Memorial

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The "DARK ANGEL" had trouble keeping up with the formation as they had a couple of engines that were giving them trouble from the start of the mission. They were about ten minutes behind the formation at bomb release time. This is when the real trouble started. The bomb bay doors wouldn't close. First, one engine was inoperable, and then a second engine went out. With only two engines and the bomb bay doors open, the drag on the aircraft was more than could be overcome by the remaining two engines. The pilot had decided to head for Russian-held territory, but had to alter this decision and order the evacuation of the stricken aircraft in the vicinity of Leipzig, about 50 miles northwest of Erfurt. The Russians were to the Oder River about another 100 miles to the west. They would never make it with their battered aircraft. All the crew were prepared for the bailout, and there was not much communication between them as each was thinking about what lay ahead. Ken Stewart, the tail-gunner, remembers Vern Cooksey asking to have his GI shoes tied to his parachute harness as he was preparing to leave the plane. The entire crew made a safe exit, and without the pilot to keep control, the bomber went into a flat spin. It had just quit flying! Auto-pilot couldn't override this much trouble. This was hostile territory, and although all the parachutes opened, the men were not out of danger yet. The tail-gunner, Ken Stewart, landed near Lt Schauer, the pilot, and was quickly captured. Others were spread out in a small town in the landing area. Dan Frankel and Shaffer landed in a field. Some of the treatment was brutal, and Stewart was beaten and hit with a rifle butt before being led away from the scene. One parachute had become caught in some wires, and the occupant was apparently dead. As the tail-gunner, Ken Stewart, was led past the site of this horror, he was told not to look in that direction. For fear of more beatings or being shot, he did as he was told. Vernon Cooksey had apparently been killed while coming down in his parachute or upon landing. It is believed that he was killed by civilians. He was the only casualty of the crew and sadly was not allowed to become a prisoner for the few weeks left in the war.