Coley Richardson wasn’t a regular member of the Bernard Komasinski crew. As the usual Ball Turret Gunner of the crew, Sgt Frank LaFazia, had been assigned guard duty that day, 8 August 1944, Richardson volunteered to take his position on board B-24 # 42-100415. The B-24 ran into mechanical trouble on return in the afternoon from the 8 August 1944 mission to bomb the airfield at Romilly-sur-Seine, France. On order from the pilot, Richardson bailed out of the airplane, broke his left leg in landing and was immediately contacted by the French underground. Seeing his condition, they decided there was no other solution than surrendering to the Germans who arrived quickly on the scene. Hospitalized in Châlons-sur-Marne by the Germans, he is reported as having escaped and being liberated by advancing US troops. He was back in England in early September 1944. After his return to the United States, he stayed in hospital, his discharge papers being sent to a hospital in Omaha.