Delivered Cheyenne 5/5/44; Hunter 19/5/44; Dow Fd 4/6/44. Assigned 401BS/91BG [LL-P] Bassingbourn 10 June 1944. Missing in Action on the plane's 17th mission, to Leipzig 20 July 1944 with Frank Fusco (Killed in Action); Co-pilot: John E. Secleter; Navigator: Walter T. Lease; Bombardier: Joseph L. Wyand; Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Carl Smiddy; Radio Operator: Dort R. Quackenbush; Ball turret gunner: Matthew Janiszewski; Waist gunner: Lowell E. Kellogg; Tail gunner: James Morony (8 Prisoner of War). MACR 7283. VICTORY QUEEN (Erroneously refered to as Liberty Queen, but no evidence exists to support this alternative) 

Was first noticed having trouble at the I.P. just after the first wave of fighters had struck at about 25,000ft. Its #3 engine and tail were on fire and it lost altitude between Chemnitz and Dresden, Germany, appearing to be attempting to put out the fire by slipping to the right. Went down still lower until eye contact was lost due to attack by another wave of fighters. Crashed Sankt Egidien, 6km SE of Glauchau, 27km W of Chemnitz, Germany. Missing Air Crew Report - MACR 7283. Note: MACRs 7283 and 7281. Confusion in the MACR and German KU reports about #42-31812 and #43-37624, shot down the same day, 20 July 1944. MACR 7281, linked to #42-31812 has translations of the German KU 2526 report ( https://catalog.archives.gov/id/147890293 ) which mentions aircraft letters as LL-P (which is #43-37624) and LL-H (#42-31812). Names of both planes’ crews appear in MACR 7281, most of them concerning Lt Fusco’s crew from #43-37624… Page 17 of MACR 7283 for #43-37624 has #42-31812’s Radio Operator Hamilton’s name as part of the Fusco crew… German report AV-1215/44 on pages 205 and 206 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/18238571 about the death of Navigator Loomis of #42-31812 has that plane’s crash location near Chemnitz-Borna. On the other hand, MACR 7283 (linked to 43-37624) refers to KU-865A ( https://catalog.archives.gov/id/142687464 )… where #42-31812’s Radio Operator’s name (page 3) and dog tag (page 9) appear, although he’s not listed on the MACR 7283 page where all the names and home addresses of the Fusco crew are listed… On many of the German records pages, #43-37624 is mentioned as crashed near Sankt Egidien, 6km SE of Glauchau (27km West of Chemnitz), Germany.