Mission 178.Target of Opportunity.

Aircraft suffered mechanical failure and force-landed at Dübendorf airfield, Switzerland. Entire crew interned. MACR 2367.

B-24D serial 42-40990, assigned to the 328th Bomb Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group, was lost on 7 January 1944 during a combat mission to Ludwigshafen, Germany. The aircraft departed AAF Station 104 and was last seen over the Chartres area at approximately 1320 hours. Loss was attributed to enemy aircraft. No. 2 engine caught fire and the wing behind the engine was also burning. Controls were partially damaged and did not respond fully. The pilot ordered the crew to bail out at between 4,000 and 5,000 feet altitude. All crew members were observed bailing out with parachutes opening. The aircraft exploded before hitting the ground and exploded again on impact. It crashed into a forest near Chateau, approximately 17 km southeast of Foix, France. A German capture report dated 15 February 1944 confirmed the crash location. French witnesses reported that two bodies were found in the burned wreckage. Four crew members — the pilot, co-pilot, radio operator, and engineer/top turret gunner — evaded capture and returned to England together. Two officers, the navigator and bombardier, were assisted by French contacts and reached Paris but were captured by the Germans before reaching Spain. The fate of the remaining three crew members was not definitively established.

B-24 42-7614 "Buckeye" of the 328th Bomb Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group (MACR 2368). The aircraft serial was settled 2 Aug 2026: Miller's E&E Report #693 recorded the aircraft as 42-7519, but 42-7519 was Lt. David W. Richardson's aircraft that same day, confirmed interned at Dübendorf, Switzerland (Streather internment list; MACR 2367) - the E&E 693 serial is a recording error. See the Verified/Disproven fact pair on this sortie. Hansen's VHP interview naming Buckeye corroborates 42-7614. On 7 January 1944, the aircraft departed AAF 104 on a combat mission to Ludwigshafen, Germany. During the mission, the aircraft was attacked by enemy fighters. No. 3 engine caught fire, Nos. 2 and 4 were feathered, and No. 1 went out of control. Co-pilot 2nd Lt. Edward C. Miller reported bailing out at approximately 13,000 feet, at around 1330 hours, between Paris and Melun (near St. Assisse). A cipher message received after the loss stated that an aircraft of the 93rd Bombardment Group, 328th Bombardment Squadron had landed in Switzerland; that aircraft was 42-7519 (Richardson). Seven parachutes were counted by French helpers on the ground. Hearsay information from French sources indicated that crew members Stearns, Parvese, and Wahrheit were believed killed, while Carnahan and Long were captured. Miller also reported hearing that ground troops had fired on some men after bailout. Note: the SortieCrew journal entries still cite serial 42-7519 from the E&E-based import and need correcting when a journal-entry edit tool is available.