This is a somewhat long story, but I thought this board may be able to point me in the right direction. I was recently told a story about my late grandfather that I had never heard before. Details were a little scarce, so I was hoping to fill in the gaps and get the whole story. I never served, so I apologize if I use improper terms here.
My grandfather served in WW2 as a B-17 pilot and passed before I was born. That's all I knew until a month ago. My dad told me his father was actually shot down and spent 2 years as a POW. The story was he commanded his own B-17, but filled in as SIC for someone that was sick at the last minute. They dropped their bombs and soon after, the airplane was crippled and could not make it back to England. They tried to navigate to Sweden, but somehow ended up putting the plane down in the middle of a German parade ground (or the middle of an actual parade if you ask Mom) in Denmark. The crew survived uninjured, but was captured and spent the next few years as POWs. The plane was returned to service by the Germans and used as a VIP transport of some sort.
I tried google, but could only come up with this:
http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/b17fortress.html
The "Down and Go" story seems to match, but I know that doesn't mean anything. And even there the details are thin.
Is there any place I can go to find out more information? Perhaps the military has some sort of record of this that I can request? I have no reason to doubt it happened. I really just want to know the whole story. I think my dad would also appreciate to know the whole story, so that's a secondary motive. Any help someone can provide would be appreciated.
My grandfather served in WW2 as a B-17 pilot and passed before I was born. That's all I knew until a month ago. My dad told me his father was actually shot down and spent 2 years as a POW. The story was he commanded his own B-17, but filled in as SIC for someone that was sick at the last minute. They dropped their bombs and soon after, the airplane was crippled and could not make it back to England. They tried to navigate to Sweden, but somehow ended up putting the plane down in the middle of a German parade ground (or the middle of an actual parade if you ask Mom) in Denmark. The crew survived uninjured, but was captured and spent the next few years as POWs. The plane was returned to service by the Germans and used as a VIP transport of some sort.
I tried google, but could only come up with this:
http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/b17fortress.html
The "Down and Go" story seems to match, but I know that doesn't mean anything. And even there the details are thin.
Is there any place I can go to find out more information? Perhaps the military has some sort of record of this that I can request? I have no reason to doubt it happened. I really just want to know the whole story. I think my dad would also appreciate to know the whole story, so that's a secondary motive. Any help someone can provide would be appreciated.
