Memorial

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Aircraft was observed with No. 1 engine on fire and was seen to fall back from formation. According to some reports, there was an explosion in the clouds. Others reported seeing the A/C spinning down. It crashed into the ground with two officers still on board. The remainder of crew and the command pilot bailed out and were captured. The navigator, Lt Casey, was last seen on the flight deck with his parachute on. He entered the closed bomb bay just prior to the A/C flipping on its back, which expelled the pilot out through the top escape hatch. Casey was apparently trapped in the A/C while it spun into the ground as his body was also found by the Germans in the wreckage.

It was over Bremen on the return trip, the ship was attacked by 15 German fighters. Letters from crew members confirmed that. About 10 feet was clipped off the left wing, two left engines knocked out and a fire set in the bomb bay when the order to bail out was given. According to Lt Col R. C. Sears, who was at the controls, the ship had lost 15,000 feet when he jumped, two minutes being given to the crew to jump. The explosion occured after he had cleared the ship. On the ground, the Germans rounded up all but two members, Capt Casey and another, and held them prisoners until their release at the close of the war. The pilot, Capt J. A. Higgins wrote to the family that as he was thrown out of the ship, Casey was attempting to jump from the bomb bay doors. He added: "Harry was the oldest of the crew and the best-liked. That the crew ever beld on as long as it did was greatly due to the navigator's ability and level head. He was greatly respected and admired by all the crew. Never lacking in bravery, he was always helping his buddies. Knowing him and having his friendship meant a lot to all of us. You may truly be proud of his fine character, his personality and his devotion to duty. He was a good navigator - about the best in the business."

1st Lt Harry W. Casey graduated fom German Township High School in 1933, attended Thiel college two years and was a student in LaFayette college when he enlisted in the Air Corps, January 18, 1942. He trained at Maxwell Field, Ala., Shaw Field, S.C., Santa Ana, Cal., and graduated from Bombardier school in Phoenix, Ariz., He trained for a navigator at Hondo Field, Tex., and San Antonio, Cal. Before leaving for overseas service in September, 1943, he flew over his home in High House and dipped a wing in a farewell salute.

Harry W. Casey never met his son Ronald who was born on October 11, 1943.