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By: - 20th October 2014 at 14:00 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Interesting .....found more background here ....seems his Roumanian pilot was quite a character too:
http://legendsintheirowntime.com/Content/1945/AN_4503_reunion.pdf
Tim
By: - 20th October 2014 at 22:51 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Here it is in all its glory, or should that be Old Glory.
By: - 21st October 2014 at 01:37 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
This message thread caught my eye!
Back in the 1996 I visited Joyce Hill in Dunster, Somerset. Joyce's brother, Michael Davis, died with his RAF 159 Sqn Liberator crew (including my mother's first husband, Sgt George Plank) when shot down over Rangoon on 29 Feb 1944.
Joyce, a widow, lived with a longtime friend, retired American journalist David Mason.
As I interviewed him, David recounted the tale of James Gunn's flight in the radio compartment of a Romanian Me109 (Bf109...) and landing at David's base in Foggia, Italy. David and his pal Al Saldarini, both combat cameramen, were disgusted at missing the photo op of a lifetime, because their camera gear was on the other side of the airfield. They took photos later.
When sharing the James Gunn story -- and at that time he couldn't remember Gunn's name -- David asked if I could find out if the man was awarded a medal for his incredible feat.
I investigated, tracked down Gunn in San Antonio, and received a quite humble reply from him in 1997. He acknowledged receiving a medal but did not specify what it was. I seem to recall learning it was an American DFC. He retired as a Colonel in the USAF in 1967 and ran a real estate business after that. The letterhead of his note to me read "GUNN REAL ESTATE". He passed away a few years ago.
In the 1990s a lobbying effort was set in motion to try to get a Medal of Honor presented to Pappy Gunn for his incredible heroism. Perhaps the announcement of a Silver Star is the end result of that effort.
Some may be interested in David Mason's recollections, transcribed from my taped interview. I follow that with my letter to James Gunn, and finally his reply to me.
Regards,
Matt
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1996 recollections of David Mason, former US combat cameraman assigned to the 15th Air Force, Italy (as told to Matt Poole):
We were in this base in Italy, south of Foggia. It was one of these bases made with landing mats. It became time for the raid, about 5 or 6 o'clock in the evening, and I was out chatting with one of the British bofers, ack ack batteries, that were protecting the field. We used to exchange beer for their whiskey. We were just standing there, twiddling our thumbs, when all of a sudden we see an enemy airplane coming in with its wheels down.
Naturally, the gunners were gathering in their positions, but he had his wheels down and made a pass over the airstrip. We said to ourselves, it's an Me109! Because we'd all had this silhouette schooling. And we were just stunned and frozen to the ground. So the Me109 made another pass and came in and landed on this enormous airstrip. It stopped, and this pilot looked around, and we were the only visible people, so he taxied over.
And then we noticed when the plane approached that there were American flags painted on both sides of the wings and fuselage and on the tail, and we thought what in the hell? The German markings were overpainted. And the plane taxied up. I was first off the mark and went up to the pilot, who had a flight suit on, and he turned to me and said can he have a screwdriver. Automatically, we handed him a screwdriver. What the hell did he want with a screwdriver?
And so he went to the left-hand side of the fuselage and used this screwdriver to take off a plate, for radio equipment, and reached in and grabbed something which turned out to be the deputy commander of the group that was across the way from us, who had been shot down a couple of weeks before over Bucharest. He grabbed this guy, pulled him out, dusted himself off. Alive and well, and we recognized him immediately and asked what the hell was going on.
He said that the Russians yesterday took Bucharest and we were released. I found myself a Romanian pilot who flew with the Germans and said, look, I want to get flown back to Italy. And so the pilot said the only way we can do it is to rip out all of the radio equipment, and so he sealed in the Lt. Col. with these twist-lock things. If anything happened to the plane, he couldn't get out. And he said the reason he wanted to get back was to report to the 15th Air Force high command that there were 1100 other prisoners wandering around the airport in Bucharest.
So overnight they arranged numerous B-17s to pick up 1100 POWs, some of which were on stretchers, but most of which were in pretty good shape. And with a great swarm of P-38s and P-51 Mustangs protecting this operation, they picked up the whole lot without any losses whatsoever, flew back to Bari, and the prisoners filed off the planes.
The tail end of this story is that, my God, all of the American pilots and crews got their first close up view of an Me109. Our first reaction was, what a tiny little airplane it is! It was a hell of an effective plane, I can tell you that. And naturally the Romanian pilot was intrigued by the Mustang, and what happened was one of our pilots taxied the Me109 around. It had a different torque on it and he ground looped it.
The same thing happened to the Mustang. The Romanian pilot ground looped it because of a difference in torque. But everyone was actually overjoyed with this.
As I say, this is the end of the story as far as I know, but this lieutenant colonel must have received a massive decoration risking his life. As to the Romanian, I don't know what happened to him. Probably defected.
This guy spoke virtually perfect English. He probably spoke French. At that time I didn't hear him speak French. And wartime security, end of the story. But I would like to know what happened afterward. I can't give you a date on it, but if you can get the date of the fall of Bucharest, that's it.
If you can ever pin this down, I'd love to know whatever happened to this lieutenant colonel, and the Romanian for that matter.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Matt Poole's letter to Col. James "Pappy" Gunn, May 30, 1997:
Dear Colonel Gunn,
A friend of mine by the name of David M. Mason was a combat cameraman assigned to the 15th Air Force in World War II. David, a retired political correspondent with the Associated Press, now lives in England. During one of my visits to England, he told me about the single most memorable incident from his days in Italy, and he asked me to investigate further when I returned to the States. I have finally made some progress in my search, and it leads directly to you.
David witnessed your landing after the flight from Bucharest with the Rumanian Me109 pilot. He and a fellow cameraman, Al Saldarini, were amazed that the British antiaircraft gunners didn't blast you out of the sky, but when they realized the valuable passenger, they were very glad indeed. Your Me109 taxied right up to David and Al (and perhaps several others standing with them).
Being in the business of shooting photos, David and Al were exasperated by the fact that their cameras were on the other side of the airfield, so they missed documenting this incredible occasion. However, later on they did photograph you, and I believe Al has some of these shots in his collection (which I'm sure he'd be glad to share with you). David remembered that your flight led to the liberation of nearly 1100 men in Bucharest, and he felt certain that whoever that daring American was, he must have been decorated with a medal because of his brave flight. This colonel made a lasting impression on him.
I learned from a book on Ploesti that you were this daring man. Through the B-24 Veterans Internet Page [long defunct; it was an early Internet message board], I located Al Saldarini in New Jersey, and he told me that you were living in San Antonio, as of a couple of years ago. From telephone directory assistance I obtained two addresses, one of which must be your real estate business.
Now that I found you, would you be willing to briefly tell me if you were decorated for your heroism, as we hope you were? This is the burning question that has nagged David all these years, and he is anxious to learn the answer. I will forward your response to him, or you can write to him directly and really make his day. His address is:
[Address deleted; David Mason died in 2007.]
After your freedom from POW camp, where did you end up? Did you do any more flying? What was your post-war professional career? David would be intrigued to learn anything whatsoever.
I apologize for asking these nosy questions, but I hope you can understand what an impression you made on David and Al, and no doubt on many others. I'm a relatively young guy (41), and I, too, find your exploits fascinating and heroic.
If you are not much of a letter writer, I would be glad to phone you some weekend for a chat. And then I'd relay the information to David and Al. If you would prefer this approach, please let me know in a brief note, and I'll ring you up for that chat. I thought I'd send this letter rather than call you out of the blue, because you, like myself, probably don't particularly like being caught off-guard by strangers on the phone.
Enclosed is a stamped envelope. I'd be honored to hear from you if you can get a moment free from your real estate and family chores. Thanks so much, and I wish you the very best.
Respectfully yours,
Matthew Poole
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Letter from Col. James "Pappy" Gunn to Matt Poole, June 18, 1997:
[From San Antonio, TX]
Dear Matthew,
In response to your recent letter I will jot down some answers as best I can remember them, but please bear in mind that accurate recall is not so accurate after 50 years or so.
Yes, I did receive a decoration.
As for the flight to Italy, all I can say is that it was without any [I can't read his handwriting]. We had painted the American flag on both sides of the fuselage and also painted US markings on both sides. All in all the flight was uneventful but I must say I was very happy to crawl out of the fuselage and get my feet on solid ground.
I had sketched a map from memory and with that the pilot was able to fly directly to my base in Cerignola.
There is not much more to say except that I was very relieved that everything worked out O.K. As you know the big wigs went to work and after a short while plans for the return of our boys from military prisons were brought into reality.
Please excuse my 85 year old handwriting.
Best wishes,
Jim Gunn
By: - 21st October 2014 at 02:40 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
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From Flight Journal magazine a few years ago came this reproduction of a James Dietz painting of Pappy Gunn after his epic journey.
Mods, please delete if there is a copyright issue here.
By: - 21st October 2014 at 03:28 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Great detail.
It happens that Dave Homewood came across a contemporary newspaper report earlier this month.
http://rnzaf.proboards.com/thread/22046/great-story-airmen-rescued-captivity
By: - 21st October 2014 at 15:48 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Sounds like a sound basis for a film.
Tim
Posts: 586
By: DavidIsby - 20th October 2014 at 13:04
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/military/article/World-War-II-pilot-gets-medal-for-freeing-POWs-5829687.php
Gunn's epic flight to Foggia -- made inside the fusleage of a Roumanian Bf 109G hastily painted in pre-war USAAC markings -- led to the airlift of US PoWs from Roumania (and is discussed in THE DECISIVE DUEL).