Bolton World War II veteran Natick Veterans Oral History Project
Channel: natvets1
Date: 2011-09-22

Lt. Allan Bolton trained in the new Army Air Force at Santa Ana, Calif., and Marfa, Texas. He reported for duty at Rougham Airfield in Bury St. Edmunds, England, joining the 94th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force as co-pilot on a B-17. Dodging enemy fire from the ground and the air, the crew made bombing runs to Norway, France and Germany. On one mission, with little fighter support, Bolton's plane went down and he bailed out over Germany. Separated from his crew and trapped behind enemy lines, he hid by day and moved at night. Captured and turned over to the Luftwaffe, Lt Bolton was sent to Stalag Luft 1, a POW camp in Barth, Germany. After the war, Bolton returned to Massachusetts and entered the Massachusetts Air National Guard. He had an extensive career in aviation as a pilot and as an instructor.