Mission 244.Frankfurt Am Main.

One row of crew data replaced by XXXXX redaction line between Bombardier and Engineer positions; likely an Engineer/Top Turret entry was crossed out or redacted.

One row (S/Sgt Helm) partially redacted with XXXXX for first name/initial and serial number.

Ship number followed by '?' in source; squadron letter Y and trailing '?' may indicate uncertainty in original document.

On 2 March 1944, the aircraft was on a mission to Frankfurt, Germany. Over France, the plane was hit by flak on two or three engines, causing a fire. The pilot requested a course home and the aircraft fell out of formation, losing approximately 4,000 feet before the alarm bell sounded. The crew bailed out at approximately 15,000 feet at approximately 11:30 AM. Seven parachutes were observed in the air. The casualty questionnaire noted that one man was burnt before bailing out. The pilot, 2d Lt. Charles W. Mankin Jr., was killed — his parachute did not open. The aircraft did not explode on striking the ground. The plane was hit by large flak holes causing fire on two or three engines. The wreckage was not examined by the narrator. The aircraft came down in northern France in the vicinity of Bray-sur-Somme and the area around Albert.

A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (designated Boeing Fortress II in German records) assigned to the 93rd Bomb Group was shot down on 2 March 1944 at approximately 13:00 hours near Sieglar, by the western outskirts of Siegburg, Germany. German capture and casualty reports processed by the Army Air Base Command at Cologne-Ostheim (Koeln-Ostheim) recorded the loss. The aircraft serial number was unknown to German authorities. The cause of the downing was not definitively established — German forms listed the cause as unknown, with flak, fighter, and night fighter all listed as possibilities. German records noted the aircraft was 98% destroyed ("98% breakage") upon impact. The crash site was documented in German Casualty Report on Allied Aviators No. 25, covering the period 23 February to 2 March 1944, and was assigned German administrative reference AV 658/44. The crew of ten included seven killed in action (KIA) and three who became prisoners of war (PDD — German abbreviation for prisoners). Eight of the dead were buried in the Old Cemetery of Sieglar, at the right side of the entrance, on 4 March 1944.

A B-24 Liberator (KU 1059) of the 93rd Bomb Group was lost on 2 March 1944 during a mission to Frankfurt, Germany. The aircraft left formation approximately 5 miles east of Abbeville, France. According to survivor accounts, the crew bailed out in groups: the tail gunner, waist gunner, and ball turret gunner exited through the camera hatch; the nose gunner, navigator, and bombardier through the nose wheel hatch; and the co-pilot, radio operator, and engineer bailed out together. The pilot, 2nd Lt. Charles W. Mankin Jr., did not survive. The aircraft struck the ground near Doullens, France (per German sources), and near Fricourt, 3 km from Albert, per a German prisoner-of-war document dated 2 March 1944. The aircraft identifier was KU 1059.

B-24 Liberator serial 42-100320, assigned to the 328th Bomb Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group, based at Hardwick. The aircraft was not reported missing; only one crew member, the navigator, bailed out. On 2 March 1944, on the return course from a mission against Frankfurt, at position 4955N 0530E, 2nd Lt. Andrew J. Logan bailed out during a heavy flak barrage. The specific reason for his action was not known. The aircraft and remaining crew were not reported missing.