Scope and arrangement

Mr. Shaver, a native of Rowan County, N.C., recounts his experiences during World War II. He describes his enlistment in the U.S. Army Air Corp in 1942, and training at various U.S. bases before being assigned to a base in England where he served as flight engineer on a B-17 (the "Pistol Packin Mama"), that made bombing raids over Germany. He details how his plane was shot down over Holland (Nov. 5, 1943) during his third mission and his capture and escape from German troops. The remainder of the interview is occupied with his flight through Holland, Belgium, and France with the aid of underground elements in those occupied countries. He also relates his eventual crossing of the Pyrenees Mountains into Spain and his return to the U.S. where he had been officially declared dead.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of Kenneth David Shaver, Sr.

Processing information

Encoded by Apex Data Services

Copyright notice

Repository does not own copyright to the oral history collection. Permission to cite, reproduce, or broadcast must be obtained from both the repository and the participants in the oral history, or their heirs.

Metadata Rights Declaration

General note

1941-1945

Key terms

Personal Names

Shaver, Kenneth David

Corporate Names

United States. Army. Air Corps

Topical

Flight engineers--Interviews
Prisoners of war--Germany
Prisoners of war--United States
World War, 1939-1945--Aerial operations

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