Killed in Action (KIA) at Meckelfeld (Harburg, Luneburg, Niedersachsen, Lower Saxony Germany) in B-24 #4251481

Per a War Department letter to the family of 1st Lt. Michael J Delaney,  “As you were previously informed, your son was a crew member aboard a B-24 (Liberator)

aircraft which was lost while on a combat

mission to Hanburg, Germany on 17 January 1945 .

No survivors were reported of the twelve man crew. One parachute was seen to leave the plane as it went into a flat spin and exploded. Captured German records revealed that a Liberator crashed one kilometer northeast of Meckelfeld and five kilometers southeast of Hamburg,

Germany on 17 January 1945.

It was reported ninety-nine percent destroyed.

These records also revealed that Staff Sergeant John E. Turner, a member of this crew was buried on the south side of the Sinstorf Cemetery, Germany; which is several kilometers from the scene of the crash. It is possible that he is the person who parachuted, as the wreckage of the plane was discovered in a swamp covered with three feet of water. At least nine

bodies were recovered from a crater made by the impact of the crash. These bodies were buried from three to fifteen feet underground around and under the wreckage. It was difficult to establish individual identification due to the condition of the bodies, however, several of the bodies were definitely identified as members of your son's crew. In view of

these facts and the length of time which has elapsed without any indication of the survival of Lieutenant Delaney, the records of the Department of the Army are being amended to show that he was killed in action on 17 January 1945 when his aircraft crashed in a, swamp one kilometer northeast of Meckelfeld, Germany.”