Kenneth W. Schilling

Capt. Kenneth W. Schilling was the bombardier aboard the aircraft and the narrator of E&E Report No. 1029. On 24 June 1944 the plane received a direct flak hit in the nose at 21,000 feet, caught fire, and blew up. Schilling bailed out and fell in free fall nearly to the ground before his parachute deployed, and the opening jerk pulled his shoes off.

He landed in a grain field and ran approximately three kilometers before encountering a French farmer who offered to help. His helper obtained civilian clothes from a nearby village, and that night they made contact with French Resistance men who had also collected other crew members, most of whom were badly burned. The group was taken to a woods near Cloyes, south of Chateaudun, where they camped for several weeks. The camp grew crowded with British, Dominion, and American airmen, so the Americans were separated into a dedicated camp set up in Freteval Forest, two to three kilometers north of Billeau.

The camp was liberated on 13 August 1944 by the 818th Tank Destroyer unit and the evaders were brought to Le Mans. Schilling was interrogated at Rennes by Col. Perry and Lt. Col. Atkinson of 505th HQ, then sent by General Lee to Cherbourg, from where he returned to the UK by air on 16 August 1944. He had completed 31 missions and held the DFC, OAC, and Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters.