The aircraft, 41-11840, named, The Witch, was in the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 343rd Bomb Squadron left. It deployed for duty in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations in July, 1942. It's pilot, Lt. Glade Jorgenson, played a supporting role in an effort made by Capt. Rollo Lawrence and his crew, to interest other 343rd Bomb Squadron crews to use characters from Walt Disney's "Snow White" movie as a theme for naming their nine ships after, "Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs". But, the proposal met a cool reception from the other 343rd crews, and only two of the aircraft were so named, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". The only two were, 41-11913, Rollo Lawrence's airplane, and, 42-40364, Glade Jorgenson's airplane. The 343rd Squadron flew south to Benghazi, Libya, and started combat operations from Palestine in Aug, 1942.

The aircraft, 41-11840, named, The Witch, was lost on the low level Ploesti mission on Aug 1, 1943, flown by Pilot Lt. Julian Darlington, and his replacement crew, on loan to the 98th Bomb Group, from the 389th Bomb Group. Following a running fight with enemy fighters, leaving Ploesti, The Witch's crew made a forced landing near the border of Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. Six of Darlington's crew members became POWs in Bulgaria. The other four crewmen evaded capture and joined with Yugoslav partisans for almost a year before returning home. The other survivors were the tail gunner, Stanley Horine, and Pilot Julian Darlington. They were POWs together in Bulgaria. 1 Aug 43. - FTR - Failed To Return - 6 POW - 4 RTS - MACR 173.

Service

Events

Event	Location	Date
Failed To Return (FTR)	Bulgaria / Yugoslavia	1 August 1943
Failed To Return - This aircraft was lost on the low-level Ploesti mission 1 Aug 43. It made a forced landing near the border of Bulgaria and Yugoslavia following a running fight with enemy fighters. Six of the crew became POWs in Bulgaria, the other four evaded and joined with Yugoslav partisans for almost a year. MACR 173.