...and a Darn Good One

After basic and several months serving as a trainer he was in the pipeline for combat. That's when he applied for a spot with the Air Corps and became a bombardier--and a darn good one. He was named lead bombardier for the 445 Bomb Group--headed by none other than Jimmy Stewart.

(Trefethen was taken aback to learn he would be led by an actor, no matter how famous. But now he recognizes the man's greatness.)

The Actor, Jimmy Stewart

"Jimmy Stewart was an outstanding pilot and briefer--and a lot of fun to be around in a bar when he would sit down the piano and lead the guys singing songs like 'Rag Time Cowboy Joe'," says Parker.

Trefethen was involved in the D-Day operation in a big way, flying two missions per day for a week. The most notorious run had the pulled his rip cord and his 'chute goal of destroying an enemy bridge in terrible visibility, heavy undercast. As lead bombardier, Trefethen had his pilot take the fleet under the clouds, down to 5,000 feet.

"It was (supposedly) way too low to drop bombs, but we did it, destroyed the target," he says proudly, adding that his commander blew up at him for endangering the entire group. In the end, however, the bold move won Trefethen the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Young Parker Trefethen, Veteran B-24 Bombardier

Young Parker Trefethen, veteran B-24 bombardier, had survived missions and had no reason to think this one would be any different. That was before his lead navigator, on route to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Kassel, Germany, somehow took the 445th Bombardment Group off course.

The entire fleet of 37 aircraft was headed into hornet's nest-- without fighter escort.

An an estimated one hundred and fifty Fockewolf 190 fighters armed with 23 mm cannons tore into the sky to chop up the lumbering bombers. In three minutes, 30 B-24s were shot down. Only two of the 37 returned to base to fly again.

Trefethen's plane was one of the victims. He and the nose gunner bailed out of the nose wheel hatch at 15,000 feet. Five other crewmen made it out from a rear hatch. The other five, including the pilot and co-pilot, were lost.

And Parker Trefethen was about to learn how to drink water from mud puddles.

Trefethen Pulled His Rip Cord

Trefethen pulled his rip cord and his ‘chute opened as advertised. Unfortunately, one of the combat boots he had fastened to it “just in case," was lost. He landed in a large maple tree, managed to extricate himself, hid his 'chute and flying boots (which were not suitable for hiking) and came to the realization that he was alone, without rations, sidearm, a map or a compass and had no idea where he was.

Almost immediately he ran into three woodsmen armed with axes. He raised his hands in surrender and identified himself as “Americano, Americano!" To his surprise they threw down their tools, rushed up, hugged and kissed him in welcome. To this day he doesn't know what nationality they were but suspects they were forced laborers. He couldn't speak to them but drew a compass rose in the dirt and point ed to the western quadrant, which they understood and pointed to. They also motioned to “autoban" and provided other useful information using sign language.

Wearing One Boot...

Wearing one boot and with the other foot wrapped in rags, 1st Lieutenant Trefethen struck out.

It was his good fortune to be fairly decent fall weather and there was enough cover to hide behind bushes or in ditches when encountering people. He slept under leaves, branches or whatever he could find, always heading toward the sunsets. Apples were still on the trees and he found a few vegetables left over gardens. Water was a big problem. irrigation water was too smelly to drink he actually did rely on mud puddles in a pinch. When it rained he would open his flight jacket liner to soak up, then squeeze the liquid out to drink.

He had several near misses. Once on a bridge an Army convoy drove by. The 25-year-old just leaned on the railing, looking down, and the trucks rumbled by. Another time he came to a construction site where a man ran up to him yelling in German.

"Yah !, Yah !," Trefethen replied, turning to walk away. He wasn't stopped.

At least not that time.

After two weeks of hiding, starving and stumbling along nearly 100 miles on a bad foot, he aimed for a bridge that he believed would lead him to safety. But as he got near, he vividly remembers meeting a woman and as he nodded and smiled, he noticed her eyes "were like glass, completely emotionless, empty." He knew something was wrong. At the bridge two policemen with a dog took him in to custody, roughed him up and tried to interrogate him.

His Luck Changed

His luck changed with the arrival of a German lieutenant who noticed the bad foot. He sat Parker on his bicycle and pushed him all the way to his base!

There he was given food and water.

"It was the best vegetable soup I have ever had," says Trefethen, smiling at the memory. He was transferred to solitary confinement in an interrogation center for daily questioning but refused to give up any information. From there he was transferred to POW camp in Sagan, Germany.

But the war was nearly over. Russian troops were closing in so the Germans marched the prisoners to Nuremberg in the January cold with no winter preparations. They slept in barns and wherever they could find refuge. One of the buildings was a ceramic factory.

"The kilns were hot, it was like heaven," he recalls.

Trefethen has great praise for the Swiss government that oversaw the delivery of Red Cross food packages to the prisoners - 10 pounds for two people. (On the march to Nuremberg, the prisoners were allowed to take as much as they could carry. When the weight got too much, they tossed the less desirable items to the side of the road where they were eagerly salvaged by starving citizens, Trefethen says.)

When the prisoners arrived in Moosberg, they found out the war was over. An American flag was flying from a church steeple. American troops soon liberated the men. Trefethen had been POW for seven months.

Return to Parker’s genealogical data page.