“Ole Mort”
B-24H serial 42-51078, piloted by Lieutenant Robert Bieber, was flying with the 93rd Bomb Group, 328th Squadron, on a bombing mission to Harburg on 17 January 1945. The aircraft carried a crew of 10 with no passengers.
At 1212 hours over the target area, the aircraft received a flak hit in the bomb bay just before bombs away. Witnesses reported the bomb bay burned for approximately two minutes before exploding. The aircraft went into a dive, broke up completely, and came down near Ochsenwaeder.
Eyewitness accounts from crews of the 44th Bomb Group varied on the number of parachutes observed: Lt. Daily reported three chutes, two of which were on fire; Lt. Erikson reported the aircraft broke up completely; Lt. Lowe reported seven chutes. The MACR confirmed parachutes were used.
A German hospital document (Reserve-Lazarett V Hamburg, dated 19 January 1945) confirmed that three crew members — Bieber, Harth (Earth), and Schmidt — were admitted on 17 January 1945 with burns and contusions, having been transferred by the Reichsstatthalter Hamburg.
Sortie Log
A sortie is a single combat mission flown by an aircraft and its crew. The entries below document known sorties associated with this airman, drawn from flight logs, mission records, and archival sources. This list represents verified flights but may not be complete; gaps may reflect missing documentation, transferred assignments, or records lost to time.