2nd Lt Thomas J. Stitz, navigator of the B-17 42-107223, took off from station 131 Nuthampstead, Hertfordshire, UK on a ground support mission for Totalize in the Calvados region. They were hit four times by flak 3 minutes out from the target. With no.2 and 4 engines on fire the pilot dropped his bombs, fell out of formation, and ordered the crew to bail out at 13000 feet, staying at the controls long enough for them to do so. The airmen were shot at on the way down. Small arms fire killed Lt Arnold and Sgt Hochadel in midair. Stitz was immediately captured and sent to Stalag Luft 1 in Barth-Vogelsang.