They were French and all smiles. they could have hidden me if the
Germans were not right there. the German was a young boy, but I gave
up any thoughts of escape as he was the one with the gun. He took me
back to the road where he had a bicycle. It seems the Germans
patrolled the roads on bicycles during air raids and captured the
Americans when they saw the parachutes coming down. If I had not
opened my parachute so soon he might not have seen me and I could have
reached the woods safely or the townspeople could have hidden me. It
was almost dark now as it was 8:00 pm. I walked along the dark road
with him behind me on the bicycle carrying the gun. After about an
hours walk we came to a city where I was taken into a building where
there were several German soldiers. They made me empty my pockets and
took my watch. They were interested in my 'May West' life vest so I
showed them how it worked and they all jumped when I pulled the pin
and it inflated. I was then put in a dark room, face down on a cot
with my ankles drawn up behind me and tied to my wrists. They left me
this way through the night and returned for me in the morning. Than I
was taken into the city of Metz where I was joined by some other
prisoners. Bruce was with them and I was very glad to see him and know
he was safe. We had been shot down at the same time. There were
several fellows from a bomber crew and we were a group of about ten.
They took us down one of the busy streets and we were a little nervous
as to the reaction of the civilians who we had been bombing, but they
just looked at us.
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