2nd Lt James F. Grayson, co-pilot of the B-17 42-29716 “The Venus”, took off from station 110 in Polebrook, Northamptonshire, UK on a bombing mission over the V-2 bunker in Watten-Eperlecques. Around 1730 their Spitfire escorts were under attack from German Me-109 fighters. The plane suffered a direct hit from either flak or fighters and had to drop out of formation, leaking smoke. The pilots were unable to bail out and the tail gunner’s parachute, although opening successfully, was burned by the plane’s explosion and dropped its passenger to the ground.