SSgt John J. Stevens, left waist gunner of the B-17 42-31495 “Wabbit Twacks”, took off from Station 106 Grafton Underwood, Northamptonshire, UK on the Group’s second bombing mission over a suspect Sottevast installation under construction. The plane was one of 18 others that take off between 1600 and 1615. They came in from the West, which did nothing to lessen the intensity of AA fire. If anything, it was more intense than during the April 27th mission. While lining up for its run with open bomb bay doors, “Wabbit Twacks” suffered a direct flak hit to the rear of its fuselage, sending it into an uncontrollable spin. Observers tentatively say the tail gunner was thrown out of the plane without his parachute. The plane then slammed into the ground in the town of Bricquebec, but not before some say the co-pilot was able to bail out. The shocked civilians, all still alive, came out to witness German troops kicking the corpses. They were initially buried in the Cherbourg cemetery on May 12th 1944.