| Name | Donald P OGILVIE | Rank | Capt |
| Number | 0-665530 | Date of Birth/Age | ? |
| Unit | 384 Bomb Group, 547 Bomb Squadron, USAAF | ||
| Aircraft | B-17G-1-BO 42-31059 | Crew position | Pilot |
| Based at | Grafton Underwood, Northamptonshire, UK | ||
| Target | VKF ball-bearing factories at Schweinfurt, Germany | Failed to return | 14 October 1943 |
| Escape Networks | Possum Line | Capture | 6/20? March 1944 |
| Liberated | Stalag Luft III, ? | References |
NARA:RG498/290/55/27/2 Box 58 - Awards' file - Marguerite
Bulart NARA:RG498/290/55/27/2 Box 244 - Awards' file - Charles Ledru NARA:RG498/290/55/27/2 Box 225 - Awards' file -Suzanne & André Lacombe NARA:RG498/290/55/27/2 Box 295 - Awards' file - Simone Marie Mondet NARA:RG498/290/55/27/2 Box ? - Awards' file - Raymond Gallet Website of the 384th Bomb Group |
Last updated on
24 June, 2009
|
Members of crew
| Pilot | 0-665530 |
Capt Donald P OGILVIE | Narrator |
| Co-pilot | 0-671962 |
1st Lt Bruce KILMER | Arrested Paris - 6 Mar 1944. Sent to Stalag Luft III. |
| Navigator | 0-806168 |
2nd Lt Everett L CHILDS | NARA:E&E/1122 |
| Bombardier | ? |
2nd Lt William H WILSON | Killed in action |
| Radio operator | ? |
T/Sgt James R MURRAY | Crossed into Switzerland ~21 Oct 1943 & interned. NARA:E&E/1661 |
| Top turret gunner / Flight engineer |
? |
T/Sgt Emmett HOOD | Crossed into Switzerland ~21 Oct 1943 & interned |
| Ball turret gunner | ? |
S/Sgt James McKEON | Crossed into Switzerland ~21 Oct 1943 & interned |
| Waist gunner | ? |
S/Sgt William E MARTIN | Crossed into Switzerland ~21 Oct 1943 & interned |
| Waist gunner | ? |
S/Sgt Francis R SYLVIA | Crossed into Switzerland ~21 Oct 1943 & interned |
| Tail gunner | ? |
S/Sgt Louis L RATKIEWICZ | Crossed into Switzerland ~21 Oct 1943 & interned |
The aircraft came down near Bar-le-Duc (~100kms SE of Reims)..
Donald Ogilvie and Bruce Kilmer travelled by train from Bar-le-Duc to Sillery. They may have been escorted by Huguette or Augustine Mangenot. At Sillery, Roger Mangenot, the station master organised their accommodation. His file indicates that René Serpe took them to the home of Jean de Kegel, where they stayed from 1st to 8th November 1943. However, Fernand Roguet's file records that he received them from Augustine Mangenot on 30th October, sheltered them until 3rd November 1943 and then passed them on to DeKegel.
They were then passed on to Marguerite Bulart, who organised the safe houses in Reims. She sheltered them with André and Suzanne Lacombe until the end of December 1943. On every Monday during this period, they went for a meal with Fernande Mondet at 161, rue Lesage.
They were passed on to Lucienne Mulette and Simone Ledru (sisters) of Fismes. It was Raymonde Beuré's fiancé, Raymond Jeunet, who conveyed them there! When the Germans began their search of Fismes, Ogilvie and Kilmer evaded capture. There are two slightly different versions of this event:
In a letter to Simone, after the war, Ogilvie wrote:
.... we lasted another three months before the Gestapo finally caught up with us in Paris. Most of the time was spent on a farm in the Ardennes. After a three month wait and the accumulation of thirteen other Americans, we finally headed for Paris, where we were eventually caught, or perhaps I should say "sold" to the "Gestapo". We stayed with them for a month and a half, during which we were questioned almost constantly and finally turned over to the Luftwaffe in Frankfurt ....
Ogilvie and Kilmer were arrested on 6th or 20th March 1944 and sent to Stalag Luft III.
<There's more to come!>