Forgotten Casualties: Downed American Airmen and Axis Violence in World War II by Kevin T Hall

Author:Kevin T Hall
Format: epub

June 18, 1944–Mittenwald, Germany

In the afternoon of June 18, 1944, a four-engine American bomber—most likely a B-24 (41-28782)—crash landed roughly one and a half miles from the Bavarian town of Mittenwald, located along the alpine border north of Innsbruck, Austria.¹⁹ Members of the German Army reportedly captured nine crewmembers; however, a large crowd of curious civilians gathered as word spread quickly throughout the rural area.

Falling into the hands of the German military surely offered a sense of relief for the flyers, as rumors circulated among Allied airmen about numerous incidents in which SS, Gestapo, Nazi officials, and in particular civilians (especially women) brutally beat and killed captured airmen.²⁰ However, it did not take long for the crowd to become hostile and unleash vengeful attacks against the air crew. Their relief of surviving being shot down now turned to fear of their fate at the hands of the mob that, in the meantime, had reportedly grown to upwards of one thousand people, at least 80 percent of whom were women.²¹

It only took one individual to lash out at the flyers for the entire mob to roar into a frenzy. Drastically outnumbered, the German soldiers had little chance at defending the airmen even if they wanted to. Members of the crowd punched and kicked the airmen and used various objects and tools to beat the men; some were even knocked unconscious. Witnesses recounted how several women in the crowd screamed hysterically and shouted their hatred for the enemy airmen, as they scratched, punched, and spit in the flyers’ faces. Despite the confusion and turmoil, the incensed crowd had a lone objective, namely, to seek revenge for their personal and material losses suffered during the war, largely as a result from the aerial bombardments. For the civilians, the encounter with enemy flyers provided an occasional, and much desired, opportunity at releasing their pent-up frustration and soothe their anguish.

A member of the crowd, Charlotte V. Battalo, admitted after the war that “she was in a great wrath when she saw the unharmed pilots come along chewing gum.” Such a simple act—even a smirk—was excuse enough for individuals to release their repressed rage. Battalo further acknowledged that she used profane language and physically assaulted the airmen. As far as she knew, she “was the first who physically mistreated the flyers.”²² Despite cuts, bruises, and concussions, the air crew survived this ordeal. A postwar tribunal prosecuted six members of the mob (including Battalo and one other woman). The court sentenced them all to between one and two years’ imprisonment.²³

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