Shot down over Holland on 30 July 1943 in B-17 41-23499 'Man-O-War'. Mission was Kassel. Killed in Action (KIA).



'Man-O-War' was hit and limped along behind the formation until attacked by 2 fighters which killed two of the crew. Eight chutes came out of the doomed Fortress. The fighters curved around and fired into the canopies. Five men were slaughtered as they hung helplessly in their harnesses and a sixth, navigator Robert Duggan, had his chute riddled. He plunged down and hit a cottage roof, smashed through it and fatally struck his head on a beam.



Two survivors: Pilot 2nd Lt. Keene McCammon landed in the river Waal and Co-Pilot 2nd Lt. John P. Bruce landed nearby. The plane crashed to earth near the village of Opijen, Holland and it was here that the bodies of the eight crewmen were buried. These graves remained there as a result of persuasion by the villagers, their white marble headstones regularly tended and honored by the local people. [from PLANE NAMES & FANCY NOSES]