Memorial

More information

The mission was to divert Luftwaffe fighters from heading southwards to intercept the main mission – which was targeting aviation manufacturers and German bases within Germany during Big Week.

When the bomber formation arrived at Aalborg, visual bombing was not possible due to heavy cloud cover. The crews circled the city, twice. Radio messages were exchanged between lead crews over what to do. A decision was made to follow the briefing recommendation to drop the bombs safely over the sea, as no secondary target had been highlighted.

At 14.42 Oberleutnant Hans Hermann Müller in a Ju-88 of 10 NJG3 attacked "Hot Rock" and shot it down. The aircraft was last seen heading out to sea heading in the direction of Sweden, but appeared out of control. At one stage a crewman bailed out but his parachute snagged on the badly damaged aircraft. Lt Muller could only look on in horror as efforts were made by men on the aircraft to retrieve their colleague, with Lt. Muller radioing its position as it disappeared into the cloud. No trace was found of the B-17 crew. All ten crew members were reported missing in action.

He was killed on his thirteenth mssion.

Only Lt Wolf is remembered at the Walls of the Missing at Margraten. The other crew members are remembered at the Tablets of the Missing at the American Military Cemetery and Memorial of Cambridge.