Home from Siberia : the secret odysseys of interned American airmen in World War II PDF
Preview Home from Siberia : the secret odysseys of interned American airmen in World War II
Page i Home from Siberia Page iii Home from Siberia The Secret Odysseys of Interned American Airmen in World War II By Otis Hays, Jr. Texas A & M University Press College Station Page iv Copyright (c) 1990 by Otis Hays, Jr. Manufactured in the United States of America All rights reserved First Edition The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, Z39.48 1984. Binding materials have been chosen for durability. Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Hays, Otis, 1915 Home from Siberia : the secret odysseys of interned American airmen in World War II/ by Otis Hays, Jr. 1st ed. p. cm. (Texas A & M University mili tary history series; 16) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0890964343 (alk, paper) 1. World War, 19391945Aerial operations, American. 2. Prisoners of war Russian S.F.S.R.Siberia. 3. Prisoners of warUnited States. 4. Aeronautics Accidents. I. Title, II. Series, D790.H39 1990 940.54´4976dc20 8920569 CIP Page v For Dutch Who shared the burning of the midnight oil Page vii Contents List of Illustrations ix List of Maps ix Preface xi 1. American Internees in "Neutral Country," 19421945 3 2. The SovietAmerican Connection, 19171945 15 3. The First Escape, May, 1943 28 4. The Second Escape, February, 1944 55 5. Navy Flyers Interned, 1944 97 6. Superfortresses in Siberia, 1944 118 7. Other Army Flyers Interned, 1944 134 8. The Third Escape, January, 1945 151 9. The Fourth Escape, May, 1945 170 10. Release of the Last Internees, August, 1945 188 Postcript 211 Appendix A. Interned Crews, by Unit 213 Appendix B. Interned Crews, by Release Group 214 Appendix C. Alphabetical Roster of Internees 217 Bibliography 224 Index 226 Page ix Illustrations James Pottenger's B24 crew after repatriation 59 Nona Solodovinova 63 Escaped internees in Tunis awaiting repatriation 95 William Head's crew 136 Internees and Soviet escort flyers 145 Yekaterina ("Kati"), the Englishspeaking schoolteacher 149 Insignia designed by internees 161 Tamara Guscova 180 Winter's and Kleinke's crews at Paul Wutchic's burial 192 Lieutenant Colonel Keechieff, the Soviet doctor 202 Maps 1. Scene of air activity in North Pacific 5 2. Route of internee groups 1 and 2 3233 3. Route of internee group 3 108109 4. Route of internee groups 4 and 5 17677 Page xi Preface During World War II, U.S. airmen flew countless missions over the Japanese homeland and territory controlled by the Japanese in the North Pacific and Manchuria. Coming from the carrier Hornet, the Aleutian Islands, and deep inside China, army and navy flyers in disabled bombers on occasion sought to land in nearby Soviet territory. Between 1942 and 1945, a total of 37 crews had this experience. In every case the Soviets took the crews into custody as soon as possible and eventually moved them thousands of miles to southcentral Asia. For 36 of the crews, their internment camp was near Tashkent. After being held for up to 13 months, they all eventually made it home again, either through one of four clandestine "escapes" from the Soviet Union or through open release at the conclusion of the war. Nearly a half century has elapsed since five separate groups of American airmen entered and were funneled across Asia in this way. No complete roster of the names and whereabouts of presentday survivors of these groups can be found. However, according to an unofficial but realistic 1988 estimate, about 60 percent of the original 291 interned men are still living, witnesses to a largely forgotten chapter of World War II history. For many reasons, the story of the five wartime group odysseys has not been told in its entirety. The main reason, however, apparently stems from a secrecy pledge that was demanded from each of the men who escaped. Although the pledge was not binding indefinitely, its duration remained a moot question for some. One former internee, now a retired businessman, reported that during his interrogation at the Pentagon after his return to Washington, a fourstar general told him that certain aspects of his escape could be revealed only on direct order of the president. Other internees, heeding an injunction to forget that particular episode in their lives, kept the secret by trying to block the details from their memories. Pieces of the story found in official documents stored in various govern Page xii mental archives were tardy in being declassified, some as late as 1986. The declassified documents were impersonal records. They noted generally when each crew arrived in Siberia and when each assembled group of airme was allowed to leave. What happened to the internees during the time of entry and departure? In order to obtain some of the personal details of individual experiences, a search was begun to locate former internees. One of the early results of the search was the growth of an "internee telegraph," whereby one correspondent would supply the name and address of a fellow internee. Information was obtained not only from various archives but also through detailed questionnaires to which responses were made in writing or by cassette recording, and by both telephone and facetoface interviews. Each of the men who were contacted fell into one of three categories. Some, whether disinterested or for some other reason, did not respond to inquiries and thus kept their silence. Others stated openly that they either would not or could not try to remember what had happened. A typical response was, "I have forgotten about those days and do not want to jog my memory. I just put those days out of my mind." Others told how they were trying to relive the Siberian experience but found that "everything is so hazy." Fortunately, othersalthough some of them at first were reluctant to delve too deeply into what they considered a ''can of worms"cooperated fully. A retired professional man in the Midwest wrote, "I have never talked about my experiences about town, and would like not to have my name mentioned." He later changed his mind. Some of the former internees who were retired career military officers decided to ask the Department of the Air Force whether they were free to discuss their wartime experiences in the Soviet Union. The bureaucracy concluded that the officers no longer had to remain mute.1 Even while the search for surviving former internees was under way, the attrition among their members continued relentlessly. At least four potential respondents died during the process. The recounting of the internees' story was based mainly on what cooperating individuals were able to recall. Not all of the men who provided information remembered what happened in precisely the same way. In cases where there was honest disagreement as to what occurred to whom and when and in what sequence, a consensus was adopted so that the story's continuity was not seriously interrupted. For many of the men, recall was a painful process. "Since you first contacted me," a New England businessman wrote, "I have had at least a dozen nightmares and have lain awake half of countless nights trying 1. Letter, Headquarters, Department of the Air Force, Washington, D.C., to Col. C. K. Hanner, Jr., USAF (Ret), January 12, 1987. Copy provided by C. K. Hanner, Jr. Page xiii to pull bona fide memories from my subconscious." A Minnesota engineer said, "It is now three o'clock in the morning, and I find that I cannot sleep. All I can think about is you, [because] I still owe you some answers." Several internees covertly kept diaries. Fearful of possible retaliation if their records were discovered, the writers did not even reveal to one another what they were doing. A few of the diaries were either destroyed or confiscated before the writers left the Soviet Union, but others were smuggled past Soviet guards and avoided American security scrutiny. One man reported, however, that he did not try to conceal his diary. "No one asked me about it," he said, "and I didn't mention it." Originally crude notes scribbled on bits of rough toilet paper or other paper scraps, the diaries were hidden in linings of jackets or boots or, in one case, strapped to a man's leg near his groin. These notes were later expanded into readable documents. In one special instance, the widow of a former internee shared the notes that made up her husband's record of his experience. The diaries were undimmed mirrors reflecting the feelings of young men during their last combat mission against Japanese targets, their journey 6,000 miles across Siberia to internment camp, their inactivity and despair while in camp, and finally their escape or release into Iran. Any story as complex as the odysseys of the American airmen in the Soviet Union during World War II can be written only with the help of individuals who either have lived through it or have access to records of the experience. I have many individuals to thank for their invaluable assistance in providing information about the American story. Except as otherwise noted in the text, firsthand information about American airmen in the Soviet Union comes from former internees, who have kindly given permission to share their memories. The author communicated personally with thirtyseven former internees: Gilbert S. Arnold, Donnie L. Broadwell, Cyril J. ("Pat") Brown, Jackson W. Clark, Joseph A. Dunwoody, Robert G. Emmens, Richard E. Filler, Samuel Gelber, Gerald J. Green, Ralph W. Hammond, Charles K. Hanner, Jr., William W. Head, Jr., Anthony L. Homitz, Harry J. Koepp, Irwin L. Lans, Carl W. Lindell, Darryl F. McDonald, John B. McIntosh, Russell L. Manthie, John F. ("Butterfly") Mathers, Allen T. (''Red") Miller, Berwyn J. Miller, Jr., Byron A. Morgan, James R. O'Dair, F. Clark Ogden, David W. Pohl, Vladimir P. Sabich, Richard D. Salter, John R. Smith, John S. ("Jack") Smith, Edward F. Sorenson, John M. Taylor, John W. Tyler, John P. Vivian, Robert W. Wiles, Hubert B. Winter, and Robert B. Wolbrink. Also providing important information were former Aleutian airmen Rhodes F. Arnold, William S. Boone, Ted C. Buszek, William F. Mahaffy, J. E. Mills, Lawrence Reineke, Robert E. Talley, John L. Tidball, and Irving Wadlington. Assistance was also provided by Mrs. Ernest A. Stifel,
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