“Uncle”

Lieutenant William Schmoller's Uncle (U) took a hit over the Dortmund coke plant on January 28, 1945, during a mission marked by intense and accurate flak. A nearby pilot, Lieutenant Stanley Andrino, reported watching Uncle's Number Three and Four engines windmill and lose power as the ship dropped about 2,000 feet below the formation, last seen heading north near Lippstadt. Over the target the crew lost both engines and the port rudder, and with oil pressure falling and the ship out of control, Schmoller ordered a bail-out. Bombardier-navigator Sam Jaffee and co-pilot John Techet went out through the bomb-bay, and the rest of the crew followed through the rear escape hatch; several were captured and held at Dulag Luft West. The crew agreed that Schmoller's own parachute failed to open near the village of Hovel, and he did not survive.