The perilous life of a POW

29th June 1944: An American POW in Normandy sees the effects of Allied air power - but is himself at risk from it and at the mercy of his guards

The city of St Lo suffered as it was hit by Allied bombers and later became a battleground. Around 95% was destroyed before it was finally liberated.

Sergeant Bob Bearden¹ had drooped into Normandy in the early hours of D-Day with the 507th PIR. After a few days engaged in close combat in the bocage country, his section had been surrounded at night. As the Germans set off a series of blinding flares above them, they clung to the ground as a machine gun sprayed bullets just inches above their prostrate bodies. They had had to surrender or face a massacre. They were lucky to survive - but were far from being out of harm’s way.

As POWs watching these fighters from ground positions and railroad boxcars, we all became uncomfortably aware that the pilots were looking for a fight.

Their journey to their first rudimentary prison camp meant passing through St Lo, the vital communications hub that had been obliterated by USAAF bombers in the days following D-Day.

The walk across St. Lo, west to east, took several hours. Passing through the town meant, literally, crawl­ing through it. We all had to struggle to make our way around, through, and over the huge piles of this ancient and once-beautiful city. Dead animals and human body parts lay jumbled in the ruins of the cobbled stone streets.

…

It is hard to imagine how any German vehicles were able to pass through St. Lo. They must have simply gone many miles around the city.

The Germans in Normandy lived under constant threat of airstrikes by day.