Oral History Interview with Roy Allen

Roy Allen was an American pilot with the 457th Bomb group, 8th Air Force. He was shot down over France and rescued by the French underground. They gave him a French identity and hid him in Jouy-le-Chatelle and in Paris. After a Belgian girl betrayed him, Roy was captured by the Gestapo on August 1, 1944. Because he carried French papers and had no military identification, he was charged as a spy and not a prisoner of war. He was imprisoned in Fresnes Penitentiary in Paris for one week and then sent to Buchenwald. Roy mentions the instructions United States pilots were given before each mission, and his experiences with the French underground.

Roy describes his arrival and processing at Buchenwald, as well as the starvation diet and primitive living conditions. He saw the crematorium at Buchenwald and witnessed the killing of prisoners by injection and by drowning in vats of icewater. He reports that V-2 rockets were manufactured at Buchenwald at that time.
A report of his interrogation at the prison in Fresnes established his status as military personnel. Roy was transferred to Stalag Luft 3 at Sagen and treated as a prisoner of war. He contrasts his treatment in Stalag 3 with conditions in Buchenwald.
About a month before the end of the war, he was marched to Moosburg. He was liberated by Patton’s 14th Armored division. He explains why he feels World War II was justified.

Date: 12/23/1987
Interviewer: Philip G. Solomon
Interviewee: Roy Allen
Language: English
Subject: World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Location: USA
Fresnes Prison
Buchenwald concentration camp
Stalag Luft III Prisoner of War camp
Moosburg, Germany
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