On December 31, 1944, the B17 planes, Little Skipper (pilot: Lt. Glenn Rojohn) and Nine Lives (pilot:Lt. William McNab) became hooked together during the battle. No one knows if this incident occurred due to both planes trying to reposition, the poor weather conditions or the enemy fire. Attempts to separate the planes failed, and the crews were ordered to bail out.

James R. Shirley was one of the gunners on the Little Skipper. When the crew was ordered to bail out of the plane, he parachuted to the ground and was captured by the German soldiers.

He spent the remainder of the war as a POW. He was housed in Stalag 3 for part of this time. His diary gives an account of the places the men were forced to march in the snowy, rainy, and cold weather to prevent the Allied Forces from finding them.

James R Shirley