Rescue of 1100 US Aircrew from Rumania in 1944

[Dave Homewood]

This is a brilliant story that needs retelling, in fact it would make a superb film if done right! Discovered via Papers Past:

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 236, 5 October 1944, Page 4

OUT OF RUMANIA

RESCUE OP AIRMEN

FLYING FORTRESSES USED

(O.C.) SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 14

The man largely responsible for the return of 1100 captured airmen from Rumania in a fleet of Flying Fortresses was Lieut.-Colonel James A. Gunn, of Kelseyville, California. "I was shot down over Ploesti, the hottest target in Rumania, at 11 o'clock on the morning of August 17," said Colonel Gunn in an interview.

"The first flak caught us and three motors were shot away. When all the crew were safely out I jumped and I never felt such a sense of relief as I got away from the ship, which had become an inferno. I landed in a cornfield and two soldiers and two farmers discovered me. I was driven to Ploesti and imprisoned there with other members of the crew. Later we were taken to Bucharest and placed in a great three-storey schoolhouse, which served as a stockade for interned Americans. "Prisoners lived on the second and third floors and Rumanian officers occupied the ground floor. I was the ranking officer," he said.

"On the night of August 23 at 10.15 we heard the King broadcast the news that Rumania had changed sides. At once we held a staff meeting and decided to arm ourselves and fight it out rather than be overrun by the Germans. We asked the colonel in charge to give us back our side-arms, which amounted to just 20 pistols. At first he hesitated, then said he would have them in readiness and give them to us if the Germans tried to storm the schoolhouse. We were in the centre of Bucharest. Every night we put some of our forces in air raid shelters so too many would not be killed if the schoolhouse was hit. Next morning the colonel told us he was delighted that Rumania was fighting on our side, opened all exits from the prison and gave us our guns. We could hear street fighting in the distance. Germans Bomb City "When the Germans began to bomb the city Rumanians got mad," added Colonel Gunn.

"They killed many Germans, but many civilians, were also killed by. the German bombings, which went on day and night. Our people were getting jittery. No real protection was guaranteed us. On August '24 I sent two officers out to make radio contact with the 15th Air Force headquarters and sent a third officer out to see what chance we had of evacuating the men to the safety of the country. By noon of August 26 none of these officers had been heard from. I made a request to see the Rumanian Minister of War, General Racovita. Within two hours he received me. I told him the men should be evacuated to the country. He agreed, and instantly sent an officer to reconnoitre the south-west section of the town, which seemed the likeliest exit. I then asked the general to send me in a plane back to Italy to make arrangements to evacuate the men by air. He said maybe we had better talk with the chief of staff. The chief of staff, readily accessible, took me to see Air Minister Gheorghiu, who said, 'It is an excellent idea. I will do it.'

"Next morning I was presented to a lieutenant-commander, who took me to an airfield, and we boarded an old Italian plane which barely got off the ground. In 30 minutes we were in such trouble that I wondered whether we would get back to the field. It was pretty disheartening to return, but the Air Minister then introduced me to Captain Carl Cantacuzino, a tall man of 30, who is Rumania's ranking pilot with the astonishing number of 64 Allied aircraft to his credit. He said he would get me to Italy in his ME109.

"We painted an American flag on the fuselage and white stars on the wings. After the radio equipment was removed I got into the fuselage and he screwed the plate over the side. We were ready to go. The last thing he said before we took off was: 'Colonel, I promise you one thing— we won't be shot down. If fighters intercept us I will make a belly landing. If the Americans won't shoot us on the ground we will be all right.' At the field we came in at deck level, wagging our wings and hoping the attack gunners would see the stars. He came in as if he had lived there all his life. A Tense Moment "It was a tense moment when we came out upon the field. I will never forget the sense of relief when the wheels hit the ground and we still were not shot at. People crowded round the ME109. I heard Captain Cantacuzino say: 'I have somebody here you will be glad to see.' One of the men yelled: 'Look at those G.I. shoes sticking out.' They removed the plate from the fuselage and I climbed out.

"Major-General Nathan Twining, commander of the 15th U.S. Air Force, was not at the field so I went into a huddle with Brigadier-General Charles Franklin Born, and we went to headquarters. I told the story to General Ira C. Eaker, Allied Air Commander in the Mediterranean, and General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean. After that they asked me to leave the room and made the decision that resulted in evacuating all of our airmen. The decision was to send a fleet of Flying Fortresses to Bucharest to bring back 1100 flyers. As for Captain Cantacuzino —he gave up his ME109 and we sent him home again happy in a P-51. When he got in it he yelled: 'No wonder you shoot down so many Germans in a swell ship like this.'

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=AS19441005.2.39&srpos=5054&e=01-01-1944--12-1945--10--5051-byDA---0Italy--

[airgord]

That's a pretty interesting story, thanks for sharing it!

[alang]

There is a book called " The Forgotten 500 " by Gregory A. Freeman about 500 airmen rescued from Yugoslavia. It is an intriguing book at and shows how the English were duped by their equal to our OSS. It has a few pictures taken during the rescue. The airmen were flown out of occupied Yugoslavia at night in C-47s.,

[Dave Homewood]

Hi alang, thanks for that, interesting to hear about the similar story from nearby Yugoslavia. If the RAF was involved using C-47's in that one then it was probably No. 267 (Special Duties) Squadron involved. They regularly dropped into enemy-held territory in Yugoslavia, Greece, Italy and other places to drop off and pick up spies, resistance workers, radio men, arms and ammunition. Many of the squadron's pilots were kiwis, and I have had the pleasure of meeting two of them.

[alang]

On the first 3 try's the RAF C-47s were used but on all 3 try's the RAF tried to ruin the mission so the OSS refused to fly with them and used USA C-47s Churchill's commie spies were behind it, the most famous ones were the Cambridge 5.

[Baldeagle]

Cantacuzino was a great story himself, a Prince no less:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantin ... o_(aviator)

and world class athlete:
http://www.sihss.se/princecantacuzinobiography.htm

and a well known Jungmeister pilot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NXEmAYJ4xU

Cantacuzino's Jungmeister EC-AEX was bought by Frank Price in the early '60s and is supposedly the one he flew in "The Great Waldo Pepper", and still in existance. Before Price got it it was owned by Count Aresti, who designed the Aresti system of aerobatic scoring around its capabilities.



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Last edited by Baldeagle on Tue Oct 07, 2014 9:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Dave Hadfield]

Yes, he did things with a Jungmeister that made other pilots predict disaster, but instead the man died of stomache cancer, long after.

Here's Frank Price, American aerobatic legend, discussing a film of that routine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knacODevc40

Dave