World War II, H.P. Barber

A random act of kindness from an enemy soldier saved the life of H.P. Barber, of Windsor.
Barber is an Air Force veteran of World War II. He was a gunner and armament man on a B-24, serving with the 448th Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force.
During the 13 bombing missions he flew, the sky was full of planes. Barber witnessed several planes from other squadrons blow up right beside him.
“We had holes every time we took a mission. That flak — how a plane flew through it, I don’t know. It was bad,” said Barber.
The day Barber’s plane went down, one engine was shot out and their fuel line was cut. The pilot wanted to make it back to the coast, but the crew was forced to land in Holland. A Dutchman saw them come down, along with a German in a church tower. The men were told the Germans shot every crewman who crashed there the week before. Barber wasn’t sure why his crew was spared.

TAKEN PRISONER
The first night in Amsterdam, the men were given a bucket of barley soup to eat. Barber’s crew turned their noses up and refused to eat it. “Turned out to be the best meal we had all the time we was over there, and that’s the truth,” said Barber.
Then the men were put into individual cells and interrogated for seven or eight days. The cells were dark and were filled with straw and a mattress. Keeping track of time was impossible. The enemy looked at them through a small peephole in the door.
The man who interrogated Barber spoke English well and said, “Anybody have a dog tag on? We’ll send you to concentration camp. Do you know what that is?”
Barber played dumb and told him he hadn’t a clue and was put back in his cell. Barber feared for his life.
A few days later the enemy soldier brought in a beautiful woman. Barber was scared to death she was going to come into his cell to find out what he knew. At that time, Barber couldn’t even think of the name of his commanding officer.
The enemy pushed a button, let him out and Barber walked outside. He was surprised to find his crew. They were loaded into a boxcar and spent the first night in the marshaling yards in Berlin. The cars shook most of the night, because they were bombed.
Barber’s crew noticed guards in towers, when they were about five miles from their destination. That is where they were forced to stay. Barber said the food was terrible. The Americans were supposed to get a Red Cross parcel each week. After a couple of months, the men received half a parcel, because the Germans took the other half.

THE LONG WALK
The Germans feared the Russians were coming from the east and needed to evacuate the camp of 10,000 prisoners. Barber and the other men left on foot on Feb. 6 and didn’t make it to camp until May 2. Each prisoner was allowed to carry a blanket, a pack and a tin can. They were forced to sleep on the ground, even during rain, snow and sleet. The Americans became sore and weak.
The prisoners weren’t allowed to eat anything until the evening. Each night they received three plain potatoes that were steamed and a tin can of water. The worst part is they weren’t allowed any salt. They ate this meal every day for three months. After a while, a lot of the prisoners suffered from diarrhea. This made it difficult to travel the 18 to 20 miles they were forced to walk daily.
Fortunately, they passed an English doctor going the other way. The prisoners told them about their problem and he said he had a sure fix. He told the men to pick up burnt pieces of wood around the fire and eat them. The charcoal in the wood was the key. Barber said it worked and he never went without it. He chewed on wood on most of his walks.

LUCKY BREAK
Barber had a bad knee and one day it buckled. No matter what he did, his knee wouldn’t hold him up. He sat on the side of the road while the other prisoners passed him. The guards kicked him and told him to get up and walk on. A German guard in his 40s walked by and kicked him, but noticed Barber pointing at his knee. The guard then sat down beside him and took the loaf of bread he had on his belt, cut it in half and gave half of it to Barber.
The soldier spoke to him in German, but Barber couldn’t understand him.
Barber looked at him and said, “Oh buddy, I know you can’t understand me, but I’m going to tell you this anyway. I’ll give you $10,000 to get me out of here. I said, ‘I ain’t got it with me, but I can sure get a hold of it.’ ”
The soldier turned around with a big smile and said, “I’ll give you $10,000 to get me out of here.” He was from Chicago. He had been in Germany visiting distant relatives. When the war broke out, he was drafted into the Germany army.
Barber credits that soldier with saving his life. He promised Barber he would do what he could to help him. He got a German with a wagon to haul them. Barber laid in the back of the wagon all day and rested. That evening when they stopped, Barber got out and could finally stand up again. He walked about a quarter of a mile. He was surprised to find his two buddies, who were hooting and hollering. They had been told the war was over.

LET’S GO CRAZY
Everybody went crazy and started grabbing the Germans’ guns.
Meanwhile, Barber sought to celebrate in a different way. He noticed a small farm with chickens. He went there, picked up two big hens, killed them and carried them back. He then found a bicycle and peddled to town.
He went into a small store and asked for food, but they didn’t have any. He then knocked on the door of a big white house. The woman of the house gave him a big hunk of cheese and bread. He noticed two German soldiers sitting on a bench with bayonets, but they didn’t say a word. He peddled back to his buddies and they had a big feast.
Barber was so anxious to return to Windsor, he hitchhiked with a buddy to a temporary air camp. The next morning he saw a plane getting ready to take off for London and asked for a ride. He told the pilot he had been a prisoner of war. The pilot, who turned out to be the son of Jimmy Doolittle, a Medal of Honor recipient, told him to get a chute and climb aboard.
Throughout all the hardships, Barber said, “I’m proud of it. Real proud,” about serving his country.