A POWs journey home
Mike Morell
New Era PRogress, VAÊ
Ê
On his Personalkarte his health was listed as Gesund, or exhibiting good health.
Less than one month after joining a heavy bomber squadron in England, 23 year old Staff Sergeant Elmer Loving was now a Kriegesgefangenen, or prisoner of war.
And he would remain one for more than a year.
ÒI felt kinda sorry for myself at first,Ó Loving said. ÒThen I found out that some of the British prisoners had been in the compound for almost five years and it put it into perspective.Ó
Sitting in his Elon living room, with a briefcase full of memorabilia and his leather flight jacket on the back of a chair, Loving has vivid memories of his caging as a POW and of his liberation on Apr. 19 1944.
LovingÕs life began in Lynchburg in 1921 at a house on the corner of 8th and Orchard streets.
In 1942, Loving, the oldest of six children, had two life changing experiences -- he married his wife Ann and he joined the U.S. Army Air Forces.
ÒI joined the Army and reported to Fort Lee on Oct. 13, 1942,Ó Loving said. ÒI wanted to work with airplanes and knew if I joined up I would be able to go into the Air Corps.Ó
After basic training at Fort Lee, Loving was trained to work on aircraft and engines.
ÒI wound up in Battle Creek, Michigan working on aircraft in zero degree weather,Ó Loving said. ÒIt was then I decided I wanted to fly.Ó
Loving was assigned to the 544th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 384th Bomber Group, 8th Air Force in England.
He arrived at Grafton Underwood, England on May 1, 1944 as a flight engineer on a B-17 Bomber. Twenty-four days later he was shot down over Germany.
A flight engineer and a gunner, Loving was in charge of the handlful of enlisted men on the plane the day they were shot down.
Of the nine men on board the plane, only two did not make it out.
ÒOur ball turret gunner was badly wounded and our radio operator was dead,Ó he said. ÒBoth went down with the plane.Ó
It took the Germans less than a day to round up the remaining crew.
Even in a POW camp soldiers tend to gather possessions. Loving kept his in a tin German gasmask canister.
Among the items Loving kept were photographs taken with the hidden camera, letters from home, some official German documents and a unique notebook.
The makeshift notebook was covered with the stiff cardboard from a package of English chocolate. The pages were made by opening cigarette packages and using the unprinted side of the paper wrapper to write on.
ÒWe used any material we could get to keep track of things and keep journals,Ó Loving said. ÒI also have a notebook I later got from the Red Cross which I kept a journal in and had a fellow prisoner illustrate.Ó
When the allies advanced into the area where the prison camp was; they were pulled out to retreat with the Germans, Loving said.
ÒThere were about 10,000 of us, mostly Americans, but some British,Ó he said. ÒAt that time, we carried only our blankets and what food we could steal.Ó
Loving and some friends managed to ÒliberateÓ a baby carriage to carry our their gear.
ÒWe must have looked a sight pushing it down the roads,Ó Loving said.
He added that they hadnÕt gotten too far before the Third Army, under General George S. Patton liberated them.
ÒWe were taken to an air field somewhere in southern Germany.Ó Loving said.
From there they were flown to LaHavre, France.
One day in LaHavre is particularly memorable.
ÒWe were standing in the chow line and someone brushed my elbow,Ó he said. ÒI turned around to say something and found myself looking at General Eisenhower.Ó
Eisenhower ate and talked with the POWs. And at the end of his talk Loving said the General told one of his aides, ÒLetÕs get these men out of this pigsty.Ó
And he did.
Loving sailed back to the U.S. on the troop ship Admiral Benson. It was LovingÕs first time on a ship. The trip over to Europe had been from a birds-eye view.
Arriving back in New York, Loving contacted his wife and family. While able to correspond with family as a prisoner, the liberation had cut off contact.
From New York he was sent to Fort Meade, Maryland and from there to Lynchburg where he caught a cab to his home in the Elon area.
ÒIt cost me three dollars, but I didnÕt care,Ó Loving said. ÒI was home.Ó
TODAY: At 86, Loving and his wife still live in the Elon area. He is a life member of the Ex-POW American Group and still occasionally sees his remaining buddies from the war. He has three children, five grandchildren and one great grandchild.
©2007ÊMedia General