Hi, all -- Perhaps this is something you already know. On page 180 of the book "The Americans at D-Day" by John McManus there is a paragraph on Alfred Sapa: "A glider piloted by Flight Officer Alfred Sapa also landed near Carentan, in a water-filled ditch that the Germans had probably dug to snare gliders. The landing was a bit rough, but no one was hurt. Sapa and the others got out of the glider and started to move as far away from it as possible. 'We crossed the ditch and came to a stop about 150-200 feet from the ditch. We received a lot of small [-arms] fire. German soldiers were dug in on one side of the ditch. We came to a stop on the other side. Many were killed by rifle and mortar fire. My copilot was wounded pretty badly. I, too, was wounded, but could navigate. We fought off the Germans until we were [overrun] by them and what was left of [us] was taken prisoner.' They moved him to St. Lo, then to Alencon, and eventually to Germany, where he spent the rest of the war." Last year I took a chance and telephoned the Research Department at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans to see if I could get a transcript of Sapa's account. A fellow with rather poor phone manners told me abruptly that "Only family members can get a copy of a veteran's account." If they haven't done so yet, perhaps the Ballintine family could obtain Sapa's account. I called the Research, Personal Histories number at extension 312. Regards, Alane
Some great work there, Alane. I had only seen a few internet preview pages of the glider pilots book, so thanks. Does the author say these accounts are housed at the Silent Wings Museum? Have you reviewed the list of Keokuk Horsa crews on Hans' website in case the author used other accounts without mentioning Keokuk: http://airbornetroopcarrier.com/normandykeokukmission2.html I would be tempted to suggest Sims' Chalk #9 could be the Horsa about 300-400 yards due north of H2 (in the large field with two Wacos). The NW heading of this Horsa could have been the result of Sims' extra 90 deg turn. Might this mean his greater familiarity with Horsas allowed him to fly it more efficiently and thus stay aloft longer than his comrades? As a separate matter: I have previously postulated that Keokuk released while still in a four abreast formation. Pat Elie's site has a chart calling for a 2000 ft separation between the second and third gliders in a four abreast. This separation is a critical part of my Grand Unification Theory. So, in referring to the 'three gliders assigned to same landing area' did Sims mean Chalks #9-10-13-14? With a 2000 ft separation, it's hard to believe he meant 9-10-11-12. If the Google Earth spot elevations are correct, the field I have suggested for Sims slopes steeply to the SE - thus providing him a good (if distant) view of the Dippers (including, by my theory, Chalk #10) plus my theory about Chalk #13 (Jew/Odahowski) due east. I just don't know what to make of the multiple Finn accounts. He is also quoted in Koskimaki's book. In the latter he makes an interesting comment about seeing a HHQ man come through the hedgerow and being immediately shot in the head. Randy, this sounds very similar to your blog description of the event your father witnessed. If you wanted to post the link to your tribute, I believe this crew would enjoy it. With the similarity to the Fuhrman account, Finn almost has to be in the Dipper Group, but the Chalk #8-12 assignment for Signal Co. doesn't match very well.
Hello, Don - The only other Keokuk pilot in the Glider Pilots book is James P. Rowan [Chalk 18]. However, his only comment on Keokuk: "Flew the Horsa glider into Normandy, no one injured." Inside the book's cover is printed: National WWII Glider Pilots Association. It's followed by the lines Book Staff: George F. Brennan Edward L. Cook David H. Trexler. The publisher at the time, David Turner, thanks the three men for "their attention to detail and visits to our office in Paducah, Kentucky..." Then in the next paragraph: "I would also like to thank the men and women who submitted special glider stories, photographs, and biographical sketches--it is the information you submitted that makes this book so unique." And regarding William Finn's 2008 interview, William says Danny Miller was in his glider, then later refers to another passenger, Ben. That is Benedict Scaffidi (1910-1975) of New York. In the NARA POW files he's listed as belonging to the Signal Corps. Hope this helps. Regards, Alane
Hello, all - I'll be posting a bit later the account of Alfred Sapa as written by Leavitt Shertzer, a B-24 navigator whose aircraft was downed on a mission to Pardubice, Czech on August 24, 1944. The aircraft [Com-batty] stayed aloft until over Austria, then lost power in the vicinity of Klagenfurth Airport. Lev writes in his journal, "We were practically all caught before we hit the ground. The Luftwaffe treated us very well; seeming to have a kindred feeling toward our fellows and also displayed much curiosity about us....The field was a training center for Navigation and Radio Cadets." Lev was transported to Stalag Luft III and placed in Barracks 44, Center Compound. There he met Alfred Sapa and subsequently wrote down Al's story inside his logbook. Here are some notes about the account: Lev made errors in spelling and grammar. I've not changed his mistakes, only those necessary for clarity. This is a second-hand account: you will see something out of sequence and possibly a numerical error. The advantage of this account is that it was written just months after June 6, so memories are still very fresh from the recent experience. It's apparent in the account that Al Sapa does not know what became of his co-pilot and there is a conclusion made about John Ballintine's fate. Well, I hope you enjoy reading Lev's account as told to him by Alfred Sapa. You will be seeing some extra details in the telling of the tale. My next entry will be the account. Alane
Hello, everyone - It's now time to share Lev's account of Alfred Sapa. Pull up a chair and get comfortable. What you read next is exactly what appears on the pages in Lev's logbook. Here we go: "Al represents the unheralded but hazardous branch of the Air Corps called the Glider corps. Eleven hrs. after the first D-Day landings Al piloted a Horsa (English) Glider, crossed the channel for combat. He was part of a large fleet of Horsas, CG's, & C-47's and carried a jeep, trailer, & 7 tough paratroopers. Coming over the beachead at 500 ft. he had a close-up picture of the landing battle. Several minutes later the glider fleet was cut loose and crashed into the assigned fields behind German lines. The second they landed they were warmly greeted by a hail of morter, rifle, and small-arms fire. Al's ship lost a wing on landing and the eight men immediately dropped into a shallow ditch under the broken wing. Under heavy fire the equipment was unloaded and rushed to the assembly point, but then they were caught by cross fire from some machine guns and they were forced to take shelter in the precarious ditch. For one hour the fire never ceased and men on both sides of Al were drilled by hot lead trying to return the fire. Bullets, dipping the tops of the 6" high grass kept them on their faces. Another man tried to crawl to the plane for ammunition and was mowed down. The remaining four began a cautious retreat along the ditch and were met by a concerted rush from four sides. They emptied their magazines but were finally captured. Al joined a group of 20 others taken prisoner including his co-pilot who had been superficially wounded. On the way to camp their trucks were strafed by P-47's and several were killed including the wounded co-pilot. The rest were searched and stripped and spent the night in an open field and a driving rainstorm. Next they were taken to St. Lo and arrived just after it was leveled by B-26's & A-20s. They sweated out later raids in a stable back of a church that was used as a hospital. They stayed there three days under ceaseless fire and had only two meals in that time. Before leaving St. Lo they were joined by 300 more P.O.W.'s. They were finally marched 17 kms to an old monastery where they spent 6 more days. Food was neglible and every day men passed out from hunger standing in line for the meager food allowances. They now numbered 856 including one Doctor who had no medicine or bandages to help the many wounded. Al with 400 others were then taken by truck convoy to a Hitler Youth Camp. They received full german rations and a little tobacco, the first in two weeks. The Air Corps men were moved to Chartres, Paris and finally to Dulag. After a lengthy interrogation Al was moved to the Wetzlar camp & then on to Stalag on June 30th 1944." End of the account. Now let the analysis begin! Best regards, Alane
Hello, all - With Lev's Shertzer's account now posted, I just had a couple comments on the narrative: "..the eight men immediately dropped into a shallow" is likely a mistake on Lev's part as he's just mentioned the 7 tough paratroopers and is thinking of Al. "Under heavy fire the equipment was unloaded..." fits in rather well with Willy Stenzel's account on page 52 of Philippe Esvelin's Forgotten Wings. I, for one, was thinking H4 could be the Sapa/Ballintine glider. Lev describes a "broken wing". The wing on H4 looks compressed/collapsed if not broken. And there appears to be a slight depression in the earth running under the wing. Of the gliders in the Big Dipper field, could the "assembly area" be the area of grass withing the ring of gliders? They wouldn't have had far to go to set the equipment. "...spent the night in an open field..." Could this possibly be the prisoner holding field at "le Ferage"? And Lev's comment about the strafing of the convoy is no doubt out of sequence. Co-pilot Eston Kuhn of the Chicago mission was killed on June 7 by strafing on his convoy. Al Sapa, likely in the same convoy, could have presumed the same fate had happened to John. I tend to think Lev's account is more correct when he says Al arrived in St. Lo after it had been attacked by B-26's and A-20's. Alfred in the New Orleans account says the buildings were all standing when they arrived. Alane
Several comments to make, thanks to Alane's labors: 1. F/O Sims (Chalk #9) says the crews of the other three gliders in his "group" were all captured. Chalk #s 10-13-14 have both aircrew listed as MIA. This 9-10-13-14 pattern is consistent with my earlier guess that Keokuk landed four abreast with a wide separation between the two left gliders and the corresponding right pair in each row. 9-10-13-14 would make a 2x2 box. This doesn't necessarily mean all four Horsas landed near each other, but it does keep that window open. Bob Brown's 74th TCS landing map also portrays "groups" of four Keokuk Horsas in a similar 2x2 pattern - Chalk #s 27-28-31-32 fairly close together and the same for 25-26-29-30. Still not sure what the locations mean or who the info came from (so I'll have to hang in there with my release point theory for now) - but it seems too much to be coincidental, what with the new Sims account. A note on the 74th TCS map says assigned Keokuk landing zones are indicated in red and Chicago LZs in blue. Obviously we can't see the colors, but two or three areas might have dotted lines forming squares and rectangles (look adjacent to T29 on the left - is that the right edge of a box?). West of Pratt Field is a large rectangle - is it possible that was an assigned landing area that was never reached and that Ballintine's statement about being released early makes sense in this context? Bob and Francois - can you guys see any of this on your map? 2. Alane's 1944 Sapa account has convinced me that, contrary to Ballintine's much later account, there was no AT gun in Chalk #10. Great job by the Ballintine bros, but not unusual for a minor discrepancy like this to creep in. This allows me to move back to accepting Pat Elie's glider unit assignment list at face value. Still could have a glider or two with mixed units on board and we still don't know where the AT guns themselves rode. That leads to a correction: using weights from the only two glider load manifests I have seen - Keokuk Chalk #13 and Chicago Chalk #32 - plus the army Ordnance Catalog - an airborne modified jeep plus a 37mm At gun plus 7 glidermen should fit easily in a Horsa. The Chicago manifiest shows a jeep at 2277 lbs (boy, that's almost 1000 lbs lighter than the standard jeep) plus another 700 lbs of gear in the jeep and glider extras plus, for a Horsa, 250 lbs for each pilot plus 210 lbs for each glider rider plus about 1000 lbs for the gun comes to about 6000 lbs. That leaves nearly another 1000 lbs for miscellaneous gear. Alane's account by Klein in Chalk #21 says that Horsa carried two jeeps plus 7 glidermen. These had to be the modified airborne jeeps, as standard jeeps would have pushed the weight to 8500 lbs or so (Horsa load limits include aircrew weight). 3. The new Sapa account describing his Horsa's broken wing further strengthens my earlier guess that H4 is Chalk #10. In the Palmer photos you can see that the passenger compartment floor is level while the left wingtip is touching the ground. It looks like the wing assembly (it's a single unit from wingtip to wingtip) detached from the fuselage and slid off to the left. The wing assembly is attached to the fuselage with long pins running parallel to the fuselage and passing through two sets of brackets on either side of the fuselage. Ballintine said the landing gear "washed out" in landing (by which I presume he means it got crushed) and the photos seems to show only H4's nose wheel still in position. Could a nose wheel survive a hard landing? Might this fit with Ballintine's description of "keeping the nose up"? That rear fuselage/tail section looks like a stepped-on beer can - just right for a nose up hard landing on the rear wheels. Between Sapa's broken wing and Ballintine's broken landing gear, H4 is looking pretty good to me. Additionally, Sapa says he got out into a ditch under the wing - well, H4 appears to have a shallow ditch under the left wing. That's it for now. Other candidates for Chalk #10 now should factor in the new Sapa account (not to say there aren't plenty of broken wings and ditches nearby LZ 'E').
Hi to all, Does anyone have the MACR for Chalk #13 and maybe a photo of the area it may have landed in? In Steven Odahowski's statements he broke off the front landing gear upon landing trying to avoid a drainage ditch. His Horsa then slid to a stop where his passengers got hit by German fire from a tree line nearby. Soon after he and his co-pilot F/O William Jew became prisoners.
WWII Interviews, You might want to read the thread on John McCarthy's horsa glider research. There is lots of discussion and speculation on where chalk #13 and Steven Odahowski and William Jew had landed. It is suspected they landed near, or as part of the "Big Dipper" group of gliders. Big dipper group refers to the shape made by the gliders on the ground. Below is a link into the deep dig and lengthy posts on John McCarthy and Horsas in the area. MSG John McCarthy’s Road to Lecaudey Farm (Part II) | Whitebeam Battlefield Research Forum (whitebeamimages.ie) John
I have been working on Steve Odahowski's interview for quite some time and recently posted it on my YouTube channel. If anyone is interested I have included the link to view the interview.