“Ole Mort”

B-24H serial 42-51078, piloted by Lieutenant Robert Bieber, was flying with the 93rd Bomb Group, 328th Squadron, on a bombing mission to Harburg on 17 January 1945. The aircraft carried a crew of 10 with no passengers.

At 1212 hours over the target area, the aircraft received a flak hit in the bomb bay just before bombs away. Witnesses reported the bomb bay burned for approximately two minutes before exploding. The aircraft went into a dive, broke up completely, and came down near Ochsenwaeder.

Eyewitness accounts from crews of the 44th Bomb Group varied on the number of parachutes observed: Lt. Daily reported three chutes, two of which were on fire; Lt. Erikson reported the aircraft broke up completely; Lt. Lowe reported seven chutes. The MACR confirmed parachutes were used.

A German hospital document (Reserve-Lazarett V Hamburg, dated 19 January 1945) confirmed that three crew members — Bieber, Harth (Earth), and Schmidt — were admitted on 17 January 1945 with burns and contusions, having been transferred by the Reichsstatthalter Hamburg.