Preserving My Father's WWII Story Before It Was Lost
My dad, Robert B. Purdy, rarely spoke about World War II.
Lt. Robert Purdy was a B-24 co-pilot in the 376th Bombardment Group. He flew 17 missions over Nazi-occupied Europe before his plane was shot down over Italy on Dec. 28, 1943. He and his crew bailed out into enemy territory, and he spent 18 months as a prisoner of war at Stalag Luft I in Barth, Germany.
Growing up, we never understood what he'd endured - the fear, the cold, the hunger, the uncertainty. It wasn't until 1996, when my husband suggested we record his stories, that Dad opened up. In his Berkeley apartment, my stepmother Margot operated the camera while he poured out his heart into his war recollections - each story filled
with courage, despair, humor and heartbreak.
My sister Laura had also saved the letters Dad wrote to her mother, Gladys, from the POW camp. Under German censorship, these letters revealed what he could - and couldn't - say about daily life behind barbed wire.
Seventeen years after my father’s passing, in December 2022, I began transcribing Margot’s interviews into a written chronicle with the help of my children. The more we listened, the more we realized: this wasn't just his story. It was the story of thousands of airmen whose voices we're losing each year.
Through my research, I discovered how little is publicly known about the Stalag Luft camps. Captured Allied airmen were held in special POW camps operated by the German Luftwaffe, created specifically for aircrew. While not extermination camps, conditions were harsh - prisoners were often hungry and cold, and many would not have survived without Red Cross parcels.
"A Sky Never Forgotten: A WWII Pilot's Journey Through War and Captivity" combines Dad's own words with his actual letters from Stalag Luft I and his military service records. Military historian and veteran Mike Guardia wrote the foreword, with praise from Tom Clavin, Jimmy Blackmon, Eoin Dempsey, David Healey, Rick DeStefanis and Ryan Robicheaux.
Why I'm sharing this:
If you have a veteran in your life - family, friend, neighbor, colleague or stranger - please ask them to share their story. Record it. Preserve it. These voices matter.
"A Sky Never Forgotten" is available on Amazon in hardcover, paperback and eBook formats.
To all who have served: thank you.
