*Lt Fred Staub was the bombardier on Wayne Nelson's crew.  He had also received navigation training and was assigned to fly this mission with Larson's crew in the nose turret as pilotage navigator.

From MACR 7227: Larson left formation at 5140-0957 saying that he had 2 engines out, and asking for fighter support, at 0915 at 23000 feet.  He was later heard over the RUHR VALLEY at 1013 calling Lincoln Leader saying he was losing altitude and expected to abandon ship.

Lt Lincoln Larson was thrown clear of the flight deck when the plane hit the water of Emden Harbor and disintegrated.  Lt Ralph McGuire, also thrown from the flight deck, said it appeared that Larson's arms were broken and that he could not inflate his life vest.  Larson drowned before McGuire could reach him.

Sgt James Butsch sustained  head wounds from 20mm cannon shells to his top turret.  He died in the plane. 

From a statement made by Lt McGuire, Sgt Cecil Gilbert's: "parachute harness leg straps were caught between the [upper escape] hatch door and hinges.  It is certain that he went down with the wreckage of the ship.  Whether he was killed in the crash or drowned, it is unknown.  He was not seen in the water after crash." 

Date	Target	A/C Serial	RCL	SQDN	A/C Name	458th Sortie #	Pilot Msn #	Notes
27-May-1944	NEUNKIRCHEN	42-95106	L	Z5	MISS PAT	48	1
28-May-1944	ZEITZ	42-95106	L	Z5	MISS PAT	49	2
29-May-1944	TUTOW A/F	42-95106	L	Z5	MISS PAT	50	3
31-May-1944	BERTRIX	42-95106	L	Z5	MISS PAT	52	4
2-Jun-1944	STELLA/PLAGE	42-95106	L	Z5	MISS PAT	53	5
6-Jun-1944	COASTAL AREAS	42-95106	L	Z5	MISS PAT	56	6	MISSION #1
6-Jun-1944	PONTAUBAULT	42-95106	L	Z5	MISS PAT	58	7	MISSION #3
8-Jun-1944	PONTAUBAULT	42-95106	L	Z5	MISS PAT	60	8
10-Jun-1944	CHATEAUDUN	42-95106	L	Z5	MISS PAT	61	9
11-Jun-1944	BLOIS	42-95106	L	Z5	MISS PAT	62	10
12-Jun-1944	EVREUX/FAUVILLE	41-28682	I	Z5	UNKNOWN (if any)	63	--	ABORT
18-Jun-1944	WATTEN	42-95018	J	Z5	OLD DOC'S YACHT	69	11	MISSION #2
23-Jun-1944	3 NO BALLS	42-95018	J	Z5	OLD DOC'S YACHT	74	12	TARGET # 6 COUBRONNE
24-Jun-1944	CONCHES A/F	42-95018	J	Z5	OLD DOC'S YACHT	75	13	MISSION #1
25-Jun-1944	ST. OMER	42-95108	M	Z5	ENVY OF 'EM ALL II	78	14
28-Jun-1944	SAARBRUCKEN	42-100362	A	Z5	SWEET LORRAINE	79	15
7-Jul-1944	LUTZKENDORF	42-100362	A	Z5	SWEET LORRAINE	86	16	SHOT DOWN EMDEN CANAL

Compiled from 458th BG formation plans on which pilot's name appears (all missions may not be a credited sortie)

"Sweet Lorraine" on her hardstand at Horsham St. Faith - March 1944

"Sweet Lorraine" showing seven missions completed - mid March 1944

After nine missions in late April.  Note part of "Lorraine" can be seen under the new name "Boomerang".  The reason for the name change is not known.

"We were to bomb a target near Leipzig.  Fred was our pilot[age] navigator, assigned to our crew because we were to be deputy lead that day.  About 30 minutes before we reached our target one of our engines quit.  Due to our loss we left the formation to return to England.  The drag of the engine forced us to a low altitude, making us a perefect target.  We flew at 6,000 feet for an hour or so.  Passing over the Rhine Valley we were fired upon by the enemy.  This caused little damage, but scared us a lot.  After an hour we thought we sighted Amsterdam, Holland, and prepared to sneak out of enemy territory.  We had flown back on three engines before and there seemed to be no danger this time.  But instead of Amsterdam, we had sighted Emden Harbor, Germany, unknowingly.  We had dropped down to 2,000 feet for safety and started across the harbor.  About mid-harbor the enemy started shooting at us.  Our controls were shot away and the whole plane was a flaming inferno.

"The bail out order was given.  Lt. Walker was in the nose with Fred and Lt. Wall.  They were prepared to jump.  Lt. Walker was the first one out, Fred and Wall to follow.  For some reason Fred and Wall did not jump.  They crashed with Lt. Larson, [Sgt's] Gilbert, Butsch, and I.  The others had been able to jump.  They were Sgt's Dedrickson, Hamilton, Hall, Rolfe, and Lt. Walker.  The plane tore to pieces when it crashed.  Lt. Larson and I were the only ones to get out of the plane.  Lt. Larson was drowned a few seconds after surfacing because his injuries prevented him form inflating his life vest.  I was unable to get to him due to a fractured pelvis and other injuries I received.  By some miracle I was the only one saved in the crash.  The others were killed in the crash by impact or drowned.  I lost very good friends.  I shall never forget them.  I'm proud to have known Fred and to have flown in combat with him.  He was a true soldier, Mr. and Mrs. Staub, he will always be remembered."  (Newspaper article Courtesy: Tom Staub)

"I was the Bombardier on Larson’s crew and we were scheduled to fly the position of Deputy Lead on our 18th mission. When flying deputy lead the crew Bombardier is required to operate the bomb sight, acquire the target, and synchronize as if he would drop the bombs. Then if the Leader was hit or had to leave the formation the deputy lead could take over and actually drop the bombs. An additional crew member was required to man the nose turret and assist the navigator in reaching the IP (Initial Point was a prominent object or feature on the ground where the Bomb Run actually began). This person was referred to as a pilotage navigator. Fred Staub had been selected to fly the nose turret and I met him at the briefing early that morning. The target was the Bergins Synthetic Oil Works.  We discussed what would transpire and nothing unusual came up except that the target was deep in Germany.

"The take off and join up was uneventful. About an hour after take off the Group had joined on the leader at 23,000 feet and wheeled into position behind another Group. All of the Groups were in a line for mutual protection against enemy fighters.

"The flight was uneventful until shortly before the IP (Initial Point) for starting the bomb run. Some light flak was seen but it didn’t appear to cause damage to any planes. A few minutes later our #1 engine propeller ran away. Because of the drag on the left side the pilot was unable to maintain position and moved out to the side of the formation. All efforts to control the prop or feather it were to no avail and the pilot told me to salvo the bombs (8,000 Pounds) to reduce the load.  I noticed that the bombs fell in a field causing no damage. Lt. Larson radioed Lincoln leader that it was not possible to continue the mission and requested fighter escort on the return flight to England. This resulted in 2 P-47 fighters assigned to escort us home.

"The prop continued to turn several thousand RPM in a flat position which caused extreme drag on the left side. Shortly the engine housing behind the prop turned red hot and the prop fused to the housing.  This had happened to other aircraft and the prop had spun off and sliced through the fuselage.  At that point the pilot lowered the landing wheels hoping the wheels would deflect the prop away. Next the prop began to wobble, slicing the front of the engine cowling to a depth of 8 inches and then it fell down underneath the wing and disappeared.

"Since leaving formation the pilot had been descending to maintain air speed and positive control of the aircraft. I learned later that the buffeting caused by the damaged engine cowling resulted in the engine drooping down at an angle from the wing which further increased drag. Later during the descent we crossed near the Ruhr Valley and came within range of the very accurate 88 MM flak guns. The Germans let go with a barrage that came close, knocking out our oxygen supply and disabling the interphone in the nose. We continued down to a very low altitude over the Low Countries. Accurate navigation at low altitude was nearly impossible and the wind at low altitude was more from the left than we thought. We knew we would not miss England but we weren’t sure exactly where we would hit the coast of Holland. It was found that we needed to transfer fuel from the left wing to provide more fuel to the two engines still running on the right wing. This would also reduce weight on the left wing. Walter Rolfe our engineer had been manning one of the waist guns but moved to the flight deck. He reported that the # 1 engine had vibrated loose and was hanging down at an angle. This created more drag on the left side and made control marginal. He told me later that the windshield was shattered and Larson was hit in the face with pieces of glass. The top turret gunner had received a direct hit in the head and had fallen down to the flight deck below the turret.

"I knew we should be approaching the coast soon and shortly I picked up water at 1 o’clock. As we got closer to the water I began to hear explosions and felt shells striking the air craft. I didn’t understand why none were penetrating the nose but shortly I saw raw fuel trickling into the nose section. I immediately opened the nose turret door and pulled Fred out backwards (you have to fall out backwards to get out). Our parachutes were handy and we helped each other snap the chest packs on. By now the fuel had ignited and I pulled the levers to retract the nose wheel doors. (Our escape hatch). When I opened the doors I could see one crew members parachute open. I later learned that was the engineer.  Fred and Lt Wall, the navigator, were right behind me and I looked down to see if we had enough altitude. It didn’t look like very high but there was no alternative so I dove out head first. As I looked up I saw the aircraft with a red glow and it appeared that something fell from the aircraft. I thought it might be Fred or Wall. As it turned out it might have been a piece of the aircraft falling off.

"I did not feel my parachute open and I hit the water hard, feet first, and went very deep in the water. I was struggling to get to the surface and finally remembered to inflate one side of my Mae West (Floatation vest). That brought me to the surface in a hurry. I had become entangled in the shroud lines as I fought to rise and it took me several minutes to free myself. Then I released the parachute harness and inflated the other side of the vest. I was a little worn out by this time but I wanted to look around and see where I was. I could see that I was in a large body of water and eventually I could see the tops of high buildings when I rose on a swell. I had swallowed some salt water and had to tread to keep my head up. After several minutes I saw a buoy that apparently marked a channel. I started swimming towards the buoy in hopes that I would have something to cling to. I tired very quick and found that a current was pushing me down stream away from the buoy so I gave up that effort. Eventually I felt that I could not last much longer and began to have thoughts of giving up. Suddenly I saw a small fishing boat crossing about 200 yards down stream from me. A man was looking away from me and I tried to call out but could not make enough sound. Then I remembered the whistle that was tied to my collar button hole. I stuck it in my mouth and blew as hard as I could and I saw the man turn in my direction. I splashed water up in the air and the boat turned toward me. In a few minutes they hauled me in. I pointed to the direction the plane went but they shook their heads and finally took me to a pier where a German soldier was waiting. In a few hours I was taken to a jail in Emden, Germany. I sat with my head in my hands not knowing if anyone else had survived. Within the next hour one by one five other survivors came in.

"Ralph McGuire, the co-pilot told us that the top turret gunner had been shot in the head and was lying on the flight deck. After the aircraft ditched and began to sink, Ralph was trying to exit from the top hatch and the radio operator seemed to be hung up on something. Ralph had injured his hip during the crash and barely escaped. When he came to the surface he saw Larry Larson, the pilot, floundering several yards away. Ralph tried to get to him but could not reach him before he sank and did not resurface. We hoped to see Fred and Wall and maybe some of the others come in but we learned later that we were the only survivors."