42-100345

On 2 March 1944, during a mission to Frankfurt, the aircraft was hit by flak over northern France that struck two or three engines and set the plane on fire. Engine No. 4 was knocked out and the tail section sustained damage including holes in the vertical stabilizer. The pilot, 2d Lt. Charles W. Mankin Jr., requested a course home as the plane fell out of formation, losing approximately 4,000 feet altitude before the bail-out alarm sounded.

The crew bailed out at approximately 15,000 to 21,000 feet at approximately 11:00 to 11:30 AM. Seven parachutes were observed in the air. Pilot Mankin was killed when his parachute failed to open. The aircraft went into a spin after the crew abandoned it and is believed to have exploded on striking the ground. The wreckage came down in the area of Bray-sur-Somme and Albert in northern France.

Of the surviving crew, three men — bombardier Carpenter (E&E No. 670), co-pilot Heinke (E&E No. 332), and radio operator Rusiawitz (E&E No. 534) — successfully evaded capture and returned to the UK. Navigator Burke was interned in a neutral country. Four enlisted crew members (Wagelie, Karpf, Crocker, Shiwarski) were taken prisoner.