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Alcide "Jim" Champagne
722nd Bombardment Squadron (H)
THEN
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NOW
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I entered the Service on October 17, 1942 at Fort Devons, Ayer, MA.
After the usual testing I was assigned to the Air Force branch with Basic training done
at Miami Beach, FL.
After Basic Training I was sent to the AAFB at Amarillo, TX. for Airplane Engine and Mechanic training which was on B-17s.
Next I was shipped to San Diego, CA. for B-24 Factory training.
My next assignment was Ariel Gunnery School at Laredo, TX.
After completing this Ariel Gunnery training I was shipped to the Davis Monthan AAFB in Tucson, AZ. While here I became a
member of a B-24 Flying crew as a Flight Engineer and started my flight training here.
After finishing this part of our flight training as a flight crew we were given 15 days to report to Alamogordo, NM so we all went home on a
short leave as most of the time was spent traveling.
After reporting to Alamogordo, NM AAFB we were assigned to the 450th Bomb Group and attached to
the 722nd Bomb Squadron. We did our Advanced Training here.
At the end this training we flew to Herrington, KS in a brand new B-24, Serial
Number 42-7760. (Me and my crew)
We received our final clothing allotment here as well as shots
for overseas service and then we flew to Morrison Field in West Palm Beach, FL.
After a few days here we were given orders to fly overseas by the Southern route which was by way of British
Trinidad, South America, Belem and Forteleza, Brazil in South America. From
Brazil we flew to Dakar, Senegal on the west coast of Africa. Then on to
Marrakech. Morocco and then on to Tunis in Tunisia Africa on the Mediterranean
Sea Coast.
From here we flew to Manduria, Italy our home base over seas in the
15th Air Force. Our 450th Bomb Group was assigned to the 47 wing of the 15th
Air Force.
I was shot down on my 15th bombing mission which was the second bombing mission to Regensburg, Germany and
was captured by a German patrol. After an overnight stay, in jails in Northern
Yugoslavia and Linz, Austria, I ended up at Dulag Luft in Frankfurt, Germany. (MACR # 3297)
I was next sent to POW camp Luft VI in what is now Southern Lithuania. When the
Russians started moving westward in July 1944 I and others in Luft VI were
first transported by Box Cars to Memel, Lithuania, a port on the Baltic Sea.
The POWs were then put into the holds of two ships for a 3 1/2 day trip to the
port of Swinemunde, Germany. Here I and others were placed again in Box Cars,
handcuffed in pairs and our shoes taken from us.
We were transported to Kiefheide in what is now Poland. While still handcuffèd in pairs
we were then forced run by German Marines with fixed bayonets and police dogs a
mile or so to POW camp Luft VI outside Grosstychow.
On Feb. 6, 1945, we were started a long forced march, the Death March. After 80/81 days and some 600 or
so miles, the Germans finally marched us into the American Lines at Bittefeld, Germany on April 26, 1945.
We were then Deloused and flew to Rheims, France.
Later we were transported to Camp Lucky Strike, a rehabilitation camp where
they tried to fatten us up before shipping us home. I and most of my group of
POWs had lost about a 1/3 of their body weight in POW camps and the Death
March.
I was shipped back to the States on June 6, 1945 on a Liberty Ship and arrived at Camp Kilmer, NJ on June
12, 1945. In a couple of days I was ship back to Camp Devons, MA where after a light physical exam I was given a 60
day leave, which was extended to 73 days. After this 73 day leave I was first assigned to Atlantic City
Beach, NJ for debriefing and assigned to Fort Dix Air Base, NJ. In less then a month I sent a discharge
center at Newark, NJ and was discharged from the Air Force on September 27,
1945.
My Service awards include the Purple Heart Medal, the Prisoner of War Medal, the Air Medal with two Oak
Leaf Clusters, the EAME Campaign Medal with four Bronze Stars, the Good Conduct Medal The American Campaign Medal and
the World War II Victory Medal.
Jim Champagne
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