Memorial

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Capt Ray F. Herrmann was an actor before he joined the Air Corps of the United States Army Reserve in Charleston, West Virginia on 9 July 1942.

2nd Lt Donald F. Krueger:
At approximately 1145, on 22 February 1945, Captain Ray F. Herrmann left the bombers and led his flight down to strafe in the vicinity of Coberg, Germany. The flight stayed intact for about 10 minutes, then the second element detached itself to strafe a locomotive. I was Captain Herrmann’s wingman and the two of us flew around the area and strafed three trains and two radio towers. We then started west on the way home, when Captain Herrmann spotted a locomotive in a station. We circled a few times and were not shot at, so we went down. I was in the act of shooting a station house, when I looked over and saw strikes on the left wing and fuselage of Captain Herrmann’s aircraft. He pulled up and I lost sight of him in a thick ground haze. I did not see him after this, but I called him and asked how bad he was hit. Captain Herrmann said his engine was losing coolant fast and that he was at 2500 feet. He said he would call me when he was going to bail out. About 3 minutes later or about 1215 he called and said he was bailing out. That was the last I heard of him.