Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1942-12-19
BY LIT. DANIEL E. KELLEY,

BY LII. DANIEL Z. KELLEY.
AN ALLIED BASE IN CENTRAL
AFRICA, Dec. IL Delayed The
best thing about being free again is
that now we don't have to eat any
more sardpes or black rice and raw
meat
When we were interned I weighed
215 pounds. At the end of the first
month in Africa had lost As
pounds. The other men lost IS to
20 pounds each. We are all gaining
now.
Reaching an American Army
camp after our seven long months
internment was like being born all
over again.
We have been living in another
world cut off from everything ex-
cept those sardines.
Compass Affected.
We landed at Conakry Airport at
IL am. May 6 after being in the
air for IA hours. Our compass ap-
parently was affected by the 49,
pound box of tools in our bomber.
and it threw us off our course. We
had to land because we were short
of fuel
My left tire had gone fiat in flight
and in landing it caused me to
swerve off the runway. Sparks from
the exhaust set fire to the tall grass
and we jumped out Of the plane to
beat out the flames with our flying
jackets and engine covers.
Ten minutes later were were sur
rounded by As native soldiers armed
with revolvers and led by a French
officer, That was our first realiza-
ton that we were in French terri
tory.
We were led away from the plane
and questioned by the military COM
mandant in French Guinea. We
gave our names, rank. and serial
understanding more-and re-
quested the commandant to inform
American authorities as to our
whereabouts.
1nterned with me were Co-pilot
George A. Young, IT,, of Needham
Mass; Bombardier Eric Downs of
Dallas, Tex: Navigator 1t. Jerome
M. Goldsmith of Atlanta, Ga;
Radio Operator Corpl. John F..
Thorn OF Leakey, Tex, and Gunner
Pvt. Tuberth Holmes of Denver,
Colo.
During the seven months before
we were released we were kept at
four different places-the island of
Tamara; Bamako in French Sudan:
Gao, the gateway of the Sahara,
and finally at Tongue, in French
Guinea.
Escape Plans Fail.
The only reason we could learn
why they moved us around was to
prevent our escaping or being
rescued. 1t was a good reason.
Three times we planned escapes and
each time our plans fell through.
We spent IL days at Tamara, a
coastal island We were treated
okay there but they kept us under
constant guard.
The terrific heat and the mos
quitoes made young Holmes and
myself i'll.
BY May Is we had recovered and
were taken by train to Kankan.
French Guinea, where we were held
for two days while they QUILTED a
truck to continue the trip to Ba-
mako. 1t took two days riding in
an open truck under intense heat
and dust to reach Bamaka. We
were hot, dirty, filthy bunch when
we got there.
We stayed in one room in Bamako
for II days. We slept on straw beds
infested with bugs. Food consisted
chiefly of black rice and raw meat
which had been lightly heated but
was uncooked Here we all fell sick
from lack of proper food and be-
cause of the hot. unsanitary quarters
Two guards and a French officer
| logged our every step.
The French then decided to move
us to a more permanent spot where
we could be kept until the war was
over. Gao, an isolated oasis on the
Niger River, was our next destina-
ton. 1t took seven days to reach it
by truck convoy. We saw our first
wild ostriches and gazelles en- route
Stuck Two Months.
At Gao We stuck for two months
and four days. The house was an
improvement over Bamako, but the
food was no better for the first six
weeks. After that our lot steadily
| improved.
The guards were not unkind, but
they checked our every move. We
had six new guards every week, as
the French were taking no chance
on their helping us to escape.
On July 81, through the interven-