P-47 Thunderbolt # 42-8557 was lost on the fighter escort mission for bombers on the 8 March 1944 mission to Berlin. Pilot John Zolner managed to evade capture. Missing Air Crew Report - MACR 2992. 1st Lt Richard A. Stearn Jr’s statement in MACR 2992 : ”I was flying Lt. Col. Rimerman’s wing in Pipeful White flight. We went down on a Fw190 that headed for the outskirts of Hannover. After we broke off the engagement and started to head out, I saw Lt. Zolner flying the Colonel’s right wing. He was streaming gas in a steady spray, so he called the group leader and told him he had been hit and was bailing out. Lt. Col. Rimerman advised him to stay with the ship until he got out of Germany. We provided escort for him as far as Hellendoorn, where at an altitude of about 7000 feet, he slowly rolled the ship over and bailed out. He did not make a delayed jump. Lt. Col. Rimerman and I circled the spot until he landed in the trees along the highway from Almelo to Zwolle. We saw a small closed car stop at the spot, and two people were seen to get out. A man on a bicycle was also seen to approach the scene from the west. At this time Lt. Col. Rimerman and I headed for home.” According to another statement, Zolner’s P-47 received a hit in the main fuel tank by ground flak, resulting in the loss of fuel. Before he was hit, John Zolner managed to down one Fw190 which had attempted to bounce the planes of Lt. Colonel Ben Rimerman and Lt Stearns.