· RUEL SK

100 CRUEL SKY
about me and made me lie down on a ladder with straw on it. She ripped off my jacket and
shirt and other under clothes to look at my chest wound. A part of 20-mm shell had ripped
the right side of my breast. She ran her finger over it and said: 'Gut.' She gave me an
apple and then two German soldiers came in. The lady did all she could in first aid, and
then rigged up her carriage with a horse. They put me on it with the two German soldiers,
herself, and a red-haired bombardier. He was mad because he had been shot down and
captured by the soldiers. He more or less blamed the gunners on our bombers. They took
us to a village six miles away - OberurseL
"She went in her doctor's home with me. He gave me a shot; it made me feel better.
Then they took me to a small railroad station and left me alone waiting for a train. It took
all afternoon before a train picked me up. I was transported to a hospital in Frankfurt
where Catholic nuns gave me a shot and removed all the shrapnel they could - about a half
hand full of brass and lead that they put in my shirt pocket. They gave me more first aid
and dressed my wounds. We slept on stretchers the first night in the hallways of this
bospital."
Pilot William Bruce (BRUCE crew)
"After free falling for an eternity, I pulled the rip cord. The chute opened and I hit a
very large tree within four or five seconds. My right leg was hung up over a branch and
wrapped around my neck It took me some time to untangle myself and climb down this
fiftywfoot tree.
"What was left of my ship crashed into the forest not too far from me along with
several others causing a massive forest fire. No one evidently saw my chute however I
heard a lot of yelling and screaming about something. It was probably about the fire.
Several dogs growled at me but were fmally called by their owners.
"It took me about ten hours crawling through the trees and along the stone walls to
fmd a bouse. By this time I knew I was badly hurt - I could not stand up covered with
blood and really, really hurting.
"I crawled along a fence to a farmhouse - a man and two women came out and
carried me into the house. They tried to wash my face and give me some milk but I could
not even swallow. I think they thought I was dying and I wasn't so sure I wasn't.