Memorial

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Edward Mueller was a chauffeur.

He enlisted at Camp Lee, Virginia on 4 February 1942.

The weather conditions were poor this day with thick cloud reducing visibility. Each Combat Wing was accompanied by a radar equipped Pathfinder aircraft, which would enable the lead plane to pick out the target in the event of cloud cover over Germany. At some point during the mission the Pathfinder B-17 leading the Wing aborted and none of the groups in the Wing bombed Osnabrück marshalling yards because the solid under-cast obscured their primary target.

During the return flight the airplane was hit by flak, stantioned near the Dutch coast.

When it was over the North Sea, almost halfway between IJmuiden (the Netherlands) and Great Yarmouth (England), Lt Mueller's aircraft was seen to go into a dive, level off then pull up in a steep climb before finally going down in a spin.

The plane disappeared into the dense clouds at 1800 feet. Returning crews reported seeing three parachutes and an air and sea rescue operation was set in motion. Sadly, none of the ten crew members were found.

This was the first mission of this crew.