“Southwind”

B-24D serial number 42-63987, assigned to the 409th Bombardment Squadron, 93rd Bombardment Group, departed AAF Station 104 on 1 December 1943 on an objective bombing mission to Solingen, Germany.

The aircraft was last sighted at 1245 hours in the vicinity of Turnhout, Belgium (coordinates 5120N 0456E) and was lost as a result of enemy aircraft action. Weather conditions at the time included 7-8/10 cumulus and stratocumulus clouds at 2,000 feet with tops at 8,000-10,000 feet and visibility of 6 miles.

Witnesses who last sighted the aircraft included 1st Lt. J.M. Stauffacher (O-797629), F/O R.D. Kornecker (T-197), and 1st Lt. C.W. Walters (O-797208). Parachutes were reported used by crew members.

The aircraft carried four R-1830-43 engines with serial numbers 42-87063, 42-87177, 42-86771, and 42-87146. The MACR was prepared by 1st Lt. George J. Meiser, Air Corps, and dated 12 January 1944.

Sergeant John Butler, flying tail-gunner aboard the nearby Tennessee Rambler, watched Southwind go down alongside Iron Ass amid the fighter attacks that day, later describing a wing shot away by repeated passes before the bomber spun into flames.