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Interviewee
Naze, Glen
Document Type
Oral History
Date of Interview
6-15-2004
Abstract
Glen Naze was born 2 August 1919 on a farm at Montpelier, North Dakota some twenty miles south of Jamestown. He graduated from high school in 1937. He moved with his family to Winona, Minnesota, and it was here that Glen enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in June 1941. After joining the Army, but prior to departing for England, Glen was married (September 1943, wife Lorraine). Glen was trained as a flight engineer and top turret gunner on B-24 Liberator four-engine heavy bombers. In early 1944, he was posted to England, to the 389th Bomb Group, part of the 8th Air Force, based at Hethel, England. By mid-June 1944, Glen had completed twenty-two combat missions over Europe. On 21 June 1944, though, while on a mission to Berlin, Glen's B-24 was hit by ground fire and shot down over Germany. Glen bailed out and was captured. He was initially taken to the Dulag Luft interrogation facility, where he spent several days, then to Stalag Luft IV Grosstychow. When the Germans evacuated this camp in early February 1945, as Soviet troops closed in, all prisoners, some eight thousand were marched westward. Glen was in a group of POWs that spent the remainder of the war, some three months, on a meandering march to keep away from Soviet troops. This group finally was liberated by British troops in early May, near the German city of Stettin. Glen was among the US troops evacuated, and returned to the United States. He spent some time recovering from his time as a POW, then was discharged in September 1945. Again a civilian, Glen worked twenty-five years as a mechanic for Suburban Chevrolet in the Twin Cities.
Copyright
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced without the written permission of Concordia University Library or Thomas Saylor, Department of History, Concordia University, St. Paul.
Recommended Citation
Saylor, Thomas, "Oral History Project World War II Years, 1941-1946 - Glen Naze" (2004). Oral History Project: World War II Years, 1941-1946. 52.
https://digitalcommons.csp.edu/oral-history_ww2/52
PDF Transcript of Interview with Glen Naze