42-5052 - Luftkriegsarchiv Köln

The B-17 “Mizpah” was on its return flight from a bombing raid on the Junkers aircraft engine works in Aschersleben. At around 15:10, it entered Cologne’s airspace and came under fire from several anti-aircraft batteries.

Two engines were hit and quickly burst into flames. It is not possible to establish exactly what happened next. Either the pilot attempted a crash landing on the field at Garzweiler, in which case five crew members lost their lives.

Or the pilot, co-pilot and air bombardier left the aircraft by parachute, as did the tail gunner. Why the rest of the crew did not manage to leave the aircraft remains unexplained.

In any case, the aircraft crashed in an open field near Garzweiler, close to Grevenbroich. Five crew members were recovered, all of them dead. Four were buried in the cemetery at Mönchen-Gladbach, and one in the cemetery at Otzerath.