Fretz's crew was formed in Tonopah, Nevada and in late 1943 picked up a new B-24 at Hamilton Field, Ca. From here they flew to West Palm Beach , Florida by way of
Phoenix, Az., Midland, Tx. and Memphis, Tenn.
After a few days in West Palm Beach it was off to Manduria, Italy via Trinidad, Belem, Brazil, Forteleza, Brazil, Dakar, Africa and Marraketch, Morroco.
After arriving in Manduria, the crew was split up and assigned to fly several missions with experienced crews, before flying together in combat.
On 29th April 1944 while flying their 11th mission, to bomb a U-Boat base in Toulon, France, the crew were shot down and forced to bail out 75 miles from the French coast,, in the Mediterranean Sea.
They were picked up three days later by a German amphibeous aircraft...........Read the whole story HERE
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