Glamorous Glen III – The Chuck Yeager Foundation

Yeager’s Last World War II Mission – Missing the Biggest Battle of the Year

By Victoria Yeager / January 19, 2022

Jan 15, 1945 Yeager’s buddy was the scheduler and had scheduled Yeager and himself as spares that day – Yeager’s 61st and last WWII mission. No one aborted so Yeager led his buddy on a tour of southern France where he had been shot down, Lake Annecy, Geneva and then to Switzerland. They each dropped their…

Escaping the Gestapo over the Pyrenees Part 2

By Victoria Yeager / March 28, 2021

Chuck Yeager’s words: Having been shot down March 5, 1944 and hidden for several weeks, we pick up the story close to the Spanish border in the Pyrenees. We found a dead sheep part of which we ate. Later, we found a hut and took some refuge from the snow and cold. The other airman made…

March 1944: Evading Germans – Heading to the Pyrenees to Escape Occupied France

By Victoria Yeager / March 22, 2021

Chuck Yeager, in his own words: “After being shot down on March 5, 1944 and evading Germans for a few weeks, I find myself at the Bianco farm in hiding. The farm is off the main road by a couple kilometers and hidden behind some stone walls, trees. Those and the barn keep people and…

Gestapo is Coming

By Victoria Yeager / March 15, 2021

Raoul ultimately takes me back to Gabriel. We ride bikes at night from Ambrus to get there. Gabriel was a larger-than-life man. I will never forget how he protected me. He was the leader of the Maquis in Nerac, the mayor, and was friends with the Germans in town. The Germans knew that the Maquis…

Yeager! Can’t you do anything right?

By Victoria Yeager / May 5, 2015

In General Yeager’s own words: After returning from being shot down, to return to combat, I had to go all the way up the chain of command until I found myself before General Eisenhower, The problem was if I was shot down again, the Germans might find me, torture me, and get information re the…

World War II: Waiting Orders to Go Back on Combat

By Victoria Yeager / May 15, 2014

While waiting to get back on combat, after returning from being shot down, I was doing some maintenance and training the new guys. I was up in the air mock dogfighting with a couple of new guys when Base Ops called: Are your guns hot? Me: Yes. BO: Go out over the North Sea, there’s…

Tiede Refuses to I.D. me and Almost Gets US Both Court-martialed.

By Victoria Yeager / May 15, 2014

After returning to England from being shot down, working with the Maquis and French Underground, escaping over the Pyrenees full of snow, I was taken to a panel of three colonels whose job is to determine if I am who I say I am and not a spy. They brought a guy from my squadron…

March 26, 1944: Pyrenees Foothills: AVOID border Spanish-might sell us to Gestapo

By Victoria Yeager / April 2, 2014

The moment I hop in the back, the truck takes off. There are four or five other guys seated on the benches, and nobody says a word. mainly because they are too busy hanging on while the driver barrels down twisting backstreets, doing fifty or better. I hear the guy seated next to me mutter,…

March 25, 1944: Maquis Kick Me Out

By Victoria Yeager / April 1, 2014

The Maquis live off the villages, not off the woods. The villages are dangerous, crawling with Germans and Vichy police, but guys slip into town to buy food, cigarettes, and medicine, using phony ration stamps and money. I’m amazed that no one is ever caught, or if they are, maybe I’m not told about it.…

March 24, 1944, Maquis’ Moon-face

By Victoria Yeager / March 31, 2014

I’m the first American pilot they’ve encountered and they’re curious about what I think of the German air force. I tell them that the FockeWuld 190 is a damned good fighter, probably on a part iwth our own P-51 Mustang: but the Mustang using 108 gallon wing tanks, can escort bombers and dogfight deep into…

Wed-Thurs: March 15-16, 1944: WWII.Cute Girl in French Underground

By Victoria Yeager / March 16, 2014

March 15, ’44: Gabriel’s house. Gabriel is a bigger than life kind of guy and a big guy. He lives life large, large laugh, much eating, much drinking. Amazing talent has to quietly maneuver between the Germans, the Maquis, and the citizens of Nerac. He brings his vegetables 2 market every Saturday. He meets with…

March 14-15. Bicycle 2 nights to Nerac. One Step Ahead of the Germans

By Victoria Yeager / March 15, 2014

March 14, 1944 late, early March 15, 1944: Dr. Henri comes to pick me up at the farm. He’s a welcome face. Dr. Henri was one of the first people I met right after I bailed out of my plane. He had doctored my wounds. He speaks English pretty well. He’s Jewish so everyone drops…