During the approach of #909 the defenders of the island were putting up a fusillade of small caliber munitions. The aircraft passed the Ostland FLAK battery from NE to SW, and was well within range, but the FLAK appeared to have no influence on the ship's air worthiness. Sailors of the 216th Naval FLAK Battalion converged on the ship after landing and took the crew into custody. One crewman suffered a head wound. It is not clear who this was, and when the wound was suffered. The crew was taken to the Ostland FLAK Battery where they were interrogated by Oberleutnant Kurt Wentzel. Following their interrogation, the Americans were paired off with sailors. The island Kommandant, Fregattenkapitän Dr. Kurt Goebbell, ordered that the crew to be marched through the town of Borkum wth their hands up the entire way. Their destination was an airfield on the southern end of the island that could have been easily reached by a train running through the middle of the island not far from where they landed. The walk they would take was a lengthy one, especially with their hands up, and in full flight gear. The start of the march was over the sandy beaches. By the time the men reached the promenade on the NW end of the island, they were starting to get tired and overheated. At least now the walk would be easier as they walked the paved surface of the promenade. They soon came upon a working party of 60 to 100 men from the Reichsarbeitsdeinst (RAD), the German equivalent of the US Civilian Construction Corps. The workers were ordered by their foremen to form a gauntlet for the American airmen to pass through. As they did, the workers were to strike the airmen with their shovels or hands. The RAD men did as ordered, but it must be pointed out that the beating was not severe. The blows were not hard enough to knock the men off their feet, and their flight suits offered them some protection from the blows. It was becoming immediately evident to the airmen, that their lives may be in danger. While the RAD men showed some restraint, the guards did not intervene to protect the Americans. The senior enlisted man of the guard detail turned the column down the wrong street, Viktoria Straße, at first. Oberleutnant Wentzel directed them down a neighboring street. From there they wound their way through the main business district past another train station that could have easily taken them to their ultimate distination. Instead, the men were marched toward the townhall. There, the mayor, who had been alerted to the approach of the Americans, was waiting for them. Civilians had gathered to see the enemy and to vent their anger and frustration. The mayor, Jan “Varus” Akkermann, incited the crowd to kill the “Terrorfliegers” (terror airmen/flyers) like dogs. The words may have been foreign to the airmen, but the emotion behind them needed no translation. No testimony is given indicating that any civilian assaulted the Americans as they passed by. Amongst the civilians, a soldier assigned to the POW camp on the island had heard of the procession of prisoners and entered town armed with a carbine and service pistol. The soldier, identified as Gefreiter Erich Länger, had reportedly lost his wife and three children during an earlier raid on Hamburg. He was filled with rage and saw an opportunity to avenge the deaths of his family. He pushed his way through the crowd and approached the “little” airmen (Howard Graham). LT Graham had been having trouble all along the march, because his flight suit was too large for his short stature. He was constantly pulling up his pants. At the Rathaus he tripped and fell. Länger walked up to him and shot him in the head. Graham was still alive at this point, but would die shortly thereafter in the field hospital on the island. |