Matheis ’45: The Longest Day July 21, 1944 by Laure Stevens-Lubin, Contributing Writer
R
ichard A. “Dick” Matheis ’45 said the longest day of his life began July 21, 1944, on Old Buckenham Airfield in Attleborough, England. Matheis was to fly his fifth and what was to be his final bombing mission on the B-24 “Liberator,” as navigator and back-up pilot, along with a crew of 10, including six gunners, a radio operator, a flight engineer, bombardier, the pilot and copilot. Their operations officer, famed actor Jimmy Stewart, revealed the target on that foggy morning – a large and critical railroad yard in a suburb of Munich, requiring eight hours of flying time over enemy territory. Matheis and his crew managed to make it to Munich and drop their bomb load, but on their return, anti-aircraft fire became very intense. “The black bomb bursts became so thick, it appeared as though you could walk on them,” recalled Matheis. Their B-24 was hit, and they lost two engines. “The good news was we had one operating engine on each side,” said Matheis. “Two lost on the same side could have thrown us into a deadly spin.” They were still six hundred miles from England, but decided to make a try for it. Eventually, they were forced to crash land on the French and German border. The entire crew got out safely. They broke into teams of two and split up, trying to make their way back to safety on foot. Matheis and his partner were caught and faced a firing squad in a village square for resisting arrest. “My VMI training and discipline served me well in that tight spot,” said Matheis.
“I didn’t let fear of the consequences impede my thinking.” Luckily, both young men had German names, and Matheis used his three years of high school German to soften the commanding officer. Matheis’ longest day ended 18 hours later in St. Croix, France, where he was imprisoned in a local dungeon. Solitary confinement and interrogations as well as several train rides followed, before Matheis was transferred to the place where he would spend the remainder of the war, Stalag Luft 1. Stalag Luft 1 was a German military-run prisoner-of-war camp for captured Allied airmen, located on the Baltic Sea on the outskirts of the village of Barth. It was divided into five compounds enclosed by a double barbed wire fence, patrolled by guard dogs at night. The prison camp Matheis remembered was not unlike those depicted in the movies “The Great Escape” and “Stalag 17.” “There was a military organization within the POWs,” explained Matheis. “It was known as the Allied Field Force, commanded by the ranking American officer with support from senior officers of the Royal Air Force.” A hidden radio gave them news from the BBC, and at least 50 escape tunnels were dug, although no prisoners ever escaped for more than a couple of weeks. Matheis was asked by the inner command to become a trader after it was learned that he could speak German. “This involved working with the guards, trading mainly cigarettes for whatever needs the fellow prisoners might have,” said Matheis. “My duties were strictly trading, particularly for contraband needed by the inner command.” Matheis spent not quite a year in Stalag Luft 1, including the difficult months of December 1944 and January 1945 when food was hard to come by. “But those were some of the most exciting times of my life,” said Matheis. “I learned to be resourceful and an opportunist, which helped me later during my business career.” The Russians liberated the prison camp on May 1, 1945, and Matheis assisted in a massive airlift by the 8th Air Force that took place between May 12th and 14th, dubbed “Operation Revival.” “My new orders were to assist in forming up the groups as scheduled, march them to the field and load them up on the designated planes,” recalled Matheis. Dick Matheis ’45, second from left, kneeling, and crew after his third bombing Matheis had quite a surprise after he mission, July 1944. evacuated to London. During his first
18
VMI ALUMNI REVIEW
