in different POW camps, he was liberated from Stalag
Luft I, Barth by the Russians on May 5,1945.

Right waist gunner S/Sgt Alfred H. Dickmann and Tail gunner Sgt Anthony LaRusso were captured in
the evening at 21:00 hours on the main road between Maribo and Nakskov and sent to Dulag Luft.

Patterson, Bombardier 2nd LT Douglas N. Galloway and Top turret gunner S/Sgt Nielan J. Smith
stayed at large until the next day at 17:00 hours when they were captured in an auto repair shop in
Sakskobing. They too were sent to Dulag Luft. Patterson, Galloway and Smith ended up in Stalag Luft
I, Barth, while it is not clear where Dickmann and LaRusso were sent.

Left waist gunner Private James J. Valley and Ball turret gunner Mansfield Hooper teamed up and
made contact with Hans Larsen, of Ryde, who hid them for a few days. He got in touch with Gerhard
Krogh, of Maribo, who promised to help the flyers. They were dressed in civilian clothes and rode
together with Larsen and Krogh to Maribo on bicycles. In Maribo they were housed by teacher Guts.
In the days following April 9, the Germans were very busy trying to capture the downed flyers and
set up a number of checkpoints which made travelling very difficult. It was decided that the flyers
should stay in Maribo until things quieted down.
After a while, Krogh and the flyers left for Copenhagen by train and were met by Halfdan
Rasmussen, his wife and a lady friend of Krogh. The flyers stayed at Halfdan Rasmussen's house for
about a week. After a while, the days became boring and the flyers were taken for sightseeing in the
capitol. One day, the flyers were picked up by a member of the group “Speditorerne”, who
specialized in helping fugitives to Sweden. They arrived in Sweden somewhere around April 20.

Also, Co-pilot 2nd Lt Tony P. Gill and Navigator 2nd Lt Charles F. Markowicz managed to get away
and hid in a forest until April 12, when they met a man who advised them to try to escape from
Helnaes on the island of Falster by boat. When trying to cross the bridge across Guldborgsund,
they were close to getting caught but noticed the German guard at the last moment and got away.
On April 15, they stole a small boat and crossed the sound and spent the next days looking for a
suitable boat. They did not find any to their liking and instead decided to go north by a German
troop transport train. After having passed Naestved on April 20, they jumped off the train and
continued heading north. On the evening of the next day, they hid in an outhouse belonging to
market gardener Aksel Madsen, ST. Valby. He noticed the intruders and believing they were German
deserters called for the police. Police sergeant Magnus Nielsen was sent there with two colleagues
and seeing that they were allied flyers took them to his house where their identities were confirmed
during the night. The flyers were taken to Copenhagen, where they stayed until April 26, when they
set sail to Sweden by “Dansk/Svensk Flygtningetjeneste” (Danish/Swedish refuge service) who
specialized in this kind of work.

On April 29, the four flyers returned to England by a courier flight leaving from Bromma airport.