Memorial

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1st Lt Montell C. Higgins attended Merced and Salinas High Schools and the University of California at the College of Agriculture and worked on the family farm before he volunteered for the Army of the United States in Fresno, California on 20 December 1941.

En route to the target this Flying Fortress got into trouble, let the wheels down and feathered engine # 4. For a certain time the aircraft trailed the formation, but then fell more and more behind until it disappeared altogether about 40 miles northeast of Frankfurt. It can be assumed that the pilot attempted to make it back to base on his own. This, however, didn’t succeed and the crew were forced to bail out. When the eighth man had left the ship it was already diving down, nosed up again and finally raced down to earth. The crash occurred 5,5 miles northwest of Idar-Oberstein. The pilot did not get out of the plane and lost his life. He was first buried in the communal cemetery of Sensweiler, Germany.