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Forest F. Estel enlisted at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland on 31 October 1941.

Aircraft #41-31853, piloted by 1st Lt Richard E. Johnson was hit by flak. Co-Pilot 1st Lt H.F. Posey Jr and T/Sgt Estel were killed, the other four crewmembers were taken POW.

Extract of the statement from Lewis T. Bennet who was Engineer-Gunner of another B-26 in the same group: "We had gone past our I.P. at approximately 1023 hours, for quite a distance before starting the turn on to the bomb run and everthing was going along fine. When we opened the bomb bay doors, the flak started to come up in all directions and it was then that I saw two B-26's get hit. The burst broke under our tail and must have hit both planes direct. Subject airplane made a long turn to the left and then went down out of control, his right engine smoking badly. I never did see him pull out of his dive or hit the ground due to the haze below us, but I feel sure that he never could have pulled out of the dive."

Three crew members survived and were taken prisoner, three men were killed. They were initially buried at the Memorial Hospital of Aachen, Germany on 30 May 1944.