The Liberator bomber, B-24H-10-FO, 42-52132, was assigned to Crew 11 of the 712th Bomb Squadron, and the 448th Bomb Group, in October, 1943. It was named, Boomerang, by the crew when they arrived at the Topeka Army Air Field, Kansas, to take ownership of the bomber after their advanced training was completed. It was, then, flown to Seething, England, via South America and North Africa by Crew 11 in November, 1943. Crew 11 was scheduled to fly their 6th mission with, Boomerang, on 10 Feb, 1944, when they were told to stand down, and that Crew 5 would be flying the next mission to Gilz-Rijen, Holland.

Later, while forming up over England, Boomerang, broke apart and crashed in bad weather after the pilot's violent maneuvering attempts to avoid a midair collision with another B-17. The airplane disintegrated and failed to return to base (FTR). The pilot's violent maneuvering also caused the tail turret to separate from the aircraft, with the overloads on the aircraft's wings buckling them, as well, during the aircraft's violent maneuvers. Seven crew members were unable to bail out from the plane and were killed. Three bailed successfully, survived, and returned to service (RTS). The book describes the event in detail on pages 58-60. 7 RTS. 3 KIA.