Flight to Freedom

More of Dick’s diary:

May 14 – Got up pretty early. Boarded B-17 at 11, flew over Mundesley and the Ruhr Valley, what gutted area. Landed North of Lyon (France). Went by truck to east of Reims. Got chowed up and typhus shot. Chicken, ice tea, white bread, butter, corn & snap beans. Got going at 10:30. Rode truck into town, train pulled out about 1:00. Weighed Tonight – 73 Kilos.

May 15 – Slow train 06:00. Stopped at Chaulnes for breakfast, milk, beans, diced carrots, tuna, coffee and sliced peaches. (May 15 is the birthday of my son Matthew Harvey and his son Wells.) Lunch – boned turkey, white bread, coffee, orange marmalade and peach. Stopped train at Serqueux (?), saw close up of first American girl WAC – got to St. Valery about 6:30 or 7, sweated out a shower & delousing till after 12. In a large transit camp (Camp Lucky Strike).

(Note: The U.S. Army set up a series of what they called “The Cigarette Camps,” named thus so the Germans wouldn’t know where they were located. Camp Lucky Strike was situated at Saint Valery-en-Caux, France, on the northern French coast just west of Le Harve, between Fecamp and Dieppe, on the site of a former World War II German airstrip. Originally a transit camp for deployed soldiers during the war, it became a collection area for POWs when the war ended. Twelve thousand tents housed more than 100,000 soldiers. The military headquarters were located in the Castle of Janville near the camp. )

“Still Waiting”

May 16 – We sunbathed and laid around all day. What chow lives. Ran into Chuck (Charles Doerring who was “The Miss Zeke’s” gunner) & Eide (Chester Eide, who was “The Miss Zeke’s” ball turret gunner) tonight at Red X recreation hall.

May 17 – Just another day. Mailed two letters. Thought we were moving over “B” area. Saw Phil (Phillip Crum, who was “The Miss Zeke’s” co-pilot. All three crew members are shown here with my father.)

May 18 – Sick all day. Have the GI’s. Nothing to do anyhow. (My father said that someone must have not washed the cooking pots very well. This was the first time he had that sickness in all his time in Europe)

May 19 – Gordon & I went over to D area, picked up some GI shoes – This afternoon walked over to the beach, small deserted French village, saw some of the Atlantic wall. Went to bed after a 5 PM chow.

May 20 – Rained like H. Got rain coat & German haircut. Tonight Phil & I went over to see Doerring & Eide – saw Duney Bowers, P38 Pilot shot down in Jan.

May 21 – Still lying around. Went over to Doerring, Eide & Duney again, slept all afternoon, saw John T. Wilson

May 22 – Rainy again. Went to personnel speech this afternoon by Lt. Col. Waldrop Smith; General Eisenhower spoke to us also. He was quite a surprise. Tonight went over to “D” area, saw an enlisted man from Lambert’s crew, Stober had a lot of dope on the sqdn. Went down June 13.

(I found this clipping from the newspaper Stars and Stripes –

Ike Pledges Freed PWs He’ll Get ‘Em Home---and Soon, Too

By Charles F. Kiley, Stars and Stripes Staff Writer

ST. VALERY, France, May 23 – Gen. Eisenhower yesterday told more than 40,000 repatriated American prisoners of war that he was personally doing everything to get them home as soon as possible. The Supreme Commander, speaking over a public-address system from atop a truck said he had issued orders for American-bound ships carrying liberated PWs to be loaded to capacity event to the extent of asking men to share individual bed and to sleep in shifts in order to fulfill their wishes of getting home soon “even if we have to swim.” The repatriates captured from two months to two years ago, have been here awaiting shipment home. Some have been here only a few days, others three weeks. Gen. Eisenhower spoke personally with more than 100 men during his visit and joined one group for lunch. He reminded the men of the war still waged against Japan. “There is a great deal of activity now in progress to take care of the war in Japan,” he said, “and if we can supply the shipping for you immediately it is only because we much also think of your fellow soldiers fighting in the Pacific. Speaking for everyone in America, I was to express our gratitude to you all in helping defeat Germany. You men carried the ball for us and we will not forget it.”)

May 23 – Just another day of laying around – all but four of the fellows went

May 24 – Went over to see Mitch, Doe and the boys – They have their clothes, looks like we will be here a while

May 25 – Still waiting. Went over to see Mitch, Doe & the boys, Went to a movie.

May 26 – Got our clothes today, sewed on clothes, wrote Anita

May 27 – This afternoon, Bud, Monk & I went into Cany (Cany-Barville), traded cigs for liquor, went to bed pretty early

May 28 – Fooled around all afternoon. Sellers, Monk & I went into St. Valery. Got back about 10:20

May 29 – Sellers, Monk & I went to Dieppe, nice town, but couldn’t say long as M.P. ran us out. Tonight Bud, Monk & I went to Cany (Cany-Barville). Got back about 10, pretty tired

May 30 – Laid around, got GI’s again. Moved to “D” area.

May 31 – Got physical and processed. Heard Alec Templeton (Welsh composer, pianist and satirist who had a radio show in the 1940s) tonight. Was he good. Weight 153 – shoes & pants

My father traded some cigarettes with a German guard for a camera. He took most of these photos and many others with that camera. I'm so grateful to have these photographs like this one of some poppies on the side of a French country road. Only a couple more entries of this diary to go.