Donald Scott was born and raised in Stuart, Virginia. His first contact with the Army was when he was a 21-year-old, sophomore at Virginia Tech [Annotator’s Note: Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Virginia]. He enlisted in the Reserve Corp [Annotator’s Note: Enlisted Reserve Corps] Scott thought this meant that he would be allowed to continue his studies and graduate but he instead received orders in April of 1943 to report to Camp Meade, Maryland [Annotator’s Note: Fort George Meade, Maryland] for active duty. He was assigned to the Army Air Forces and given a physical examination. His exam report was stamped “qualified aerial gunner”. Hearing that the lifespan of a gunner was measured in seconds, he did not think that sounded good. He took a troop train from Camp Meade to Miami Beach, Florida for basic training [Annotator’s Note: Miami Beach Wartime Training Center]. This was easy for him as he had been in ROTC [Annotator’s Note: Reserve Officers’ Training Corp] at Virginia Tech. After basic training he went to Sioux Falls, South Dakota [Annotator’s Note: Sioux Falls AAF, 335th Army Air Force Base Unit] for Radio Operator and Mechanics school where he learned and taught Morse Code. After graduating from Sioux Falls, Scott went to Yuma, Arizona for Gunnery training, which he enjoyed due to his experience as a hunter [Annotator’s Note: Yuma Army Airfield]. He practiced with both 30 caliber and 50 caliber machine guns in ground school and in aerial practice which he describes in detail. Scott’s next training took place at Drew Field in Tampa, Florida where he became part of a 10-person training crew. He describes the technical specifications of the B-17 Flying Fortress [Annotator’s Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress] in great detail.

After finishing his training, Donald Scott was put on a troop ship to the 8th Air Force field in Knettishall, England to become a member of the 388th Bomb Group [Annotator’s Note: 388th Bombardment Group]. There they trained in tight formation flying. Scott’s first mission was on 11 August 1944 and the target was the railroad marshalling yards at Mulhouse, France which was still occupied by German forces. No enemy aircraft or flak was encountered on what he describes as “milk run”. Mission 11 for the Group was 28 September 1944, with a replacement B-17 [Annotator’s Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress] named G.I. Jane [Annotator’s Note: B-17 #43-37520] because their aircraft was being repaired. They targeted synthetic oil refineries at Merseburg, Germany. One of Scott’s duties was to plug in power to the IFF unit [Annotator’s Note: Identification, friend or foe radar-based identification system] which was used to identify returning aircraft to friendly forces. The unit contained a self-destruct mechanism. On this flight, a damaged switch caused the unit to explode when powered up. The pilot decided to continue the mission without the IFF, figuring they would still be in formation with other friendly aircraft. Scott describes putting out chaff to confuse the enemy anti-aircraft, or flak, guns. Despite being heavily defended, the aircraft made it to the target, dropped the bombs, and flew into clear sky before being hit and damaged by flak. Scott and several crew members could not breathe well due to the oxygen system being damaged. The ball-turret and top-turret gunner shad to leave their posts to get oxygen bottles. Two engines were destroyed, and one was heavily damaged. The aircraft was still under control but was slowing and descending with no functioning radio or intercom system. The formation left them behind. The pilot and top-turret gunner were temporarily blinded, and the co-pilot assumed control. The top-turret gunner accidentally opened his parachute inside the aircraft rendering it useless. The crew began to throw equipment out of the plane to try and slow the aircraft’s descent. Scott and the crew were hoping to be able to nurse the plane over occupied, friendly territory before bailing out.

Donald Scott was a radio operator on the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, G.I. Jane [Annotator’s Note: B-17 #43-37520]. The aircraft was severely damaged on a mission to bomb the railyards at Merseburg, Germany. Scott says the pilot made the decision to bail out. The top turret gunner was carrying his parachute which he had accidentally opened inside the aircraft [Annotator’s Note: Scott picks up a model of a B-17 and shows where the gunner bailed out of the plane]. The gunner’s parachute did open for him. The gunner was followed by Sweeney, the waist gunner [Annotator’s Note: Waist gunner: Warren Sweeney. Source: Dave Osborne, B-17 Fortress Master Log] and then it was Scott’s turn. He jumped out of the plane and was injured by the straps of the parachute when it opened. He describes how suddenly quiet it once he was clear of the craft. He thought he was being shot at while he was in the clouds. Once Scott got into clear sky, he could see his crewmate Sweeney and a smoking town next to a river below. He later discovered it was Koblenz, Germany on the Rhine River. He crashed through trees and hit the ground hard. [Annotator’s Note: Scott pauses in reflection after describing how it felt to be standing on the ground]. After freeing himself, he attempted to go to Sweeney, but was interrupted by someone shouting at him while pointing a gun at him. As Scott moved towards the stranger, he saw that his helmet had a Nazi swastika on the side. [Annotator’s Note: Scott puts his hands in the air and shakes his head while smiling] He sees Sweeny is being captured as well. Scott and Sweeney were marched up to a building where there were other German soldiers. There he was physically attacked by an elderly civilian from the town. The German soldiers searched Scott and took his pocketknife, survival kit, Bible, and wristwatch. He was given a receipt for his watch despite never seeing it again. By the evening, Scott’s crew members had all been captured, placed in jail and afraid of would happen to them. [Annotator’s Note: Scott smiles, laughs, and is animated throughout this part of the interview]. The next day they were put on a train to Dulag Luft Interrogation Camp near Frankfurt, Germany [Annotator’s Note: Durchgangslager der Luftwaffe, Transit Camp of the Airforce. Scott does not make it clear whether it was Oberursel or Wetzlar- it was likely Oberursel which was nearer Frankfurt]. They separated the crew and Scott never saw any of them again. He was placed into solitary confinement and made to remove his shoes to preclude escape. He noticed that there were many marks on the walls that he assumed were indicators of how long other prisoners had been held.

Donald Scott was imprisoned by German forces after his B-17 Flying Fortress was shot down over Koblenz, Germany. He was taken to Dulag Luft Interrogation Camp near Frankfurt, Germany on 29 September 1944. [Annotator’s Note: Durchgangslager der Luftwaffe, Transit Camp of the Airforce. Scott does not make it clear whether it was Oberursel or Wetzlar- it was likely Oberursel which was nearer Frankfurt]. He was placed in solitary confinement and on 30 September he was taken to an interrogation room. The interrogator was very cordial and offered him a cigarette, which he refused as he did not smoke. The interrogator told Scott that they just needed to fill out some forms and then he would be released to a prison camp. He was asked about radio call signs, frequencies, the bases and organization back in England [Annotator’s Note: ]. Scott used the Geneva Conventions to refuse to answer for several days. After a few days, Scott was brought back in and accused of being a spy and the interrogator hinted at executing him. [Annotator’s Note: Scott gets very animated during this part of the conversation]. Scott was released to a permanent camp despite his refusal to cooperate beyond Geneva Convention requirements. He was moved to Stalag Luft 4 in northeastern part of what is now Poland near the Baltic Sea. [Annotator’s Note: Gross Tychow, Pomerania (now Tychowo, Poland). The closest Getty listed town is Bialogard, Poland] The camp held eight thousand prisoners who were mostly Americans with some British who Scott was placed with. Russian prisoners were separated from the others and were forced to work–including some women prisoners. Scott got along really well with the sixteen British, one of whom gave up his bunk for Scott’s use.

Prison life became routine and food was scarce for Donald Scott. He had been imprisoned after his B-17 Flying Fortress was shot down over Koblenz, Germany. He was later moved to Stalag Luft IV in what is now Tychowo Poland. [Annotator’s Note: Gross Tychow, Pomerania (now Tychowo, Poland. The closest Getty listed town is Bialogard, Poland] The main rations were Irish potatoes and Schwarz brot (black bread). The Germans would give the men the rations and they would take a knife they had been given and scrape the skin off the potatoes instead of peeling them to save on waste [Annotator’s Note: Scott leans forward and grabs a knife and shows it to the camera while indicating it is the knife from the camp]. Each camp had a cook house of their own. They occasionally received horse meat and would take turns working in the cook house to make soup. The camp had high fences, guard towers, and an area with a low wire. Scott says that if a prisoner was caught between the low wire and the main fence, they would be shot. He says that they received a lot of Red Cross parcels and claims that those were the reason a lot of the prisoners made it through to the end of the war. Scott describes the contents of the parcels as being very special. [Annotator’s Note: Scott holds up a tin cup from one of the parcels and grows quite reflective. He is encouraged to list the ingredients by the interviewer]. Scott sold his Red Cross-supplied cigarettes to get money for other things. He says a lot of the guards could be bribed and some prisoners were able to get components to build a radio that they kept hidden. They could listen to the news on BBC [Annotator’s Note: British Broadcasting Corporation] After listening to the news, they would disassemble the radio, hide the parts, and then tell the news to the other prisoners. Scott says the Germans withheld most of the parcels received, but that the prisoners would divide up whatever they did get amongst themselves. Items also came in through neutral countries like Sweden or Switzerland– record players, records, books, and sports equipment. Propaganda was broadcast over loudspeakers. The prisoners were also given opportunities to join the Luftwaffe. The barracks were built above ground to help prevent tunneling for escape. He says the guards had dogs that they would use to intimidate the prisoners and he relates a story that one of the dogs was captured by the prisoners and eaten for food, although he can’t vouch for the veracity of the story. Scott talks about how cold the winters were and that one time he and his fellow prisoners got reprimanded for not having a Christmas display. He said that on Christmas day the Germans did not lock up the barracks as early as they usually did.

Donald Scott, a prisoner of war in Germany, describes being able to hear the guns of the Germans attacking the advancing Russian forces. The Germans made the decision to evacuate the camp in late January or early February according to Scott. Scott sewed a shirt into a strapped pack so that he could carry items easily. He also describes making a sleeping bag out of a blanket and being marched past a huge pile of Red Cross food parcels, where he picked up as much as he could carry. The prisoners were marched 3 abreast with a German guard on each side. Scott describes that first night as the coldest in his life as they had to sleep on the frozen ground. Later in the march, they were allowed to sleep in barns. The prisoners were marched west away from the Russians. Farmers they passed would give them potatoes and bread, but many of the prisoners suffered from malnutrition, dysentery, and frostbite. Scott and his fellow prisoners made it south near Hanover, Germany and were crammed onto box cars, where they stayed during the day to avoid Allied aircraft. Traveling at night kept them from being attacked. The prisoners and Scott arrived at prison camp 11B where they slept in a tent on straw [Annotator’s Note: Stalag XI-B and/or Stalag XI-D located just east of Fallingbostel, Germany]. He says there were so many prisoners crammed together, that they touched when lying down. This caused the spread of lice among them. After just a few days, the Allied armies coming from the West forced the Germans to put the prisoners on another march towards Denmark. Scott had worn out his shoes but managed to find some British Army shoes that had not been broken in. The shoes wounded his feet so badly that Scott could not keep up with the other prisoners. He talks about how he was treated by the guards because of this, and he says he thought to himself, “this war is coming close to the end and I might look for you” with regard to one guard in particular [Annotator’s Note: Scott scowls briefly and hesitates before continuing]. Scott was ultimately able to keep up. Around the middle of April 1945, Scott says the guards told them President Roosevelt had died [Annotator’s Note: Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945]. They thought it was just more propaganda. They were still marching north and came to the Elbe River. He says the German plan was to ferry the prisoners across the river under cover of darkness to avoid Allied fighter aircraft. One morning they got a large group of prisoners across just at daylight. Two British Spitfires were coming at them from down the river [Annotator’s Note: Scott holds up a model of a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress to demonstrate the Spitfire’s movements]. One Spitfire splits off to begin a strafing run when the prisoners start waving their arms. The pilot realizes that they aren’t enemy forces and peels off, wagging his wings in acknowledgement. Scott says that was one of the best moments in his life.

Due to advancing Russian and Allied forces, Donald Scott and his fellow prisoners of war were marched from their prison camp 11B [Annotator’s Note: Stalag XI-B and/or Stalag XI-D located just east of Fallingbostel, Germany]. 1 May 1945, they came to Zarrentin [Annotator’s Note: Zarrentin am Schaalsee, Germany] and stopped at a farm. There they were told that the British Army was in the next town to the west of them and were coming to take Zarrentin the next day. The guards allowed one prisoner to go through to make contact with the British troops and ask them for instructions. Scott says they were told to sleep in their clothes, which he thought was comical, so that they could evacuate if the British “lobbed a few shells” into the town. Scott slept soundly overnight. He and another prisoner awoke and built a fire to make coffee and breakfast. Around mid-morning, someone called out “they’re here”. Scott saw a column of military vehicles coming into the town. Scott ran down and shook their hands. Their German guards had fled overnight and only one fearful, elderly guard remained. The British soldiers took that guard’s gun and broke it on the ground. Scott looked around the town and saw white flags hanging from the windows of the buildings. He knew then that they were free. He said it was the happiest day of his life and that he still celebrates the second of May every year. [Annotator’s Note: he pauses and looks at the camera before continuing].

Donald Scott and his fellow prisoners of war were told by the liberating British soldiers to sit and wait for someone to come get them as the troops had to move onto the next town. He says there were many German vehicles on the side of the road that had run out of fuel, but he two friends found a truck with some gas remaining. They took that down the road until it ran out of fuel and then started on foot again. After a while, a British soldier came by in a jeep and took them to a village called Boizenburg [Annotator’s Note: Boizenburg, Germany]. There was an American Army [Annotator’s Note: US Army] detachment there who fed them and gave them a place to stay. It was the first time in a long time that Scott slept on a real bed. One of Scott’s friends found a German rifle with ammunition and fired it out their window, making a terrific noise. A G.I. truck came and picked them up and took them to Lüneberg [Annotator’s Note: Lüneburg, Germany] where the American Army had taken over German barracks and set up RAMP [Annotator’s Note: Recovered Allied Military Personnel]. There they were fed, deloused, and given new uniforms. Eventually Scott and the others were taken aboard a C-47 transport plane [Annotator’s Note: Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota] to Le Havre, France to Camp Lucky Strike [Annotator’s Note: Camp Lucky Strike was located between Cany and Saint-Valery, France. It was of nine camps called Cigarette Camps and housed 58,000 soldiers]. Scott would eat breakfast twice every day as he did not know how much weight he had lost in prison. He was in the camp for two weeks waiting to get on a troop ship. The ship was so full of troops that it was three people per bunk. Scott got seasick but didn’t mind because he was going home. He went by the Statue of Liberty when they reached the U.S. at Camp Shanks [Annotator’s Note: US Army installation near Orangetown, New York]. Then they went to Camp Meade Camp Meade, Maryland [Annotator’s Note: Fort George Meade, Maryland]where Scott was put on leave and sent home where he spent two weeks before receiving orders to go to Miami to a processing center where he was assigned to Greenville Army Air Base, in Greenville, South Carolina. He was promoted to tech sergeant [Annotator’s Note: US Army Technical Sergeant]. While working in the Air Inspector’s Office. When he received enough points for discharge, he was sent to Richmond Army Air Base, in Richmond, Virginia where he was discharged. He returned to Virginia Tech [Annotator’s Note: Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Virginia] and finished up his degree. Scott pauses and then says, “that’s the saga of my WW2 experience.” [Annotator’s Note: Scott laughs when he says this.]

Donald Scott, a returning prisoner of war, says he brought home a lot of things he gathered up in Germany, such as German bibles, his flak jacket, and more. He did not bring back any weapons thinking they would be taken at Customs, but Customs did not check for anything. He took a bus from Laurel, Maryland to Washington D.C. where he called home first. He had filled out a form at Luneburg that the Army used to send a telegram to his parents telling them off his liberation. He caught another bus from Washington to his home at Stuart, Virginia. He recalls driving a car felt strange. After arriving home, he would drive his mail carrier father on his mail route [Annotator’s Note: Scott pauses with some emotion when speaking of his father]. Scott particularly enjoyed being with his brother who was a B-24 pilot [Annotator’s Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator. Scott gets choked up and teary when discussing his brother]. Scott’s brother had been in service in England around the same time that Scott was there. His brother had found Scott’s Army Air Base and went to meet him, but by that time, Scott was already missing in action. Scott and his brother would fly around in a rented plane for most of the summer. His brother also finished his education at Virginia Tech [Annotator’s Note: Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Virginia] where Scott finished his own studies a short time later. Scott’s brother was an avid tennis player and died from a massive heart attack while playing tennis at age 70 in 1993. Scott is age 86 at the time of the interview.

Donald Scott majored in Electrical Power Engineering at Virginia Tech [Annotator’s Note: Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Virginia] after he returned from the war. He went to work for Virginia Electric and Power Company in South Boston, Virginia. Scott had a hard time getting the military out of his blood. He realized that the peace time military was different from war time, but he re-enlisted. Scott went to Radar School in Biloxi, Mississippi [Annotator’s Note: Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, Mississippi] and then to Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia. He became disenchanted with the military as well as how difficult it would be to raise a family in the service even though he was single. This was during the Korean War period. He separated from the service and went to work for Lockheed [Annotator’s Note: Lockheed Martin Corporation] and moved to Marietta, Georgia. After close to 16 years there in the C-5A program [Lockheed C-5A Galaxy], he was laid off. Scott then went to work for Western Electric Company in Sandy Springs, Georgia which was close to Atlanta. Five and a half years later, Scott was laid off again. Then he applied for Civil Service work [Annotator’s Note: United States federal civil service] and went to work in the C-141 in the engineering department at Warner Robins Air Force Base [Annotator’s Note: Now Robins Air Force Base in Georgia]. Since he had worked on the C-141 program [Lockheed C-141 Starlifter] at Lockheed it was a natural fit. He enjoyed his work there on updating the flight data recorder for the aircraft. Scott also worked on engine fire detection systems. [Annotator’s Note: Scott holds up a model of a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and points to the engines when talking, noting that he was unaware of the B-17 even had such a system.] He explains how the system works to alert the pilot to a fire. He managed to get transferred from Robbins to a detachment at Lockheed although his official paperwork assigned him to Cannon AFB in San Antonio [Annotator’s Note: Cannon Air Force Base is actually in Clovis, New Mexico and not in San Antonio] for a C-5 wing modification program. [Annotator’s Note: Scott again picks up the B-17 model to demonstrate.] This put him back to living at home in Stuart, Virginia, which he really loved. He also worked on the C-5B model of the Galaxy aircraft. He then retired from civilian service 30 December 1989.

Donald Scott discusses his retirement from Federal civil service which he entered after being discharged from the Army after World War 2. He became a private pilot and had a Walker Champ [Annotator’s Note: Aeronca Model 7 Champion] for more than 38 years. He had some mishaps with it. The craft was blown over in a windstorm once. Scott took the wings off of it himself and towed the fuselage and wings to his home and rebuilt the aircraft himself over 6 years. He describes the plane in detail [Annotator’s Note: Scott laughs telling this story]. He received his private pilot license in 1978. Scott sold the plane. He talks about the local airport shifting to a larger flight line that tends to not favor the small aircraft of the private pilots and caters more to corporate small craft. He also describes the locale where the aircraft is with its new owner.

[Annotator’s Note: The interviewer asks Scott about his buddies at the time of his liberation in France]. Donald Scott cannot remember the names of the men he was liberated with during his march as a prisoner of war. [Annotator’s Note: Scott appears to struggle with the effort to remember]. He remembers a lot of the people he trained with but not his fellow prisoners, whom he never saw again. He never saw his flight crew members in any prison after being shot down. He and his crew members did manage to contact each other after the war. The B-17 [Annotator’s Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress #43-37520/G.I. Jane] top turret gunner, White, [Annotator’s Note: Flight engineer/top turret gunner Leon White ] came to see Scott while Scott was in Virginia Tech [Annotator’s Note: Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Virginia]. After many years, Scott discovered the 388th Bomb Group Association Annotator’s Note: 388th Bombardment Group] through the B-17 navigator. Scott joined but didn’t go to reunions until one at Williamsburg, Virginia where he first saw the bombardier. At a reunion in Savannah, Georgia he reunited with the co-pilot [Annotator’s Note: Joe Waickus]. He describes where other crew members live and of their health. Scott even attended a reunion in 1992 in Cambridge, England near their old base at Knettishall, England. He visited and saw the area had been turned into farmland and some housing developments. Scott returned to the site a few years later and met some people who had been children when he was stationed there. He says there is a monument to fallen troops and a small museum that these people take care of. [Annotator’s Note: The interviewer asks Scott what going back is like.] Scott says that he does not recognize the area when he goes back. He discusses not going to London on leave due to the fear of German V2 bombs [Annotator’s Note: V-2 rocket Aggregat 4]. He did go on leave to Bury St. Edmunds, England that had a cemetery from the 16th century. He did not drink so he never went to any pubs. While on a recent trip to the area, Scott was on a tour bus that did stop at a pub called The Swan for lunch [Annotator’s Note: Scott asks someone off-camera if that’s the correct name]. A British newspaper reporter had a woman dressed in a WW2 uniform as a model with him. He asked Scott to pose for a picture with her kissing him [Annotator’s note: Scott laughs out loud and tells the interviewer he’ll have to see the picture. The interviewer then asks Scott to show him his artifacts from the war]. Scott shows a can he fashioned a drinking cup out of and his prisoner-of-war medal, along with several other objects. He says he had to prove he had been a prisoner as his Army record made no mention of it. [Annotator’s Note: The interview ends with Scott mid-sentence talking about some of the objects].