Skipper,
I remember when I was a kid (a million years ago) My brother and I asked him how many times he was shot down. My Uncle didn't say a word but held up two fingers. The story I got about the resistance was from my Mother (his sister).

Here's the story:
After a raid inside Germany, he was shot down by enemy aircraft. The B-17 was going down but still controllable. He gave the order to bail out and he would try to land the bird. Being still inside Germany nobody wanted to bail and told him they would rather stay and take their chances. The plane was limped into France where he sat it down in a field. When everyone got out they noticed movement in the treeline. The crew got ready to fight when they noticed the people coming out were French and as it would turn out were members of the resistance. They in turn got them back to England.

That was the story as told to me by my Mother. She couldn't remember the story of the other mishap.The thing that was really impressed on her mind were the resisiance saving him twice. She refered to them as his "Guardian Angels."

I found a mention on the 447th web site of him being shot down on Jan. 8, 1945 and forced landed in Laon, France. This during a bombing run to or from Frankfurt, Germany.

__________________
Semper Fi