42-38211 SLEEPYTIME GAL
MACR 3193
MACR 3193
Crash Location:
Nienburg
25 km North/West of Wunstorf
Sleepytime Gal after crash landing.
Germans are looking over the
plane. #1 shows bomb load on
ground. #2 shows hole in fuselage
from AA fire. Plane was shot down
by German Fighter.
Sgt Charles R. Batdorf Right waist
gunner
gunner
Sgt William J. Valigura, Jr. Ball
Turret Gunner
Turret Gunner
Sgt Robert L. Allen Tail Gunner
2nd Lt. Jacob Moskowitz Navigator
T/Sgt Wilburn C. Rowden Radioman
T/Sgt Mearl I. Cline Top Turret Gunner
Extract from
"The Final Flight of Sleepy Time Gal"
By
C. Alan Foreman
There's our escort at twelve o'clock high," a voice soon announced over the intercom. The fighters initially
appeared as distant specks but grew larger as they approached the bombers. From head on and in shallow dive,
the fighters rapidly closed on the bomber formation. The bomber crews soon realized that the fighters were not
escorts as waves of ten to fifteen FW-190s, Me-109s and Me-110s, flying wing abreast, opened up on the bombers
with machine gun and 20mm cannon fire.
Mearl Cline, in the engineer's top turret, fired at the German fighters with his twin .50 caliber machine guns.
Lieutenant Harris also engaged the German fighters with the two .50 caliber machineguns in the chin turret located
under the bomber's nose. Chuck Batdorf waited to catch sight of the fighters from his right waist gun position but
the first wave passed by so fast that he could not fire a shot...
...MacDonald did not wait long to make a decision. He sounded the alarm bell, signaling the crew to evacuate the
plane...
...While preparing to evacuate the plane, the left waist gunner and radio operator noticed that the ball turret had
lost power, leaving the gunner trapped inside. The two airmen started to manually crank the turret around to allow
access to the ball turret hatch from the interior of the aircraft.
Mearl Cline made his way from the top turret toward the back of the plane, per the pilot's orders, to ensure that the
wounded got out. As he moved through the radio room, he observed the efforts of Dowell and Rowden to free
Valigura from the ball turret and decided to assist. The three airmen cranked the ball turret around to expose the
turret's escape hatch. They released the locking levers and opened the hatch, allowing Valigura to climb back into
the relative safety of the aircraft...
...Mearl Cline was the last of the crew to bail out of Sleepy Time Gal. He experienced some difficulty getting out of
the aircraft due to the slipstream. When he finally rolled out the waist door he pulled the ripcord and his chute
spilled out of the pack. Immediately he had a problem. The extra-long heat cord for his electric suit got tangled in
the chute and prevented it from opening. He pulled down the parachute to get it untangled from the heat cord. He
then let go of the parachute and when it opened, he swung twice before hitting a tree.
Suspended from the tree, Cline twisted around a few times trying to figure out how to get down. Seconds later he
saw a farmer, armed with a shotgun, running toward him through a field. Faced with imminent capture, Cline said to
himself, "I think I'll just stick around here for a while."
...
...The surviving crewmembers, minus Willie Rowden (who was in a German hospital), were temporarily reunited at
the Oberursel Interrogation Center near Frankfurt On-The-Main. After interrogation, Lieutenant MacDonald and
Lieutenant Moskowitz were sent to Stalag I. The enlisted crewmen went to the transit camp at Wetzlar before
eventually being sent to Stalag VI in Hydekrug, East Prussia (now known as Barzdunai, Lithuania.)
...
...The eight crewmen that survived capture on March 8, 1944 all lived to see liberation in April of 1945. The
experience of war created a bond that held them together for almost six decades. Currently, there are five
surviving crewmembers of Sleepy Time Gal: Chuck Batdorf, Willie Rowden, Bill Valigura, Mearl Cline and Wendell
Dowell. Despite the passage of nearly 60 years, each one can still vividly recall the final flight of Sleepy Time Gal.
Article written in August 2003.
Data courtesy of C. Alan Foreman
credit: www.chez.com/franckruffino
[Photos courtesy of Alan Foreman]
"The Final Flight of Sleepy Time Gal"
By
C. Alan Foreman
There's our escort at twelve o'clock high," a voice soon announced over the intercom. The fighters initially
appeared as distant specks but grew larger as they approached the bombers. From head on and in shallow dive,
the fighters rapidly closed on the bomber formation. The bomber crews soon realized that the fighters were not
escorts as waves of ten to fifteen FW-190s, Me-109s and Me-110s, flying wing abreast, opened up on the bombers
with machine gun and 20mm cannon fire.
Mearl Cline, in the engineer's top turret, fired at the German fighters with his twin .50 caliber machine guns.
Lieutenant Harris also engaged the German fighters with the two .50 caliber machineguns in the chin turret located
under the bomber's nose. Chuck Batdorf waited to catch sight of the fighters from his right waist gun position but
the first wave passed by so fast that he could not fire a shot...
...MacDonald did not wait long to make a decision. He sounded the alarm bell, signaling the crew to evacuate the
plane...
...While preparing to evacuate the plane, the left waist gunner and radio operator noticed that the ball turret had
lost power, leaving the gunner trapped inside. The two airmen started to manually crank the turret around to allow
access to the ball turret hatch from the interior of the aircraft.
Mearl Cline made his way from the top turret toward the back of the plane, per the pilot's orders, to ensure that the
wounded got out. As he moved through the radio room, he observed the efforts of Dowell and Rowden to free
Valigura from the ball turret and decided to assist. The three airmen cranked the ball turret around to expose the
turret's escape hatch. They released the locking levers and opened the hatch, allowing Valigura to climb back into
the relative safety of the aircraft...
...Mearl Cline was the last of the crew to bail out of Sleepy Time Gal. He experienced some difficulty getting out of
the aircraft due to the slipstream. When he finally rolled out the waist door he pulled the ripcord and his chute
spilled out of the pack. Immediately he had a problem. The extra-long heat cord for his electric suit got tangled in
the chute and prevented it from opening. He pulled down the parachute to get it untangled from the heat cord. He
then let go of the parachute and when it opened, he swung twice before hitting a tree.
Suspended from the tree, Cline twisted around a few times trying to figure out how to get down. Seconds later he
saw a farmer, armed with a shotgun, running toward him through a field. Faced with imminent capture, Cline said to
himself, "I think I'll just stick around here for a while."
...
...The surviving crewmembers, minus Willie Rowden (who was in a German hospital), were temporarily reunited at
the Oberursel Interrogation Center near Frankfurt On-The-Main. After interrogation, Lieutenant MacDonald and
Lieutenant Moskowitz were sent to Stalag I. The enlisted crewmen went to the transit camp at Wetzlar before
eventually being sent to Stalag VI in Hydekrug, East Prussia (now known as Barzdunai, Lithuania.)
...
...The eight crewmen that survived capture on March 8, 1944 all lived to see liberation in April of 1945. The
experience of war created a bond that held them together for almost six decades. Currently, there are five
surviving crewmembers of Sleepy Time Gal: Chuck Batdorf, Willie Rowden, Bill Valigura, Mearl Cline and Wendell
Dowell. Despite the passage of nearly 60 years, each one can still vividly recall the final flight of Sleepy Time Gal.
Article written in August 2003.
Data courtesy of C. Alan Foreman
credit: www.chez.com/franckruffino
[Photos courtesy of Alan Foreman]
Mission 14: March 8, 1944
The primary target is the Erkner ball bearing factory , in the suburbs of Berlin. The enemy opposition is
strong: 37 bombers and 16 escorts are lost.
320 of the 414 B-17 and 150 of the 209 B-24 dispatched strike the primary objective.
36 B-17's strike Wildau and targets of opportunity.
33 B-24's strike Berlin and targets of opportunity.
The bombers assert 63-17-19 planes of Luftwaffe. 28 B-17's and 9 B-24's are lost. 1 B-17 and 2 B-24's are
irrevocable. Losses: 4 KIA, 14 wounded and 364 MIA.
The escort consists of 104 P-38, 613 P-47 of the Eighth and Ninth Air Force and 174 P-51 of the Eighth and
Ninth Air Force. Thee losses are:
1. P-38 assert 9-2-5 planes of Luftwaffe; 3 P-38s are lost, 1 is irrevocable and 2 damaged; 1 KIA and 4 MIA.
2. P-47s assert 49-6-18 planes of Luftwaffe; 10 P-47s are lost, 13 are irrevocable and 4 damaged; 2 KIA, 2
wounded and 10 MIA.
3. P-51s assert 29-4-9 planes of Luftwaffe; 5 P-51s are lost, 2 are irrevocable and 1 damaged; 4 MIA.
Moreover 8-4-7 planes of Luftwaffe are asserted as destroyed on the ground.
The primary target is the Erkner ball bearing factory , in the suburbs of Berlin. The enemy opposition is
strong: 37 bombers and 16 escorts are lost.
320 of the 414 B-17 and 150 of the 209 B-24 dispatched strike the primary objective.
36 B-17's strike Wildau and targets of opportunity.
33 B-24's strike Berlin and targets of opportunity.
The bombers assert 63-17-19 planes of Luftwaffe. 28 B-17's and 9 B-24's are lost. 1 B-17 and 2 B-24's are
irrevocable. Losses: 4 KIA, 14 wounded and 364 MIA.
The escort consists of 104 P-38, 613 P-47 of the Eighth and Ninth Air Force and 174 P-51 of the Eighth and
Ninth Air Force. Thee losses are:
1. P-38 assert 9-2-5 planes of Luftwaffe; 3 P-38s are lost, 1 is irrevocable and 2 damaged; 1 KIA and 4 MIA.
2. P-47s assert 49-6-18 planes of Luftwaffe; 10 P-47s are lost, 13 are irrevocable and 4 damaged; 2 KIA, 2
wounded and 10 MIA.
3. P-51s assert 29-4-9 planes of Luftwaffe; 5 P-51s are lost, 2 are irrevocable and 1 damaged; 4 MIA.
Moreover 8-4-7 planes of Luftwaffe are asserted as destroyed on the ground.
Mission #14 Target: Berlin
March 8, 1944
March 8, 1944
|
The picture above is of the North I kitchen crew. Jack Moskowitz is the one kneeling in
the lower left hand corner of the photo. His friend Ted MacDonald is the 7th from the left
. Sid Wohlman the adjutant to the senior allied officer is second from the right.
the lower left hand corner of the photo. His friend Ted MacDonald is the 7th from the left
. Sid Wohlman the adjutant to the senior allied officer is second from the right.
STALAG LUFT I
Honor Bound
by Jack Moskowitz/Navigator
In September 1943, as a newly commissioned 2nd Lt. Navigator, I was assigned to the 452nd Bomb Group at Moses Lake
Washington. This was a new group being formed for service in the 8th Air Force, and I was attached to a crew headed by Lt.
Theodore MacDonald.
"I’ll call you Murph,” MacDonald said when we met.
“OK”, I replied, “I’ll call you Mac.” We had quite a lot in common and quickly established a rapport. He was from
Rochester, New York, and I was from Brooklyn. Both of us had lost our mothers at an early age and had left college to
enlist in the Air Corps.
During our three-month training period, our friendship grew. With the New Year in 1944, our group was sent to England and
we began flying bombing missions against Germany. Losses were heavy at that time. Our commanding Officer was shot
down on the group’s first mission.
On our crew’s eighth mission, a daylight raid on Berlin, we were in the lead squadron and were attacked over Hanover by
German “Focke Wulfe” fighter planes. Our bomber was struck repeatedly from nose to tail. Two engines were knocked out
of commission. I was in the nose of the plane and was hit several times in my right leg. My parachute was shredded by the
cannon fire. MacDonald was ringing the “Bail Out” bell, ordering us to evacuate the plane.
I yelled to him over the intercom, “Mac, I have no chute!”
“Come up here and take mine!” he said without hesitation. “Get out now!”
He was my superior and I did as I was instructed. I took the chute, went to the hatch, and after the bombardier and copilot
had evacuated the plane, I too jumped.
Fortunately for me, after scraping through trees, I landed in the midst of a Luftwaffe anti-aircraft battery. I was immediately
taken prisoner and placed in a small cell at an air base. Miserable hours went by, as I sat alone in the dark, pondering the
fate of MacDonald who I’d left in the disabled airplane. I knew the man had saved my life, and possibly sacrificed his own
in the process. I just hoped and prayed he had made it, and I resolved to do everything I could do to discover what had
happened to him.
After what seemed like forever, I heard footsteps approaching my cell. The door opened and two German guards
appeared. Standing between them was none other than Lieutenant Ted MacDonald, looking a little the worse for wear, but
otherwise unharmed.
We grinned at each other and I breathed a long sigh of relief. When the guards left, Mac told me he had managed to crash-
land the plane but hadn’t got far before being captured.
Soon we were sent to Stalag Luft I prison camp for air corps personnel. My wounded leg festered and swelled and I
became feverish. MacDonald, noticing this called Colonel Hancke, the camp doctor, who was a British officer. He had me
transferred to the POW hospital for treatment. I was there for a month.
Liberated by our allies at the war’s end, Ted and I both returned to civilian life. Over the years we maintained our
friendship. Our sons went to college near Rochester, and two of his daughters came to New York City. We celebrated
weddings and Bar Mitzvahs jointly.
In early 1992, disturbed at not having received our customary Christmas card, I called Rochester and spoke to Ted’s wife,
Patricia. She told me that Ted was suffering from terminal cancer and didn’t have too long to live. In March my wife Irene
and I flew to Rochester to see them. Ted was fading rapidly.
There was a question that I felt I had to ask him. It had haunted me for all these years, though strangely, I had never
mentioned it before, not even in the POW camp. At his bedside, in a moment when I was alone with him, I finally asked,
“Mac, why did you give me your parachute?”
Despite his illness and weakness he replied in a firm voice, “I was your commander – that’s what I had to do.”
I just nodded and gripped his hand. I think I’d already known what his answer would be. The reply was so typical of him.
Faithful to his country. Faithful to his comrades.
Two days later, Patricia called to tell us Ted had passed away. “He had held on for so long. It was as if he was just waiting
to see you first,” Patricia told me.
That didn’t surprise me either. The bond of friendship tempered by the fire of combat is one of the strongest ties men can
have. Mac and I had that connection. And always will.
2nd Lt. Jacob "Jack" Moskowitz
Bretton Woods, NY
452nd Bomb Group - Navigator
Stalag Luft I - North I, barracks 1 and later segregated from the general population and assigned to the Jewish barracks.
After the war Jack spent 32 years in the bakery business and after retiring from that worked for the I.R.S. for ten years. He
has been married to his beautiful wife Irene for 56 years and they have two great sons and two wonderful daughters in law
and four lovely grandchildren. Jack recently passed away. He and his wife, Irene, had done a great deal of traveling (
foreign) and spent their winters in Florida.
by Jack Moskowitz/Navigator
In September 1943, as a newly commissioned 2nd Lt. Navigator, I was assigned to the 452nd Bomb Group at Moses Lake
Washington. This was a new group being formed for service in the 8th Air Force, and I was attached to a crew headed by Lt.
Theodore MacDonald.
"I’ll call you Murph,” MacDonald said when we met.
“OK”, I replied, “I’ll call you Mac.” We had quite a lot in common and quickly established a rapport. He was from
Rochester, New York, and I was from Brooklyn. Both of us had lost our mothers at an early age and had left college to
enlist in the Air Corps.
During our three-month training period, our friendship grew. With the New Year in 1944, our group was sent to England and
we began flying bombing missions against Germany. Losses were heavy at that time. Our commanding Officer was shot
down on the group’s first mission.
On our crew’s eighth mission, a daylight raid on Berlin, we were in the lead squadron and were attacked over Hanover by
German “Focke Wulfe” fighter planes. Our bomber was struck repeatedly from nose to tail. Two engines were knocked out
of commission. I was in the nose of the plane and was hit several times in my right leg. My parachute was shredded by the
cannon fire. MacDonald was ringing the “Bail Out” bell, ordering us to evacuate the plane.
I yelled to him over the intercom, “Mac, I have no chute!”
“Come up here and take mine!” he said without hesitation. “Get out now!”
He was my superior and I did as I was instructed. I took the chute, went to the hatch, and after the bombardier and copilot
had evacuated the plane, I too jumped.
Fortunately for me, after scraping through trees, I landed in the midst of a Luftwaffe anti-aircraft battery. I was immediately
taken prisoner and placed in a small cell at an air base. Miserable hours went by, as I sat alone in the dark, pondering the
fate of MacDonald who I’d left in the disabled airplane. I knew the man had saved my life, and possibly sacrificed his own
in the process. I just hoped and prayed he had made it, and I resolved to do everything I could do to discover what had
happened to him.
After what seemed like forever, I heard footsteps approaching my cell. The door opened and two German guards
appeared. Standing between them was none other than Lieutenant Ted MacDonald, looking a little the worse for wear, but
otherwise unharmed.
We grinned at each other and I breathed a long sigh of relief. When the guards left, Mac told me he had managed to crash-
land the plane but hadn’t got far before being captured.
Soon we were sent to Stalag Luft I prison camp for air corps personnel. My wounded leg festered and swelled and I
became feverish. MacDonald, noticing this called Colonel Hancke, the camp doctor, who was a British officer. He had me
transferred to the POW hospital for treatment. I was there for a month.
Liberated by our allies at the war’s end, Ted and I both returned to civilian life. Over the years we maintained our
friendship. Our sons went to college near Rochester, and two of his daughters came to New York City. We celebrated
weddings and Bar Mitzvahs jointly.
In early 1992, disturbed at not having received our customary Christmas card, I called Rochester and spoke to Ted’s wife,
Patricia. She told me that Ted was suffering from terminal cancer and didn’t have too long to live. In March my wife Irene
and I flew to Rochester to see them. Ted was fading rapidly.
There was a question that I felt I had to ask him. It had haunted me for all these years, though strangely, I had never
mentioned it before, not even in the POW camp. At his bedside, in a moment when I was alone with him, I finally asked,
“Mac, why did you give me your parachute?”
Despite his illness and weakness he replied in a firm voice, “I was your commander – that’s what I had to do.”
I just nodded and gripped his hand. I think I’d already known what his answer would be. The reply was so typical of him.
Faithful to his country. Faithful to his comrades.
Two days later, Patricia called to tell us Ted had passed away. “He had held on for so long. It was as if he was just waiting
to see you first,” Patricia told me.
That didn’t surprise me either. The bond of friendship tempered by the fire of combat is one of the strongest ties men can
have. Mac and I had that connection. And always will.
2nd Lt. Jacob "Jack" Moskowitz
Bretton Woods, NY
452nd Bomb Group - Navigator
Stalag Luft I - North I, barracks 1 and later segregated from the general population and assigned to the Jewish barracks.
After the war Jack spent 32 years in the bakery business and after retiring from that worked for the I.R.S. for ten years. He
has been married to his beautiful wife Irene for 56 years and they have two great sons and two wonderful daughters in law
and four lovely grandchildren. Jack recently passed away. He and his wife, Irene, had done a great deal of traveling (
foreign) and spent their winters in Florida.
