FREEDOM WAS NOT FREE

by Virgil R. Marco Sr., 366BS Tail Gunner, 305BG

After Bill Bergman, Gene Snodgrass and I were shot down on April 24, 1944 near the French-Belgium border, we found refuge with the French Underground. They placed us with a very nice family, the Taverniers, Alfred and Marcelle and their daughters, Denise and Genevieve in Chauny, France.

The Chauny railroad station and marshaling yards were popular targets for the American Medium and Fighter-Bombers. The British and American Heavy Bombers seemed to pick on the marshaling yards of Tergnier, a town four miles from Chauny. I kept records of these air raids and other events beginning with May 30, 1944 to September 2, 1944.

I was given a pocket size French calendar, which I used as a diary to record the following events.

I remember the night of May 30, 1944. The loud roar of the sirens woke everyone in Chauny. The dark night was now very bright from flares dropped by the British Bombers. The sky at a distance was full of red flak exploding. Bombers were flying over one at a time through the burst of flak, dropping their bombs. The ground rumbled and the house shook as the bombs exploded. The target was not Chauny but the neighboring town of Tergnier. A bomber was hit and in flames.

The next event recorded was on June 2, 1944. We watched from one of the bedroom windows the American P-47s diving down toward their target, the train station, dropping their bombs and heading straight up. I can still hear the groaning sound of the P-47's engines as they made their routine bomb runs and the resulting explosions of their bombs.

The next day, June 3, American twin tail P-38s took turns in diving down strafing the marshaling yards with their fifty caliber machine guns and 20MM cannons, releasing their bombs, and leaving without opposition. The P-47s were back again on June 22, July 1 and July 20 strafing and bombing the marshaling yards of Chauny.

On July 22, six groups of American B-17s and B-24s bombed the town of Tergnier. Genevieve told me that they missed the marshaling yards and destroyed many homes near the target.

The morning of August 8, Genevieve Tavernier informed the three of us that a German ammunition train was in the Chauny railroad station. It was only a short time later that morning; we heard the air raid siren. We took our usual place at Bill's bedroom window to view the fighter-bombers making their attack. It was P-47s again taking their turn of diving down toward their target, strafing and releasing bombs while other P-47s seemed to fly around above looking for enemy planes that might try to interrupt their attack. Before long we could hear popping noises that sounded like a package of firecrackers being ignited. We were looking out the window watching the show when Gene said, "It looks like they hit the ammunition train". Just as he made that statement we saw a large fireball and felt the heat as it rose up into the sky. Then the loud explosion occurred. We turned and ran for the stairs as other explosions one after another shook the city. For a moment I thought the roof had fallen in as the trap door to the attic jarred loose and fell on my shoulder. We did not wait for permission to leave the upstairs. Gene and I ran outside to the air raid shelter. Bill ran for the basement where he found the "the White Lighting". Bill was in a very good mood when the explosions finally tapered off in the late afternoon. The French "White Lighting" was a very good tranquilizer.

That night we could hear the German planes strafing the wreckage apparently trying to explode any remaining bombs in the wrecked railroad cars so they could clean up the remains from the marshaling yards as soon as possible.

On the morning of August 9, the air raid sirens made their warning sounds again. We looked out the window and at low altitude we saw groups of B-26 medium bombers flying toward Chauny. We again evacuated the upstairs and ran for the air raid shelter in record time. We were not too far from the railroad station, and we were concerned about the accuracy of their bombing, especially after what happened in Tergnier by the B-17s and B-24s. When the last group dropped their bombs apparently on target, we were thankful for their accuracy. The same afternoon we had a repeat performance by more B-26s.

On August 12, American P-51s made their debut, strafing and bombing the marshaling yard.

The night of August 18, an English Mosquito Bomber dropped flares locating a German convoy moving through Chauny. We heard a bomb explode and the popping sound of the Mosquito bomber's guns being turned loose on the convoy. A photographer from the Resistance gave us a picture of the German soldiers observing the smoking remains of their convoy the next morning.

The unopposed attacks by our planes on the Chauny marshaling yards ended August 22. The Luftwaffe appeared to greet the American P-38s. We saw a spectacular display of flying skills, both American and German. We counted seven ME-109s and one P-38 destroyed in the battle. We later met the P-38 pilot who parachuted to safety of the French Underground.

P-38s returned the next day to strafe and bomb with no opposition. However, on August 25 the ME-109s were ready for another fight when the P-38s arrived. The battle began with another spectacular display of flying skills with P-38s executing all sorts of acrobatic maneuvers. When the battle was over, we counted seventeen ME-109s and nine P-38s destroyed. That afternoon P-51s arrived for a fight with the ME-109s. Six ME-109s were destroyed with no losses to the P-51s.

The next day, August 24, we counted one hundred fifty-two B-26s flying over Chauny dropping their bombs on an oil storage depot close by. We could see black smoke from a fire after the bombing.

On August 27, we could hear tanks, trucks, automobiles and horse drawn wagons passing through Chauny. The next day we could hear explosions, apparently from American mortars and artillery. On August 29, we received news on the radio that the Americans had liberated Soissons, a town near Chauny. On August 30, we were flanked on two sides by advancing American Infantry. We could hear the artillery shells getting louder. We were very concerned if the Germans would dig in here to defend themselves against the advancing Americans or continue their retreat.

In 2002 I learned about the cost to the people of Chauny for the Bombing of August 8, 1944.

Alfred Logeon was the radio operator for the Chauny Resistance, sending and receiving messages from London. This operation was performed in his automobile garage at rue du Brouage in Chauny. On August 8, 1944, one of his messages to London was responsible for the destruction of a German ammunition train that was transporting munitions, including V1 and V2 bombs.

The station was bombed that morning by allied P-47s blowing up the train. The next day, B-26 medium bombers bombed Chauny twice, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. The station was almost destroyed along with many buildings on rue Belmer, rue Amédé Evrard and rue Ferdinand Buisson. As the air raid shelters were not near, the bombs caused many civilian casualties including seven deaths. Madam Villers, well known in Chauny, was one of the dead, beheaded by an iron shutter. The people of Chauny paid a high price for Freedom that day.