351st Sqdn. Crew, as above, joined the 100th Group on 12/4/44. MACR #5165, Microfiche #1851, A/C #42 31306. "NELSON KING"

S/Sgt Edwin I. Morgan, from the crew of A. L. Barker (one of the "original" 100th crews) was with this crew as LWG on 24/5/44 and became a POW. This crew was on it's 11th mission.

Over the target area at approx. 1115 hours many enemy fighters attacked this A/C. Apparently S/Sgt Frank V. Kroczynski was killed in the first fighter attack. As to Lt Irving Jacobowitz, Lt Wayne S. Proulx had this to say in the MACR: "He might have been killed by the explosion as he bailed out, but since he was out of his chute when I saw him lying on the ground, he might have been killed by German civilians. "

T/Sgt Oliver B. Scully always believed the exploding oxygen bottles blew the nose off before Lt Emil J. Siewert could bail out.

To Whom It May Concern,

I, Technical Sergeant Francis Cousins Jr. A. A. F. 33288676, Formerly with the 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, Based at Thorpe Abbotts, England. On May 24, 1944 at approx 10:30, while flying over Berlin, Germany, the aircraft on which I was a crew member was struck by flak, enabling number 3 &4 engines, causing us to lose altitude and pull out of formation. We were by ourselves at about 21, 000 feet altitude when were attacked by 5 FW 190's. I received a machine gun bullet in my right thigh on the second pass causing me to be knocked back to the rear door. The ship caught on fire at the gasoline tank on the right wing forcing us to parachute out. I dragged myself to the escape hatch and bailed out having trouble with my chute, it opened at about 8000 feet at the cloud level. I landed in a ploughed field. Due to the condition of my leg, I could not move to hide. I was observed by a Polish slave laborer who tried to ge me to move into the woods that were a short distance away. Seeing my condition, he left to get help. Soon after he left , two Hitler Youths came over, seeing that I was an American they beat me up and stole my watch and other personal items. A German soldier came over and chased them away.

A German civilian was going to shoot me but was stopped by another civilian who said he was a prisoner in America in the First World War and was well treated by the Americans. The Pole in the meantime came back with a two-wheel wagon. They had picked up my Navigator 1st Lt Donald W. Huffer, who at the time was also suffering from flak wounds and an injured hand. They placed me in the wagon and took us to a small village. From there they put us in a station wagon and took us to a town called Woodstock or Whittstock approx 70 kilo's N. W. of BERLIN. We laid in a Police station until about 11 O’clock that night without medical attention or food. Then we were chained in a truck and taken to a small aid station, it must have been at an airfield because I could hear aircraft engines. We were examined by a German officer, I think he was a medical officer because he ordered my leg put in a splint and I was given a shot that relieved the pain somewhat.

The next day or the day after I am not sure because things were pretty hazy, we were moved in a truck to a camp at New Ruppin, Germany. The barracks we were placed in were prefabricated huts, about 25 ft long and about 20 feet wide. There were 20 double-decked wooden beds with straw mattresses in the building. There were no sanitary facilities in the barracks, outside there was one water tank used by all. The kitchen was in a separate hut, the cook was a German soldier who owned a restaurant in Berlin so most of our food went there. Our ration consisted of a cup of watery coffee and two pieces of black bread with margarine or synthetic jam for breakfast. Two potatoes and a cup of cabbage or turnips for lunch and for dinner it was the same as for lunch. We received 85 grams of meat per week, if we were lucky.

Our Medical attendants were two Russians who were captured in the invasion of the Ukraine, one was a medical officer, Dr. Theadore Fakeow and the other Capt Jacob Charchieck. They changed our bandages and dressed our wounds under the supervision of the German doctor who came to see us from a nearby Hospital. His Name was Dr Wilkie (or Willie). He would visit us once or twice a week to check on our condition. In the meantime we were pretty hungry as the food wasn't sufficient for our needs. We were losing weight pretty fast. I lived there until the first of August, then I was placed in a Plaster of Paris cast and sent to Dulag Luft at Frankfurt Germany for interrogation. Because I was shot down 3 months previous I was considered to old and was not interrogated. On August 8th, I was sent to a prision comp at Ohermannsfeld in Thurm---Germany. It was a Prison Hospital, staffed by English who were captured in Africa and the fall of France in 1940.

The food situation was little better there as we received an occasional RED CROSS food parcel. There were 4 men to a parcel. Some weeks if we had a shipment of parcels there would be two men to a parcel. I was sent to another hospital approximately 5 miles away in the latter part of January. I stayed there until the first part of March when due to a coming attack . . . . . . . . . .. ??

Dear Mr. Cousins,

Tonight over the German short wave , we picked up a Medical report on you son Sgt Francis Cousins. He is in a hospital in Germany and is getting along fine, They did not say what hospital he is in but said that you have nothing to worry about, as his condition is very good,

Sincerely, Mr. C. S. Sanns

Dear Mr. Cousins,

On April 4th, the German Short wave radio broadcast a medical report to you about your son Sgt Francis Cousins. "His right leg was broken above the knee. He is receiving functional follow-up treatment. " These reports are not dated and often are old; some being sent after the man has left the hospital. Lately, some have been repeats of previous reports and a few were from a hospital already liberated. With our sincere hope that your son will return to you safely and very soon.

signed Mr. and Mrs. F. L. Cooper