American Ex-Prisoners of War
A not-for-profit, Congressionally-chartered veterans’ service organization advocating for former prisoners of war and their families.

Established April 14, 1942

Memorial
Last Name:
Korb
 First, Middle Name:
George P.
Address:
6607 Mt. Vista Road
 City, State, Zip
Kingsville, Maryland 21087
Email:
george.korb@yahoo.com
 Phone:
(410) 592-9413
Nickname:
Spouse:
deceased
Conflict:
European
 Branch of Service/Unit:
Army Air Corp
Air Force
Where Captured:
Merseburg, Germany
 Date Captured:
2 November 1944
Camps Held In:
I was in Stalag Luft III in Sagen from Nov 13, 1944, to Jan 27, 1945, then force-marched from Jan 27 to Feb 4 to Stammlager XIII-D in Nurmberg where I stayed until Apr 4. Then I was force-marched again to Stalag VII-A in Moosburg, where I remained until we were liberated by General Patton's 14th Armorde Div. on May 3, 1945.
  How Long Interned:
Seven months
 Date Released:
3 May 1945
  Medals Received:
Air Medal, Purple Heart, Campaign Medals
  Age at Capture:
21
 Military Job:
Lead Navigator
After the War...
After leaving the military, Jim worked in the construction industry.


Bio
I was born in Baltimore, MD on Feb. 25, 1923, and enlisted in the Army Air Corp on Oct. 10, 1942, as an aviation cadet. I entered active duty Jan 29, 1943, and to Miami Beach, FL, for basic training and went to Selman Field, Monroe, LA, for both primary and advanced navigation, and then went to Ardmore Army Air Base in Ardmore, OK, for transition training.

I then went to Kearny Army Air Base at Kearny, NB, where our crew was assigned a B-17, and then went to Gander, Newfoundland, and on to Northern Ireland and then by boat to England. I was assigned to the 457 Bomb Op, 751st Bomb Squadron as a lead navigator.

I completed 17 missions over Germany and was shot down on my 18th and taken prisoner. My last mission was directed at the synthetic oil refinery at Merseburg in what became the biggest air battle of the war. Before we bailed out we'd had our controls shot out, our aircraft was on fire and our left wing had been taken off when we were rammed by an FW 190. Our co-pilot was lost in the battle. He was riding as tail gunner because our aircraft was serving as a lead ship.