B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-51907) was lost on a mission over Neuburg airfield on 19 March 1945. Eyewitnesses were originally uncertain about the fate of the aircraft, which was one of 6 aircraft to break formation after completing the bomb run. The aircraft was last reported close to Stuttgart with 2 feathered engines.



The navigator Bernard Bail later reported: "On my 25th mission our plane was jumped by a couple of ME 109s. The entire crew, with the exception of four of us, was killed over Germany near Stuttgart. The tail gunner, S/Sgt. N.J. Schmitz, sustained a leg injury that necessitated amputation of his leg, which I witnessed. I, myself, was wounded in my head and neck. The young tail gunner later died of gangrene. I was present at his burial in the little town of Goppingen."