With bad weather coming and one propeller twisted, DeBolt headed for England. DeBolt, “and, for the life of me, I don’t know why the bombs didn’t blow up.” “We’ve taken a direct hit in the bomb bay,” said pilot Harold R. The B-17 took a direct hit that put #3 engine out of commission and another hit to the center of the plane caused a tremendous flash of light. The B-17 wasn’t able to stay at the same altitude as the other bombers in the group and in addition, the bomb racks were malfunctioning. The bomber developed trouble just before reaching the target area. The B-17 Flying Fortress was on a mission to the Merseburg oil targets, including the Leuna oil refinery. Camouflaged Boeing B-17E on patrol of the approaches to the vital Panama Canal.
When they checked the bomber’s serial number, they find out that the B-17 belongs to the US 91st Bomber Group and astonishingly, the crew is already at their base in England. The US 8th Air Force Service Command, headquartered in Belgium, sent a crew of service personnel to investigate. In the fuselage, there were several flying jackets with their distinctive fur collars laying together with a few chocolate bars, partially eaten in some instances.’ This code book provided the crew with identifying colors and letters of the day for communication purposes. In the Perspex nose of the B-17, the Sperry bombsight remained totally intact, with its cover sitting neatly beside it.Īlso on the navigator’s desk was the daily code book. This only added to the mystery and made the whereabouts of the crew even more inexplicable. ‘During our search of the fuselage we found parachutes neatly wrapped, about twelve of them, and ready to clip on. The bomber’s log was lying open on the navigator’s desk and written in the log was these last words – ‘Bad Flak’”. After some trial and error manipulations, Crisp successfully managed to shut the remaining engines down.Ĭrisp wrote, “I then went to the navigator’s station. However, there were signs of recent occupation.