Language selection

Government of Canada / Gouvernement du Canada

Search veterans.gc.ca

Shot down

Heroes Remember

Shot down

Transcript
I got shot down in, just off the coast of Naples, Italy in, in 1943, August the 12th, 1943. And the Germans come out and picked me up, and they, they took me into Naples, Italy. If you ever heard the expression, "See Naples and die", Die is a suburb of Naples, by the way. And they took me into Naples, and I was there overnight. And then they took us up, they even took us up to Rome there, and we arrived in Rome on Saturday night, and there was two or three of us and three or four guards. There was, well, there was more of them, maybe four of five of us, and there wasn't many of us there. And they even, we got, we got up in Rome, and then they took us down under this big bridge there, in Rome, and we slept under this bridge at night, and the next morning it was Sunday, and the guy says, "Well, let's go up and see the Pope." So they took us up, and the Pope come out on the balcony and waved at everybody. So, I got to see the Pope, he was a hundred miles away, so I couldn't even tell you what he looked like.
Description

Mr. Spackman describes being shot down and taken prisoner. He describes the night before being taken by his captors to see the Pope.

Dale Spackman

Mr. Spackman was born into a farming family but, due to the death of his father when he was very young he was raised in Stirling, Alberta. Mr. Spackman joined the air force and served in North Africa and the Mediterranean. Mr. Spackman was shot down and taken as a POW. After being moved around within Europe he was eventually rescued and returned to England.

Meta Data
Medium:
Video
Owner:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:
01:36
Person Interviewed:
Dale Spackman
War, Conflict or Mission:
Second World War
Location/Theatre:
Italy
Branch:
Air Force
Occupation:
Pilot

Copyright / Permission to Reproduce

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Youtube

Related Videos

Close Calls on the Way Back to England

Close Calls on the Way Back to England

Mr. Spackman describes some close calls he had on his way back to England from the POW camps.

POW of the Hitler Youth

POW of the Hitler Youth

Mr. Spackman describes being a POW at the hands of the Hitler Youth.

Scrounging for Food

Scrounging for Food

Mr. Spackman tells of stealing food from pigs!

Reason to Fight

Reason to Fight

Mr. Spackman describes what he thinks the reasons should be for fighting for ones country.

Date modified: