The long road back: Davis tells of his capture, escape during World War II

John Davis holding book of his veteran experience compiled by his son, Michael Davis. --Neoma Foreman/Special to the Daily Mail

He was able to attend high school in El Dorado Springs by walking about 3 miles both ways to school. He played football all four years, was on the track team, served as vice-president of his senior class and was in the senior class play. He graduated in 1934 in the heart of the Depression and no work was to be found. He finally found a job working on a farm near El Dorado Springs. He got up at 7 a.m. and helped milk 20-25 cows and was in the hay field by the time the sun was up, left the hay field about 9 or 10 p.m. and milked those cows again. He got a dollar a day.

In late summer, his brother, two sisters and Davis headed west to California. By 1939, he had returned to care for the farm as his father had a stroke and wasn't able to work anymore. In May 1942, he got his papers for induction into the U. S. Army; and in June reported to the Army Induction Center at Leavenworth, Kan. He was sent to Camp Wheeler Georgia for basic training. He had turned 30 in March of 1942 so was one of the older trainees. "I thought I was in pretty good physical condition, but basic training was rough. Adjusting to Army life was not fun."

After basic, he was sent to Ft. Bragg, N. C. and assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 47th Regiment, 9th Infantry Division with a light machine gun squad. A week later, he was shipped to Newport News, Virginia. An old freighter, U.S.S. D. L. Dix, had been converted to a troop transport. It had bunks for the troops that were four deep and an eight-foot ceiling with 18-24 inches between the bunk and the one on top.

"The bunk assigned to me was under a big guy. The bunk sagged so much that we almost touched when we both were lying down."

The task at hand was to invade Africa. Their convoy of 1,500 ships was the largest to cross the ocean. They could see maybe 50-60 boats at one time. They didn't stay close together and all the ships kept zigzagging.

"I never felt good from the day I got on the boat until the day we finally landed. I wasn't really seasick until about a week before we got there and were hit by a storm. I got really sick. I went to the galley for chow even though I didn't want to eat. Between the food that was spilled and the food others suffering from seasickness had lost, I don't think an ice rink could have been any slicker than the galley floor."

The ship arrived on the coast of Africa Nov. 7, 1942. The next morning, they started moving from the ship into small landing craft boats by climbing down rope nets.

He was loaded with his rifle, ammo belt, full field pack and the tripod for a .30-caliber light machine gun. The landing boat grounded about 30 to 40 yards out, dropped the front gate and they jumped off into water up to their knees and waded the rest of the way. They sunk into sand up to their shoes with every step.

They began moving across North Africa to Casablanca and turned east toward Algeria and Tunisia. Roads were trails and the big trucks could barely use them. "As we marched, we were given a 10-minute break each hour. I remember once when we had stopped for a break, a big sergeant dropped his pack, but when we were preparing to move, he didn't. He had died."

After moving all day, they would arrive at a camp that had been prepared by riders and a field kitchen would feed them. They were allowed to sleep wherever they could -- no tents, blankets or sleeping bags.

A lot of times they camped out in pouring rain in the open. "Once I was trying to sleep in two to three inches of standing water and had to use my helmet to keep my head up out of water."

As they approached Tunisia, action began at the El Guettor Battle on March 25. They were roused from sleep at 2 a.m., given a quick breakfast and sent out to march. The officers had neither sent out scouts nor advance patrols as they didn't think they were close to the German position. The sky was starting to show light when flares were launched and the entire valley was illuminated in a bright white light. Germans opened fire with mortars and heavy machine gun fire from both sides of their single file line.

"There was little or no cover. I got behind a rock that was maybe 20 by 20 inches. My squad was so taken by surprise we never did use the gun."

After taking withering fire from the hillsides for about two hours, a Major or Colonel raised a white flag and gave the order to surrender.

"Those of us that could move were rounded up, about 15 or so of us, and disarmed. We were put to work moving our wounded mates from the battlefield to a German aid station. Dead and wounded lay scattered over the floor of the valley. When we came to an American soldier that was badly wounded, the Germans would shake their heads and yell, "NO!" We had to leave the poor man to die."

After about two hours, they were moved to a barbed wire pen and left until morning when they were ordered to march which they did for almost two days. They were put into what appeared to be an old school at dusk.

"There was a large room with straw on the floor and 50 to 60 British and American prisoners of war already there. I had not eaten since the quick breakfast. A bowl of soup was served about noon. It appeared to be chickpeas. Each pea in my soup had a little white worm sticking out of it. I was so hungry I fished out the worms and ate the peas and soup."

The next day they went to be loaded on a ship at Tunis, but Allied planes strafed the harbor so they were taken back to the school. It took five days at that place before they were packed into an old transport plane and sent out over the Mediterranean."

From where I was sitting on the floor, I could see the water through a hole -- and we were close."

The plane landed at Palermo, Sicily, and they were moved to a trench nearby where they stayed a couple of hours before being loaded into the back of old cattle trucks and moved about 20 miles to a barbed wire enclosure. They were guarded by Italians and fed a kind of stew once a day. After 28 days, they were taken and placed on a barge destined for mainland Italy. It was a short trip and they were transferred onto a narrow gauge railroad car. As they were loaded onto the rail cars, they were each given three small loaves of bread and told they would be three days getting to the prison. They spent three days in the car before they even moved and then it took three days for the trip. The three rolls had to last six days.

"After the second day, another fellow and I managed to catch an Italian guard looking the other way and stole a couple of rolls of bread out of his bag. He was furious when he discovered his loss and would have shot whoever did it if he could have found out who it was. Apparently, the guards were given the same amount of rations and he would be shorter than we were.

We were taken to POW Camp PG59, located near a village named Saviglian, about two-thirds up the peninsula of Italy. The camp was enclosed by stone walls 18-24 inches thick and 10 to 12 feet high and topped with strands of barbed wire. The wall enclosed an area about 250-by-350 feet and contained 12 to 14 barracks. Guard towers were set at each corner giving guards full view both inside and outside the camp. The barracks were open sided with wooden bunks. They were given one old comforter which had to serve as a blanket and a mattress. There were about 600 to 800 enlisted men as prisoners. About 90 percent of them were British soldiers.

"Fleas and lice were terrible. Every two or three weeks we were allowed to shower which consisted of enough cold water to get wet and we had to move on. I had to pick lice off my skin and clothes."

They were fed once a day. Each had a canteen cup which was used for serving. All of them were starving.

"I had been in camp about a month when I received a Red Cross package once a week. I don't think I would have survived without it. I was very homesick, nothing to do with my time and very hungry.

"In late August, I overheard a conversation between a group of English prisoners and heard the word 'escape.' I agreed to go with them and we began making plans. We decided to make a break through the front gate when the guards were away. In late September, we saw that all the guards had gone into a single tower so about 18 English and six of us Americans crashed the gate. We hit it at a run and it broke with little effort. There was a steep hill outside the gate with two to three hundred yards to the top. As soon as we crashed the gate, the Italians raised the alarm and started shooting at us. I scrambled up the steep grade, clawing and sending small rocks rolling back down. I never looked back until I was over the top." When they met at the top, the Americans split from the English and went south as fast as they could. They went all night and at daylight stopped in a small woods to rest. The six decided to split in groups of two so they wouldn't be as noticeable. Francis Dixon and Davis paired as a team. They knew they had to get out of the American uniforms so they stole some Italian civilian clothes off a clothesline in the yard of a small house. They raided gardens, orchards and vineyards and ate better than they had in a while.

Three weeks after their escape, they were caught by a group of Italian civilians, but they were friendly and didn't turn them in. They could barely understand the language, but some spoke English and let them know that the Italians had surrendered and no longer were fighting the Americans and would help them. That was good news. The bad news was the Germans were still in Italy and were sending more troops south of where they were heading.

When the gardens gave out, they had to beg food from the Italian people. "Most gave us something. They were poor, but gave what they could spare." The weather kept getting colder and they walked the soles off their boots. A farmer resoled them with wood which made it rougher to walk, but kept their feet warmer. It began to snow until there were about 28 inches on the ground. They didn't see the ground the rest of the winter. They got down off the mountain and found a man who said they could stay in his barn. There were two other POWs there and the Italian man brought food once a day for the next two months.

"February 25, 1944, our friend asked if we would like to take a chance on getting through the line. He knew a man who had been leading escaped groups like ours. The guide came the following evening and led us away from our barn home and our friend who had fed us.

"I lost the slip of paper with his name and never saw him again."

They were taken to a small cottage where they met a group of 10 Englishmen who also were escaped POWs. Just before dark, the guide led them to a barn and told them he would return after dark that evening and they should be through the lines by next morning. The barn was close to a main road and German troops, trucks, tanks and equipment were constantly moving both ways. The guide returned and they walked until 3 a.m. where they went to a house and rested for an hour before setting out again.

"Our guide told us urgently, 'Go in single file and stay in line. No one is to say a word, no matter what you see or hear, NOT ONE WORD!'"

They met a German squad of about 10 men with rifles slung over their shoulders. They were going the opposite direction. They almost brushed shoulders, but the Germans didn't even turn their heads to look at them.

"I held my breath and made a big gasp for air after they passed."

They passed another group of German soldiers, but they just watched and let them pass.

"In less than 200 yards, we came to a small creek that was covered with ice. I took a jump and broke through into water up to my knees and scrambled up the bank to the other side."

The voice of a British said, "Halt! Who goes there?"

"February 27, 1944, one day short of 11 months from my capture, I was back in friendly hands. We were greeted by 'Welcome Home' and what seemed the sweetest message we had heard in a lifetime, 'How about a bath and breakfast?'"

They bathed as long as they wanted.

"Lice floated off my body with the grime and formed a quarter-inch scum. This was my first chance to get clean in 11 months. I estimated we had walked 1,000 to 1,500 miles going up and down mountains to avoid the Germans."

They were examined by medics and allowed to rest in tents, with blankets and on cots. They were interrogated for a couple of days and sent by boat back to the United States. They were taken immediately to the Pentagon and questioned, after which they were given a 20-day furlough and a train ticket to the nearest induction center near their homes. On the last leg of his trip home, Davis, caught a ride with the mail hack that made a daily trip between Nevada and El Dorado Springs. They dropped him off at a gas station in El Dorado Springs.

"No one knew I was coming, but word soon spread. However, the homecoming that I had been looking forward to was bittersweet. My father had a massive stroke and passed away in 1943 and I had not been told."

His mother and the rest of his extended family were overjoyed. At the end of his pass, he was sent to Camp Hood, Texas, and given the duty of being an instructor in Army discipline, which he had hated during his own basic training. He was a private when he was captured and returned to the United States, but was promoted to corporal, then sergeant, next staff sergeant and finally tech sergeant.

In the fall of 1944, he proposed to the girl he had left behind. He and Lorene were married the day after Christmas and went back to Camp Hood where they stayed until the end of the war and he was discharged in late October. 1945.

"March 24, 1946, three years to the date of my capture -- my wife delivered our oldest daughter, Linda Kay."

John and Lorene were married 58 years. She died March 3, 2003. Linda and her husband, and her brother, Michael, care for John Davis in his home in El Dorado Springs.

Note: Much of the information in this article was taken from a book compiled by Michael Davis with his father.