Voyageur Burroughs Rode A Voiture* in WW II

*(The "Forty and Eight" draws its origin from World War I, when the United States had young Americans in France to fight "The War To End All Wars." About the first thing they ran into was a droll bit of French humor known as a Voiture boxcar. The narrow gauge railroads of France had box cars that carried little more than half the capacity of American boxcars and these were used to transport the soldiers to and from the fighting fronts. Each boxcar carried 40 men or 8 horses (40 hommes et 8 chevaux). The cars were stubby, only 20.5 feet long and 8.5 feet wide)

Winston Burroughs, a 50 + years member of the American Legion, Jameson-Harrison Post 238, in Hughesville, Maryland, and Voyageur Militaire of Voiture Locale 456 in Southern Maryland rode the Voiture during World War II.  S/Sgt Winston Burroughs was assigned to the 306^th Bomb Group, 367^th Squadron, 8^th Air Force stationed at Thurleigh, England.  The date was February 1944.  Winston flew 22 ½ missions as a ball turret gunner in the B-17 Flying Fortress.  These missions were flown over occupied France and Germany.  Targets for his aircraft included Berlin, Kassel, Brunswick, the Normandy Invasion, Oberpfaffenhofen, Leige (Belgium), Noyan, France, Pas de Calais, and several others.  Winston said the mission over Pas de Calais; a heavily defended German Submarine Base was the one of the worst missions.  The Pas de Calais was protected by anti-aircraft guns and the Luftwaffe.  As a ball turret gunner, Winston was always on alert for German fighter aircraft.  He said when they were attacked by fighters; good gunnery and close formations were the best defense.  I have seen enemy fighters go down, but I never claimed one.  When the whole group of gunners were firing, we never knew which one finally made the kill shot.  We knew when he never made another pass or was smoking, he was a goner.  During the return leg on the Brunswick mission, the Luftwaffe attacked the B-17 formation.  During that attack, Winston was wounded and the tail gunner, Sgt Virgel Jenzen was killed.

On Jun 17, 1944, on a mission to Noyan, France, Winstons aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft flak.  The number three engine caught fire and the pilot, Lt. Dingman, was losing control of the aircraft.  He ordered a bail out and all crewmembers parachuted.  Winston had his ball turret rigged with a chest pack.  He turned the turret away from the slipstream, opened the hatch, and pushed himself out. 

Before he could pull the ripcord, he had to fasten the chute properly.  Since the bail out occurred at 20,000 feet, he had time to do this.  When the chute opened, he was still above the cloud cover.  It was so quiet and peaceful as he drifted along under the warm sun, he wondered if heaven was like this.  This tranquility was quickly broken as he came through the clouds.  He landed in the middle of a German Army Headquarters area.  During interrogation, he was kept at Rouen, France, the birthplace of Joan of Arc.  After a short period of time, Winston was transported to a Stalag in Germany.  The transportation was a Voiture.  The Voitures were used by the French during World War I to transport troops or horses to the front.  The boxcars were designed to carry 40 fully equipped infantry troops or 8 horses to the forward areas.  The boxcars carried the insignia 40/8 on the sides of the boxcars.  The Germans pushed over 100 American POWs into these cars for transport to Prisoner of War camps.

Winston was a prisoner of war for approximately one year.  Food and clothing was in short supply.  No prisoner had enough food to eat nor clothes to keep warm.  Winters were brutal to the prisoners of war.  Winston turned 21 in prison.  In February 1945, word reached them the Russians were coming.  The Germans marched the prisoners westward, away from the advancing Russians, in poor clothing and little or no food.  Winston and the other prisoners of war were liberated by a British patrol on May 5, 1945.  By this time, Winston was sick and emaciated.  The British took him and his fellow prisoners across the Elbe River to an airdrome.  Lancaster bombers were stationed there.  Sick though he was, Winston lived a wish when he was flown to Belgium in a Lancaster.  Once in Belgium, he was turned over to the American military where he was treated for jaundice and malnutrition.  He spent 21 days in an American hospital.  After discharge from the hospital, he returned to the United States.  For his service, S/Sgt Winston Burroughs was awarded the Air Medal (4 times), the Purple Heart, and the POW Medal, along with World War II Victory Medal.  Today, Winston belongs to many Veterans Organizations, including the 8^th Air Force Memorial Foundation.  He still has many strong memories from World War II.  When asked about riding in the Voiture, he said, It beat walking!  Winston is active in the American Legion, serving as the post Judge Advocate and in a similar capacity in VL 456, Grande de Maryland.

Submitted by Donald Fellows