Calls Surgeon "Swell Guy"

The admiral escorted us to the sergeant's room. The sergeant was sitting up, with a bottle of French mineral water on a bedside table. There was another cot in the room and on it lay Dr. Kurt Ihnken, a young Bremen surgeon who had been standing over the operating table three days and nights without sleep until his right foot became infected.

"I want you to meet a swell guy," said the sergeant, pointing to Ihnken. "He's the only surgeon in the hospital and most of the cases are surgical cases. He keeps on the job until he's out on his feet."

The sergeant went on: "It all began Aug. 13 when we were over Toulon on a pre-invasion job, knocking out gun emplacements. Ack-ack conked our Marauder's right engine, and the interphone went dead. I called on the two rear gunners to follow me and bailed out.

"I came down in a valley surrounded by mountains that must have been 3,000 feet high. It was only eight or ten miles back of Toulon, but wild as hell. My right leg snapped when I hit the ground, and I filled myself up with morphine. Presently a Frenchman came through the brush and said he'd get help right away. He came back with two Germans (Continued).