media-16631.jpeg UPL 16631 Lt. Myles E Coolidge pictured back center holding coffee cup. From "Bombs on Time: 100 days in the Life of a Bomb Group", "Interrogation 1415HRS". Each crew is de-brieffed for details of the just completed mission, with questions such as: Was the primary target attacked? Were all bombs dropped? Were enemy aircraft seen? Engaged? How intense was the flak? How accurate? Did you see any friendlies in trouble? When? Where were they? Where were they headed? Did you see any parachutes? Unusual sightings? Did your breakfast sit well? Any gripes or complaints? Note: "Bombs on Time: 100 days in the Life of a Bomb Group" was created to commemorate the 467th BG's completion of their first 100 missions, and was made to hand to all personnel at the group's 100th mission celebration. The Charles Leyes crew pictured was chosen to be photographed for inclusion into the "Bombs on Time" booklet, to represent a typical mission debrief. But Leyes' B24 was shot down on the group's 98th mission. The navigator, Howard Post flew with another crew that day. Myles Coolidge, co-pilot, had been in another B24 at engine start to fly with a rookie crew, but the Ops Officer put Coolidge back with Leyes - the formation was very tight for that mission and Leyes ship, being in the number 3 position, was best flown by the co-pilot in the seat on the right. The pilot, Charles Leyes, and the Co-Pilot, Myles Coolidge, didn't bail out, rather, sitting in steel armoured seats, went through the fuselage after the B24 went into a flat spin. They were captured on the ground and spent the rest of the war in Luft Stalag 1. The rest of the crew pictured, trapped in the spinning ship, perished. Their bodies were recovered by a Canadian Engineer company. Myles E Coolidge

The Bombs On Time pamphlet was a group souvenir. As a volunteer archivist of photos and text documents, I discovered this picture with my father, Myles Coolidge, during one of the 467th Bomb Group reunions I attended with him. He had never seen the picture before. --Kevin Coolidge