No_Report

Summary

Aircraft Serial Number (Type): 43-9956 (Douglas A-20G-35-DO Havoc)

9th AF; 416th Bomb Gp; 671st Bomb Sq

Mission # Training; Box: I; Flight: 1; Position: 6; A/C Fuselage Code: 5C-Z

Reason: Enemy anti-aircraft

Damage: Crashed and exploded

Point Of Departure: A-55 Melun/Villaroche, France

Location: near Bruay

*Personnel*
Duty	Name	Rank	S/N	Status
Pilot	Milhorn, Gentry Lavern	2Lt	O-760648	WIA
Airplane Mechanic - Gunner	Chest, Daniel	Sgt		Not Injured
Airplane Mechanic - Gunner	Doran, Michael J.	Cpl		WIA

Description:
Two days prior to this accident, on the 13th, a seven-ship A-20 formation on a practice navigational flight flew over Dunkirk, which was still in enemy hands. The flight received moderate accurate flak which damaged six of the planes. On the return trip, the right engine of one plane caught fire. The plane crashed and exploded near Bruay. Altho Cpl Michael J. Doran, a gunner, received a flak wound, he and the other members of his crew, 2nd Lt Gentry L. Milhorn, the pilot, and Sgt Daniel Chest, a gunner, parachuted to safety.
(416th BG History 1944)

A training flight on the afternoon of October 13th ... Friday the 13th in fact, met sudden disaster when the seven ship formation flew too close to enemy held Dunkirk and the Nazi ack-ack gunners poured a stream of flak at the planes, knocking one down and causing battle damage to the others. Lt Milhorn who was flying A-20G 956 received a burst in one of the engines and crashed at Lille. The gunners were seen to have bailed out, but no one saw the pilot's hatch open. The plane was completely demolished.
...
Lt. Milhorn, flying No. 6 position was having trouble, and Lt. Lackovich contacted him a few minutes from Dunkirk. However, he said he could make it back to the base alright. About five minutes later Lt. Jokinen saw Lt. Milhorn's ship with engines on fire and going down. The formation made a 180 degree turn and spotted the plane burning along side a road. His gunners, Cpl. Doran and Cpl. Chest bailed out and their chutes were seen to have opened. Lt. Mooney, who was flying A-20G 363, had his hydraulics shot out and had to hit the air bottle upon landing.
...
Lt. Milhorn had the extreme pleasure of reading his obituary in the Diary which reported him to have gone down with his ship near Dunkirk. Crews of the other six ships saw his two gunners bail out; but they swore the pilot did not get out. Captain Shaeffer and Captain Moore flew up to an airfield near to where the crash took place and lo and behold there was Lt. Milhorn ... still alive and looking none the worse for his experience. Sgt. Chest, Lt. Milhorn's engineer gunner was uninjured and rettirned with the pilot. Cpl. Doran, however, was hit by flak in the leg and remained at the hospital near Lille.
("671st Unit History by Jim Kerns" (PDF))

General Orders No. 21, 23 October 1944, Purple Heart is awarded to: 671st Bombardment Squadron (L), Gentry L. Milhorn, O-760648, Second Lieutenant, Air Corps, United States Army. For wounds received in action against an enemy of the United States on 13 October 1944, while serving as Pilot of an A-20 airplane on a combat operational mission over enemy occupied territory. Entered military service at Long Beach, Calif.
(416th BG Purple Heart Awards (PDF))