401st Bomb Group, Mission No. 199, 22 Jan 1945, Sterkrade, Germany. The Group was briefed at 0630, but starting times were delayed several times and the runway was changed to those set out above. Very icy conditions. Following takeoff, Lt. R. M. Deen, pilot of No. 43-38125, radioed that he had lost one engine and a second had a runaway propeller. At 1150 hours, Flying Control was notified that Lt. Deen's ship had crashed near Saltby, Lincolnshire, with a full load of gas and bombs. Amazingly, while the ship was a mass of twisted metal, it did not explode and burn, and while three crew members were seriously injured, all survived. The other operational aircraft had all returned by 1640 hours. The 401st furnished two squadrons to the 94th Combat Wing "A" Group on this mission. The Lead Squadron was able to bomb visually, with excellent results. The Low Squadron unfortunately encountered a cloud as it was making its bomb run and was forced to bomb by Gee-H (radio beams), with visual help from the bombardier. Its results were scattered, but some bombs hit the assigned area. The formation encountered moderate to intense flak in the target area, causing damage to 20 aircraft, one of them major. The crews suffered no injuries or casualties.