George Durgin Recalls His Time in the Air
World War II Veteran Profile
Additional Images
Photo by Betty Kossick
World War II veteran George Durgin beams as he displays a photo of him and the two WW II vets who attended the annual reunion in Debach, England, as well as a drawing of the airfield.
Eighteen-year-old George Durgin enlisted in the Army Air Corps on February 22, 1942. By August 30, 1943, "I got my wings," he said. "A new bomb group was being formed and I was part of it."
Two years after he enlisted, he found himself in Debach, England, northeast of London. He was a part of four squadrons, each having 12 planes, the 493rd Bomb Group. His squadron was the 863rd. The bay at Ipswitch was full of boats, he recalled, but the day the planes took off on their first mission the bay was empty. Their briefing that morning was the first Durgin and his comrades knew they were going to invade France. Those boats had left to take part in the invasion. That day, June 6, 1944, has gone down in the history books as D-Day.
Durgin recalled that he as the pilot, as well as the crew on that B-24 Liberator, did not realize at the time the role they played in the history of World War II."We were just anxious to get going," Durgin said.
He and his crew all returned unscathed from the Normandy Beach invasion; however, two planes from the bomb group did not.
"They had a mid-air collision. Both crews were lost," he said. "We continued our missions, the balance of them in a B-17, and at one time 11 planes were shot down and mine was the only one left. I lost my waist gunner, and the tail gunner and engineer were wounded.
"All I suffered was [a] shrapnel wound to my chin," he said. "We made an emergency landing in Brussels, Belgium."
He recalled that Canadian physicians attended to the wounded. He added, "We, as a crew, prayed individually before every mission. I believe the Lord helped and protected. He did very much so, and he still does."
It is a rarity, but Durgin is one of very few pilots who flew 35 missions. As for the Normandy Beach invasion, he said, "It's something that had to be done, we had to invade Europe, to get a foothold and bring an end to the war." He then picked up his logbook and pointed to neatly hand-printed entries he recorded so many years ago about all his flights, destinations and hours. "The last mission I flew was on November 6, 1944 to Neumeunster, Germany; seven hours and thirty minutes.
For a final flight, Durgin said pilots would be given permission to buzz the control tower.
"I did, and I almost took the roof off," Durgin said. "I could hear the people in the control tower shouting, 'Pull up!'"
Durgin returned to the states and to Central Instructor's School, Smyrna, Tenn., and then on to Courtland, Ala.
"That's where I was when the war ended in 1945. But I'd already been mustered out before then."
After his stint in the war, Durgin attended Vanderbuilt University, Nashville, Tenn. His career took off when he took employment in 1950 with a company that developed decorative thermo plastics for aircraft interiors, Polyplastex United, Inc., in Pinelleas Park, Fla. He started as a regional sales manager, went into product development and was responsible for building a plant in Chico, Calif., as a products engineer. From there he went to the home office in New Jersey. Eventually he held the position of executive vice president in Pinelleas Park. He retired in 1986.
He met his wife, Phyllis, on a blind date. "But it worked," he said. They were married for 58 years, became parents of four daughters, grandparents of eight, and great-grandparents of four. Unfortunately, Phyllis passed away two years ago.
"Every year there is a reunion at the old airbase in Dubesh," Durgin said. "The townspeople put up a memorial to the 493rd Bomb Group, as a 'thank you for the right to freedom.' There's only a rebuilt control tower and a runway left now."
In the years since Durgin buzzed that control tower, he has never attended a reunion -- until this year.
"My nephew Larry Witte, arranged it for me. He's like a son. We went together and had a wonderful time. The townspeople turned out and provided fish and chips for us."
There were only two of his former comrades, as well as himself, who attended.
"As far as I know I'm the only living survivor of my crew."
Eighty-six-year-old Durgin waxed nostalgic while he spoke of the day that he and his nephew went to Normandy Beach.
"It was raining, pouring rain! I thought, I just can't believe the troops were able to do what they did in that invasion. I had such a feeling of gratitude.
"During my career, I've traveled over almost all the world but it was such a strange feeling to go back, and see, and remember that we dropped bombs on these people but now we're no longer enemies."
Dugin said, nostalgically, "There's a group of people who never got the credit, and that is the English people. I always admired them for what they did. I saw first-hand."
Widower Durgin busies himself these days writing his memoirs and playing the violin, an instrument he has played since he was a second-grader.
"I love music, big bands, jazz, all except the noise they have out today," he said. He has been a member of the Ocala Symphony Orchestra for 22 years, and he previously played in the Chico State University Symphony Orchestra, in California.
His daughter Karen Bernaski is helping him compile materials for his yet unnamed memoirs. That is why, he explained, he did not have any military photos of him and his crew to show.
"She has them all."
Perhaps Durgin's memoirs might aptly be named Valor Wings. §
Betty Kossick has been a freelance writer since 1971. She lives in Ocala and considers herself a poet at heart. She can be contacted at bkwrites4u@cfl.rr.com.
