25 FEBRUARY 1944 · FRIDAY · STATION 104Missing in Action
Mission 235.Fürth.
Fürth, Germany
Intended Target
Fürth
Fürth, Germany
Operating Group
93rd BG
2BD
Takeoff Base
Hardwick
Station 104
Aircraft Effective
172 / 196
effective / dispatched
Bomb Tonnage
391
tons
The cost.
§ Outcome
6
Ships Lost
The route.
§ Takeoff to Target
Bearing Out
112° T
Bearing In
300° T
The formation.
§ 41 Aircraft Dispatched
Each ship that lifted off, and the men aboard her.
Command Pilot: League, Miles (Capt, O-734111) listed as 'AC'
Siegal, Leland G. listed as Col. in Copilot position — unusual rank for CP role; transcribed as written
B-24J Liberator serial number 42-100323 assigned to the 93rd Bomb Group, 330th Bomb Squadron, departed AAF #104 on 25 February 1944 on an operational mission to Furth, Germany. The aircraft was last known at coordinates 48:50N 08:00E at 1459 hours. It appeared to have been hit by flak and then attacked by two enemy fighters. Six parachutes were observed by witnesses on the ground. The aircraft crashed in the forest section "Kleiner Humberg" in the state forest Niederschlettenbach, near Dahn, Pirmasens district, Palatinate, western Germany. The wreckage was burning on arrival of local police and ammunition continued to explode. A dead crewmember was found approximately 10 meters from the crash site. German police and country-guard patrols captured 8 survivors within a radius of 3-4 km by 1906 hours on 25 February 1944. A ninth capture was made by 2100 hours. The ten crewmembers were all accounted for by 12 March 1944.
Sources.
§ Provenance