B-24H serial 41-29656 departed Hardwick on 26 February 1945 on a combat bombing mission to Berlin.
The aircraft was last sighted at 53°00'N - 11°00'E at 1320 hours. Loss was attributed to numbers 3 and 4 engines failing for unknown reasons.
Weather at the time was 10/10 layered stratocumulus and altostratus with tops at 14,000-15,000 ft and restricted downward visibility.
All 10 crew members were reported as battle casualties, initially listed as MIA and subsequently returned to duty.
On the 26 February 1945 Berlin mission, flak holed number 3 then number 4. Cadle feathered both. The ship fell behind the group, could not make England, and went in after the crew bailed five miles inside the Oder. Number 1 and number 2 had been replaced the day before.
Articles, columns, and letters naming this aircraft in the 2nd Air Division Association journals and the group’s own newsletters. The summaries below are ours; the pieces themselves belong to the writers and publications that produced them.
On 26 February 1945 a 93rd Liberator on the Berlin run lost two engines over the Oder, held altitude long enough for the crew to jump, and came down in Soviet-held ground.