42-95592 Black Cat
466th BG - 784th BS
PFF lead ship. Black Cat was the last 8th AF B-24 shot down during the war. 466th Bomb Group collection
Chris Brassfield personal collection
Object Number - UPL 45399 - B-24J-1-FO #42-95592 "Black Cat" Code: T9-U 466th BG - 784th BS PFF lead ship. Black Cat was the last 8th AF B-24 shot down during the war.
On 21 April 1945 B-24 Liberator "Black Cat" became the last heavy bomber to be shot down in the European Theatre of Operations.
The aircraft was hit by flak on a mission to Regensburg and the wing broke off. Three men were seen to escape, but the rest perished when the ship crashed.
Connections
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Units served with
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 466th Bomb Group 784th Bomb Squadron 787th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 34726638
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant (2nd Grade)
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 466th Bomb Group 784th Bomb Squadron 786th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 16123331
- Highest Rank: Technician Third Grade
- Role/Job: waist gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group 458th Bomb Group 466th Bomb Group 784th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 36455947
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade)
- Role/Job: Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 466th Bomb Group 784th Bomb Squadron 786th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 33756715
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade)
- Role/Job: Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 466th Bomb Group 784th Bomb Squadron 786th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39905380
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant (2nd Grade)
- Role/Job: Flight Engineer
Places
Missions
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Other First 466th BG mission |
Vechta, Germany | 15 August 1944 | |
|
Other Failed to Return (FTR) |
Scharmassing, 93083 Obertraubling, Germany | 21 April 1945 | Hit in the left wing by flak. Crashed, killing 10 of 12 crewmembers of the Richard Farrington Crew. "I think I will never forget the image of "Black Cat" being hit and going down. She was flying as the 3rd squadron lead. In the turn to abort Black Cat slid slid underneath my deputy squadron lead until it seemed right off my left wing (underneath of course). I can still see the flames coming out of the bomb bay just before they tell me it exploded. The human interest story is that most of the crew were on their final mission, and so near the end of the war too. My crew reported only seeing two chutes coming out. When the abort turn was ordered by Col. (Brunow) Feiling, my navigator called and told me a left turn would take us right over Regensburg, a heavy flak area. I told my navigator to call the lead ship, which he did, only to catch hell for breaking radio silence." - Bill Proppe |
Revisions
Bill Proppe letter to Chris Brassfield - 3 March 2000
466th BG Archives
MACR 14182 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database