Story of a memorial.... The Monument for Air Casualties, in Francavilla Al Mare, Chieti province, Italy.-
Propeller of P.38-G10, plate number SN42-23460, with pseudonym “Bar fly†of the 1st fighters group – 94° Sq. – 15° Air Force stationed in Salsola (FG), as pilot the flight officer Cyril L. Nolen
On April 19th 1944 the USAF Flight Officer Cyril L. Nolen of 22 years old, born in St. Cloud (Minnesota). was assigned an escort to a B-17 training of the 463° bombers’ group that had as an objective the bombardment of: Castelfranco Veneto, Vicenza and Padua. Fortunately, the adverse weather conditions on the cities made the mission failed and the bombers released their bombs cargo in the Adriatic Sea.
On his way back, once arrived in the Adriatic coast near Ravenna, machine-gunned a train at a railway station, but run into a German anti-aircraft artillery located nearby; as a result the right side engine of his P.38 stopped working.-
There were not so many possibilities left to Nolen, injured and with only one engine to the left side, headed to the sea to return back to the base. On his report after his imprisonment, relates that few kilometers before the area where the English allies were located (Ortona), the left side engine stopped working too, and some smoke started filtering into the flight deck; at this point, the pilot had no other chance than attempting a sea landing (in that moment he was located in front of Francavilla) with successful results, given that the impact with water was quiet smooth.
Nolen rapidly jumped out of the cockpit while the aircraft slowly lied down to the sea bed. At that point, the German soldiers approached him, took him to their boat and made him their prisoner. That night, the German soldiers put him in a track together with another prisoner, and with an escort of five guards drove towards the North side. The second day of his capture, Nolen really risked to die, as the truck on which he was travelling experienced a partisans ambush (near Bologna); the vehicle broke in an escarpment, two soldiers died, the other prisoner broke his back; Nolen was injured on his head and fainted due to the impact. When he recovered consciousness, the first thing he saw was a German officer pointing a gun to his head. They continued the trip towards the North side, but due to his injuries, Nolen was taken to a hospital in Milan, after which they continued their trip to Frankfurt where the distribution centre and first interrogatory of allied prison aviators was located. -
Cyril L. Nolen
Some days after, Nolen was interned in the Stalag Luft3 in Sagan, near Berlin. During the first months of the 45’s and with the irruption of Russian, prisoners were moved to Nuremberg. Nolen tried to escape several times, suffering violent punishments as a result, until his lucky day arrived: taking advantage of a British night raid was able to run away together with other fellows through the lavatories of the field. Marched for seven days and got saved by returning to the American battalion.-
After the war, Cyril Nolen continued flying for different air companies; was also required for a year, as a reconnaissance aircraft pilot in the Vietnam War. Once he achieved his retirement, bought a small airplane which he used to take tourists to go for a fly.
Nolen died in Marlboro, New York in 1998.-
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