42-29954 - Luftkriegsarchiv Köln

183 B-17 bombers took off from various airfields in England to attack the oil refineries in Bochum, Gelsenkirchen, and Recklinghausen. 133 finally reached their target between 8:45 and 9:25 a.m. and dropped their bombs over the target area.  Among them was the B-17 "Devil's Angel" with its pilot, Captain William Wroblicka.

Even during the attack, the B-17 came under fire from German fighters. Two fighter planes fired at the aircraft, which then broke away from the bomber formation with two burning left engines. Another attack on the already damaged B-17 hit the rear fuselage. The 20mm shells exploded inside the aircraft, killing S/Sgt Kratzer and S/Sgt Jonson.

The pilot ordered the crew to abandon ship. Six crew members were able to parachute to safety and were taken prisoner by the Germans.

The aircraft crashed in an open field near Hemmerich, close to Bornheim, and burned out. Four crew members were recovered dead from the wreckage and buried as "unknown soldiers" in the cemetery in Bornheim.

In March 1946, they were exhumed by an American burial party and transferred to the United States. In March 1946, they were exhumed by an American grave digging team and transferred to the United States.

The shooting down of the B-17 "Devil's Angel" was credited to Staff Sergeant Detlef Lüth of 4./JG 1. It was his 34th kill. Lüth himself was killed on March 6, 1944, at the age of 23, during a dogfight with a B-17 near Barnsdorf in Lower Saxony. Lüth himself was killed on March 6, 1944, at the age of 23, during an air battle with a B-17 near Barnsdorf in Lower Saxony.