COMMUNITY
January 2005
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 Winston Burroughs as an Army Air Corps sergeant in 1944. |
Bryantown resident Winston Burroughs is a lifelong resident of Southern Maryland. Born in Charlotte Hall, Burroughs served in World War II and later worked in the National Oceanographic Office. He belongs to American Legion Post 238 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8674. Below, Burroughs describes his wartime experiences.
(Read the previous stories in the series.)
I was home with the family on December 7, 1941, when we heard on the radio broadcast the news that Pearl Harbor had been bombed by the Japanese. The damage was devastating. Many naval ships were lost. President Franklin Roosevelt declared war on Japan, and Germany declared war on the United States. World War II had started.
I was a senior in high school then. Early in 1943, I enlisted in the Army Air Corps. After finishing basic training, I was sent to armament school. There I learned to clean, repair, and adjust firearms used on military aircraft.
Then I was sent to aerial gunnery school, where I was taught to use the guns on large bombers. The instructors harped on the idea that to hit a moving target one had to lead the target. That came easy to me because I was born on a large farm and shot black birds, crows, ducks, and other moving targets.
 Winston Burroughs beside a ball turret from a B-17 bomber. Burroughs was a gunner in this type of turret during World War II. |
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I was assigned to the 306th Bomb Group, 367th Squadron, 8th Air Force. The group was stationed at Thurleigh, England. I arrived in Thurleigh with my crew in February 1944.
Over the next 5 months, I flew 22½ missions over France and Germany. Our mission over Pas de Calais was one of the worst. This was a German submarine base, heavily protected by flak (anti-aircraft). Other missions we flew included Berlin, Kassell, Brunswick, the Normandy invasion, Oberfaffenhofen, Leige (Belgium), Noyan, France, and 13 others.
When we were attacked by German fighters, good gunnery and close formations were the best defense. I had seen enemy fighters go down, but never claimed one. When the whole group of gunners was firing, we never knew which one of us finally made the kill shot. We knew that if he didn’t make another pass or if he was smoking, he was a goner.
On the return from the Brunswick mission, we were in another fighter attack. I was wounded and Sgt. Virgil Jenzen, tail gunner, was killed.
My toughest missions were:
On June 17, 1944, on a mission to Noyan, France, we were hit by flak. Number 3 engine was on fire and pilot Lt. Dingman lost control, so we bailed out.
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 A B-17 bomber over the English countryside. |
I had my ball turret, which was located on the bottom of the plane, rigged with a chest pack. I turned the turret away from the slipstream, opened the hatch and pushed myself out. Before I could pull the ripcord, I had to fasten my parachute properly. At 20,000 feet, I had plenty of time. When the chute opened, I was still way above the cloud cover. It was quiet and peaceful as I drifted along under a warm sun. I wondered if heaven was like this. As soon as I came through the clouds, I landed right in a German headquarters area.
I was kept in Rouen, the birthplace of Joan of Arc, then I was sent to Germany. I was a prisoner of war for about a year. I never had enough to eat or was warm enough during the winter. I turned 21 years old in prison.
In February of 1945, the Russians were advancing toward Germany. We were forced to march westward with poor clothing and little or no food. Sometimes we slept in the open and sometimes in barns.
I was sick and emaciated when we were liberated by a British patrol on May 5, 1945. They took me and others across the Elbe River to an airdrome. I had always wanted to fly in a Lancaster airplane. That is how I was flown to Belgium and then turned over to the Americans.
I spent 21 days in an American hospital before returning home to the good old U.S.A.
In my service overseas, I was awarded the air medal (four times), the Purple Heart, and the Prisoner of War Medal.
Many thanks to Mr. Burroughs for his contribution to our Southern Maryland Stories and for allowing SMECO to publish his biography and his photographs.