Shot down 6 September 1943 in B-17#4230349. Evaded. This was on their return from the ill-fated Stuttgart mission. On that day, all six aircraft contributed by the 563rd BS were lost to enemy action. The last report of the plane byother members of the group was that it hand endured a head on attack by a German fighter and was last seen going down near Troyes, France with fires in the nose of the aircraft. 2nd Lt. Laws and the radio operations, SSergeant Schwarzkopf were the only two members of the crew known to survive. 2nd Lt. Laws sustained schrapnel wounds to his arms as well as burns to the hands from wrestling with the flaming controls. He and SSergeant Schwarzkopf were picked up by French Resistance fighters and spent the next several months evading capture as they made their way south toward Spain. Eventually they were able to make their way over the Pyrenees and into Spain only to be thrown into a Spanish prison, to be held until their release was secured by a British Consul.



Purple Heart, Dist. Unit Citation