‘Shot From The Sky’ Author To Visit Booth Library—

Gunned Down In Switzerland And Falling On Deaf Ears

By Kendra Bobowick

Many deny the story World War II veteran Robert Long tells about the worst four months of his life, and consider him a liar, he says.

During a mission where he rode co-pilot, Mr Long said, “We were going to Munich on a factory bomb run when we were hit.” His plane lost engine number three, and number four “was sputtering,” he said. “It was difficult to stay in formation and we started to fall back. We knew we were going down.”

 Losing altitude over Munich and losing sight of friendly aircraft, Mr Long said they “tried for Switzerland,” and called for assistance if any was in the area. Mr Long’s next thought was, “We can’t make it over the Alps.”

Nor did anyone onboard his plane believe they could coast through a mountain pass, he said.

He considered and immediately dismissed options of crash landing in German territory.

The possibilities he saw on the ground “were murderous places,” he said.

As the only option, the pilot coasted the damaged plane over a lake toward Switzerland. Mr Long’s last minutes of freedom followed. Few have listened to his story until the mid 1990s, when Weston author and journalist Cathryn J Prince wrote her book, Shot From the Sky.

A book signing and discussion with the author will take place at C.H. Booth Library on Thursday, February 9, at 7:30 pm.

Forced to the Ground

“We heard three shots, then three more when our tail gunner said it looked like fighters at five o’clock,” Mr Long said. The foreign planes, which turned out to be Swiss, shadowed the struggling craft with Mr Long and other frightened soldiers.

One opposing plane, which turned out to be Swiss, “lowered the landing gear and another flanked us and led us to an airport,” he said. Yet he and fellow crewmen wondered, “Were they helping? Just a minute before they were shooting at us,” Mr Long said. Once on the ground Mr Long said, “vehicles came bristling toward us with machine guns … ‘Welcome to Switzerland’ they said.”

Once off the plane Mr Long’s and others’ stories of Swiss imprisonment begin.

He and other casualties either fallen or brought down from the air ended up captive in Switzerland during World War II.

(The Bee will feature the story of Newtown resident, World War II POW and VFW Post 302 member Richard Andrews in next week’s issue.)

A Prisoner’s Pardon

Several years ago one young woman reached to for Mr Long through an unusual chain of acquaintances. Cathryn Prince, 36, has made efforts to bridge the gap widened by years of secrecy. Ms Prince’s book, Shot from the Sky, tells the story of imprisoned World War II airmen, which has nearly eroded with time.

Mr Long, now living in New Jersey, spoke with Ms Prince, a native of Weston. Ms Prince shares a connection to Swiss history (she was living in the country when she married her husband, a resident of Switzerland, in 1994), and possesses a strong belief in Mr Long’s story of months of incarceration between 1944 and 1945.

Her father, a physician in Danbury, was Ms Prince’s first link to Mr Long. “One of my father’s patients had commented that he would only go back to Switzerland in a bomber,” she said. The patient told her father a story. Ms Prince explained, “He was a gunner on a B-24 that was forced to land [in Switzerland].”

As a stringer in Geneva for The Christian Science Monitor and a well-established journalist, Ms Prince “spoke with a few sources in Switzerland and verified that Americans were kept there in World War II.”

Her curiosity may bring understanding and action for American captives held by the Swiss in World War II.

 “From there I researched — archives, records — the Swiss kept meticulous records,” she said. “I also spoke with the [POWs].”

Based on what Ms Prince has learned, she retells the story of Switzerland’s wartime stance. “They wanted to be neutral and had said they would keep any belligerent, but…the Swiss weren’t as neutral as they said they were.”

Piqued, she said, “I hadn’t heard that Americans had been interned by the Swiss.”

Ms Prince dug deeper. She discovered that “a lot of people didn’t know about it.”

She claims “any information was rumor, misinformation and disparaging to these men.”

Her writer’s impulses prevailed.

“The more I researched, the more I felt this was a story that had to be told,” said Ms Prince. “Those POWs were discouraged by our government.”

Looking deeper into a story missing from US history books, Ms Prince kept searching for information.

“I was able to verify with medical records, with photos, and testimony,” said Ms Prince, who also spoke with about 30 ex-POWs, and looked at “written testimony of those deceased.”

Dismay replaced curiosity as her research provided another disadvantage of Swiss POWs.

“They were not granted POW status by our government because technically Switzerland was a neutral country,” she said.

Prisoners of War said they felt “betrayed because they were there and they did their duty,” said Ms Prince. Shot from the Sky evolved during a six-year period, from the mid 1990s until its publication in 2003.

She nearly faltered, however, “people who read it felt so vindicated and happy and that’s what drove me when I couldn’t find a publisher. And that kept me going.”

Her work also provoked displeasure.

There were some “Swiss born that definitely were not happy about it,” Ms Prince said. Her writing was also was putting cracks in a solid foundation.

“Switzerland had its myth of neutrality,” said Ms Prince, who also bucks the thought that Switzerland’s soldiers were “supposed to keep Hitler from invading.”

Ms Prince makes a counter suggestion, saying, “It was really banking ties and political ties that kept [Hitler] out.”

Cold, Hungry Places

Sharing one POW’s story imprinted in her memory, Ms Prince conveys the man’s experiences, which are eerily similar to Mr Long’s account. Ms Prince remembers, “‘Larry’ was shot down and he parachuted and was being shot at. He said he couldn’t believe the Swiss were shooting, he thought they were neutral.”

He was kept in an empty hotel room where he was “hungry and cold, but not mistreated,” she said. “But, if they tried to escape they were transferred to a camp.” She then described images of a terrible place with “double rows of barbed wire, and wooden bunks.

“The descriptions were disturbing. One loaf of bread was provided for ten men a day. To read it you would think it was about Germany.”

Most surprising was “the ferociousness with which the Swiss still deny it,” Ms Prince said.

Mr Long’s tale contradicts this denial. Once he disembarked from his grounded aircraft, Mr Long said, the Swiss inquired about wounded, and asked them to turn over weapons.

“What were we going to do?” Mr Long asked. “We were surrounded by bayonets, machine guns and rifles.”

Next, the men were “photographed and finger-printed like a bunch of criminals,” he said.

A barrage of questions followed. “There were a lot of people talking to us and interrogating…our rights weren’t much…”

He believes false reports indicated “that our crafts weren’t damaged,” he said. He and others were confused, and thought back to their original military service training.

“At every briefing we were told that if we were in trouble to get to Switzerland,” he recalled. Their discomfort grew when they asked about getting out.

According to Mr Long, prisoners were “told by the American consul that we were technically not supposed to escape.”

He did not understand these instructions. He said, “The war department had trained us and we were under orders to always try to escape.”

Standard procedure dictated an escape attempt, and Mr Long questioned, “Since when did a general have the authority to go over the war department’s head?” He knew something was wrong.

Incarceration took its toll. Prisoners lived through days of “boredom, boredom, boredom, boredom,” Mr Long said. “We got one roll with either coffee or hot cocoa and the roll had one spoonful of jelly. That was it, every day.”

Lunch was pumpernickel bread with potato soup or cabbage soup, he said.

At times the prisoners received roughly two ounces of meat.

“We would look at it and it would disappear, so you can imagine the meat,” he said.

Hotels were cold, and fresh water “came in a bowl and we would have to crack it every morning.”

Under the eye of a constant armed guard, Mr Long said the men had nothing to do, “absolutely nothing, but if we tried to escape, we were in trouble.” He said that those who attempted escape were taken to prison camps.

Words of Wisdom

Ms Prince’s book is “very accurate,” says Mr Long. “She knew what she was writing.” He is looking for validation, and remembers coming home from war in 1945. Mr Long also recalls the public’s response to stories of Swiss POWs

“Sometimes the vets were told they were liars,” he said. “That started in 1945 and it still goes on today.”

Prisoners still experience rebuttals to their story. “Fellows who visit the [Veterans Affairs Hospital] who are seeking help are shabbily treated,” said Mr Long.

Telling a particularly hurtful story, Mr Long spoke of a friend who had “taken a riffle butt to the face” as a POW, and years later experienced pain from the injury. “After the service, this fellow tried to get medical help. He said what had happened to him and they told him to get lost.” A private dentist was finally able to help him, said Mr Long.

The Swiss prisoners still have not received POW recognition from the government. Mr Long hopes Ms Prince’s book can help.

“Cathryn’s book talks about ho some veterans still have to fight battles. Some of our fellows are accused of making this up,” he said.