Shot down 5 January 1944 in B-17 #42-30112 'Lil' Butch'. Killed in Action (KIA).



According to the Escape and Evasion Report of the two survivors, Robert Anderson and Hugh C. Shields, the ship was set upon by fighters around 1100 hours about 5 kilometers west of St. Laurent Je Medoc. He stated that immediately after the first Fighter attack one engine had to be feathered and the tail controls were damaged. Tail Gunner Alton Brown reported to the Pilot, Allen C. Powell, that he was badly hurt and then the radio system went out. Anderson stated that Top Turret/Engineer Delmar C. Broyles told Anderson that he was going to the rear of the plane, via the bomb bay, to inform the others of the bail out instructions from the Pilot. As he was passing through the bomb bay the aircraft went into a crash dive. Anderson believes that Ball Turret gunner Goble Miracle was trapped in the Ball Turret. Anderson states that Co-Pilot Thomas H. Hudson Jr. was injured and assisting the pilot on an attempt to maintain control of the aircraft so the crew could bail out. Hudson told Anderson that he and Powell would set up the AFCE (Automatic Flight Control Equipment) and attempt to get back to England. Anderson states that he believes that Powell was injured in a cannon blast immediately prior to Andersons exit from the aircraft. He stated that the main portion of the cannon blast was in the area of the Pilots and Co-Pilots seats. The second survivor Hugh C. Shields stated that Broyles stuck his head into the nose compartment and told him and Anderson of the bail out order. Shields told Broyles to tell the pilot, Powell, that the bombs were still in the plane. As Shields and Anderson were bailing out of the Navigators escape hatch the plane went into a vertical dive with the right wing in flames and breaking off. The plane made violent aerobics and exploded upon striking the ground.