Crew Roster · Personal File

Stephen P. Kerbel

Engineer / Top Turret

HometownCliffside, New Jersey

S/Sgt. Stephen P. Kerbel served as flight engineer and top turret gunner on B-24J 42-50679, 409th Bomb Squadron, on the 28 January 1945 Dortmund mission. Born 26 December 1918, Cliffside, NJ. This was his first mission with Lt. Schmoller.

Was one of the last to bail out. Captured and held at Dulag Luft West. All surviving crew were held in the same POW camp for approximately 100 days. Interrogated in October 1945 at Dover Army Air Field regarding the fate of Lt. Schmoller.

Sortie Log

3 CATALOGUED SORTIES
30 DEC 1944 — 28 JAN 1945

The sorties below are those we have been able to document for this airman, drawn from flight logs, mission records, and archival sources. It is not necessarily a complete account of every mission flown; gaps may reflect missing documentation, transferred assignments, or records lost to time.

8AF Mission

Date

Target

Aircraft

№ 770

30 DEC 1944

MechernichM/Y

Sleepy Time Gal42-95095

№ 809

28 JAN 1945

Dortmund

B-24J Liberator, AAF serial 42-50679, departed Hardwick on 28 January 1945 on a bombing mission to Dortmund, Germany. After bombs away over Dortmund the aircraft was struck by flak, knocking out engines No. 1 and No. 2 and badly damaging the port rudder. Oil pressure on the two remaining engines also dropped. The pilot ordered the crew to bail out. The aircraft was last sighted near Lippstadt trailing behind the formation, approximately 2,000 feet below, heading north. Engines 3 and 4 were milling intermittently. No major visible battle damage was noted by the eyewitness. German records (KU 3632) show the aircraft went down near Hoevel, district of Arnsberg, on 28 January 1945 at 1226 hours. The wreckage was recovered by German forces; no body was found in or near it.