| Notes |
- May 14, 1945
Army Newspaper Tells Story of Liberated Little Chute Flier
More details of First Lieutenant Clifford A. Karrels' six months in Bologna, Italy, while it was in enemy hands are told in the April 29 issue of Stars and Stripes, army newspaper. Lieutenant Karrels' liberation was reported in the Post-Crescent last week when his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Mike Karrels, Little Chute, received a letter from him.
According to Stars and Stripes: In the first hours of the liberation of Bologna last week, a man in civilian clothes, with a white partisan armband, fought his way through the cheering crowds and fell in step with a column of infantrymen of the 34th division. Seizing one of them by the hand, he shouted: God, it's great to see Americans again! Are you and American? asked the perplexed doughfoot. Hell, I'm from Little Chute, Wis., said the partisan.
Later the same day, he gave a graphic account of his association with the patriot forces of resistance in Bologna over the last six months.
A first lieutenant with the 86th Fighter group of the 12th Air Force, he had five months overseas as well as 41 missions to his credit before his ill-fated flight last Nov. 5. On that date he left his base on a fighter-bomber mission over the town of Ostiglia. He had just reached his target when German flak slashed into his oil system, and his motor began to fail.
Tried to Reach Own Lines
He tried to reach our own lines before bailing out, but the plane couldn't make it. He checked his chute and jumped at 700 feet, landing safely only a few hundred yards from where his plane crashed and burned.
I hid for five hours, he said, and then started walking toward our own lines. On the way I met a partisan. He took me to a farmhouse where I got food and some clothes. After dark he led me to a secret cave and told me to stay there for two days. All I had to keep me alive was some hard Italian bread.
At the end of the second day the partisan returned and said we would go to Bologna, which was about 10 miles away. We went to a bombed-out house on the outskirts of the city. There I met 40 other partisans. I asked how many partisans there were in Bologna, and my friend told me that eight brigades, or about 3,500 armed patriots, were then pouring into the city in preparation for the arrival of the Fifth army.
Later Karrels was taken to a small apartment at the edge of town. A family of six, all partisans, lived there.
I was treated like a son and brother, he said. I had a room in the basement and I stayed there almost all the time I was in Bologna.
To pass the long days, he said, he repainted bicycles seized by the partisans from fascist sympathizers and repaired weapons taken from murdered German soldiers.
Germans Got Little Rest
The partisans destroyed whatever the Germans stored in the city, he stated. They killed Germans at night until none of them would dare walk the streets after dark unless there were at least 10 other men with him, as well as fascist militia in front and behind him. The city was used as a rest center for Germans on the Italian front, but they got little rest here.
But all the luck of the patriots was not good. In seven months, said the fighter pilot, some 800 of them were denounced by fascist sympathizers and run-of-the-mill prostitutes and informers who found the price on the head of partisans too enticing to resist. The usual com-on offered by the fascists was 10 pounds of salt and 40 dollars for each officer. Salt was extremely rare in Bologna and normally retailed at two dollars a pound.
Karrels said many of the partisans began to lose heart when the allies' promised winter offensive didn't take place. Each day they would listen to the radio from the Fifth army and hear the same announcements: Only patrols were active today. I began to lose heart myself, Karrels said. There were times when I felt I would never be free again.
But the allies did come, and now Karrels is all set to return to his outfit, from where it is possible he will be sent home.
- Clifford A. Karrels, age 94, of Oshkosh, died Friday morning, October 28, 2016, at Oakwood Manor in Oshkosh. He was born in Port Washington, Wisconsin, on May 24, 1922, the son of Michael and Eleanor Karrels. He grew up in Little Chute, Wisconsin, where he graduated from St. John High School in 1940. After graduation Clifford worked for Kimberly Clark until joining the United States Army Air Corp, enlisting in 1942. During World War II, he flew the Thunderbolt Fighter Bomber with the 456th Bomb Group from bases in Italy and the island of Corsica. Clifford took part in the air cover of the invasion of southern France in August of 1944. On his 42nd mission, he took off from Pisa to dive bomb the railroad marshalling yard in Verona, Italy. His P47 plane was hit in the oil line and forced his bailing out behind the German lines. While hiding out in Italy, he worked with the Italian Partisans for six months. Clifford retired from the Air Force Reserve as a Lt. Colonel.
A graduate of University of Wisconsin-Madison, in 1950, with a Bachelor of Science Degree, Clifford held a management position at Shook & Midwest Lumber Company in Oshkosh from 1950 to 1960 and a sales position with Sentry Insurance from 1960 to May of 1982.
On May 30, 1952, Clifford was united in marriage to Joan Stannard in Oshkosh and she preceded him in death on January 17, 1977. On September 15, 1979, Clifford married Geraldine Loos and she preceded him in death on May 13, 2006.
During his life in Oshkosh, Clifford was active in aviation and served as an officer in the following social clubs: Winnebago Land Pilots Club, Friday Noon Club, Optimist Club, and Wisconsin Retail Lumberman's Association. He also pinch hit as a charter pilot for Basler Flight Service.
Survivors include four children, Dr. Mark (Linda) Karrels of Janesville, Susan (Devon) Jones of Oshkosh, Thomas (Teri) Karrels of Oshkosh, and Lynn Parker of Oshkosh; 12 grandchildren, Luke (Julie) Karrels, Tyler Karrels, Chelsea Karrels, Joan (Justin) Jungwirth-Hajny, James Jungwirth, Andrew (Amy) Jones, Katie (Matthew) Armatoski, Michael Karrels, Michael Parker, Samantha Parker, Kristine (Ben) Wilson, and Matthew Bell; nine great-grandchildren, Marni, Wyatt, Madelyn, Daniel, Collin, Vero, Efrance, Porter, and David. Preceding Clifford in death are his two wives and a sister, Mary Catherine Brock.
Funeral services will be held on Friday, November 4, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. in Seefeld Funeral Chapels, 1025 Oregon Street. Interment will follow at Riverside Cemetery with full Military Honors. A time of visiting and sharing of memories will be held on Friday from 12 Noon until 2:00 p.m. at the funeral home. Clifford's family wishes to thank the wonderful staff at Oakwood Manor and Heartland Hospice for the loving care given to Clifford during his stay there. Online condolences to the family may be made at www.seefeldfuneral.com.
God saw he was getting tired, and a cure was not to be, so He put His arms around him and whispered "come with Me." With tearful eyes we watched him suffer, and saw him fade away, and though we loved him dearly, we could not make him stay. A golden heart stopped beating, hard-working hands to rest; God broke our hearts to prove to us, He only takes the best.
|
1922 - 2016 (94 years)
