F/Sgt Robert E Pearce was the rear gunner in Lancaster PB120 of 582 Squadron coded 6O-P which was attacked and set ablaze by enemy fighters then further hit by flak on December 23rd 1944 during an operation to the Gremberg Railyards at Cologne. The aircraft crashed in the Rodenkirchen district of Cologne onto No 77 Hauptstrasse. This is his story............ (See footnote also)  
                                       
                                       
       

     
                                       
  We were strafed by ME 109's from the underbelly and didn't see them until after they had passed by.  I figure they hit the gas tank, as the starboard wing was at 12:00, and the port wing was at 6:00.  The pilot F/Lt Arndt Reif managed to right the plane, and called for the crew to bail out.  We were also hit by an 88 flak shell.  I couldn't get out of the rear compartment, as this was the first time I had worn a seat pack parachute - it had always previously been a chest pack.  It was jamming the door for a while, but I did manage to get it open ......finally.  
                                       
  I Stood on the sill of the turret and opened the pack - I figured if it didn't open, I would go back inside.  Luckily, it opened but I had very little training in how to use a parachute.  
                                       
  The Lancaster crashed in the suburbs of Cologne, and I landed in someone's backyard. I was immediately surrounded by the German Youth movement, pointing Lugers at me, but thankfully they were only interested in my parachute.  After they left, the townsfolk started to come towards me in a mob scene, but the Wehrmacht surrounded me and took me away to the local police station where they put me in a cell in the basement.  

Crew Photo

  
                 

Left to Right: George Owen, Ken Austin, Bob Pearce, Walt Reif, Jack McLennan, Pete Uzelman

(F/Sgt McLennan also survived to become a POW)

Photo Courtesy of Bob Pearce via Rick Pearce

  
     
     

     
                                       
  I was handed over to the Luftwaffe, who then me to cells at the Cologne Aerodome, where I saw all the prisoners from the raid had been rounded up.  That night, the RAF bombed Cologne, coming real close to where we were.  As the raid was winding down, they took all the prisoners out to the foxholes.  We were there for about 1/2 hour, and then taken back to the cells.  
                                       
  On Christmas Eve we were transferred to solitary in Dulag (Frankfurt).  
                                       
  When we got there, the guy behind the counter started asking me about the price of wheat in Canada - it turned out that he was from Saskatchewan!   
                                       
  It was all I could do not to reach across the counter and wring his neck!  
                                       
 

 
                                       
  From Dulag, the POW's took a freight train across Germany, through Berlin, up to Barth - Stalag Luft 1.  There were approximately 40 prisoners, and a half dozen guards sitting on the floor of the boxcar for a 7-10 day trip.  At one station, they pulled in to a siding to allow a troop train to pass through.  There was already one train full of troops sitting there.  One of the station attendants started screaming to the troops, and pointing at the prisoners.  One of the prisoners, who knew German, said the guy was trying to incite them to attack us. The troops started to close in on us, but luckily an officer appeared, barked some orders, and they disappeared. 

Thank God for German discipline!

  
                                       
     

     
                                       
  When we got to Stalag Luft 1 at Barth, it was dark, and all we could hear was moaning and screaming coming from the barracks.  Apparently, the prisoners had a sick sense of humor. 

Its funny now, but must have been really rotten to those guys then.

  
                                       
 

 
                                       
  The officer interrogating me at solitary asked why in the world did we attempt such a suicide mission.  It was only then, that I realized that the rest of the operation had been scrapped.  All but the pathfinder formation.  They had no main force, and no fighter backup. 

The mission was in the middle of the day, with clear skies, and no cloud cover. 

Lambs led to slaughter.

  
                                       
  R E Pearce 2004                            
                                       
 
 
 

Dedicated to those of my crew who did not return
 

Pilot ..F/Lt .Arndt W Rief ...J/86455...RCAF ...KIA

Engr ..Sgt. John Paterson ...1823399...KIA

Nav ..P/O .Kenneth H Austin ...J/90857...RCAF ...KIA

B/Aim ..P/O ..Peter Uzelman ...J/93105...KIA

W/Op ..F/Sgt ..George Owen...1622728 ...KIA
 
 

This operation by 8 Group was led by Squadron Leader Robert Palmer DFC & Bar in Lancaster PB371 of 582 Squadron (S/Ldr Palmer was loaned from 109 Sqdn) acting as Master Bomber using Oboe who was awarded a posthumus VC. For details Click Here

 

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