No Man’S Sky: The Story of a B-17 Waist Gunner Who Flew Twenty-Nine Times over the Reich

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Published by AuthorHouse 10/01/2016

ISBN: 978-1-4969-2896-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-2897-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-2895-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014913460

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Dedicated… to my dad, Ralph, and my two uncles, Edward and Guy Cline who served America honorably during the Epoch War in the European Theater of Operations in Egypt, England, North Africa, Sicily, Italy and in the Islands of the Pacific Theater of Operation.

To the Cox, Hesseltine, Krieger and Struempler families, to the 490th Bombardment Group and to the men who flew in formation beside Crew 136.

To Crew 136, you were men of courage who flew and fought in peril, suspended in the frozen sky five miles above the ground. You were more than ordinary men. You were men doing an extra-ordinary job.

March 1945.

A photograph from the Krieger and Struempler Estates.

A reorganized crew.

Airmen of Crew 136 assigned to the 849th Bomb Squadron.

Preface

The Atlantic Flyway¹ is an air passage for migratory birds that follows a time-honored path from the Arctic regions of northern Canada, through the northern and eastern United States to the warmer climates of Central and South America. The semiannual migration fills marshes, ponds, wetlands and estuaries with water birds.

The Silver Creek Marsh, south of Bloomville, Ohio, is a stop-over on this journey.

The locals knew a fat, young duck would make a great meal. The trophy was the main course of conversation at Sunday dinner.

Farmers quietly stood in their duck blinds with their 12-gauge shotguns, poised and ready, hoping to catch a duck on a ‘turn-in’ as the migratory birds sailed toward the swampy water.

Like an enemy fighter in aerial combat, a duck must ‘turn-in’ toward the blind for a hunter to have a good chance to hit the bird in flight.

Photograph by R.C. Cline, April 21, 2014.

The Silver Creek, south of Bloomville, Ohio.

In the fall of 1942, the first year of the war was ending. For young men in Bloomville Township High School’s senior class, high school was their last chance to be free of responsibility before graduation and manhood.

For many young men across the nation, war was about to become a reality. Life was about to turn in a new, dramatic and uncharted direction.

J. Emerson Krieger enjoyed the comfort of a good school and a warm home; he ate good food; he was active in sports and proud of his close friends. He made sure he had lots of fun.

Soon, he would exchange civilian life for army green fatigues, a scratchy wool blanket, a bunk bed, a wood burning stove, a footlocker in a Quonset hut, a firing range, an M-2 Browning Machine Gun, morning calisthenics, long marches and C-rations.

Life for Emy would never be the same. Some men would post to foreign lands and shores to fight impossible missions.

Millions of men like Emy began their journey which took them far, far away into the great unknown.

This is the story of J. Emerson Krieger and his twenty-nine missions over Germany. Emy flew in peril in no man’s sky and survived the battles in the trenches in the sky.

The combat over Germany was a turning point in Emy’s life. One man from his senior class of 1943, Virgil Dent Jr.² was killed in action fighting for his country in Germany.

He never came home to Bloomville, Ohio, again.

Contents

Preface

Prologue - What’s past is prologue

Chapter 1 - A Day in the Life of a Combat Flier

Chapter 2 - Mission to Cologne

Chapter 3 - Bloomville, Ohio

Chapter 4 - Basic Training and the Flexible Gunnery School

Chapter 5 - This Blessed Plot of Earth and Sky— Bromedome.

Chapter 6 - London, England, December 1944

Chapter 7 - The 490th Bombardment Group Heavy— Crew 136 of the 849th Bomb Squadron

Chapter 8 - The Plane was an instrument of death

Chapter 9 - High Altitude Clothing and Equipment

Chapter 10 - The First Mission of J. Emerson Krieger —I am keeping a book.³

Chapter 11 - The Command of Rene L. Devoucoux, First Pilot—and the early missions of Cox, Hesseltine and Krieger

Chapter 12 - Forming and Formations

Chapter 13 - Missions to Bielefeld and Durben, Germany

Chapter 14 - Keep ’em flying — the Mission of the Ground Crew

Chapter 15 - Bombs and their Targets

Chapter 16 - Little Friends and the Air Medal

Chapter 17 - Mission to Kassel, Germany and the ‘Navi-guesser.’

Chapter 18 - Missions: Chemnitz and Dulmen, Germany and the Weather

Chapter 19 - Rough Ride from Dresden-Chemnitz, Germany

Chapter 20 - The Lost Mission to Wesel, Germany

Chapter 21 - Mission to Munich, Germany and

the Bombardier

Chapter 22 - Over the Hump with Missions to Kassel and Dortmund, Germany

Chapter 23 - Changing the First Pilot, an Organized Crew—Mission to Varel, Germany

Chapter 24 - Missions to Hamburg and Brandenburg, Germany and the Science of War

Chapter 25 - The Air Battle over Parchim Airfield —the second pass.

Chapter 26 - Combat Tactics in the Air

Chapter 27 - Missions to Bomb German Airfields and Flak

Chapter 28 - Battle causalities, the odds of survival and the damage assessment

Chapter 29 - Bombing Royan, France and Franklin D. Roosevelt

Chapter 30 - The Flak Shack and Winding Down the War

Chapter 31 - The Odyssey: the Fun and the Tribute

Chapter 32 - Victory in Europe

Epilogue - They all went out …"

Dénouement - After the War

Post Script - The legacy of four members of Crew 136.

— An Essay on Methodology and a Bibliography used by the author to write a tribute to J. Emerson Krieger and Crew 136.

— A photograph. The 490th Bombardment Group’s Memorial Wreath to the Fallen placed every year on Memorial Day at the Eighth Air Force Monument in Cambridge, England.

— The editing of the second edition was skilfully processed by Michael Struempler, son of the last First Pilot of Crew 136, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Struempler.

— The first edition was edited during a 140 day stay in the hospital. After I survived, I revised, edited and rewrote the Second Edition. The Deathbed edition is now history.

A graduation photograph. 1943. Krieger Family photograph.

J. Emerson Krieger graduated from high school in June, 1943. He died in Riverside, California on 19 October 1974. His life was short, but the memory of his combat and his service to America lives on.

This portrait was taken during Emy’s senior year at Bloomville Township High School, Bloomville, Ohio.

Prologue

What’s past is prologue

In a play, "The Tempest," by William Shakespeare, during Act II, scene I, Antonio speaks:

"And by that destiny to perform an act

Where of what’s past is prologue; what to come, in your and my discharge."

J. Emerson Krieger [nicknamed ‘Emy’] was born in Toledo, Ohio on 10 January 1926. He was 18 years old in 1943. He was the only son of the Mr. and Mrs. Emery J. Krieger. His dad was the Superintendent-Principal of Bloomville Township High School. The book No Man’s Sky is a tribute to Emy, a combat flier in World War II. Emy was an Aerial Gunner trained to protect his crew and plane with a Browning M-2 Machine Gun. This story is about the threads of a man’s life as he fought in combat over the embattled skies of Europe.

Emy was young and handsome, rugged and athletic. He was even handed, reserved, thoughtful and deliberate. He loved sports, music, fun and adventure.

Emy was a gifted man with practical skills and mechanical aptitude. He possessed attractive qualities of character like loyalty, compassion, reliability and commitment. What he lacked in experience and worldly knowledge, he made up in dependability. What he lacked in practical know-how, he made up in a willingness to learn. He was open to new ideas and he liked challenges and useful knowledge. He was an honest, sensible man steeped with a lot of raw courage. In high school, he was a team player.

And like many young Americans, he volunteered to fly in the dangerous skies over Germany. In combat, he was a team player too. Of course, he liked a good joke and wanted to have a good time. His favorite expression was — I want to have more fun! But there was very little fun in the war against Nazi Germany. Combat was never Emy’s idea of a good time.

German fighters and anti-aircraft fire, called flak,⁴ could ruin an entire day.

O’ER THE RAMPARTS WE WATCH

Recruitment Poster, 1945.

When ‘Emmy’ Krieger joined the U.S. Army Air Forces after Graduation, he did not realize that he would fly away to England to fight impossible missions in No Man’s Sky over France and Germany. At eighteen, Emy was the youngest member of his crew.

J. Emerson Krieger in Action.

Copyright 2013. Use only by permission, Krieger estate.⁵

S/Sgt J. Emerson Krieger was photographed at his post, manning the M-2 Browning .50 Caliber Machine Gun at a Waist Gunner’s window on a B-17G Flying Fortress.

Chapter 1

A Day in the Life of a Combat Flier

A day in the life of Combat Crew 136 started early in the predawn hours.

AROUND THE CLOCK, 24-7.    During the night, the ground crews completed its maintenance, retrofits, service and repairs on heavy bombers.

Nighttime is for sleep, a time for rejuvenating tired minds and weary bodies; but for American combat fliers, the wake-up call always came in the early morning hours of a mission.

Teams of Mechanics had worked around the clock to repair and ready aircraft for the next day’s mission. The idea of "long ranged, daylight, precision bombing" was a team concept. Instrument and communication specialists calibrated flight instruments and checked radios; Mechanics patched flak⁶ holes and leaks, fueled bombers, loaded bombs, installed retro-fits, and tuned engines. The ground crew checked and rechecked every system of a B-17 bomber. No detail was too small to ignore. System checks were mandatory before sending crews and planes into battle.

0 DARK THIRTY. In Headquarters the teletypes clicked cryptic messages to Group Commanders at airbases across East Anglia. Strategic Orders from the VIIIth Bomber Command at 8th Air Force Headquarters in Pinetree listed targets and objectives for each Bombardment Group, Air Group Planning and Intelligent Officers at the 490th Bombardment Group.

The Intelligence team prepared aerial maps, photographs and coordinated for Group’s Squadrons who would bomb specific objectives in Germany. Supply, record keeping, air traffic control, medics in the dispensary, meteorologists, cooks, mechanics and the motor pool all supported flight operations. Many team members had worked through the night.

A small city of service personnel including the Medical staff, mechanics, ground assistants, transportation crews, the motor pool, supply and service groups, intelligent officers, weather experts, planners from bomber command, communication specialists, flight control personnel, Administrative Officers, clerks and record keepers all worked to make each mission successful. The team had one goal: to put maximum effort and planes on the target over Germany.

More than 2,300 men and women were housed on a typical airbase. They fed, housed, maintained and assisted flight crews. Airbases, like AAF Eye Station 134, were scattered across East Anglia, with about two hundred and fifty other American bases located all over England, Scotland and Wales.

A typical bomb crew consisted of ten Specialists, four Officers and six Enlisted men. The First Pilot commanded the ship; the Co-pilot flew in the right seat of the cockpit, ready to support or fly if he was needed. The Navigator was the direction finder, trained to guide the aircraft and keep it on course. The last Officer was the Bombardier, the expert who sighted the objective, directed and dropped the bombs over the target. The enlisted men were Gunners, an Armorer, a Flight Engineer and a Radio Operator.

Each man had trained for specific duties, but he could fill-in for a team member in case of emergency. If a vital activity needed attention, every crew member stood ready to help. Camera Operators and Photographers sometimes accompanied air crews in flight. All crew members had primary and secondary duties. Each man could substitute at another battle station, performing new duties if his buddy was injured or killed.

2:30 A.M. TO 4:30 A.M. The wake-up call came early.

At 2:30 a.m. sleep ended for flight crews and a new day started. The mess cooks had prepared Breakfast. The wake-up call was a signal to bomber crew that it was time for a hearty breakfast of coffee, ham and eggs, toast and pancakes at the mess hall — mess cooks served food that would stick to the ribs all day. The crew dressed and hurried to the mess hall.

After breakfast, the Supply Officer issued flying equipment, checked and readied. The supplies and high altitude gear included survival rations, electrically heated flight suits, oxygen masks and head phones, parachutes, Mae West Jackets, [a flotation vest used in water landings] individual O2 bottles, maps, flares, high altitude shear ling outerwear and a Norden bomb sight. Bomb Loaders racked bombs in the bomb bay and stored boxes of .50 caliber ammunition at each Gunner’s platforms or stations. Ground crews had made the heavy bombers ready and airworthy.

Courtesy of Eric Swain.

Air Operations and Briefing for Crew 136 originated from a Nissan hut.

4:30 A.M. TO 5:45 A.M. The preflight briefing followed breakfast. Crews were notified of their flight status on the night before a mission. The pre-flight briefing outlined the target objectives, map coordinates, rally points and the formation patterns. The lecture gave crew the flak and fighter reports, weather conditions, maps of the target, formation and decoy orders. Officers confirmed secret radio codes, communication ciphers and call signals. The most sensitive codes were written on edible rice paper. The papers were to be eaten—destroyed in case of capture.

5:45 A.M. TO 6:00 A.M. Transportation to the airfield runway was compliments of the Motor Pool. Drivers chauffeured air crews to the runway. After the aircraft engines were switched on, each engine sputtered and fired.

6:00 A.M. TO 7:30 A.M. The plane’s engines warmed-up, ready for taxi, take offs and forming into battle groups in the air.

One by one, each plane began to taxi down the runway like elephants. A signal flare announced the take-off each aircraft at 30 second intervals. Engines revved higher and higher as heavily loaded planes lumbered and strained to gain altitude to build a formation aloft. Planes circled above, formed a battle armada by grouping the planes in a tight, pre-planned formation.

The lead group headed the attack; a high or top flight watched above, and low group protected the rear of the formation. Planes flew in a pre-established order, usually 12 or 13 planes from a single squadron with a total of 36 planes from the Group making the complete armada.⁷ It was an ominous array of fire power and a force highly respected by the Luftwaffe.⁸

During the trip, Escort fighters joined the armada. Near the end of the war when fighters had auxiliary fuel tanks, the fighters escorted and protected bombers all the way to Berlin and back to England. On board the air craft, Crews checked and rechecked their equipment and readied their guns for action. Squadrons of the planes rose over England and France to form a battle group. The target was Germany.

8:00 A. M. to 2:30 P.M. Planes flew missions called bomb runs. As flights flew toward their assigned targets, Bombardiers marked the coordinates. When the bomb bay doors opened, the bombardier gave the order: Bombs Away. After the ordinance fell to earth, planes circle again, reforming as they turned away from targets to a "rally point" toward a new course homeward. Pilots reformed the armada. The next stop was the home airfield in England.

In flight, Pilots had a few, but limited options when they flew over Germany and back to England. A few options were safe choices, but most were risky:

The first option was to successfully complete the mission unharmed and return to base or a pilot could end the mission in an ‘abort.’ Aborts ended the mission before dropping the bomb load and sent the plane back to the home airfield.

The objective was to drop the bomb load on priority targets, engage flak and fighters and return to the home airfield in one piece. In the case of severe damage over land, the crew would abandon the aircraft in neutral or occupied territory, then parachute to safety. At times, crews might crash land at any available Allied airfield or at a airfield in a neutral country like Switzerland. Or in the case of severe damage over water, ditch in the English Channel.

In the case of severe damage over land, the crew would abandon the aircraft in neutral or occupied territory, then parachute to safety. At times, crews might crash land at any available Allied airfield or at a airfield in a neutral country like Switzerland. Or in the case of severe damage over water, ditch in the English Channel.

A crash landing in a damaged plane was a pilot’s decision of last resort. A crash landing was dangerous, risky and simply unsafe.

As battle damaged planes with injured men limped toward home, Flight Engineers fired flares to alert ground crews of the conditions in each aircraft. A red flare indicated that badly wounded men were on board. Ambulances stood ready to assist injured fliers; and fire trucks were on the field, manned and ready and on high alert to suppress any potential fires.

Usually, a mission lasted 8 or 10 hours. It was absolute boredom for most of the flight — but occasionally the tour had an act of complete terror when a German fighter passed on a ‘turn-in’ shooting 20 mm cannon shells at the bomber. The fighter’s pass lasted a few seconds and after several short burst of fire from the gunners in the B-17s, the M-2 Browning Machine Guns fell silent and the enemy fighter broke away. The air battle ended.

As planes flew toward home, Ground Spotters anxiously searched the skies, looking, counting and listing the planes that had returned safely from battle.

3:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. Red Cross Workers or mess cooks provided hot coffee or Scotch whisky, donut and sympathy. Crew prepared mentally for the next mission. Mechanics quickly assessed the damage to each aircraft and began the repairs to make planes battle ready for tomorrow’s bomb run.

If the plane and crew made it back, an Interrogation, called a debriefing, provided intelligence on the target, flak, weather conditions and the mission. Pilots, Navigators and Bombardiers wrote separate reports.

5:00 P. M. to 5:30 P.M. The men assembled in the Mess Hall for dinner.

6: 00 P. M. to 9:45 P.M. In the evening, Recreation included reading, letter writing or listening to a propaganda broadcast in English called, "Germany Calling," from Radio Hamburg in Germany.

10:00 P.M.    The lights in the Nissan huts went out. ⁹

Courtesy U.S. Army, 1943-44.¹⁰

The battle dress of a combat Waist Gunner.

A Waist Gunner fired a .50 caliber M2 Browning automatic machine gun. The Gunner, dressed in body armor, wore an electrically heated suit, gloves and shoes, head phones and a throat microphone which connected him to other crew members. A fleece lined leather helmet and heated boots finished his dress. A breathing mask supplied each Aerial Gunner with Oxygen from the plane’s reservoir tanks.

On the next day— near dawn, a new wake-up call summoned bomber crews across England, as weary fliers stumbled into a new day. Before daybreak, the 490th Bombardment Group began to recycle its previous day’s routine, repeating yesterday with a renewed enthusiasm. Men ate a hearty breakfast; then they checked equipment and attended a Pre-flight briefing. Planes taxied down the runway as bomber crew cycled toward Germany skies once again.

Flares fired from the control tower paced the planes down the runway. A new bombing armada formed and headed toward the new primary target.

Krieger and the Crew 136 repeated this pattern of flying and bombing targets in Germany twenty-eight more time. Most of the missions were routine, but a few contained enough excitement to last a life time. When the fight had action with enemy fighters, the combat lasted only a few seconds. It was sheer terror and then slowly, quietly, life returned to normal.

The recollections and fear always lingered with the memories of intense flak over German skies. On the third mission, Krieger and Crew 136 had haunting moments that last a life time. The Mission over Cologne confirmed each flier as a combat veteran.

Chapter 2

Mission to Cologne

He is my refuge and my fortress

Psalms 91: verse 2.

Eighth Air Force Mission 789: Wednesday, 10 January 1945. The targets were two bridges, which spanned the Rhine River in the "Happy Ruhr Valley." The objectives were the Hohenzollern and Deutz Bridges in Koln, Germany.

Maps from an Official German publication on the Auto Bahn.¹¹

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force) Mission 789

10 January 1945.

1,119 bombers and 362 fighters are dispatched to attack airfields, rail targets and bridges in Germany.

Group 1. 429 B-17’s are dispatched to hit … railway and highway bridges at Cologne, (34)."

Mission No. 3 … Krieger could not conceal his fear when he wrote an emotional letter to his girlfriend. On my 19th birthday I was praying … the flak was intense … we lost a plane on each wing. ¹²

Nothing in his family background or his personal experiences, nothing in his hometown, nothing in his high school education and nothing in his civilian life prepared Krieger for the panic that came from flying in combat. The crew had its orders and flew toward Cologne, Germany.

Blam!!! Flak hit the plane piloted by Lt. Walter A. McGrath; and the aircraft exploded in midair. The gates of hell had opened.

On his nineteenth birthday, J. Emerson Krieger saw McGrath’s plane disintegrate just off his wing. Later in the barracks, Emy recalled the mission, as he and James Cox wrote accounts in their Diaries about ‘the mission from hell.’

The squadron received orders to bomb two important railroad bridges, the Hohenzollern and Deutz Bridges, in Cologne. Both bridges were vital transportation links which spanned the Rhine River. As the 849th Bomb Squad flew in the Low Squadron toward the target, McGrath’s aircraft was hit first, downed on the Pilot’s 33rd mission in ‘No Man’s Sky.’

Lt. McGrath and four other members of the crew were killed instantly when his ship exploded in the intense flak barrage. The aircraft received a direct hit on the right wing; "it flipped over on its back and went into a tight spin."

"Old Patch" was on fire — the plane had lost its wing —and then, the ship exploded and disintegrated in midair and fell to earth.¹³ Three members of the crew, the navigator, bombardier and top turret gunner were blown clear of the ship when it fragmented. Each man pulled the ‘D’ ring on his parachute.

Hess saw parachutes open and float toward the ground. Sgt. Richard Lynde recalled that the Navigator and Bombardier were taken to a German hospital;¹⁴ but he never saw them again.

The two enlisted men, Top Turret Gunner, James E. Chambers and the Ball Turret Operator, Richard Lynde opened their parachutes as they escaped from the damaged plane.

Sgt. Lynde managed to escape from his gunner’s platform just before the explosion.

Both Chambers and Lynne spent the rest of the war in POW Camps. The first interment was in Dulagluff Stalag 13 in Nurnberg, Germany.

When Allied Forces approached the camp late in the war, the Germans guards moved prisoners to Stalag 7a in Meeseburg. The 14th Armoured Division of Patton’s Third Army finally liberated American POWs from Stalag 7a camp on 29 April 1945.¹⁵ When the war ended, both men had spent about three and a half month in captivity.

Krieger wrote in his Diary:

"To-day we went to Koln [Cologne] we were suppose to bomb a Bridge Clouds were to[o] thick so we bombed the marshalling yards. The flak was intense. We lost a plane on each wing first rough target we had 10 holes. Ball gunner and I both had close calls. Krieger also wrote a technical report and a damage assessment.

25,000’ [altitude] 1000 [bomb load] lost three ships [damage report]

2 fellows B.W. [badly wounded] 7 are ok but the rest were killed 6:30 [air time]

Krieger’s recollection was clear. The mission fell on his birthday. The intense combat with puffs of black smoke and shards of flak etched fear and panic deep inside his memory.

Hesseltine echoed the intensity and drama with technical data:

Jan. 10- 1945

"Today’s target was a railroad bridge at Cologne. The secondary target was marshalling yards at Cologne. The secondary target was bombed P. F. F.¹⁶ Mission time lasted five to six hours. Bomb load six 1000 lb. bombs. Intervalometer¹⁷ setting was 240 M P H G. S. X. distance between bombs 50 feet. No fighters’ encountered but moderate flak was very accurate. Two or three of our bombers were lost over the target. Saw one ship in flames on our right. Four chutes were seen to open from the ship [McGrath]. We were in the low squadron at 27,000 feet. Temperature at altitude -55° F."

[Mission] (3)

James C. Cox wrote about the heavily armed target.

01-10: Number three. [Mission Number 3] The roughest yet. 200 guns -flak accurate- lose three ships in our sqdn. [squadron] 12 holes."

The purpose of the raid was to destroy the transportation links and railroad system crossing the Rhine River. Fifty years later Professor Arthur Struempler wrote about his experience in a narrative about his mission and the combat over Cologne.

In his Autobiography, Struempler wrote an unpublished memoir which he completed in 1994. He recalled the flak and cold weather over Cologne.

"January 10 is at the peak of the cold weather in Northern Europe and January 10, 1945 was particularly cold. At 13:00 we came down the Rhine [River] from the south so as to take advantage of a tail wind to spend minimum time over the heavily defended target. … Flak appeared on the horizon as we were approaching our target at 30,000 feet. Sergeant Runkel [Fight Engineer] … said, Look at all the pretty flak.

The next thing we experienced was a churning, rolling, bouncing and uncontrollable airplane like being on very rough, turbulent rapids. The concussions from the artillery shells were bouncing us around and we were being hit. Shrapnel hit everywhere. The engineer’s next words were a very slow ‘Jesus Christ.’"¹⁸

The top gun.

Hesseltine estate.

The top turret manned by the Flight Engineer, Staff Sgt. Carl A. Runkel.

The damage reports summed up the intensity in the air. The strategic summary for VIIIth Bomber Command said:

the attacks were made PFF and 10 bombers and two fighter were lost in the raid. The VIII Operational Damage Report stated that: Some targets hit visually but most by PFF methods; 5 B-17’s are lost, 5 damaged beyond repair and 199 damaged; 10 airmen killed, KIA, 6 wounded, WIA and 48 missing, MIA.

When the Low Squadron neared the target, the planes encountered heavy flak. "All hell broke loose," said Lt. Joseph F. Tighe, another 849th Squadron Pilot who flew on the Mission to Cologne.¹⁹

McGrath’s plane was down. But the loss of the plane and crew was only the beginning. There was more intensity, more flak and more drama ahead.

Another shell detonated nearby and Lt. Charles W. Ward’s plane. The aircraft was hit and fell from the formation. Anti-aircraft fire had struck the number four engine.

Ward’s crew bailed out and seven chutes floated into enemy territory. Most of the crew landed in POW camps until they were liberated by Allied Forces near the end of the War

A photo of the flak on 10 January 1945.