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This
is the story of 12 US Army Air Cops Fliers who ended
up in Stalag Luft 3 in Sagan-Silesia Bavaria.
I
received from Marion Siddall (Mother) my father’s
(Ewan) POW log from Stalag Luft 3. It included
poems, stories and a Kriegie Menu. It also
contained a list of 10 names. These ten names were
men from my father’s room which consisted of 12 men,
3 to a bunk, 4 bunks to a room. They lived in
barracks #170, Room #6. The first 8 arrived June
17, 1944. The inscription they put above the door
read “To Hell with It”. The original 8 men in room
6 were Spargo, Sova, Johnson, Lewis, Brosky, Norton,
Jones & Bauman.
_________________________
2nd Lt Norton,
Darwin (Jack) J., ASN 0-690813. Bombardier, 459th
BG (H) out of Giulia Airfield, Italy. 758th
BS, B-24G, Tail# 42-78106. The plane was named
Cherry II. Hit by flack over Munich, Germany the
Cherry II went down June 9, 1944, the plane crash
landed 6 Km SW of Bregenz, Austria with the crew
unharmed. They were captured soon after. Lt Norton
was brought in to Stalag Luft 3 on June 17, 1944, as
part of the original group of 8 POWs in room six.
The MACR for his aircraft is 5783.
Mr. Darwin Norton died March
1980 in Williamstown, KY
459th Bomb Gp (H) |
758th Bomb Squadron |
Lt Jack Norton |
_________________________
2nd Lt Spargo, John D., ASN 0-685042,
Bombardier, 459th BG (H) out of Giulia
Airfield, Italy. 757th Squadron, B-24H, Tail#
42-52318. The plane name was Naughty Angel and was
shot down over Lientz, Austria on June 9, 1944. Lt
Spargo was brought in to Stalag Luft 3 on June 17,
1944, as part of the original group of 8 POWs in
room six. The MACR for his aircraft is 6179.
Mr. John Spargo died July 17,
1998.
459th Bomb Gp (H) |
|
757th Bomb Sq |
________________________
2nd Lt Jones,
Lawrence M., ASN 0-760193. Pilot, 82nd FG
out of Vincenze, Italy, 97th Fighter Squadron flying
a P-38, Tail# 43-2352. Hit by flack over Glinda,
Yugoslavia on May 29, 1944. After discovering a
coolant leak in his left boom, he feathered the left
engine and then radioed to his flight leader his
right engine was on fire. He went down over the
Island of Sitba. Lt Jones was brought in to Stalag
Luft 3 on June 17, 1944, as part of the original
group of 8 POWs in room six. The MACR for his
aircraft is 5406.
Lt Jones said his light tail
signal was out that would have warned him about
planes on his tail. According to his MACR he was
actually hit by flack.
Larry Jones died in 1986 in
Lees Summit, Missouri after working as an air
traffic controller.
82nd Fighter Gp |
|
97th Fighter Sq |
_______________________
2nd Lt Goshorn, Richard W., ASN
0-771623. Co-Pilot, 448th BG (H) out of
Seething, UK, 714th Squadron B-24, Tail#
42-95134. Shot down over shot down Ludwigshafen,
Germany on August 26, 1944 on his ? Mission in “Lady
Margaret”. The MACR for his plane is 8469. Lt
Goshorn arrived on August 30th with Ewan
Siddall in Stalag Luft 3.
448th Bomb Gp (H) |
714th Bomb Sq |
Lt Goshorn |
_______________________
2nd Lt Brosky, Leonard, asn O&710369.
Navigator, 459th BG (H) out of Giulia
Airfield, Italy. 758th Squadron, B-24J,
Tail# 44-40479. The plane was named Hogan's
Hellcats and was shot down over Munich, Germany on
June 9, 1944. Lt Brosky was the only survivor of
his crew. He was brought in to Stalag Luft 3 on
June 17, 1944, as part of the original group of 8
POWs in room six. The MACR for his aircraft is 5699.
Lt Brosky and Lt Siddall would
go out to shower on blocks of ice in the middle of
winter.
Brosky died in 1955 of an
aneurism. H
459th Bomb Gp (H)
|
758th Bomb Sq |
Lt Leonard Brosky |
_________________________
1st Lt Silverman, Jerome, asn O-811988.
Navigator, 457th BG (H) out of Glatton
UK, 751st Squadron B-17G, Tail#
43-37556. This plane was never named and was shot
down over Merseberg, Germany November 2, 1944 on his
? Mission. Lt Silverman was brought in with Sam
Lisica in Mid-November 1944. The MACR for his
aircraft is 10317.
Lt Silverman was brought in
with FO Samuel Lisica in Mid-November 1944. Jerry
said that he was the only one that wasn’t bothered
by fleas. He said that they were Nazi fleas, and
they didn’t like Jewish blood!
457th Bomb Gp (H) |
751st Bomb Sq |
Lt Jerome Silverman |
Lt Silverman’s Plane |
_______________________
2nd Lt Johnson,
Willard D., ASN 0-694073. Pilot, 56th FG
out of Essex, England the 63rd Squadron P-47, Tail
# 42-75109. Shot down over Hiedelburg, Germany on
May 12, 1944. Lt Johnson was brought in to Stalag
Luft 3 on June 17, 1944, as part of the original
group of 8 POWs in room six. The MACR for his
aircraft is 4806.
Johnson died in 1976.
56th Fighter Gp |
63rd Fighter Sq |
Lt Johnson |
Lt Johnson POW Card |
__________________
Flight Officer Sova, Emil F.,
asn T&061816. Pilot, 356th FG out of
Halesworth UK, 360th Squadron P-47, Tail
#42-25997. Shot down 25 miles north of LeMans,
France on June 6, 1944. Lt Sova was brought in to
Stalag Luft 3 on June 17, 1944, as part of the
original group of 8 POWs in room six. The MACR for
his aircraft is 5566.
Lt Sova made plates out of
metal cans for everyone, and spoke perfect Polish.
Mr. Emil Sova died March 15,
1998 in Saddle Brook, New Jersey.
356th Fighter Gp |
360th Fighter Sq |
Lt Emil Sova |
In the cockpit |
_________________________
2nd Lt Bauman, Frank R., ASN
0-764178. Co-Pilot, 449th BG (H) out of
Grottaglie Italy, 716th Squadron, B-24,
Tail # 42-52140. Shot down over Klagenfurt, Germany
on June 9, 1944 on his 7th Mission in
“Ghost O’ The Omar”. Lt Bauman was brought in to
Stalag Luft 3 on June 17, 1944, as part of the
original group of 8 POWs in room six. The MACR for
his aircraft is 6314.
Lt Bauman’s Plane was hit by
flak and after bailing out he landed on a pile of
rocks a farmer had just cleared from his field and
injured his leg. A farmer and his son helped him to
their farmhouse and wrapped his leg in a cold towel
to help the swelling. Bauman gave his chute to them
for helping him. They were helping him down a
trail, trying to get him to Yugoslavia when they
heard voices coming up a bisecting trail. The
farmer took his gun and trained it on him. The
Gestapo took him prisoner, and held him for a long
period of time before he ended up in the Stalag. He
said the worst part of his captivity by the Gestapo
was they wouldn’t delouse him.
On the march to Stalag 7A,
Bauman, Norton, Spargo and Johnson teamed up.
Norton and Bauman didn’t smoke, so they traded their
smokes for pieces of bread with the local Germans
during the march.
449th Bomb Gp (H) |
716th Bomb Sq |
Ghost O’ The Omar
|
_________________________
Flight Officer Lisica, Samuel
J., asn T&002897. Bombardier, 457th BG
(H) out of Glatton UK, 751st Squadron
B-17G, Tail# 43-37766. Shot down over Merseberg,
Germany on November 2, 1944 on his 23rd
Mission in “Delores”. He was brought in with Jerry
Silverman in Mid-November 1944. The MACR for his
plane is 10318.
FO Lisica’s aircraft was hit
after dropping her bombs by a swarm of fighters.
The tail was damaged, and Lisica and the Flight
Engineer put out a fire between the nose and the
cockpit. After arriving at prison camp he became
Ewan Siddall’s bridge partner. Sam said my dad
looked after him in prison camp.
Sam Lisica’s passed away late
in 2006.
457th Bomb Gp (H)
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|751st Bomb Sq |
F/O Sam Lisica
|
_________________________
2nd Lt Lewis, Gordon
H., ASN 0-814710. Pilot, 56th FG out of
Halesworth UK, 62nd Squadron P-47, Tail # 42-76503.
Shot down May 8, 1944 over Hanover, Germany in
“Mildred”. Lt Lewis was brought in to Stalag Luft 3
on June 17, 1944, as part of the original group of 8
POWs in room six. The MACR for his plane is 4545.
Lt Lewis was being pursued by 2
Focke-Wulfs over Germany when a P-51s attacked his
aircraft. On the first pass they hit his wing, on
the second they damaged his tail, all the while he
was yelling over his radio for them to break off the
attack. On the third pass, they hit the gas tank,
and blew him clear of the plane. Lt Lewis was taken
prisoner by the Gestapo and accused of shooting at
German Pilots in their chutes. After being cleared
of the trumped up charge he was sent to Stalag Luft
3. Lt Lewis had two kills before being shot down.
56th Fighter Gp |
62nd Fighter Sq |
_________________________
2nd Lt Siddall, Ewan, ASN
0-708571. Navigator, 379th BG (H) out of
Kimbolton UK, 527th Squadron B-17G, Tail
# 44-6004. Shot down August 24, 1944 over Merseberg,
Germany on his 20th Mission in “Ronny
Boy”. He was brought in with Richard Goshorn on
August 30, 1944 to Stalag Luft 3. The
MACR for his plane is 8284.
There were nine men in Lt
Siddall’s aircraft. They were hit at the beginning
of their bomb run by flack through the bomb bay and
came out the wing. The ball turret gunner, waist
gunner and radio operator went down with the
aircraft. They were trying to free the ball turret
gunner who was trapped in a jammed turret. Lt
Siddall landed next to the 88 emplacement northwest
of Merseberg that shot down his aircraft and was
taken prisoner by an armed civilian. Minutes later
troops from the gun emplacement arrived and took him
prisoner.
Brian N. Siddall
2006
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