Category: After WWII

United States Army Air Force (USAAF) Second Lieutenant (2nd Lt.) Carl A. Groesbeck was a B-17 Flying Fortress navigator with the First Lieutenant (1st Lt.) Roy Ranck crew assigned to the 306th Bombardment Group (BG), 368th Bomb Squadron, based at Thurleigh, England, in WWII.

The Ranck crew’s first combat mission was October 8, 1943, to Bremen, Germany.  The primary target was the German aircraft factory there.  Due to a thick smoke screen obscuring the target, the bombs were dropped over a secondary target.  After the raid, the B-17 formation encountered Luftwaffe fighter planes and heavy flak.  The Ranck B-17 made it back to Thurleigh but was badly damaged with so many holes in the fuselage that Carl said it looked like a sieve.  The B-17 was scrapped.  Miraculously, no member of the 10 man crew was seriously injured.

The second combat mission for the Ranck crew was the next day on October 9, 1943, to Gdynia, Poland, a city in the Polish Corridor on the Baltic Sea.  At that date in time it was the deepest B-17 penetration mission into the European Theater.  Gdynia was almost 200 miles (322 kilometers) east of Berlin.  The city had been under German control since the start of WWII in September 1939.  The target that day was the German Naval, industrial, and port facilities.

The 306th BG B-17s arrived at Gdynia about the same time as a formation of USAAF B-24 Liberator bombers from another base in England.  The B-17 formation did a 360 degree turn and dropped the bombs on the second run over the target.  As the B-17s departed the area numerous German Messerschmitt and Junkers fighter planes were in pursuit.  The Ranck B-17 was badly damaged in the attack.  The aircraft dropped out of the formation, an engine was on fire, and it was flying too slowly to outrun the fighters.  Right waist gunner Sergeant Douglas Farris was killed in action.

Flying over the Baltic Sea on the return route from Gdynia, pilot 1st Lt. Ranck was able to fly the B-17 to a Danish island called Samso in the Kattegat Sea east of the Denmark Jutland Peninsula.  The crew bailed out over land, but their landings were spread out over the island.  2nd Lt. Groesbeck landed near B-17 radio operator Technical Sergeant William Skahan who broke a leg when landing.  While tending to the broken leg, Carl was arrested by German soldiers.  He was led away from the area and hoped the radio operator would be taken to a medical facility.  2nd Lt. Groesbeck was now a prisoner of war (POW).  He was 24 years old.  The date was October 9, 1943.

2nd Lt. Groesbeck spent his first night as a POW in a Samso farm chicken coop guarded by a German soldier.  The farmer’s wife brought him some food that evening.

On Day 2 he was reunited with B-17 Flight Engineer Staff Sergeant (S/Sgt.) Harry Hall.  They were transported by boat to Copenhagen, Denmark.  Carl was surprised when they were billeted in a luxury hotel in the city.  He tells of walking into the hotel lobby while a man in a tuxedo was playing the piano.  They had a room on the fifth floor.  One German guard said he would buy them a razor and soap to get cleaned up if they gave him some money.  2nd Lt. Groesbeck said the American flight crews had been told not to carry money with them.  That was when S/Sgt. Hall pulled out a “ten spot” (American ten dollar bill) from his shoe.  They got cleaned up, and then a German officer offered them “the run of the town” if they promised not to try and escape.  Carl refused the offer, and that night a German sentry took their shoes and stood guard outside their hotel room.

2nd Lt. Groesbeck and S/Sgt. Hall were separated on Day 3.  That was the last time Carl knew anything about the crew until WWII ended.  [The nine Ranck crew members who bailed out did survive the war.]  Carl was transported by truck to a nearby German air base, taken by ferry to Germany, and then travelled by train to a Dulag Luft.  It was Day 4 as a POW.  [A Dulag Luft was a transit and interrogation center for newly captured Allied airmen.  There were several facilities in Germany as well as German occupied countries.  After interrogation the prisoners were sent to permanent camps.]  Carl spent about a week at the Dulag Luft and was then transported in a standing room only cattle car with other POWs to what would be his permanent camp at Stalag Luft 3 in Sagan, Germany [now Zagan, Poland].  Sagan was about 90 miles (145 kilometers) southeast of Berlin.

Stalag Luft 3 opened April 11, 1942, and expanded to include North, East, South, and West Compounds.  There were prisons within a prison.  It housed Allied airmen who at one time totaled 10,949 men.  The camp had recreational activities, a library, theater, radio station, a band and orchestra, religious services, two newspapers, and prisoners planning escapes. 

The camp was intentionally built on sandy soil with the idea being it would be difficult for the prisoners to dig escape tunnels.  That did not seem to make a difference to many of the Allied airmen imprisoned there.  The most famous of the escape attempts was on March 24, 1944.  It became known after WWII as The Great Escape with the story being told in a book (1950) and a movie (1963).

Carl spent his time trying to keep busy, answering roll calls, attending Catholic Mass when he could, and sometimes acted as a security guard for tunnel diggers.  I once asked him how he lived through that chapter in his life.  He said his faith in God and an optimism about life were a great help to him.

After Carl’s nearly 16 months as a POW, on January 27, 1945, he and other prisoners of Stalag Luft 3 saw what he would describe as a “blood red” night sky.  The Soviet Army was advancing west and getting closer.  Artillery exchanges between the Russians and the Germans and burning structures in the distance lit up the sky.  The Germans decided to move Allied prisoners west into Germany.  Prisoners from Stalag Luft 3 (and other POW camps) were forced to march west in what was one of the coldest winters in Europe.  Temperatures were as low as minus 13 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 25 degrees Celsius).  Over 80,000 prisoners made what became known as “The March.”  [Although the numbers of men who died during the forced marches that winter vary, the number of US and Commonwealth POWs is estimated to be 3,500.]

Carl and a group of men numbering about 250 were forced to start their march just before midnight on that January 27th night.  They had only the clothes they were wearing and any food they had stored in their living quarters and were able to carry.  Carl remembers marching through six towns and the POWs seeking shelter where they could when they were allowed to rest.  He recalls the first night after the march began that he and other prisoners packed as many men as they could into an abandoned German Lutheran Church.  Carl shared what food he had (a box of raisins) with a fellow POW.  There was always the threat of Allied air forces attacking them as they could  have been mistaken for retreating German soldiers.  At one point along the march the prisoners were put in cattle cars and taken to their destination point at Stalag 7A near Moosburg in Bavaria, Germany.  They arrived at the camp on February 2, 1945.  The distance travelled from Stalag Luft 3 to Stalag 7A was approximately 390 miles (626 kilometers). 

Other groups of POWs from Stalag Luft 3 and other camps continued to arrive.

Carl spent the last few months of WWII at Stalag 7A.  The camp was originally built to house 10,000 prisoners.  When it was liberated on April 29, 1945, by the United States (US) Army 14th Armored Division, there were nearly 80,000 POWs from many different Allied countries.  General George C. Patton made a visit to the camp.  

WWII was over for Carl.  He had survived.

May 8, 1945, WWII officially ended in Europe.  Carl was ill at that time and remained in Germany at Stalag 7A undergoing treatment for about two weeks before being evacuated to Camp Lucky Strike (one of the US camps in France for repatriated servicemen).  He recalls food portions in the mess hall being rationed for the POWs as they slowly regained weight and strength.  Food portions were determined by the color of the ticket they presented.  Too much food too soon could have killed them.  And at Camp Lucky Strike he saw B-17 Flight Engineer S/Sgt. Hall again.

Carl returned to the US by ship.  He went back to his hometown of Ottawa, Illinois.  Carl continued his education, married, and is the father of five children.  He attended Stalag Luft 3 POW reunions over the years and kept in contact with other fellow prisoners.   

But that is not the end of the story.  The German plane that shot down Carl’s B-17 on October 9, 1943, was a Junkers JU 88.  A crew member Heinz Philipp had written down the B-17 tail number that day.  After WWII, with the help of the US Air Force, Heinz learned the names of the B-17 crew and contacted Carl.  Carl later visited him in Germany, and they stayed in contact until Heinz’s death.

Last December Carl celebrated his 98th birthday.  He still has that sense of optimism and faith in God.

Thank you 2nd Lt. Groesbeck for your service in WWII.

A special thank you to Carl Groesbeck for sharing his wartime experiences with me and for all the time he spent answering my many questions while doing research for this story.  The story and photographs are posted with his and his family’s permission.

Thank you to the Witness to War Foundation which is dedicated to historical preservation of the stories of war veterans.  Martin Madert interviewed Carl in 2013 and provided me a copy of the interview which I used in researching this story.  For further information on the Witness to War Foundation visit http://www.witnesstowar.org/.

Information about the WWII 306th BG Historical Association can be found at http://306bg.us/.  Association Historian Cliff Deets is always an invaluable resource for BG history.

Robert (Bob) Starzynski from Chicago, Illinois, enlisted in the Army on January 16, 1943. He was 18 years old. By June of that year he was in England assigned to the 4^th Station Complement Squadron of the 306^th Bombardment Group (BG) located at Thurleigh, England. After numerous requests to be reassigned to a combat unit, he was trained as a B-17 Flying Fortress gunner and attached to the 306^th BG, 367^th Bomb Squadron. His first mission was a bomber raid over Berlin, Germany, on March 6, 1944. After flying several missions as a crew replacement, he was assigned to the Virgil W. Dingman crew as a tail gunner after their tail gunner was killed in action.

June 17, 1944, Saturday. After a mission delay due to weather conditions and cloud cover over the primary target, a secondary “visual target of opportunity” was selected. The target was the bridge at Noyen, France. Takeoff was 0945 (military time). Anti-aircraft fire over the French Coast hit the number three engine of the Dingman B-17, and a fire broke out. Flames from the engine went into the slipstream of the aircraft, and fire was threatening the tail of the plane. Pilot First Lieutenant Dingman ordered the crew to bail out.

According to B-17 bail out procedure, the first person to bail out is the tail gunner. Staff Sergeant (S/Sgt) Starzynski’s parachute had slipped into the rear landing wheel compartment of the aircraft. To retrieve the parachute he had to take off his oxygen mask. After finding the parachute, putting it on, adjusting one of the parachute hooks, and having some difficulty opening the escape hatch, he jumped out of the plane.

According to an eye witness account from another B-17 in the formation that day, the Dingman aircraft was last seen at 1113 southeast of Dieppe, France, with the right wing on fire. Five parachutes were observed. [All nine crew members did survive. Five became Prisoners of War, and four were Evadees.]

After he jumped S/Sgt Starzynski found himself alone surrounded by clouds. With the lack of oxygen while preparing for bail out he felt groggy, but the snap of the parachute opening brought him back to consciousness. As he floated down between some clouds, an American P-51 Mustang fighter plane appeared and saw him. The P-51 flew around him a couple of times, S/Sgt Starzynski waved at the pilot, and the plane dipped its wings before departing. He hoped the pilot would report his position.

S/Sgt Starzynski’s descent became faster, and he could see trees, hedgerows, and a farmhouse on the ground. He crashed through some trees and landed on his back in a field with no serious injuries. Bob had landed in enemy occupied France. The time was about 1115. 

Bob hid his parachute and inspected his escape kit. After deciding to stay in hiding until dark, he checked his mini compass (an item in the escape kit) and began walking about 2330. Still in his flight jacket, flight suit, and flight boots he approached a farmhouse and knocked on the door. After identifying himself as an “Aviateur Americane” and after intense scrutiny by the occupants of the farmhouse, Bob was allowed inside. Using a French/English translation card (another item in his escape kit) he was able to communicate with them although in a limited way. The Helpers (those who provided aid to downed Allied airmen) provided him with some food, civilian clothes, and a pair of too small shoes. He was told they could not hide him or contact the French Resistance because there were too many Germans in the area.  They suggested he head west to LeHavre, France, where they thought he would be able to find a place to hide. Bob offered them French francs for helping him (an item in the escape kit), but they refused. Checking his map (also in the escape kit) Bob knew he was in the Normandy region and was about 43 miles from LeHavre. After midnight he left the farmhouse and started walking in the direction of Buchy, France.

June 18,1944, Sunday. Bob had a few close calls with Germans on the road to Buchy. His feet hurt in the ill-fitting shoes, but he kept walking. He arrived in Buchy after midnight.

June 19, 1944, Monday. In Buchy Bob found a place to hide in a bomb damaged farmhouse with a courtyard and other surrounding buildings. He discovered later that it was the location of a makeshift German barracks. He decided then to walk by day instead of by night. At dawn he started walking towards Rouen, France. By dusk that day he arrived in Barentin, France, and spent the night sleeping in a field. His feet by then were swollen and bloody.

June 20, 1944, Tuesday. When an older German soldier on a bicycle stopped Bob on that day and asked him for his papers, Bob pointed to a sign to Bolbec, France, and only said the name of the town a couple of times. By that time Bob said he was looking like a tramp and that was probably why the German let him go. By day’s end he determined he was halfway to LeHavre.

June 21, 1944, Wednesday. His fifth day of evading the Germans and looking like a tramp Bob decided to take a risk and chose to stop and get a haircut and shave at a barber shop near Bolbec. He hoped he would better blend in with the local population. While getting his shave a German soldier came in and asked the barber if he could get a haircut before Bob. After the German exited for a short time he returned to find Bob getting his haircut. The soldier sat impatiently next to Bob’s jacket not knowing there were maps and other papers in it which would have identified him as an American. Bob got his haircut and made a quick exit. 

Walking and limping down the road to LeHavre in those very tight shoes Bob stopped at a farmhouse and again using the French translation card from his escape kit he asked for help. They provided him with food, bathed his feet, and then gave him the bad news. The Germans had a roadblock into LeHavre. They let him spend the night. Knowing his escape plan wouldn’t work, Bob started walking back to Bolbec the next day.

June 22, 1944, Thursday. At Bolbec Bob then headed south to Lillebonne, France. At one point he was refused sanctuary and kept walking. That day he met a ragged Brazilian junk peddler who had been stranded in France when the war started. The peddler knew a few words of English so was able to tell Bob that the Germans controlled the ferry boat across the Seine River. He took Bob to a Frenchman (who Bob later discovered was a member of the French Resistance), and the Frenchman rowed him across the river. He was now in Quillebeuf, France.

Sometime after his arrival in Quillebeuf he dove to the ground as two American P-38 Lightning fighters were on a strafing and bombing run in the vicinity of the ferry boats.

Later in an old farmhouse and seeking a place to “rest his feet” Bob encountered a German soldier who was more interested in getting a ladder from the farmhouse than in him. He guessed the German soldier wanted to repair some communication lines after the “visit” by the P-38s.

On that day in Quillebeuf Bob met a Frenchman named Charles Lamour who spoke English and contacted the French Resistance. He learned that his crossing of the Seine River was well-timed as the Gestapo had been inquiring about someone who matched his description. After six days on his own Bob found some new friends in the French Resistance.

Ten weeks in Quillebeuf. During his stay in the area he was hidden in various locations and got a new pair of shoes. They actually fit his feet but had wooden soles. [Leather during the war was in short supply.]

On a few occasions Bob helped the French Resistance in cutting German communication lines and stealing a couple of cows and beans from a field for food.

The Allied Canadian Army liberates Quillebeuf. Bob was able to come out of hiding. An Allied unit picked him up, and he was transported to Cherbourg, France. He flew to London, England, on an American C-47 Skytrain transport plane, was interrogated at Allied Headquarters, and returned to his base at Thurleigh in September 1944. It was at Thurleigh that he met his co-pilot Second Lieutenant Wilbur Pensinger. He had been picked up in France almost immediately by the French Underground after the crew bailed out.

Back in the United States (US). As was the policy at the time, military personnel who had escaped or evaded the enemy in occupied countries were not allowed to rejoin air crews flying missions over Europe. If they were captured, they may have been able to identify those foreign nationals who had helped them.

Bob returned to the US in September 1944. On March 17 (Saint Patrick’s Day), 1945, he celebrated his 21^st birthday. Was it Irish luck or Polish luck that helped save Bob’s life?

As people reflect on their life there is often a memento they wish they would have kept as a remembrance. Bob once told me he wished he would have kept those French shoes with the wooden soles.

To my Polish friend Bob Starzynski:  “Dziekuje Ci za służbę wojskową dla Stanów Zjednoczonych Ameryki Północnej w czasie Drugiej Wojny Światowej.”  [Translation: “Thank you for your service to the United States in WWII.”]

After WWII Bob joined the Chicago Police Department and retired after 39 years. In 1982 he travelled to France and was able to thank some of the people who had helped him evade the Germans in 1944.

In 2011 Bob and his wife Louise attended the graduation of their great-granddaughter Jessica Kirstein from the US Air Force Basic Military Training Course at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. After graduation Airman Kirstein received advanced training and was assigned to an in-flight refueling unit.  Another generation serving our country in the air.

An article about Bob Starzynski’s experiences in German occupied France (with additional stories) was published in the July 1990 issue of the 306^th BG newspaper the Echoes. The link is http://306bg.us/Echoes%20files/90jul153.pdf.

This story and photographs are  posted with the permission of the Starzynski family.

 Thank you to Jerzy Michalec for the English to Polish translation.

Thank you to WWII 306th BG veteran William Houlihan, Cliff Deets (306^th BG Historical Association Historian), Nancy Huebotter (Editor of the Echoes), Barbara Neal (Secretary, 306^th BG Historical Association), and Dr. Vernon Williams for their assistance in my research for this story.