Recorded memoir of Forrest S. Clark [first of two recordings] (MC 371/882/14)
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Recorded memoir of Forrest S. Clark [first of two recordings]

1


MC 371/882/14


1 audio cassette (Sony LNX 90)

nd [c 1985]


44th Bomb Group


Forrest S. Clark

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Description
[00:00-05:00] Introductory remarks: service in 44th Bomb Group, 67th Squadron. Describes training from 1942: basic, Miami Beach, Florida; radio school, Scott Field, Illinois; gunnery school, Harlingen, Texas; crew training, Biggs Field, El Paso, Texas and crew assembly, Clovis, New Mexico. Describes journey to the United Kingdom (UK), August 1943: Bangor, Maine; Goose Bay, Labrador [Canada]; Greenland and Iceland. Mentions pilot: R[ockford] C. Griffith. Describes arrival and facilities at Shipdham airbase, Norfolk, September 1943. Mentions hearing stories of crews returning from Ploesti mission led by Col Leon Johnston. Anecdotes about England: rationing and places visited. [05:00-10:00] Describes wartime London. Story of memorable mission to Kjeller, Oslo, Norway, 18 November 1943. Mentions Lt Griffith and wounded gunner Sgt William Kuban. [10:00-15:00] Kjeller mission continued. Describes mission to Lechfeld, South Augsburg, Germany, 13 April 1944. Mentions engineer Earl J. Parrish and emergency landing, Dubendorf, Switzerland. [15:00-20:00] Describes internment in Switzerland until December 1944, escape to France and return to England, 1945. Comments on role played by neutral countries and Swiss government during the Second World War. Describes living conditions of internees: good accommodation; limited travel and education. Mentions internment camps at Wengen and Adelboden, Switzerland. Concluding remarks on scale of aerial warfare fought from UK bases and tribute to airmen killed. [20:00-25:00] Tribute continued. Mentions: Sgt Abe Sofferman (radio operator) shot down in Lt Pinder's aeroplane, Frankfurt, Germany, 29 January 1944 and Lt David Edmonds who crashed over Woodchurch, England, 16 March 1944. Recorded on side A only. For more recordings of Forrest Clark, see MC 371/882/41/1 and MC 371/882/41/2.