Memorial

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1st Lt Alfred O. Zwicky graduated from York Community High School. He was employed at Studebaker Aviation.

Winged Victory was another victim of the slaughter over Merseburg on 2nd November, its 68th sortie. Oscar Snow’s crew had flown the ship more times than any other crew and were on their 14th raid in the plane. Between 50 and 75 enemy fighters attacked the group between 1247 and 1310 hours and cut twelve Forts from the formation. Another was lost to flak. The main concentration of fighters hit in the first ten minutes and with so many ships peeling away and going down, it was difficult for the surviving crews to note details about each loss.

All the crew bailed out of the ship north of the target, in the vicinity of Koethew. One man reported seeing another chute, as he descended, turn cherry red in color, then black and finally disintegrate.

Undoubtedly, this was the unfortunate copilot, Alfred Zwicky, who was the only member of the crew to be killed. Winged Victory slammed into the ground 1305 hours and burned furiously. German salvage teams, sifting through the wreckage, later recorded that it was 95% destroyed and there was little left to salvage.