Staff Sgt. Frederic C. Martini
USAAF 551st Bomb Squadron
from:Coney Island  NY
Staff Sgt. Frederic C. Martini was stationed with the B-17's at Gt. Ashfield, Suffolk, England. He was a Flight Engineer & Top Turret Gunner. I lived in Stowmarket, a small town about ten miles from Gt. Ashfield. I had no idea my future brother-in-law was stationed so close by. I was only seven.
Later I would tease Fred, asking him if he was the American Air Force fellow we picked up along the road one evening, heading for Gt. Ashfield. We took him home to have a meal with us and my mother fed him the last egg we had, being on strict rationing at that time. I asked Fred if he was that fellow and his reply had nothing to do with eggs! Unfortunately, I can't tell you his reply here anyway!
Fred's B-17 was shot down three times. Once they ditched in the English Channel near a rescue buoy & were picked up by the RAF Air-Sea Rescue; another time they crash-landed in a British field; the third time they went down over France & Fred was taken in by the French Underground. However, someone turned him in & he spent time in Buchenwald until they were liberated. He didn't talk much about those times
