Escape From Vicenza
Told by A. M. Leadingham (Eng.) flying with J. M. Collison
(P), R. B. Purdy (CP), L. H. Snetting (N), W. H. Olkey (B), E. E. Piper
(R), W. W. Whitesides (TTG), E. C. Woods (BTG), J. R. Butts (WG) and
C. L. Perry (TG)
"On December 28, 1943, seventeen B-24's from the 376th H.B.G. headed for
the R. R. Yards in Vicenza, Italy. About ten minutes from the target, we
were attacked by forty to fifty German fighters. They came at us three
and four abreast, firing rockets at one thousand yards and then coming
in for the kill with 20mm cannons. Our 512th Sqd. trailed the rest of the
formation, so we were hit first. Our plane lost two engines, all communications
and most of the flight controls. Jim Collison, our Pilot, put the plane
on automatic pilot preparing to jump. Whitey Whitesides climbed down out
of the top turret and opened the bomb bay doors and said, "You go first."
I jumped out and didn't see another American for seven weeks. We lost all
six of our 512th Sqd. planes within minutes and we lost a total of ten
B-24's that day.
I landed in an olive grove with twenty to people watching. A young lad
on a bicycle took me to his home for the night. The next day, we walked up
into the hills to stay with his relatives and to escape the Germans. Four
days later, my right leg became infected from a piece of shrapnel. The lad
took me to an English-speaking doctor but he was afraid the Germans were
watching his house. The lad then took me to the home of a registered nurse
and left me there for treatment. Two weeks later, my leg was healed enough
to travel. I didn't see the young lad again but the nurse told me he had
threatened to report me to the Germans for the ransom. The nurse and I made
plans for an early departure for Yugoslavia. I gave her all the money I had
in the escape kit, plus about $75.00 of my own money to buy clothes and train
tickets.
On January 20, 1944, we left the nurse's home at dusk and boarded a train
to begin our trip to the city of Fume on the Yugoslavian border. The nurse
and I never identified with each other on the whole trip. She would buy tickets
and leave one on a ledge or in a crevice for me to pick up. We had many delays
because of English night bombing. We changed trains often and saw so many
German soldiers, we thought we were on troop trains. German officers accompanied
the conductors taking tickets and spot-checking ID's.
After traveling all night and all morning of the next day, we arrived in
Fume at 11:30 A.M. On entering the station, we saw five guards checking ID's
and asking questions. When I saw this, I made my way back to the station
platform looking for another way out. The whole area was surrounded by guards
with automatic weapons. I waited until the crowd cleared the station and
then went back in, ready to give myself up. The nurse had all five guards
in one corner talking excitedly and diverting their attention. I slipped
out the door into the city and later she joined me. We had lunch and said
our farewells. She spoke no English and I spoke no Italian. My guide was
intelligent, dedicated and fearless in facing our common enemy. I thank God
for sending her into my life to make possible my escape.
I crossed the border into Yugoslavia and the guard didn't even stop me.
I traveled south on the main highway that follows the Adriatic coast until
almost dusk. I headed for a small village in the hills to make contact with
the Partisan Army. I met and old man with a long white beard on my way to
the village and I told him who I was and what I wanted. He didn't say a word,
but motioned to follow him. He took me to a home where they gave me food
and put me to bed. About three hours later, I was awakened with a gun pointed
at me and ten people looking on. The man with the gun was a high-ranking
officer in the Partisan Underground Army and he could speak perfect English.
He quizzed me for thirty minutes about my escape from Northern Italy and
also asked questions about America. I don't think he fully accepted my story.
I could hardly believe it myself. Only God knows why I was able to escape
when the rest of my crew was either killed or taken prisoner.
The next day, he assigned a guide to take me to the Northern Partisan
Army H.Q. Here I was housed with a British (S2) group that had radio contact
with the Allied Army H.Q. in Italy and the Partisans asking them to verify
my identity.I stayed with the British for three weeks waiting for an American
Colonel, Commander of a P-38 fighter group. He and a German shot each other
down head-on. After the Colonel arrived, we joined a small group of Partisans
heading south for Tito's H.Q. where we could catch a plane back to Italy.
We were on the road for about ten days when my feet developed blisters
caused by an ill-fitting pair of British army shoes. I was sent to a Partisan
army hospital, which was a farm house. Two weeks later, I was able to travel
again. We left after dark and headed for the Adriatic coast where I was taken
by a small boat to an island occupied by the U.S. Army Rangers. They gave
me food, a bath with soap and hot water, and a good night's sleep on an army
cot. The next day I was taken by Navy LST back to Italy and spent the next
ten days in an army hospital for observation and a cure for scabies (7-year
itch) and lice.
I rejoined the 376th B.G. near Bari, Italy, after more than three months
in enemy territory. After being interrogated by S2 about my entire escape
experience. I was told that I would be going home as soon as orders and transportation
could be arranged. This was great news because I don't believe I had much
fight left in me. I lost about thirty-five pounds on this little trip; however,
my crew members in German prisons lost a great deal more. On that one day
in 1943, ninety-nine men in ten planes were either killed or taken prisoner.
One escaped. This is my story."
Arthur M. Leadingham
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