Lt. Appleman

This missing glider pilot in Normandy

During my reading over the holiday season, I came across this article in On Tow. It was about 2nd Lt. Stratton Appleman, whose co-pilot, Lt. Cobb, wrote the After -Action report in Appleman’s stead upon his return from Normandy. I quoted from Lt. Cobb’s report in my book quoted in Suicide Jockeys: The Making of the WWII Combat Glider Pilot. The On Tow article fills in the blanks of what happened after he and his co-pilot landed thus solving the mystery of Appleman’s disappearance.

“Stratton M. Appleman, aka “Strat”, “Tex”, “Apple”, “Ap”, “Shorty” and “Hey You”, became a glider pilot graduating in class 43B from South Plains on February 4, 1943. After marking time at Alliance, NB, Ardmore, OK and Bowling Field, KY, he joined the 85th squadron of the 437th TC Group in the ETO and its preparations for D-Day. Captured shortly after his predawn landing in Normandy, Appleman claims to have the unique distinction of having earned the air medal with only "half a mission." "I never got to make the return leg", he explains, "yet orders were cut to awarding the medal to me posthumous". The posthumous award resulted from Appleman's having been lost to the Red Cross POW counts because he escaped in France after spending several weeks underground, but was recaptured and sent to Buchenwald”.

He survived Buchenwald and went on to become a fighter pilot, flight instructor and had many successes in both the military and civilian worlds. Going back to the beginning, here is the first half of the story I used from by Lt. Cobb in his report.

"Lt. Cobb acted as copilot in his glider. He remained at the glider while the pilot, Lt. Appleman, made a reconnaissance of the grounds. It was dark at the time. When Lt. Appleman did not show back up, Cobb and the airborne waited until noon the following day. During this time, they were surrounded by Germans and found themselves in skirmishes. While trying to avoid the enemy locating them, Cobb and one other were separated from the rest of the airborne infantry he had hauled in. They were fired upon from all sides and were forced to hide in ditches for the next four and a half days and travel only at night. At one point, the German troops heard them in in the hedgerows and fired at them. The Germans were so well dug in everywhere, Cobb stated ‘it seemed impossible to go further’ so they changed direction. Once again, they ‘ran into more Jerries and they seemed thicker than ever’. They ended up sheltering in a French dairy barn and were fed and cared for at great risk to the family that owned it. When the Americans were closer, they left and went through heavy fighting to reach the American lines."

As the famous saying goes "Now you have the rest of the story." But, no, wait there is more.