Memorial

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Aircraft was flown by Deputy Command Pilot Westerbeke with Pendergast acting as copilot. Aircraft was hit by flak over target. Eyewitness reports indicate the A/C did a "perfect peel off" attemted to cath up with the formation.It stayed level for approximately 30 seconds and 6 parachutes were sigthed. A/C then went into a series of spins ans was observed crashing into the ground in a field south of the Achmer Aerodrome near Oldenburg,Germany at 1318 hours. Last known position was 52.6333N,8 1667 E. Nine members of the crew were able to bail out successfully. The deputy command pilot, copilot, engineer, and radio operator left the A/C trough the bomb bay doors. The tail gunner, Sgt De La Riviere, was given a parachute by one of the waist gunners and he was observed putting it on. He then said something and headed back toward the tail. Nine of the crew members were captured on the ground.The original story told to German interrogators was the A/C was manned by a crew of nine. The crew hoped that De La Riviere had succesfully escaped the A/C and could evade capture as he was fluent in French.
A German report indicates one body was found with the A/C, so De La Riviere died in on or near the B-24. The location of De La Riviere's grave is not known to the group historian.