Memorial

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2nd Lt James S. Mayall Jr. attended the University of Southern California and was an assistant supervisor at the Edison Company.

He volunteered for the Air Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve in Los Angeles, California on 10 November 1942.

After bombs away, #2 engine was lost over the target due to flak. A break in an oil line caused the loss of #3 engine later. #1 engine was lost, just before reaching the Dutch coast, 12 miles north of Amsterdam. The plane ditched near 5230N, 0415E. At that point, all the crew members were unharmed except for minor bruises. The airplane remained afloat for approximately 10 minutes.

Before ditching, the pilot had managed to contact Saffron Walden, a British rescue station, and informed them he was about to ditch. Additional signals were obtained from the bomber's fighter escort, who informed Saffron Walden that eight of the crew were in two dinghies, about 20 miles west of Alkmaar. A high-speed launch was immediately dispatched. HSL 2551, a rescue boat, arrived three hours later.

It had unhesitatingly taken a course into a German minefield, and it was so close to the Dutch coast that the crew could see German soldiers patrolling the harbor walls of IJmuiden. Nonetheless they managed to haul the men aboard, as well as the body of Lt Mayall.

The American fighter escort was forced to head back to base, as they were running low on fuel. Their replacements had not yet arrived when a Ju 88, which had been watching the operation, swooped down on HSL 2551, shattering the craft and setting it ablaze. One other crew member, Sgt Downie was killed, and two others wounded, while four of the HSL were killed also.

Fortunately, they had managed to send a distress signal, which was picked up by two other HSLs. They rescued all the survivors.

The men who were killed that day are remembered on a monument in the harbor of Gorleston-on-Sea in Great Britain.