Mission 623.Misburg.

The second mission took the crew to Magdeburg. After leaving the target area the formation scattered, and though jets were spotted, none pressed an attack. The flak over the target was another matter: intense, accurate, and in volume. The lead group took the worst of it. Flying behind them, the crew watched as the bombs went away and then, almost immediately, three aircraft were hit and burning. They watched as the ships went down, trying to count parachutes. One aircraft had its bomb bay blazing like a torch. Only three chutes came out of it. Then a fourth man fell through the flames. Another, unable to get out through the bomb bay, climbed through the top hatch and came out nearly into the arc of his own aircraft's propeller. For a moment it seemed he wouldn't clear it. He did. He slipped past the tail and dropped away until his parachute opened in the sunlight below. Between two of the three ships, nineteen chutes were counted, with perhaps one man unaccounted for. The third ship accounted for an estimated six. Ralph later wrote: "I'll never again fail to return home, to count the holes, and try to get some sleep before tomorrow's mission." Their own aircraft came back without a flak hole and the crew unhurt. The navigator's log recorded the route in: Ostende, Ghent, Brussels, Liège, Cologne, Bonn, Giessen, Brunswick, and on to the target. Heavy flak was noted over Cette and Hannover as well. The return leg passed Nienburg, Dümmer Lake, and out over the Zuiderzee. By the log's count, 150 guns were active over the target and considered very accurate. Three ships lost. Twenty-nine men unaccounted for, nineteen confirmed to have bailed out. One aircraft had aborted before the target. Bombing results were recorded as poor, the target missed.

B-24J serial number 42-50989 was flying as Group Lead on 11 September 1944, piloted by Captain Louis Novotny. The aircraft had no nickname recorded. The aircraft was hit by flak over the target at Magdeburg at approximately 1235 hours. The ship swung off to the left with bomb-bay doors open. An eyewitness (Capt. W. M. Bryan, flying as deputy lead) saw seven men exit the aircraft - four from the waist escape hatch, one from the rear of the bomb-bay, one from the forward bomb-bay, and one from the top escape hatch. Three parachutes were observed opening by gunners. The aircraft was subsequently seen to explode to the rear of the formation. The MACR was prepared on 14 September 1944 by 1st Lt. George I. Meisel, Statistical Officer. Unmatched crew (not in DB): Novotny (pilot, RTD), Hudnyk (co-pilot, MIA), Mushrush (navigator, RTD), O'Donnell (Mickey operator, RTD), Hansen (engineer, RTD), Braden (tail gunner, POW), McCafferty (aircraft commander, RTD).

B-24J serial 42-160336, nicknamed 'Return Engagement' (with a large ring painted on the side), departed Hardwick on 11 September 1944 on a bombing mission to Radeburg, Germany. The aircraft was lost to enemy anti-aircraft fire just after the target at approximately 1258 hours. Sgt. John F. Keener reported that the ship was apparently hit in the gas tanks in the wing. The left wing was blown completely off and the tail section also broke off near the camera hatch position. The aircraft burned in the center section before going up in a puff of black smoke and descending through 10/10 cloud cover approximately 500-1000 feet below. Two men were seen to bail out or were thrown out by the explosion, their parachutes not yet open when they passed through the clouds. German records confirm the aircraft crashed at Vechtel, district Bersenbrueck, on 11 September 1944 at 1350 local time (Abschuss Nr. Kr. 2885). All nine crew members survived and were taken prisoner, processed through Dulag Luft on 23 September 1944. Plane serial 42-160336 not found in DB - planeId set to null. All 9 crew unmatched (db_id=null) - none added.

B-24J serial number 42-50989 was flying as Group Lead on 11 September 1944, piloted by Captain Louis Novotny. The aircraft had no nickname recorded. The aircraft was hit by flak over the target at Magdeburg at approximately 1235 hours. The ship swung off to the left with bomb-bay doors open. An eyewitness (Capt. W. M. Bryan, flying as deputy lead) saw seven men exit the aircraft - four from the waist escape hatch, one from the rear of the bomb-bay, one from the forward bomb-bay, and one from the top escape hatch. Three parachutes were observed opening by gunners. The aircraft was subsequently seen to explode to the rear of the formation. The MACR was prepared on 14 September 1944 by 1st Lt. George I. Meisel, Statistical Officer. Unmatched crew (not in DB): Novotny (pilot, RTD), Hudnyk (co-pilot, MIA), Mushrush (navigator, RTD), O'Donnell (Mickey operator, RTD), Hansen (engineer, RTD), Braden (tail gunner, POW), McCafferty (aircraft commander, RTD).

B-24J serial 42-160336, nicknamed 'Return Engagement' (with a large ring painted on the side), departed Hardwick on 11 September 1944 on a bombing mission to Radeburg, Germany. The aircraft was lost to enemy anti-aircraft fire just after the target at approximately 1258 hours. Sgt. John F. Keener reported that the ship was apparently hit in the gas tanks in the wing. The left wing was blown completely off and the tail section also broke off near the camera hatch position. The aircraft burned in the center section before going up in a puff of black smoke and descending through 10/10 cloud cover approximately 500-1000 feet below. Two men were seen to bail out or were thrown out by the explosion, their parachutes not yet open when they passed through the clouds. German records confirm the aircraft crashed at Vechtel, district Bersenbrueck, on 11 September 1944 at 1350 local time (Abschuss Nr. Kr. 2885). All nine crew members survived and were taken prisoner, processed through Dulag Luft on 23 September 1944. Plane serial 42-160336 not found in DB - planeId set to null. All 9 crew unmatched (db_id=null) - none added.