Schrenk, Les

Les Schrenk was born November 16, 1923 in Long Prairie, Minnesota.  He grew up on a small dairy farm, milking cows, shoveling manure, and bailing hay among other farm chores. He attended a one room schoolhouse and graduated from high school. He had an older sister; his older brother served on a B-24 in the South Pacific during WWII. Les always had an interest in flying airplanes, and after Pearl Harbor he elected to join the U.S. Army Air Corps. Les’s basic training took place in a series of bases across the US; he wanted to be a pilot but was assigned as a ball turret gunner. Les transited overseas on the Queen Mary which had been converted into a troop ship, arriving in Edinburgh, Scotland. Les was assigned to the 92nd Bomb Group, 327th Bomb Squadron. Les took part in a number of missions over occupied Europe, facing the threats all airmen faced: fighters, flak, and the freezing cold temperatures – and the tedium and discomfort of long missions. On one of those occasions Les’s B-17 was shot down, and the crew had to bail out. On the ground there was no chance of escaping from the Germans. He was taken prisoner and transported to POW Stalag Luft #6 in East Prussia: the conditions were horrible. The camp was overcrowded and cold, and the SS Troops would come into the barracks to force the POWs outside at any time. Life in the POW camp was very boring, as Les recalls.  He would sleep and exercise and eat the meagre meals they were given. Les lost a lot of weight and was not in good health by the end of the ordeal. He was at Stalag Luft #6 for 6 months of his 15-month incarceration. He was then transferred to Stalag Luft #4 via boxcar and ship, both brutal experiences. Les experienced the 86-day 800-mile German death march at the end of the war, after which they were liberated on May 3, 1945 by the British. The British nursed the POWs back to health with minimal food and medical care. Les was transported home on an LST for a 16-day transit to Norfolk, VA. His parents had received a Western Union Telegram stating that Les was MIA, and his girlfriend in England informed his parents through the Red Cross that he had been a POW. Les returned to Minnesota in the summer of 1945, and he had no trouble readjusting to life at home, where he found work and settled down. Les Schrenk was interviewed by Crestwood students over zoom in October 2025, and an in person follow-up interview was completed by Zach Dunn in Minnesota, which he was kind enough to share with us.  The videos on this webpage are an amalgamation of the two interviews, so there are some areas of overlap.