On Dec. 7, 1941, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Lew was 16 years old and
working to help haul iron ore on the Great Lakes from Minnesota to Chicago
and Ohio with his father. He was bothered and upset when Pearl Harbor
was bombed and the USA was jumped on by a foreign country.
His father was soon called into service with the the Merchant Marines.
During WWII all able bodied men were needed to fight the aggressor of
Europe. Mr. Guernsey's ship was torpedoed once, but he made it fine in
enemy waters of WWII.
Lew later found work in a defense plant in Detroit in the heat treating
department. He worked there until he was drafted.
As a child he had built and flew airplanes. He knew from the get-go that
he wanted to be a gunner for Uncle Sam. As a youngster he saw a lot of
movies about the war and was fascinated by airplane gunners. A favorite
movie was "Coming In On a Wing and a Prayer".
At Gunnery school in Shreveport, Louisiana, he was so good at hitting the
target that he shot for the other gunners on the plane while training to
get their scores up. When the plane was airborne, no one knew that he
was shooting from all three positions, except the two other gunners.
They loved that he was such a good shot and thought they were completely
safe with him as the three gunner. He enjoyed target practice and picked
up a gun at every chance he got. Lew chose tail gunner. he liked being
in the back of the plane, as he could see where they had been and could
watch clearly as the bombs fell, hopefully on their destination. Gunnery
school had an arcade like game for the GIs in a room with a big concave
ceiling. The gunners could practice shooting machine guns at airplanes
flying across the ceiling. He loved laying in that room by the hour,
practicing.
He met his future wife Anna Lee while on furlough. His step mother and
sister had moved to a different house when he returned home. He had not
had a chance to change clothes on the troop train that carried him home
in a couple of days, so he went inside to wash his face and remove his
sweaty shirt. His sister called to him, "There is Anna Lee in the yard,
is it OK to call her in?" Lew answered, "Yes." He was expecting a little
girl, not a 16 year old looker like Anna Lee. She was shy and went right
back outside, Lew followed her. They started dating. He was 18 and knew
on the third date he was going to marry her, but did not tell Anna Lee
for fear of scaring her off.
Anna Lee had given him a photo to carry with him when he went back to
the base. He carried the photo of Anna Lee in a leather pad that would
fit in his flight jacket all through the war and into the POW camp.
Looking at the photo that he carried near his heart, gave him hope of
someday returning to his beautiful girl.
Lew was placed in the 394th Bomb Group. They were provided B-26
Marauder bombers as air transportation for their brave service away
from base. The twin-engine Marauders had space for a six man crew and had
12 machine guns on board. The gunners used 88 Millimeter shells in the plane guns.
Lew says about the B-26 that they
were fast and referred to them as Hot Rod. The crew consisted of a
pilot, co-pilot and bombardier, the top turret gunner who also served as
engineer, the waist gunner did double duty as the radio man and tail
gunner had the job of armorer gunner. As a tail gunner, Lew also had the
additional job of checking the bombs to make sure they were fused correctly.
Training went quickly and before most of the young men were mentally
ready, they were on their way to Europe. Lew's first mission was a Milk
Run meaning there was no anti-aircraft guns on the ground shooting at
the plane.
For 32 missions the plane got them safely home. Lew only got the
opportunity to shoot at one German plane, a jet rocket plane that went
straight up in the air.
Crew members watched the bulletin board daily for the next days mission
crew lists. The list gave them the plane number and listed the entire
crew for that particular plane. Each of the 4 bomb squads of the 394th
posted crews. When their name did not show up a missions list, crew
members rejoiced that they would be assured of living another day.
The 394th participated in the Battle Of The Bulge. The plane crews
wanted to help the 98th wing fighting group on the ground and were glad
to be called on to help. Thousands of planes took part when the sky cleared
of fog and mist. Hitler had waited to begin the battle when the snows
came in the early morning fog of December 16th, 1944. Knowing the skies
would be 10/10 and so soupy the pilots could not to fly.
A few months later on March 22, 1945, Lew's crew was listed on the
bulletin board to participate in the bombing raid over Haltern, Germany.
They were to bomb an intersection there to slow German supply movement.
Major Joseph M. Silk lead the formation on the raid. 1Lt. Eber Arnold
was the pilot of Guernsey's plane.
New pilots were used under the guidance of well trained pilots for their
first few missions. Robert Turner, a replacement pilot fresh from
training school, strapped into the co-pilot seat that day.
Their regular B-26 "Who Cares?" with a Hillbilly sitting on a stump for
nose art, was being serviced so they were assigned to Sheboygan Redskin,
serial number 42-96213.
The flak was thick that day. The air around the plane was gray and
filled with lead. Lew, who had been awarded his second Oak Leaf Cluster
in March, was afraid when the plane was attacked by thick flying debris.
The Germans put up a wall of flak, the bombers had no choice but to fly
through it. It was a safe bet that not all of the planes would make it
back to the base. He did a lot of praying when under attack and forced
the urge to smoke from his active adrenaline filled brain as there was
no smoking on the plane because of the fire danger. As Lew talked to his
Creator, the plane next to them went down. On the opposite side of where
the first plane feel from formation, Lew
could see that that plane had had the back guns got shot out of the
plane and it dropped too.
Then Sheboygan Redskin took a direct hit. The plane shook under the
strain of the hit. One shell went through the wing close to the gas
tank. The left engine was out, feathered. A bomb exploded near the cockpit.
1Lt Arnold was mostly wounded, but had the courage and strength to
maintain his place in the cockpit and in history. Most likely the
co-pilot and bombardier were already dead when Lt. Arnold sent the call
over the intercom to bail out, while managing to hold the plane level. The
gunners assumed everyone would be able to parachute from the plane. Lew
could see the space between the cock-pits seats and all seemed well from
the back of the plane and he assumed the three officers would be able to
escape. Lew grabbed his flight vest. Gas was pouring out of the plane.
He was the first out of the plane. He had seen many planes blow up mid
air from explosions and wasted no time in leaving. The two other gunners
followed him. Down below there were 50 or 60 fires started by the
bombing raid.
The turret gunner landed close to Lew. Cows who had been hit with the bombs were dead and dying.
Lew fell from the sky, and, at about 250 feet off the ground he saw a German soldier coming
at him with a rifle. Lew took his hands off the chard line to show the German that he
had nothing in them. As the German put his rifle down to search Lew, 4 or 5 more Germans ran
toward him. He just stood there, would not put his hands up. He was an
American soldier and deserved respect of someone other than a common criminal.
The Germans told him to empty his pockets. He had the photo of Anna,
Camel cigarette and matches, (He always flew with a new pack of
cigarette), Jack knife, wrist watch and 45 pistol and 45 clips and
escape kit. Then they patted him down. He also had a ring that his
grandfather had given him. It was nice with an aqua marine stone. He was
afraid the Germans would find it, so he quickly removed it and stuck it
in his pocket. After the war he able to show his grandfather that he had saved the ring.
In the meantime, Lt. Arnold too weak to evacuate the plane and followed
his sense of duty was able to crash land the plane in a pasture field,
even though he was seriously injured. 2Lt Turner would be killed in his
first Mission, March 22, 1945. When word reached his father that Turner
had been killed, he went to the cellar of their home and hung himself.
Sherry, the bombardier, was also killed. Lt. Arnold survived the
crash, but sadly he died enroute to a German Hospital.
For some odd reason, the Germans buried the plane. John Sherry and
Robert Turner were both buried with the plane. Sherry had a baby born
while he was gone, which he never got to see.
The following would be typed in official 586th Bomb Squadron records. IN
THE ATTACK ON THE COMMUNICATIONS CENTER OF HALTERN ON MARCH 22, LT. EBER
J. ARNOLD AND HIS CREW WERE LOST TO FLAK. OTHER CREW MEMBERS WERE: 2ND
LT. ROBERT W. TURNER, 2LT JOHN J. SHERRY, S/SGT. DONALD R. BERGERSON,
S/SGT RUEBEN W. HARTJE AND SGT LEWIS A. GUERNSEY.
The turret gunner, Donald Bergeron, was rounded up and soon joined
Lew. The Germans speaking a little English, managed to say, "Come this
way". The gunners were ordered to grab their parachutes still attached
to them and walk. The 2 gunners were soon to be sent to prison camps.
Lew and Bergeron walked about a mile. Several 14 and 15 year old boys
and girls walked behind them, laughing at him, taunting them, calling
him worthless. They walked to German Camp where two man tents were set
up. The Germans were cleaning ammo and putting it in machine gun belts.
They asked if the men were hurt.
It was about 11:30 or 12:00 noon when a German doctor drove up in a car. He asked if They were OK. Lew
answered that his back was injured. Doctor could do nothing about a bad
back. He was only equipped to stitch up wounds, etc. He asked Lew how
bad was Chicago bombed. Lew answered that it had not been bombed. The
Dr. told Lew about working in Chicago. For about 8 years, he had
practiced medicine there, building up a good practice. When he had gone
home to Germany to visit his parents, the German Army had conscripted
him into service.
The Dr. asked the men if they were
hungry. They brought Lew a sandwich on black bread with the best Salami
ever and enlisted men's beer to drink. The beer tasted horrible, "This is
not good, "Lew told him. "I'll get you some good beer' The officer
replied, "It is better." The officer's beer was good, especially to
thirsty airman. Before the German doctor left he told Lew not to try and escape, if you
do, they will shoot you. Do as they say, you'll be OK. For you the war
is over, just be mindful of that.
The day was kind-of a warm, Lew was beginning to feel relief about his
capture. There was a little creek, there so Lew sat down and leaned up
next to a tree and fell asleep. Not being a drinking man, the beer had
helped him to relax, also.
He awoke to shooting. B-26s were going over. The Germans had been
shooting planes for 5 years and were good at it.
Often the Army would often send 3 planes ahead on the bombing missions
to bomb known anti-aircraft set-ups. He watched and prayed to get out of
that place before the B-26s dropped their pay load down on him.
Lew was put in a car and drove past a pasture field where they saw a
heard of beautiful cows who had been hit by the bombs. Some were lying
on the ground, some with broken legs, some were dead, others in bad
shape with their intestines hanging out. Locals were trying to tend to them.
At de-interrogation, his two remaining cigarettes were confiscated by a
German civilian. While in custody, he had managed to smoke about a half
inch down on the others. He put the cigarettes out and stored them in
different pockets to finish smoking later.
He gave the Lt. holding the de-interrogation a half salute before
sitting down to half answer several questions such as how many missions
he had flown? Lew answered that was the first one, even though it was
his 32nd mission. The officer checked his flight jacket unzipped it, saw
the serial number in it, realizing it had been used a lot. There were 3
corner tears from metal sticking out in plane. It was greasy and dirty
with spots on it. He said to Lew, "You got a new jacket this one is
used. This can not be your first mission." "But it is," Lew answered.
The German Lt. drew 2 airplanes flying parallel to each other and drew a
cable between them back in a V and drew a box at apex at the V and said
what that they were towing? "I don't know," Lew answered.
"You're a Sgt. and smart and you don't know what that was." "Well if you
really want to know..." The Lt. leaned over the drawing, listening well.
Lew said to him, "This gunner here, (pointing to Bergeron with his
thumb) had his laundry hanging out there to dry." The Lt. got upset and
began screaming and told him, "I'll take you out there and shoot you,
don't think I can't shoot you." Lew realized he had stepped over the
line and should not have said it. Germans being bombarded daily had no
sense of humor. "I can shoot you at any time," He barked. Lew stopped
with the smart answers.
They took Lew and Bergeron to a horse barn next. The barn was clean with
fresh straw and picnic tables. He sat in the corner. It was cold there
out of the sun. Only wearing his army pants and shirt and flight jacket,
they had taken his flight suit, he was chilled. A German soldier threw a
good thick winter coat over him. He feel asleep until morning.
The next day they gave him bread and strawberry jelly. The German shared
the homemade jelly his mother had made the jelly and sent it to him
making sure that Lew knew his mother had made the precious gift and sent
it to him. That was the last acts of kindness he was to experience while
in German hands.
Lew was turned over to a German Sgt. the next morning. The Sgt. jammed a
P-38 into his belly calling him an SOB, baby killer, murderer,
worthless, anything he could think of to call him and marched him away.
Lew was very fearful and could only smile at him. When the Sgt. delivered
him to the next destination and was walking
away, Lew held out his hand to the man. For a second he forgot Lew was
the enemy and took his hand. He quickly threw Lew's hand down and walked
away.
Lew was then taken to a room lined with hardware cloth. He soon realized
it was a post office building. While there the local German citizens
came into the building to look at him. The talked to him in German. Even
though he could not understand them he realized they were very angry
with him.
There were nearly 100 camps spread throughout German-occupied territory.
Lew and the turret gunner were taken to Stalag Luft 1 (Camp Lucky
Strike, named by the boys), in Northern Germany outside of Barth,
Germany close to the Baltic Sea. Lew was given the dog tags number 8126 to be carried in his
pocket. Every prisoner was called “Kriegie” by their captors. “Kriegie”
is short for Kriegsgefangener (German for POW). The Germans pretty much
left them alone in camp except for the daily head count and occasional
emergency roll count.
Lew was 6'1" and weighed 145 pounds. When the Russians liberated the
camp after the war, the Germans had cleared out. They were lucky to be
alive as Hitler had given orders before his suicide to kill the American
and British prisoners if the Allies break through. The Russians had told
them they could take down the walls and fences. They gave them
permission to walk into town and take what they wanted. Lew, like many
other POWs, quickly discovered that the female Russian soldiers
stationed in the local town carried big pistols on their rumps. The men
returned with cars, etc. One man, Bill Bensinger, came back driving a set
of black horses attacked to a hearse. They belonged to the Burgermeister (city mayor),
so Bensinger was to take them back. .
After sleeping on the wooden floor of the barracks for almost two
months, his hip bones were extremely sore. He built himself a little hut
in the courtyard and stuffed it with hay for a bed. Lying flat of his back
was difficult after the
injury he received after parachuting out of the doomed plane.
Lew was bored like the others POWS and tried to think of things to amuse
themselves until they could be airlifted out of their misery. He used a
search light to make a stove from it, even adding a stove pipe to cook
food like confiscated chickens running loose. Other POWs also managed to
catch chickens and asked to also use the stove. Lew said, "OK, but I get
the wings and legs as my cut." He was finally eating pretty good after his
weeks on a starvation diet.
About 150 Holstein cows were moved to them by the Russians. Lew, being
raised on the farm, grabbed a water pitcher and asked others to hold a
cow while he milked it. Some of the boys would not drink it because it
had not been pasteurized.
The Germans had taken their fake fur collars from their flight jackets
and stored them in the camp. The guys wanted something to do, so they
lined the toilet with the fur, the ceiling, walls, floor and seat all
were covered with the fur.
He says they were always constantly hungry and in want of a bed to get a
good night's sleep.
They were left in the camps two or two and a half weeks after the
Russians liberated them. The Russians first wanted to haul them to
prison camps in Russia.
Then one morning, Lew awoke to see American soldiers in the guard towers
wearing white arm bands on their left arms. They brought food and
blankets with them. He was truly safe.
Lew spent almost 2 months in the camp before it was liberated before
the American's sent planes to get them. When an American plane buzzed the camp,
Lew could tell by the tail markings that it was a B-26 from his 394th BG.
The pilot was his old co-pilot, 2Lt Michael S Brande.
Lew, having orders to stay put until arrangements could be made to get them
back to their different outfits, got a 3 day pass from the
camp. He and Brande headed to the Venlo, Holland airbase. The
weather was bad with lightning and rain. It was extremely foggy when
the Brande found a safe landing place. They could hardly see the
unknown runway before them and Lew thought to himself, "I have survived
being shot down, and a POW camp and now I'm going to die at age 20." The
breaks squealed and ship slid on the runway before finally coming to a
stop. They learned later that they had landed at an English Mosquito
Bomb Group airbase.
The English took them in for the night. The next day they flew on to
Venlo. He flew past Cologne where the big cathedral was almost untouched, only
a few pecks on it, as he calls it. Everything around it including the
bridge adjacent to it was destroyed. It made Lew feel good to know that
not all of occupied Europe was leveled and houses of God still stood in
a country in much need of healing.
Lew got to finally see his 394th buddies again. Col Silk was
casually asking him questions about his experience. A "Shake Tail" Lt.
with no wings, noticed he was not answering with sir, etc... and
commented, "You're talking to a Colonel." Silk replied, "We are flying
commands, leave us alone."
When Lew made it home, his step-mother, sister and Anna Lee met him at
the train station. Just a few days before they had gotten word that he
was alive. Up until then, they thought he was dead! They had received a
telegram that Lew was missing in action and presumed dead. Lew was finally
able to marry Anna Lee and have top turret gunner,
S/Sgt Donald R. Bergeron as his best man at the wedding. They had children
and several grandchildren.
After the war, Lew met a lady on the streets of Lansing. After noticing
his car tags with POW on them, she approached Lew. She recalled that her
grandfather was also in Stalag Luft 1, the same prison camp as Lew, but
much longer for about a year and a half. While in the camp, he had had an
appendicitis attack. His buddies held him down while a doctor or medic cut
him open with a razor blade and removed the affected
tissues and sewed him back up without any beer or drugs of any kind. He
lived to return home!
Lew is a commercial pilot (sail plane flying) and worked part time at the
local airport mowing, etc., for several years. He also loves motorcycles
and learned to play the banjo in his mid 40's after watching 2
church friends play at church. Theh made CDs together. Lew is a happy guy
who never lost his wonderful sense of humor. He freely admits that he is
is blessed beyond words and is one lucky guy. He is quick to acknowledge
that he has been given many, many years by Lt. Eber J. Arnold, the
bravest pilot he ever knew!
Lew says about the war, "We were just kids. I was only 20 years old as a
crew member and POW. Most of the GIs who beat the Germans were kids."