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    The War Stories of Sidney H. Raiken
    The War Stories of Sidney H. Raiken
    The War Stories of Sidney H. Raiken
    Ebook38 pages42 minutes

    The War Stories of Sidney H. Raiken

    By Sidney Raiken

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    About this ebook

    Years ago, I asked my father to record his war stories. This is the transcript. It is his journey from the time his bomber was shot down over Holland to liberation in Halle, Germany. It’s about the people he meets and places he passes through on his 400 mile journey, mostly by foot.
    The surprising thing to me was the cockiness of the other POWs. They cheered when they saw bombed out German factories while riding on a German train. They yelled “Come on you Krauts, let’s have the gas” when they were taken to “showers” that were built in the model of gas chambers. I have never seen prisoners of war portrayed in this way in movies.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSidney Raiken
    Release dateJul 31, 2021
    ISBN9781005359706
    The War Stories of Sidney H. Raiken

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      Book preview

      The War Stories of Sidney H. Raiken - Sidney Raiken

      The War Stories of

      Sidney H. Raiken

      Sidney H. Raiken Sgt. 16155375

      Gunner (Left Waist), Purple Heart

      United States Army Air Force, 8th Air Force,

      446th Bomb Group, 704th Bomb Squadron

      POW at Stalag Luft 4 (Gross-Tychow)

      Transcribed by Evelyn R. Lewis

      Copyright Evelyn R. Lewis

      Smashwords Edition

      A Little Background

      Sidney Raiken was born in 1918 to Russian Jewish immigrants. His parents spoke Yiddish, which is why he could understand German, not, as you will see, because he was an accomplished linguist.

      Sid was a tool maker when the U.S. entered WW11. He was exempt from fighting because tool makers were considered important to the war effort, but he joined the air force from public pressure. People would ask him why he was not overseas fighting.

      Below is information from American Air Museum Archives about his unit which is not part of his oral history.

      http://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/204692

      Raiken, Sidney H., Sgt., 16155375, Gunner (Left Waist), Purple Heart

      United States Army Air Force, 8th Air Force, 446th Bomb Group, 704th Bomb Squadron

      POW at Stalag Luft 4 (Gross-Tychow)

      Mr. Harry Raiken (father), 2718 North 40th St., Milwaukee, Wi.

      MACR 2008; B-24H 42-7613 (FL * H); Pilot – 2 Lt. Sydney C. Jacobson, 10 crewmen – 7 survivors

      The following is from the website Excursions in Jewish Military History and Jewish Genealogy

      http://theyweresoldiers.com/index.php/tag/b-17g-42-37773/

      Casualty List 6/6/45

      American Jews in World War II – 585

      Shot down 22 December 1943 in B-24 42-7613, POW.

      On mission to Osnabruck, Germany, B-24 42-7613 was hit by flak and fighters. 7 bailed out over Holland. A/C exploded and crashed at Marum, Holland. 3 KIA/ 7 POW

      446th bomb group, 74th bomb squadron

      Aircraft 42-7613 B-24 LIBERATOR

      The 446th Bomb Group, who came to be known as the Bungay Buckaroos after the name of their Suffolk base, flew B-24 Liberators on strategic, support and interdictory missions over Europe. The Group led the Eighth Air Force and 2nd Bomb Division on the first heavy bomber mission on D-Day, 6 June 1944, and continued to support the ground forces move eastwards, dropping airborne troops into Wesel, north-west Germany, as part of the advance across the River Rhine.

      Browse 446th Bomb Group photographs and other documents in the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library digital archive.

      The following is a transcript from tapes he recorded years ago.

      The Transcript

      December 23, 1943

      Flying along and this ball gunner on the left of me, I didn't even know him, but flying along, it was cold, I looked at him. He had ice on the eyelashes. Periodically, we would cock the gun because of the cold [to] be sure it’s working so it wouldn't freeze up. So it was difficult to do. You didn't have much to brace on, and your oxygen hose went down your chest here. So this guy next to me, he couldn't cock his gun so he had to have a brace against his chest. So what he does is disconnect his oxygen mask, which is the worst thing you could do. So it was just lucky that I turned around that instant because here he is, slumped over the gun, no oxygen, 25,000 feet. So what I did was I gave him a...I put on his oxygen hose again, connected it, and gave him a pure shot of oxygen which we could do. And he came to, but another minute he would have been gone.

      We're in formation coming back and the wing is starting

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