SSgt Kenneth Carson was the tail gunner of the B-17G-1-BO 42-31110 QE-M "Pacific’s Dream" when it took off from Station 468 Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK, on December 31st, 1943 during Mission VIII BC171 in order to bomb the Cognac-Châteaubernard area. At 1221, just after they had dropped their bombs, the plane was hit by flak. Two engines caught fire and one was rendered inoperable. Unable to maintain formation, the pilot lowered the plane and ordered the crew to jump. After gliding a bit, the plane meandered to what is now the D144 and crashed. Upon reaching the ground, Carson and his belongings were quickly hidden by French peasants. He hid in the nearby woods until the farmers moved him to a cave, where he waited for two days. He then linked up with Sanderson at the town of Bouneau. He moved on to Salon la Tour and eventually Toulouse. He was then evacuated to the UK by the Francoise-Dutch-Paris/Pyrenees escape route. His full escape report, #632, can be found at http://arcweb.archives.gov. However, some records suggest he was kept as a POW in Stalag 17b until he was liberated and released from service on September 19th, 1945.