Harlan Hatfield was born on December 24, 1924 and was from Washington State. He was the Navigator on the B-24J “Lady Patricia” on November 6, 1944 when it crashed after a bombing mission


On November 6, 1944, B-24 “Lady Patricia” (42-51672) of the 745th Bomber Squadron, 456th Bomber Group Steed’s Flying Colts”, 15th Air Force flying from Stornara Air Base in Italy was on a mission to bomb enemy facilities in Munich, Germany. After the mission, the aircraft experienced engine trouble and the Pilot (2LT Doyle Smith) unsuccessfully looked for a safe landing site; after two engines failed and were aflame, he gave the order to abandon sip. The crew bailed out and the plane crashed on a mountainside near Malix , Switzerland. The crew survived and was interned in Switzerland until the end of the war. A memorial remembers “Lady Patricia” under the Dreibündenstein peak near Malix, Switzerland. (Reference Missing Aircraft Report {MACR} 9798).


The Crew of “Lady Patricia included:

Pilot: Doyle R. Smith, 2nd Lt
Copilot: Bartolomeo Castelli, 1st Lt
Navigator: Harlan D. Hatfield, F/O
Bombardier: Charles C. Minor, 2nd Lt
Nose Gunner: Robert E. Manning, Sgt
Engineer: Fred T. Hoque, Sgt
Ball Turret: Charles E. Ellsworth, Sgt
Right Waist: Donald E. Piel, Sgt
Left Waist: John O. Stevens, Sgt
Tail Gunner: Stanley B. Niedzialek, Sgt
Photographer: Edmond Vaubourg, Sgt