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Chuck Yeager, Escaping Nazis, Makes it to Gibraltar May 15, 1944

May 16th, 2021 . Posted in Air Force, Aviation | Comments Off on Chuck Yeager, Escaping Nazis, Makes it to Gibraltar May 15, 1944
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In General Yeager’s own words: “After 1. being shot down on March 5, 1944 and hiding out, sometimes in plain sight, from the Nazis, Gestapo, Germans, and French Milice (German controlled French police, sometimes much worse than the Gestapo), 2. escaping over the Pyrenees carrying a wounded airman, and 3. spending a few weeks at the spa in Spain, watching all the girls in skimpy bathing outfits, getting a tan, putting on weight, eating bananas, healing: the American consul in Spain put a few of us escapees on a train for Madrid, then one to Gibraltar.

“I arrived in Gibraltar May 15, 1944 and was interrogated there. They indicated that I got to go home after I got to England. The reason was, if they put me back on combat and I was shot down again but this time captured, the Germans might be able to torture information out of me about the French Underground that had saved me.

“But I didn’t want to go home. So, I started planning how to stay on combat and where. “

Owned by the British for over two centuries, during World War II, Gibraltar served a vital role in both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Theater, controlling virtually all naval traffic into and out of the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean.

Inside the Rock of Gibraltar itself, miles of tunnels were excavated from the from the limestone. Masses of rock were blasted out to build an “underground city”.[4] In huge man-made caverns, barracks, offices, and a fully equipped hospital were constructed, complete with an operation theater and X-ray equipment.

The civilians of Gibraltar had been evacuated leaving it solely a military outpost and from which Operation Torch, the allied invasion of French North Africa in November 1942, commanded by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, was coordinated.  the North Africa campaign had been

“I wondered how long I would be detained in Gibraltar and when would I get to England. This sitting out the war and not fighting was difficult and frankly, boring. On the flip side, if I went home, I’d get to see Glennis. But, as merely a flight officer, what could I offer her? Just a cabin in a holler.”

c. GCYI

General Yeager Interned in Spain 1944 (from an interview)

April 16th, 2021 . Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on General Yeager Interned in Spain 1944 (from an interview)
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General Yeager: After being shot down on my 9th mission during World War II, evading Germans, helping the French underground. who protected me, blow up bridges, carrying a wounded man over the Pyrenees, I spent Easter in 1944 interned in Spain.

Interviewer: Taking a wounded man across the Pyrenees rather complicated matters a bit, though.

General Yeager:

Well, that’s just the way of life; that’s the way it goes. That worked out good. (The wounded airman survived and lived until about 1975.)

Being interned down there in Spain was really a piece of cake. They put you up in the best hotel, gave you money and cigarettes. I didn’t smoke so I sold the cigarettes on the black market for a tremendous amount of money. It was a soft life.

Spain was a neutral country and it complied with the international regulations.

The American consul came up to Sort, where we had gotten to, took us to Lerida, put us up in a hotel, gave us money, and came to see us every week. Then he took us to Alhama de Aragon, a spa built around a hot springs. We had the life of Reilly there; it was really neat.

Alhama de Aragon pond

I thought if my kids ever found out how I spent the war: at a hot springs pool with girls in bikinis….

c. GCYI

Escaping the Gestapo over the Pyrenees Part 2

March 28th, 2021 . Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Escaping the Gestapo over the Pyrenees Part 2
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Chuck Yeager’s words:

Having been shot down March 5, 1944 and hidden for several weeks, we pick up the story close to the Spanish border in the Pyrenees.

We found a dead sheep part of which we ate.

Later, we found a hut and took some refuge from the snow and cold. The other airman made the mistake of leaving his socks out to dry. A German patrol caught sight and started shooting. We jumped out the back window. I hauled him over to a chute, shoved him down, and followed him.  We ended up in a frozen river. He couldn’t walk so I dragged him up the incline over the next ridge.

Every time there was a downhill, I shoved him so he could slide.

A day of this and by nightfall I was exhausted and hungry. Fortunately, that evening we came upon a dead sheep part of which we ate.

We continued on – no telling if the Germans were following us. Someone wrote to me years later telling me what I already suspected: We were climbing the steepest, most treacherous part of the Pyrenees. That was the bad news. But the good news was: The Nazis probably thought we would perish here anyway and did not want to themselves perish pursuing us. But we couldn’t be sure. We trudged along. Or I did, dragging the airman.

It would have been so easy physically to leave him. But then he might be captured, tortured and shot – or die of exposure. Either way, his only hope was my carrying, dragging him, pushing him….

We would sleep a little and then climb some more, me carrying or dragging the airman. On the downhill, I’d push him down the hill and slide afterwards if I could. Three feet of snow, almost vertical climb sometimes. If we got lower, the trees were thick. It’s a darn good thing I grew up running around in the hollers of West Virginia and that Gabriel had sent me out with Raoul moving camp, staying in shape somewhat.

Even when I was shot down a few weeks prior, I headed for some woods, grabbed a sapling and rode it to the ground. We used to swing through the trees for miles it seemed without ever touching the ground in West Virginia.

We came upon a Spanish farm in a mountain valley and espied a Spanish couple working the farm. Hunger and exhaustion versus the possibility of being turned in. What to do?

c. GCYI

Escaping the Gestapo – Climbing the Pyrenees Part 1

March 27th, 2021 . Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Escaping the Gestapo – Climbing the Pyrenees Part 1
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Chuck Yeager:

Having been shot down March 5, 1944 and hidden for several weeks, we pick up the story at the foothills of the Pyrenees.

We leave the house when night falls. After a few hours we arrive at what is basically a hut to spend the day resting and sleeping for the next day we are to start our long climb into Spain. The first part will be the most challenging – getting around a Gestapo headquartered town.

Several of the guys drink a lot during the day. I sleep with one eye open.

The next night we start. The weather is stinking – you can’t see in front of your face so we each put a hand on the shoulder of the guy in front of us and trudge along in 3’ high and thick snow, mist, occasional rain, the guide, perhaps Andre Crampe, leading in front. We go through a pass and then down again. It is one of the worst winters. But we had to leave Nerac and that area. The Gestapo had picked up a member of the French Underground and when they tortured him, he gave up everybody. Gabriel was warned and he, in turn warned the rest of his battalion to scatter into the forests and got all the Allied airmen on their way to the Pyrenees. Just in the nick of time.

We must cross a road – very exposed and well-traveled especially by the Gestapo. We may be caught before we even start. If so, we will be tortured and shot.

We cross in twos. The first two run across and jump in the ditch there to hide. The next two wait for the lone car to pass. Then the next two cross. In total we are about nine guys.

Some are already showing signs of fatigue.

After all are safely across, we start again on flat area then we start climbing again. We move slowly above and around a town with lights. I learned much later (2008) that this was Super Bagneres, the Gestapo headquarters for the area.

We reach a crest past Bagneres, still in France, with much climbing still to do for a few days, and Andre mimes to us he is leaving us, but points: Spain is that way. We’ve been told to go as far into Spain as we can because, on or near the border, some of the Basque or the Spanish might sell you back to the Gestapo. There was good money in it. So now we had to look out for Germans and Spanish, as well as the French Milice (French police under the Germans, much worse than the Nazis and Gestapo). Nothing friendly about this area.

We descend a little and head up the next mountain. Most are going too slowly, so another guy and I move on out ahead of the pack and eventually lose them.

c, GCYI

 

March 1944: Evading Germans – Heading to the Pyrenees to Escape Occupied France

March 22nd, 2021 . Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on March 1944: Evading Germans – Heading to the Pyrenees to Escape Occupied France
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Chuck Yeager, in his own words:

“After being shot down on March 5, 1944 and evading Germans for a few weeks, I find myself at the Bianco farm in hiding. The farm is off the main road by a couple kilometers and hidden behind some stone walls, trees. Those and the barn keep people and animals completely hidden from the main road. This is the type of place Germans would not venture into, not knowing what resistance they might find behind the walls. Such resistance could kill many Germans before the Germans even got close.

A few more alleged Allied evadees arrive at the Bianco farm where Gabriel has taken me to hide while waiting for safe transport to the Pyrenees.”

(Note from Victoria: General Yeager and I learned when we visited in 2012 that after Gabriel was apprised the Gestapo was coming to town, he immediately got F/O Yeager out of town, and the Maquis in his battalion into the forests. The Gestapo knocked on Gabriel’s front door as he was running out the back, through his commercial vegetable garden, and into the cemetery, where he, a Catholic, hid in a sarcophagus. Then he made his way to the forests.)

“When night comes, we load up in a small truck, and head south off the main roads. I observe the other passengers carefully. Every few towns, we switch trucks. The driver delivering us does not know where the driver picking us up is going. The driver picking us up has not idea from whence we came. Thus, if one is caught and the chain broken, he cannot be tortured or bribed into giving much information.

None of us, the passengers, speak to each other.

We arrive at a house at the foothills of the Pyrenees and drive into the enclosed courtyard which is obscured from the road by a solid stone wall. It is either the house of Mensencal or Dufaza. We are secreted into the house where we have a meal and wait again for nightfall.

The heads of these families were head of the Maquis.”

(Note from Victoria: Bianco was told to get out of town, too, before the Gestapo arrived. He refused saying no one suspected him and his farm was well hidden and dangerous to approach. Well, he was carted off by the Gestapo and never heard from again. Also, Mensencal left his area & we cannot find him or his family.)

c. GCYI

 

Chuck Yeager and Helicopters – Hint: Not his Fave

March 16th, 2021 . Posted in Aviation, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Chuck Yeager and Helicopters – Hint: Not his Fave
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General Yeager was not a fan of helicopters. One reason was that most pilots hung out in the dead man’s curve.

Another reason: While in the High Sierras, as a passenger, he was in a terrible helicopter crash. In his own words:

Rocky Mountain Basin Lakes, High Sierras, Nevada

Rocky Mountain Basin Lakes, High Sierras, Nevada

General Chuck Yeager:

“I took General Branch up to Rocky Basin Lakes, about 11,000 feet up in the Sierras. I had fished there a lot but it’s a tough haul on foot and the general arranged with some Army friends to have a Huey chopper drop us off. We stayed a couple of days and it was cold up there, way below freezing. We had skim ice on the lake even at midday. The Army came back for us and we loaded up the chopper with an icebox full of fish and all our gear. There were three guys on board, pilot, co-pilot, and crew chief, when General Branch and I crawled into the Huey. I guess we were overloaded for so high an altitude because I no sooner strapped myself into a jump seat in the middle, when we took off, were up about 80 feet, began shaking to pieces, and came down upside down in the middle of that icy lake. I remember seeing foam, water and stars. The next thing I remember is swimming to shore half frozen to death. The lake was a mass of debris and foam. I saw the ice chest pop to the surface. Next the crew chief, then the co-pilot, then the pilot. General Branch finally popped up, gasped for air, his eyes bulging. He had been trapped inside the helicopter; an air pocket saved him while he freed himself.

“Twig (our nickname for General Branch) looked at me and asked if I was okay. I told him my head was burning. He said, ‘I don’t wonder. I can see your brains for chrissake.’

“I said, ‘What are you talking about?’

“‘Your whole head is laid open and I can see your brains.’

“I said, ‘That can’t be,’ but blood was pouring down my face. I have been scalped blasting through the plexiglass, the skin in my skull cap laid back in 5 places. It would later require 138 sutures to close up that mess.

“He was looking at the gray bone of my skull and he thought it was my brains. The crew chief found a first aid kit floating in the wreckage and bound up my head best he could. They tried to get me to lie down but it bled more so I stood up.

“Twig said it was about 9 miles to Tunnel strip and would head down there. Man, it was cold. The others were hugging to stay warm. I couldn’t lie down so I stayed standing – very cold. I was in good hiking shape, so I convinced the guys to follow: ‘Let’s get the hell outta here. I can make it down to Tunnel.’

“The others lagged behind after a couple miles, so I continued on. I got there just at Twig was finishing his phone call. He turned, dropped the phone and thought he was seeing my ghost. Finally, he blurted: ‘What the hell are you doing here?’

“I replied, ‘I got tired of standing around up there, so I walked out.’

“Edwards flew a Husky H-43 up and I got to the base hospital about 5pm that afternoon.”

c. GCYI

 

Gestapo is Coming

March 15th, 2021 . Posted in Allemand, Allemands, Aviation, escape, France, French underground, Germans, Hero, Historical, Maquis, Milice, Milice française, Nazi, Nazis, World War II, WWII | Comments Off on Gestapo is Coming
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Raoul ultimately takes me back to Gabriel. We ride bikes at night from Ambrus to get there.

Gabriel was a larger-than-life man. I will never forget how he protected me. He was the leader of the Maquis in Nerac, the mayor, and was friends with the Germans in town. The Germans knew that the Maquis could wipe them out easily and then hide in the forests and the Maquis knew the Germans could call in reinforcements and wipe out the Maquis and their families. So, there was a sort of uneasy truce in this area.

Based on this convenient friendship, Gabriel gets word that the Gestapo is coming to town within a week. Gabriel orders all the Maquis in his area to get out of town and take to the forests. He leaves Dr. Henri, his deputy, in charge. No one suspects the doctor.

Gabriel gets me to the Bianco farm in Mounican, 4 kilometers southwest of Nerac. It’s sooner than the Maquis had hoped – the 3-5’ snows had not melted yet on the Pyrenees. I stay at the Bianco farm for a few days, waiting for transport to the Pyrenees. It’s tense.

(Note from Victoria Yeager: General Yeager visited Nerac with Glennis and his kids in the 1950’s where he met up with Gabriel again. It was quite a reunion during which Gabriel gave General Yeager and his family a tour of the town of Nerac, where Gabriel was still the mayor and much beloved. He later died in the early 1960’s in Eastern France. In 2010, we met and visited with Gabriel’s adopted son and daughter-in-law. He encouraged his mother, Gabriel’s widow, to allow us to visit her in the hospital. She had put on make-up and done her hair and clearly had a crush of General Yeager since she met him in the 1950’s. I said how beautiful she was – true – and she blushed and chastised me for saying so in front of my husband. She died shortly after we left that year. Sweet lady.)

c. GCYI

Gabriel, head of French Underground Threatens F/O Yeager With his Life

March 12th, 2021 . Posted in Air Force, Allemand, Allemands, Aviation, France, French underground, Friends, German, Germans, Germany, Hero, Historical, Milice française, Nazi, Nazis, World War II, WWII | Comments Off on Gabriel, head of French Underground Threatens F/O Yeager With his Life

I stay at Gabriel’s house in Nerac, hiding from the Nazis in his shed out back. The first day, I’m bored so I leave the shed and sit under the tree in his yard. I remain outwardly calm as a small platoon of Germans march by. After they are completely gone, Gabriel calls me in. Although he speaks no English and I speak no French, he gets his anger across: “Don’t ever do that again, or me and you…” and he slides his finger across his throat.

I apologize and slink back to the shed. I look at the engine that doesn’t run and start working on it. By the end of the second day, I have it running. Gabriel can’t believe it. He’s grateful.

The next night, Dr. Henri and I ride on bicycles again all night to another house: that of another Maquis battalion leader living in Ambrus, France: Raoul.

(Note from Victoria Yeager: Raoul also became Mayor of his town, Ambrus, after the war. The first time we met, in 2008, in fact every time we met afterwards, he would have tears in his eye – seeing Charlie Yeager alive filled him with such joy and emotion. When we met him in 2008, he told us he kept the peace between the Communists and the Capitalists in the following manner: Whenever the government gave the town money, he’d split it between the two factions.

He also told me that F/O Yeager would bicycle off by himself during the day. Raoul was told the American pilot must stay alive – and on pain of death if something happened to him. So Raoul worried. I told him, that’s Charlie – he wasn’t going to trust anyone so he was looking for egress and hiding places himself.)

c. GCYI

Flight Officer (F/O) Yeager Makes Way to Nerac to Evade Nazis

March 11th, 2021 . Posted in Air Force, Allemand, Allemands, Aviation, combat, escape, Fighter pilot, France, French underground, Friends, German, Germans, Germany, Hero, Historical, Maquis, Milice, Milice française, Nazi, Nazis, Pompogne, World War II, WWII | Comments Off on Flight Officer (F/O) Yeager Makes Way to Nerac to Evade Nazis
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March 10-12, 1944

The Germans seem to have lost interest in finding me; there are fewer patrols now. Maybe they think if they stop looking for me so hard, I’ll become careless and fall into their net. And it nearly happens that way. Little Jean-Pierre and I are hiking to the pond, while crossing an open space, we have to dive for cover when a Focke-Wulf comes roaring over the treetops.

It’s a pretty farm and I’m a little homesick. That night, Dr. Henri, picks me up and we set out on bikes. I have an ax strapped to my back like any other French woodcutter. We bike for hours on country roads. I have forged identity papers and, if stopped by a German patrol, I’m to let the doctor do all the talking. We travel for two days, biking at night, resting at various farmhouses during the day, until we reach the town of Nerac. One of the farmhouses belongs to M. Dulau.

(Note from Victoria Yeager: We met M. Dulau who was about 14 when F/O Yeager hid at his parents’ house. They were gardeners and sold their wares at the black-market Saturday morning in the square downtown Nerac. M. Dulau’s parents’ booth was next door to Gabriel LaPeyrusse’s – who was a vegetable gardener – whose booth was the first one. A lot of messages were passed between the Maquis at that Saturday market.

Eventually we arrive at Gabriel’s house on the outskirts of town. Gabriel is a larger-than-life character, the leader of Nerac, as well as the leader of the Maquis in the area. He has a large commercial garden that abuts the town cemetery. We say farewell to Dr. Henri, Gabriel’s good friend and Gabriel hides me in his shed.

c. GCYI

 

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6-9 mars 1944: Caché à la vue de tous à Casteljaloux et à Pompogne à Vélo

March 9th, 2021 . Posted in aerial combat, Air Force, air to air combat, Allemand, Allemands, Aviation, combat, Cours-les-Bains, escape, Fighter pilot, Food, Formation Flying, France, French underground, Friends, German, Germans, Germany, Hero, Historical, Kindness, Maquis, Milice, Milice française, Nazi, Nazis, Pompogne, World War II, WWII | Comments Off on 6-9 mars 1944: Caché à la vue de tous à Casteljaloux et à Pompogne à Vélo

6-9 mars 1944

Abattu le 5 mars 1944, se cachant toujours des Allemands et de la Milice française.

J’ai passé la nuit dans une maison bien en vue à Casteljaloux, France. J’étais caché sous la maison dans un espace qui s’étendait de l’avant à l’arrière de la maison, une petite fenêtre à chaque extrémité donc deux chances de fuite si les Allemands venaient. Le sol était en terre battue.

Je suis resté un jour et cette nuit-là, le Dr Henri et moi sommes allés à vélo dans une ferme située loin de la route principale à Pompogne.

Je suis resté dans la chambre du petit garçon pendant qu’il dormait avec ses parents. Le lendemain, la mère m’a donné le petit déjeuner. Le père mimait ses pensées car il ne parlait pas anglais et je ne parlais pas français.

Les deux jours suivants, l’enfant de 5 ans, dont j’ai appris plus tard le nom de Jean-Pierre, m’a emmené pêcher dans leur étang et nous avons donné un coup de pied au ballon. J’avais hâte d’aller combattre les Allemands même si je devais le faire sur le terrain.

(Note de Victoria Yeager: Des années plus tard, Jean-Pierre est devenu maire de Pompogne. le général Yeager et moi avons rencontré Jean-Pierre Jolis et sa femme Claudine en 2010 et avons visité à plusieurs reprises au fil des ans, la dernière étant en 2019. Jean-Pierre m’a dit qu’il n’avait rien fait pour sauver F / O Yeager, ce sont ses parents qui ont protégé le F / O Yeager. J’ai répondu: Vous avez occupé le général Yeager – sinon il aurait pu essayer de combattre les Allemands et se faire tuer.

Jean-Pierre a dit nous qu’il était habitué aux étrangers – ses parents ont aidé beaucoup de gens pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

Il est devenu boucher à Paris avec son frère aîné. Son père est tombé malade alors il a amené sa femme parisienne à Pompogne pour qu’il puisse aider son père à gérer la ferme et nous sommes restés. D’autres histoires sur nos visites avec Jean-Pierre et Claudine suivront beaucoup plus tard.)

 

  1. GCYI
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