No_Report

Summary

Aircraft Serial Number (Type): 43-9363 (Douglas A-20G-25-DO Havoc)

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

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

Reason: Enemy anti-aircraft

Damage: hydraulics shot out and had to hit the air bottle upon landing

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

*Personnel*
Duty	Name	Rank	S/N	Status
Pilot	Mooney, Sterling	Lt.	O-758366	Not Injured
Airplane Mechanic - Gunner	McNellis, D. E.	Cpl		Not Injured

Description:
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))