2nd Lt John L. Neill, co-pilot of the B-17 42-5780 “Black Swan”, took off from station 107 Molesworth, Cambridgeshire, UK on a bombing mission over St Nazaire’s submarine pens with two 2,000lbs bombs. It was the crew’s third mission together. They were at the rear of a 19-plane formation tasked to destroy the naval harbor. Of those 19, one had to RTB, one jettisoned its bombs, six never dropped theirs, and only 10 made a 10-second bomb run over the target, resulting in poor performance. The formation ran into moderate AA fire but was also attacked by dozens of enemy fighters painted to resemble P-47s that dive-bombed with pre-fused aerial bombs. A flak shell damaged the “Black Swan” ’s No.3 engine, causing the bomber to trail out of formation and allowing the fighters to work it over. Multiple bombs exploded in the bomber’s fuselage and the navigator, Lt Roach, gave the bailout order. Neill bailed out successfully but his parachute initially failed to open. When it did, the jerk injured his neck. He had shrapnel wounds in his right leg and broke his left ankle on landing. The B-17 continued its descent and crashed into the village of Les Morandières of Saint-Père-en-Retz. He evaded capture for eighteen hours, subsisting on bread and wine and travelling in carts. He was taken prisoner on May 2nd in Pornic by the Gendarmerie and was immediately interrogated. The Germans then treated him before transferring him to Stalag Luft 3 in Sagan-Silesia.

John died in 2007 and is now buried in the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego, San Diego County, California, USA.