June 1, 2017
Volume 47 - No. 22 By Tom Morrow
Editor’s Note: This is a chapter from Tom Morrow’s 2006 book, “For Love of Their Country,” which is a compilation of short war stories as told by Oceanside and Vista veterans of World War II.
One haunting thought that would never leave the uppermost mind of any crewmember of an Allied plane flying over enemy territory was having to evade and escape in case they were shot down. And, thousands of Allied fliers found themselves in such a predicament -- on the ground, scurrying for a hiding place. Some successfully made it back to friendly territory; many others were captured or, worse, killed. The dilemma facing downed fliers was: do I stay in uniform and try to get back to safety? Or, do I get into civilian clothes and blend into the society while making good my escape? The answer was easy, but getting into civilian clothes took them out of the security of the Geneva Convention rules, and into the category of being a suspected spy. Here is the harrowing example of what happened to one such downed flier who shed his uniform to mask his identity.
Thousands of Allied fliers were forced to bail out of their crippled aircraft, or crash-landed after being hit by enemy fire while flying on bombing missions over Europe. Those not immediately captured by the Germans attempted to get back to friendly territory by evading the enemy often with the help of friendly resistance fighters, primarily in France, Belgium and Holland. When fliers would be caught wearing civilian clothes they could be treated like spies. Most were ultimately identified as Allied prisoners of war and placed in POW camps. A few, however, weren’t so lucky. One of the most dramatic stories comes as a result of 162 known Allied fliers who ended up in Buchenwald Concentration Camp.
William H. “Bill” Ryherd of Oceanside spent three months in a hell on earth in late 1944, when he was held as a prisoner in Nazi Germany’s infamous Buchenwald death camp.
Ryherd found himself inside of one of Hitler’s concentration camps not because of religious or political beliefs, but because he was caught by the Gestapo in Paris while out of his U.S. Army Air Corps uniform trying to escape to Spain. According to Geneva Convention rules, POW status isn’t
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POW ill Ryherd’s B t n a n te u 1st Lie uchenwald ID card at B on Camp Concentrati
required if the uniform isn’t worn. As far as the Germans were concerned, he was just another civilian working against the Third Reich.
Ryherd, a native of Donna, Tex., was a first lieutenant assigned to the U.S. 9th Air Force flying a B-26 out of England. He was shot down on his 36th mission on Aug. 4, 1944. Ryherd was supposed to have taken a 10-day leave in Scotland after his 35th mission with the 397th Bombing Group, in the 598th Bombing Squadron flying out of Rivenhall, England, but he wanted to be part of a new type of bombing system called “A-zone.”
A-zone was the first radio-directed bombs used in the war. The new device required the pilot fly a steady course while the bombardier guided the bombs to their target. It turned out to be a fatal move. The target was a bridge over the Seine River a few miles south of Paris. Two bursts of enemy flak ripped through Ryherd’s wing tank,
Obituaries Memorials Area Services Page 12
A Young 1st Lieutenant Bill Ryherd
A recent portrait of the late Bill Ryherd
causing a fire. As long as fuel was leaking and the fire burning, Ryherd knew he was okay. It was when the tank was drained that vapors would explode. He had to act fast.
didn’t know it at the time, but I had broken my ankle when I landed.”
Ryherd dropped out of his plane through the bomb bay doors at 12,000 feet using a chest parachute, which wouldn’t open.
“This guy scooped up my ‘chute and took off,” Ryherd chucked. “I didn’t know whether he’d bring back help or the Germans.”
“I had my crew bail out,” Ryherd recalled. “I tried to stay with it as long as I could, but soon after they were out, I got out of there myself.”
“I literally tore it (parachute) open with my hands,” he recalled. “About that time my plane blew up. I got out just in time.”
Ryherd landed in an open French farmer’s field where workers were tilling the soil. “I grabbed my ‘chute and ran about 100 yards into the woods,” he said. “I
A French resistance fighter happened to be one of the workers in the field. Neither spoke the other’s language, but the Frenchmen made himself understood by pointing to his watch. The farm worker would come back at midnight for the American airman.
About midnight, the Frenchman returned with a comrade. Both were armed with automatic weapons. Ryherd went to get up out of his hiding place, discovering for the first time he had a broken ankle. The trio traveled into a small village where a college professor hid Ryherd during the next few days. As relieved as Ryherd was that he was in the hands
The Deadly Skies Over Europe Continued on Page 2