Not Known

Not Known

1-0-1 338FS

0-0

Downed on 20 November 1944.
Lt.Col. Jones was the Deputy Group Commander and was leading the Group. He tells his story:

We had been strafing trains and I had just destroyed a gun emplacement when I heard a "plunk" that told me the plane was hit some where. Smoke started coming out the exhaust stacks, one and then another bearing burned out and started knocking, and smoke was filling the cockpit so badly I could hardly see the instruments. I had turned south toward friendly territory in France. Soon the engine lost power and I had to lower the nose and glide to maintain flying speed. Using my oxygen mask kept me from breathing the smoke, but I still couldn't read the instruments to make sure I was going south.
I pulled the canopy release lever and with the canopy gone the smoke cleared. The altimeter passed through 1500 feet and there was no suitable field to crash land. I rolled the plane over on its back, dropped out, and pulled the ripcord --the chute opened instantly. On the second swing of the chute my back thudded into the ground violently. Golly, but that hurt! For a minute I just laid there dazed, thinking I was paralyzed. It took all my strength and determination to roll over, get up to hands and knees, and pull in the chute so I could hide.
I heard voices that turned out to be a group of children. I approached them and they all smiled and their queries established me as an American. They took me to a farm house nearby and I met the lady of the house. They kept me for four days. On the fourth day a man rode up on a bicycle who could speak a little English. It was at this time I determined that I was between the German and Allied lines. He told me that tomorrow a man would come and lead me to the Allied lines.

The next morning a man riding a bicycle and precariously holding the handle bars of another arrived. After many good-byes and merci beaucoup the man and I peddled off down the road. We hadn't gone very far when we met a tank coming our way. It didn't take any genius to recognize it as Canadian, as it had a large maple leaf painted on its front. A Lt. Allen came out of the hatch when I motioned them to stop. After a few pointed questions he accepted me as an American and I stayed with his unit that night. The next day they provided me with a jeep and a driver and we went to Ghent, Belgium. After a night on the town I was flown back to England on an English courier plane.
Reproduced with kind permission of Mr. Robert M. Littlefield from the author's book Double Nickel - Double Trouble

LtCol. Charles O. Jones (Robert M. Littlefield)

Post war shot of LtCol. Jones serving in the USAF (R. Abbey)

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