大象传媒

This contribution to WW2 People鈥檚 War was received by the Action Desk at 大象传媒 Radio Norfolk. The story has been written and submitted to the website by Tim Edwards (Volunteer Story Gatherer) with the full permission and on behalf of Mr Neville E G Donmall.

Having baled out of a stricken Halifax LK-Y over enemy lines; having survived the bitter, harsh conditions of the German winter; having moved through occupied villages like a shadow; having silently, steadily picked my way through minefields; now hopeful of freedom across the River Rhine, and on to Luxembourg and a meeting with General Patton. It was time to conclude the Great Escape.

At the edge of the Rhine River I made my raft from the planks I had pushed through the minefield. I gently launched it on to the flowing water but as there was ice on the river鈥檚 edge it made a loud crack as I entered, and I waited for a while to see if anyone reacted to the sound. I took off my flying boots, trousers, pants and socks and put them in a sack of straw that I had found in the village. I tied up the sack, and with the loop of string, slipped it over my head, so if I fell into the river the sack would float behind me with my clothes. I now sat astride the rail and pushed myself, paddling my way across the river. The current was fast flowing, so I was moving quite quickly along, and as I got half way across, the string being inadequate broke and the raft broke up too, throwing me into the water. The water was so cold it took my breath away as I swam to the far side. On reaching the edge I crawled out up onto the road, cut the string of the sack, and got my clothes out, my flying boots were soaked but the rest of the clothes were merely damp. I put my clothes on, but was unable to put my boots on as they were soaking, and made my way to the village. I hadn't gone a hundred yards before I knew I was suffering from hypothermia. My battledress blouse started to freeze, so I ran the rest of the way to the village. On reaching the village I made my way to a house further back from the river and tried the doors. One was open - I walked into a kitchen and then into the hall, and then into another room where I nearly tripped over something on the floor. I bent down and picked it up and it was a duvet. I ripped off my clothes, wrapped the duvet round me and ran round the room for a full hour to get my circulation back. When I thought it was safe I went into a corner of the room, and with the duvet round me, went off to sleep.

The following morning I was awoken by the sound of machine gun fire. Dawn was breaking and I looked out of the window to see why the guns were firing. It appeared they were being fired from the pillboxes for target testing on my side of the river.

In one of the upstairs rooms I found an old pair of boots that were my size. As my flying boots were still soaking wet I was lucky to find a replacement pair, which fitted. In the kitchen there was a wood burning stove, so I broke up wooden furniture in the house and also a wicker basket which I used with paper to start a small fire. This I built up to a larger fire that allowed very little smoke to escape from the chimney. The stove was covered in ceramic tiles with hot plates set in. I laid my wet clothes to dry out on the tiles. I found a saucepan and I used the water-pump to fill the saucepan, which I then put on the hot plate. I put three Horlicks tablets in the water and made a drink for myself. This made me feel better. I now put another saucepan of water on to wash and shave with the razor from my escape pack, and again, I felt a great deal better.

I went upstairs and looked out the bedroom window to assess the layout of the Surrounding area. A road went passed the back of the house about 100 yards down, and then started to climb the side of the valley. About quarter of the way up it went round the bend out of view. This was the route I was going to use to make my way out of the valley. Now I had to make up my mind when to go, either during the day or at night-time. I knew this side of the river must be mined and I wouldn't be able to see the mines or trip wires in the dark, so I had to go during daylight. I remembered that the day before, all the German soldiers disappeared at lunchtime, and as it was half an hour to go to that time, I thought it would be best to go then. So, with the flying boots in the sack and the sack on my shoulder I made my way from the back of the house to the road, and then proceeded along the road with my fingers crossed hoping there wouldn't be a shout or machine gun fire. I reached the bend and turned out of sight. Half way up the side of the valley I saw wire across the road and little mounds all the round way. I knew this was another minefield. I stepped over the wire and made my way cautiously, between the mines and again stepped over wire at the far end. When I came to the top of the valley I let out a long sigh of relief. I was so lucky to get this far.

I now left the road and went on a westerly heading again, and I made my way across rolling terrain dotted about with small pinewoods. It was mid afternoon and the sun had started to break through a clouded, heavy sky. I had just left a small wood and, to the south of me, I could see a convoy of vehicles travelling along the road about half a mile away. So I changed my direction to a north-westerly heading to keep clear of it. As soon as I had done this, I heard aircraft hidden in the clouds but flying towards me. Just before the aircraft reached me they broke cloud and it was a flight of American Mitchell aircraft, carrying out a 鈥榬un in鈥� bomb attack on the convoy. Then I heard the whistle of bombs coming down, and then all hell was let loose; the deafening retaliatory fire from the convoy meeting the booming blasts of the bomb bursts. One stick of bombs undershot and fell very close to me; thinking I was a goner I bounced up and down on the ground, thrown around by the force of the explosions with bomb fragments screaming over my head. As soon as the bombing ceased, I remember thanking my lucky stars I was still alive. I went on my way at a run.

After a couple of miles, sweating with my exertions, I slowed to a walk as I approached another small wood was just ahead. Suddenly, hearing low flying aircraft behind me and the sound of machine gun and cannon fire, I observed an American Lightening fighter being pursued by a German FW 190. As the planes approached I threw myself on the ground, with cannon shell and bullets flying all around me. As soon as the aircraft passed over I saw that the American plane was on fire 鈥� it roared and plummeted until it crashed in the wood with a huge explosion.

I watched helplessly. There was no sign of a parachute and I knew I had better get away quickly, for the place would soon be swarming with German soldiers. Veering south to get away from the wood, I later turned west again. It was almost dusk now and I started to look for a place to hide during the night. Just to the south of me was an area of shrubbery farmland. Making my way towards the shrubs, I found a hollow in the ground, about 30 yards across, covered from side to side with bushes. The ground level was about 5 ft below the surrounding area, so I was out of wind and hidden from view in the hollow.

About two hours later, waking from a fitful sleep, heavy guns opened up in front of the wood and continued for about 5 minutes. I assumed it was the Germans firing on the American lines. I now know it was in the front line area. About ten minutes later, return fire from the American side began. Some of the shells fell short of the German battery and came close to my hideout, shaking the ground; with the shrapnel whizzing through the bushes above me. Eventually everything went quiet again, so I tried to get some sleep.

At first light I moved off again, dodging troops all that morning and trying to keep out of sight as much as possible. After mid-day, I spotted more soldiers in the bushes, and tried to get round them. This time I was out of luck. A shot went over my head and one of the soldiers waved me over towards him. There was no escape, for I was on open ground. After all my endeavours to reach friendly territory, it looked as if my number was up at last. It wasn't until I got closer that I realised that they were Americans! Breathing a huge sigh of relief, I shouted out that I was a Royal Air Force Officer and had been shot down a few days previously.

Safely behind the American lines I was told that they had been watching me through binoculars for some time. They said they couldn't make out my uniform - it was almost the same colour as the Germans, but a different design! They also informed me that I had crossed a minefield safely. They said it was most likely because the heads of the mechanism had been frozen and my weight hadn't been enough to set off the mines! They were still suspicious and kept a gun trained on me until an Officer arrived. He interrogated me thoroughly about my knowledge of London and the shows that were on there. As my home was a few miles south of the city, and I had been on leave only four weeks earlier, I was able to answer his questions satisfactorily, convinced at last that I was a genuine R.A.F. officer and that I had baled out of a stricken Halifax while flying as a crew member on a raid on Bingen Marshalling yards. I asked the American officer if they had been shelling the German positions the previous night. When he replied in the affirmative I told him they had missed the German battery, and gave him detailed information of the enemy positions. I was then taken back to the main camp and given a wonderful meal - my first in many days. Luxembourg City was the next stop. A hotel was taken over by the Americans for in transit officers. I had a refreshing bath and was taken to the American clothes store and fitted out with an American uniform. They asked me my rank, which was a Pilot Officer, and I was told, "That is equivalent to a Captain", and I was given two silver bars to put on my shoulder.

Back at the hotel l had a bed next to an American Army Captain, and when he saw the old German boots, he laughed and I told him they didn't have my size in the stores. He saw my flying boots and said he would swap with his old paratrooper boots, as we were the same size. I told him they were soaking wet, and he said, "I'll soon have those dried out and they will keep me warm in this weather鈥�, and thus the bargain was made. After this we went down to dinner together and then to a bar in the City of Luxembourg and had a few drinks.

The following morning I was up early and had breakfast, said goodbye to the Captain, and was then picked up by a jeep and taken to a chateau in France, which proved to be the Headquarters of General Patton. I was interrogated by intelligence officers and gave them all the information I had gathered on my trip through Germany and the front-line, and positions marked on my silk escape map of flying bomb sites, downed aircraft, tank positions, pillboxes, etc. I was then taken to the Officer鈥檚 Club for a few drinks, and whilst at the bar I heard sounds behind me and into the bar came a General with all his entourage. He spoke to the Colonel next to me and said, "Who the hell is this?" The Colonel replied, "It's alright sir, he is an R.A.F. Officer shot down in Germany and who has evaded out". Then the General asked for my story, which I gave, followed by an enquiry as to whether I had seen a medical officer yet, to which I said "No". The General turned around to an American Officer/Doctor, and asked, "How the hell can he survive as he did, and be as fit as he is now?"

I was taken into lunch and sat next to General Patton. After lunch I was given cash in French francs and put on transport for Paris. On reaching the French capital I was handed over to the British for transport back to the UK. On reaching the airfield I was taken out with a group of people to an Anson and boarded. The only seat left to me was to sit next to the pilot. On taxiing round the airfield I asked the pilot if he wanted me to wind up the undercarriage, and he gave me a quizzical look as I was in an American uniform, i.e. How did I know about British aircraft?.

After about twenty minutes airborne we ran into very bad weather. We continued flying on our heading for a while and the weather started to get worse. I looked at the pilot who had a worried look about him, and I said, "Are you sure you know where we are?鈥� he said "No". I could see on the chart that he had the wind direction written down, and I had timed our time of take off and how long we had been flying, and I worked out in my head we should be coming up to the French coast with the forecast winds. I turned to him and said "We should be coasting out shortly; we should be able to descend and get below cloud then, to get our position". I asked him to let me have a look at his map. He turned to me and said, "Who are you then?" I told him I was an R.A.F. Navigator and had been shot down, and was making my way back to the U.K. he said, "Why didn't you tell me that in the first place", which I hadn't thought about. As we broke cloud there was the coast beneath us and from the map I identified our position. I then worked out a heading for Hendon, which was our destination, using the met winds on which we set course.

We landed safely a little later.

After the war I found out that the bombing of the target our squadron had attacked (Bingen Marshalling Yards) has been extremely accurate, and no bombs fell outside the target area. There were no casualties either killed or injured outside that area, and 120 houses suffered only blast damage. The only thing that was destroyed was the Wine Keller. All movements of supplies by rail through Bingen to the Ardennes battlefront had been dislocated for the rest of the war.

Flight Lieutenant N.E.G. Donmall

LKY - POW'S

Flying Officer - G Watson - Pilot
Sergeant - J McClaffery
Sgt. G Kelly
Flt. Sgt. E Gotham

Killed

Flt. Sgt G Parkers - Mid Under
Flt. Sgt G Steward - Mid Upper
Flt. Sgt F Booth - Rear Gunner

Evader

Pilot Officer - N. Donmall - Navigator

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