Cpt Joseph E. Rettig took off from Stony Cross, UK in his P-38 Lightning 42104065 on an armed reconnaissance mission. While strafing a convoy at 100 feet, his plane was hit by flak, sending smoke from his cockpit, although his engines did not seem to be hit. But after climbing to 200 or 300 feet, his wings started to waver, then dip his plane into a vertical dive, exploding and killing him on impact at 0930. His body was found a few hundred meters from the wreck. He was initially buried in the local cemetery then the St James Channel cemetery, before finally resting in Mount Calvary cemetery, Kansas.