cover image Kriegie: An American POW in Germany

Kriegie: An American POW in Germany

Oscar G. Richard, III. Louisiana State University Press, $27.95 (184pp) ISBN 978-0-8071-2562-5

A Louisiana native who served in WWII as a B-17 bombardier in the 384th Bombardment Group of the Eighth Air Force based in England, Richard was shot down in January 1944, on his third mission. He spent the remainder of the European war as a POW or kriegie, American slang for kriegsgefangener, prisoners of war. His account sketches his training, brief combat duty and capture, then describes life in the camp for captive aviation officers in northern Germany, liberation and the slow process of repatriation. Richard's chronology is based on notes he recorded in 1945, which he has related to the broader scenes by subsequent research and information from comrades. (Photos include some taken inside the camp by another prisoner using a contraband camera.) Richard depicts the complex camp sociology and remarks on how wartime comrades have sometimes crossed paths since then. His approach is unpretentious and solid, conveying in a relatively brief volume an eyewitness perspective that is valuable for the record. The book is peppered with war-related folklore, like the story of how the ""bloody"" 100th bomber group got its name: the crew of a crippled American bomber feigned surrender, then downed German pursuit fighters that had held off attacking. Afterwards, the Luftwaffe seemed to show special wrath for planes carrying that distinctive group insignia. There are contrasting anecdotes of chivalry in air combat, and even stories of adversaries who sought reunion in peacetime, making this a fine effort in a familiar mode. (June)