K for King

Saturday April 22, 1944 at 1000hrs a total of 803 heavy bombers took of from English airfields to execute a raid on the marshalling yard of Hamm. Their alternate target was Koblenz. During this mission 15 bombers and 13 fighters were lost. One of them, K for King, crashed in Spiere (Belgium).

The B-24 Consolidated, under the responsibillity of Lieutenant Sneed and 2nd Lt. Riddle, encountered heavy FLAK northeast of Coblenz at 20.000 feet. The pins on the bombs were already removed and the bomb bay doors were opened. The bombs were released prematurely because of a direct hit in the bomb bay. The aircraft was so damaged that the pilot could not proceed further and decided to return back to England.

With a damaged wing and three of the four engines out, they lost a lot of altitude, about 500 feet a minute. Sergeant Varty called in fighter protection and in the vicinity of Brussels a squadron of P-38's escorted the bomber to see them safely down. The crew was told that Germans shot on parachutists coming down. Still descending and already at an altitude of 10.000 feet, the pilot saw that it was impossible to get back to Tibenham and they decided to make the jump. Lieutenant Sneed thanked the leader of the fighters for their protection and they all jumped from Gent till southeast of Kortrijk.

The B-24 crashed a few moments later (3pm-4pm) in the garden of the castle of Spiere.
From that moment on, the crew will be split up and bring back three different stories ending in Arras (France), Waregem (Belgium) and Moosburg (Germany).