T/Sgt Byron L. Wertz served with the 785th Bombardment Squadron of the 466th Heavy Bomb Group, 8th Army Air Force, and was stationed at Attlebridge Airfield near Norfolk England. He was Flight Engineer and Turret Gunner on a B-24 Liberator known as "The Falcon" (Production block number: B-24H-25-FO). He flew 22 missions on the The Falcon before it was hit by anti-aircraft fire and Luftwaffe fighters while on a mission to bomb the marshaling yards at Wittlich, Germany in the Rhineland on January 8, 1945. The Falcon limped over The Channel leaking fuel and reached England on empty and crashed in a farmer's field on Black Moor Road in Shipdham. My father walked away with a minor back injury. The Pilot and Co-Pilot were severely injured and had to be sent back to the States where they eventually recovered. After recovering from his injury, Byron flew his last 3 missions as a replacement crew member, it is believed, on the B-24 Liberator (42-95609) known as "Ghost Too."



3 Known Missions of his 25 Missions:

1944-8-26

1944-10-6

1945-1-8