Philip J. Fink, shot down in WWII, evaded capture
May 11, 1920 — March 14, 2008
Philip J. Fink of Bowmansville, whose escape from enemy soldiers during World War II is documented in the Library of Congress, died March 14 in Millard Fillmore Hospital. He was 87.
Born in Lancaster, Mr. Fink graduated from Burgard High School in 1939 and took up his father’s vocation, becoming a printer.
He served in the Army Air Forces from 1942 to 1945 and received the Purple Heart. He rose to the rank of master sergeant.
Mr. Fink, the radio operator of a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber nicknamed “Miss Carriage,” was shot down in 1943 while flying over Le Havre, France.
“Like sharks drawn by blood, enemy fighter planes attacked the crippled aircraft, igniting her left wing and killing the navigator, tail gunner and one waist gunner,” Jerri Donohue wrote in Western New York Heritage magazine, in an article about how Fink evaded capture after his plane fell. His rescue and escape has been archived as a historical interview in the Library of Congress in Washington.
Janine Gilles, active in the French resistance, hid Mr. Fink from the Nazis after he landed by parachute on the farm of Paul Gueroult, who connected Mr. Fink with Gilles and his nephew, Guy Pesas, who was also a member of the European resistance. Gilles and Pesas guided Mr. Fink to the Spanish border through an underground network of safe houses.
Mr. Fink founded the Air Forces Escape and Evasion Society, which reunites World War II veterans assisted by the European resistance. In 1986, Mr. Fink visited Gilles at the farm where she had helped him evade capture.
Returning to Lancaster after the war, Mr. Fink became a printer and married Marjorie M. Wagner on June 16, 1945. She died in 1984 after nearly 40 years of marriage.
Mr. Fink retired from Sommer & Son’s Printing in December 1985.
Mr. Fink was a leader in the Bowmansville Boy Scouts and Eagle Scouts and a member of the Royal Order of the Moose.
He also dedicated 55 years to the Bowmansville Volunteer Fire Association, where he helped found and lead the First Aid Rescue Squad.
Survivors include two daughters, Eileen Hudack and Annette Pfister.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a. m. July 26 in Bowmansville Fire Hall, 36 Main St.
— Jessica Vosgerchian
