From P-47 Pilot to Prisoner
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92-year-old Ray Maloney of Bonita Springs, FL appears on episode #347 of Hometown Heroes, debuting December 27, 2014. A native of New York, Maloney served as a P-47 pilot with the 86th Fighter-Bomber Group, 527th squadron during World War II. You’ll hear Ray remember how he found out about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and how he would have never been born if not for his father being wounded while fighting in World War I. That sounds a little odd, but it’s true, and you can follow along as you listen to Hometown Heroes. Ray would be injured himself, and captured, but he never considered that possibility as he pursued his dream of becoming a fighter pilot.
The insignia of the 527th Fighter Squadron.
He initially tried to get into naval aviation, but was rejected by the Navy because of a heart murmur. When he later enlisted in the Army Air Corps, there was no mention of the supposed murmur. You’ll hear him remember his training, including the most challenging aspect of it, which had nothing to do with aviation but everything to do with communication. In April of 1944, before he headed overseas, he married Cressida, and they are still married today, but little did Ray know how much he would have to survive and endure in order to see her again.
Cressida and Ray Maloney after 70 years of marriage.
You’ll hear Ray remember arriving in Naples, Italy, and how having to come ashore by climbing across a capsized ship left him with the impression that war was serious business. From there, he was taken to Bastia, on Corsica, to prepare for the invasion of Southern France. Listen to Ray share his most harrowing moments flying from Corsica, and follow along as he moves to the Tuscan city of Grosseto. Just 21 years old and flying several missions per week, Ray came face to face with danger. There were missions when he brought his P-47 back with bullet holes, and there were times when he learned good friends of his had been killed in action. You’ll learn why he gave his son the middle name “John,” as well as the unique way in which he reconnected 40 years after the war with one of his best friends Al Leventhal. Follow this link to read about the POW experience of another pilot he mentions, Paul Lefkow. As the missions mounted, Maloney remembers starting to wear down. “You being to think that maybe the odds are going to catch up to you,” Ray recalls. “You become a little bit more cautious, you’re not as reckless as when you first started your combat.” He remembers strafing German convoys at “treetop level,” and having the German troops fire their weapons, throw their helmets and mess kits in the air, and use any means necessary to try to take down the fighter planes.
“The only heroes that I can see,” Ray insists, “are the ones who were killed.”
From the November 1944 war diary of the 527th Fighter Squadron
On November 5, 1944, a week before his 22nd birthday, Ray came extremely close to joining that number. A train car with sixteen 20mm guns fired away at his P-47 as he made a strafing pass near Modena, Italy damaging the Thunderbolt’s fuel system. Listen to Hometown Heroes to find out how he kept the plane airborne for a while, before eventually realizing he would have to bail out. “There was no place I could put this airplane,” Maloney recalls. “So I had to get out of it.” Bailing out just seconds before the plane went down, Ray didn’t leave himself enough time for his parachute to fully deploy. “The Good Lord was watching over me that day,” he says of the fact that he survived the brutal impact. Years after the war he learned that his wingman had reported back to the unit that he didn’t think Maloney had survived. Survive he did, but he was in “terrible pain” after landing on his heels and rear end. Hobbled, unable to stand, and in extreme pain, he expended all the ammunition he had trying to fend off the German forces that came to capture him, and you’ll learn which German word he was able to summon to ultimately communicate the severity of his condition. “Scared skinny,” is how he described how he felt about the uncertainty of his future as a prisoner of war. You’ll hear him remember how he spent his 22nd birthday in captivity, what helpful piece of advice his German guards shared with him, and what he experienced at the infamous interrogation center known as “Dulag Luft.” Because Ray’s story has so many twists and turns, and he tells it so well, his is one of the rare stories that will stretch across two episodes of Hometown Heroes. Catch the rest of Ray’s tale next time, when we’ll hear about life in two different POW camps, the relief and exhilaration of his liberation, and a few of the adventures he has enjoyed since World War II. CLICK HERE to read a story about Ray that Jay Schlichter wrote for the Collier Citizen.
To listen to other pilots who served in the 86th Fighter-Bomber Group, click on the links below:
EPISODE #38, Eli Setencich
EPISODE #148, John Weiner
—Paul Loeffler
Hi, I am interested in the link in which Ray Maloney discusses Paul Lefkow. I am Paul Lefkow’s granddaughter and would love to know what Ray says about him, and if they knew each other. If I could get any information about the link or what Ray says, I would really appreciate it.
We all have certain people who we admire and I for one admire a WWII hero by the name of a Pilot, Paul Lefkow, shot down while piloting his P-47 fighter plane. A friend who I worked with relayed this story to me and I was fortunate enough to meet this man only once after his retirement. Unfortunately he is no longer with us. I wrote this poem in his honor as it is based on his true life
experiences………………………………,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,……………………………………………
” Quad Survival Man”
By James Hipsher
Soaring high, in a place serene,
nothing but a sky to view.
Azure the color, a beautiful scene,
then up, up the shrapnel flew.
Unknown because the blast it came,
from below to his aeroplane.
Unloaded, deadly to the fuselage
destroying with a full barrage.
The rudder gone, the propeller still,
out and down, down he fell.
The plane was dead, but he alive,
parachute cord pulled to survive.
The rush of wind ripped hard and swift
but nothing opened to give him lift.
The ground grew nearer, the sky gave
way, thinking only, “I’ll be dead today.”
A tree reached out and grabbed his chute,
twice now the Reaper’s goal was mute.
So life it was to stay with him,
enduring those moments of chagrin.
But quick with thought he realized,
it was from the Germans he survived.
Being Jewish which was his seed,
he discarded his dog tags to the weeds.
Fighting fear as he hung in air,
the enemy soon arrived to his despair.
And to the Stalag Luft he went,
to eke out survival in a prison tent.
O’er two years in that camp he stayed
released once the price of war was paid.
Near forty years he still served this land,
deserving the title “Quad-Survival Man”.
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contact: elderaudience.com/jameshipsher
Hello Lindsay, Ray Maloney is my uncle and I can contact him if you’re still interested. Tom Maloney
Hi Tom, I know it has been three years since you replied, and I apologize in how delayed my response is. If you wouldn’t mind contacting your uncle, that would be so appreciated! I can send you an email as well.
Hi Lindsay,
I’m going to be calling my uncle tomorrow to wish him a merry Christmas, and I will ask him if he can recall anything about your grandfather. You can contact me at my email Coach_swiminator@yahoo.com
Regards
Tom
Hi Lindsay,
You can contact me directly at coach_swiminator at yahoo dot com.
Hi Lindsay,
I spoke with my uncle, and he would like to talk with you at anytime you want. If you can send your email to me, I’ll give you his home number.
Lindsay Baringer, I knew your grandfather for about ten years and we talked often about his experiences. (Your grandmother also lent me an 8mm family video in which Paul talked about the day he was shot down) I have some documents if you could please e-mail me at: cubflounder@gmail.com
Lindsay Baringer, I knew your grandfather for several years and had opportunity to talk with him about his experience. I was also loaned an 8mm family video from some decades back, where Paul talked about his story. I have some things written down if you could please e-mail me I’d be happy to hook up: cubflounder at gmail dot com.