He flew from June 1944-June 1945. Flew on Lt. Gordon L. Donkin crew.



On 12 Sept 1944 mission, MacDonald (copilot) and crew flew on a borrowed B-17 from the 368th BS called 'The Cap'n and the Kids'. Two engines were feathered when they went across Ruhland and dropped their bombs and they became a sitting duck for even a neophyte German fighter pilot since none of the turrets would work. During the fighter attack T/Sergeant Williard M. Colvin (ROG), had been hit in the neck, hip, and back; at one point he looked out a window directly into the face of a German fighter pilot roaring by. T/Sergeant Clarence E. Tuers (E), was blown out of his turret by 20 mm fire and was wounded in the left arm, shoulder and chest. 'The Capn. ' was picked up by P-51s who called to ask if there was trouble. When that was confirmed the P-51s stayed with the plane until their fuel ran low. As Donkin's (pilot) aircraft crossed the Channel with one operating engine, he and MacDonald had full right rudder and full right aileron trying to counteract a turn to the left. They got to the edge of the Manston emergency field, but as they were on final approach, their last engine quit. They crash landed on a smooth area, hit a tree, crossed a ditch, and knocked down a search light tower as the tail of their plane swung around. 2nd Lt. Gerald A. Weiler (N), had gone to the rear of the plane to help get the men out and they began to jump as soon as the coast line appeared beneath them. Sergeant. Colvin, Sergeant. Tuers, S/Sergeant Norman Morrow (BTG)and Sergeant. Lawrence G. Joslin (WG) went out the back door; Weiler decided that at 300 feet it was just too close to the ground to jump. Instead he grabbed the ball turret stanchion and held on as the plane hit the ground, suffering a moderately severe puncture wound to his left buttock and lacerations to his right hand and the right side of his forehead. It was assumed by the crew that Capt. Arthur S. Hostettler (B) had bailed out when they came over the coast because he had been sitting in the front escape hatch with his feet hanging out when Weiler left the nose. But in the wreckage Hostettler's body was found. Donkin and MacDonald suffered lacerations. Tuers was hospitalized in the Ramsgate General Hospital while the rest of the survivors were taken to the Maston dispensary and then returned to Thurleigh.