Eugene W. Engdahl.
Waist Gunner · 330th Squadron
The man.
S/Sgt. Eugene W. Engdahl served as waist gunner with the 330th Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group. On August 1, 1943, he was one of only three crew members to bail out successfully from his stricken aircraft during the low-level raid on the Ploesti oil fields in Romania.
Engdahl bailed out at approximately 2,000 feet over Bulgaria and his parachute opened successfully. Fellow crew member S/Sgt. Koen Jr. reported him as uninjured after landing, and S/Sgt. Murray confirmed seeing Engdahl alive on the ground after the bailout.
Engdahl is associated with E&E Report No. 2445, confirming that he successfully evaded and returned to Allied control. His name was occasionally rendered as 'Engdanl' in OCR transcriptions of period questionnaires.