Even before the United States fully entered World War II, some Americans were involved in the fighting in Europe, including one Oneontan.
James W. Stewart was a member of the British-American Ambulance Corps in 1941, returning home with many stories to tell of his experiences.
Stewart was on board the Egyptian passenger liner SS Zamzam, bound for Egypt via Trinidad and Brazil, when on April 17, 1941, was shelled and then sunk by a German cruiser. The Zamzam was mistakenly seen as a British troopship in the South Atlantic. The Germans ceased fire once they realized there were civilians on board. No one was killed during the attack.
The survivors were transferred to a German supply boat and taken to occupied France. American and neutral passengers were eventually released and sent home, but British and Canadian passengers were sent to German internment camps for the duration of the war. Stewart was with Britain at the time, despite Oneonta being his home.
At home, and before an audience of 500 in a packed auditorium at Oneonta High School, then found on Academy Street, Stewart talked about the Zamzam attack, the rescue and then the trip to the internment camp.
As reported in The Oneonta Herald of July 31, Stewart said one of his fellow captives, Thomas G. Greenough of Proffit, Virginia, suggested an escape. They were aboard a train.
“The stage was all set,” according to The Herald. “The only thing between the two Americans and freedom from their Nazi guards was an open window in the railroad coach — an open window and 40 miles of unknown countryside swarming with German soldiers.
“Mr. Greenough started through the window. He was halfway through when a step sounded in the corridor. Mr. Stewart jerked him back. A split-second later a guard in the uniform of the German military field police poked his head into the compartment.
“The guard looked around, noted the two of the six prisoners in the compartment appeared to be in a drunken sleep and passed on his way.”
“‘The first part of the escape plan was to feign intoxication,’ Mr. Stewart said. ‘A small bottle of cognac which we had brought along gave credence to our action.'” In between compartment inspections by the guards, the two got out of their ambulance corps uniforms into civilian clothes in their rucksacks.
“The two ‘drunks’ immediately came to life and, this time, both went through the window into the dim night. Four days and three nights later, after nerve-trying escapes and much physical suffering, they crossed from occupied into unoccupied France and made their way to Marseilles, Lisbon, and freedom.” They walked at night and hid by day, never asking for food or water.
“‘Apparently no one saw us jump. We looked around quickly, then slipped through the dim light of the station yards toward the shadows,'” according to Stewart. They had another close call, passing through town when a German soldier appeared. The soldier asked for identification papers. Goodenough replied, ‘Nein,’ and in French said they were railroad workers on their way home and had forgotten their identity cards. The soldier let them pass.
Stewart spoke at Oneonta High on Aug. 13, shortly after his arrival home, to benefit the British War Relef Society here. As reported in The Herald of Aug. 14, “Declaring that, ‘We’ve got to smack them down or else knuckle under,’ James W. Stewart Monday night advised an Oneonta audience not to under estimate the determination of the German soldiers to follow Hitler until they have conquered the whole world. ‘Every German capable of carrying a gun must be in the army’ he observed. ‘We saw all kinds and sizes of them in the service, guarding strategic points in unoccupied France.’
“In response to questions, he said that the people of occupied France hated the Germans with all their hearts, and would do anything to help England. The people in unoccupied France are being sold ‘a bill of goods,’ according to Mr. Stewart. They are subject to the power of German propaganda and are gradually leaning toward the belief that they must help the Germans in order to preserve France as a nation.
“‘These men are going to be tough to whip,’ he added. ‘Please don’t just sit and wait for them to come over here.'”
On Tuesday, animals were newsmakers as were growing trends locally in August 1996.