Memorial

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After the war, T/Sgt Will J. Cleere, one of the surviving crew members, gave the following statement: "Our target was Merseberg, Germany. We had reached the target, dropped our bombs, and just as we did, our #3 engine quit on us. This forced us to drop out of formation as the antiquated ship we were flying would barely stay up on the remaining three engines.
"About halfway back to the channel, the pilot noticed that our fuel was running too short and decided to try to get into France for a better chance of full return to our home base in England.
"I expect we tried to stay with it a little too long, for we were a bit low for safe bailing out. The waist escape hatch (the regular waist door) was stuck, and all ten of the crew went out through the bomb bay with the exception of R. A. Schmutte, the tail gunner. No one ever knew when he left, so he must have gone out of the escape hatch in the tail. It is my opinion that if we had had a decent ship, we would have gotten back without any trouble, but there's not much use crying over spilt milk, however.
"Lt Durward Marshall was the last to leave the ship, but the engineer, S/Sgt Victor L. Knesz, told me that he and Marshall were the last ones in the ship, and when he bailed out, the "Skipper" was standing on the catwalk with him. Then later, the interrogation officer showed some of Lt Marshall's papers to Sgt Huson, and since I saw the ship blow up upon hitting the earth, I am sure he did get out of the plane. No one saw or heard from him after clearing the ship themselves."

Three crew members were killed, and seven survived and were taken prisoner.

According to statements of surviving crew members, Lt Durward Marshall and Sgt James P. Brown bailed out and were killed by civilians right after they landed. Sgt Richard A. Schmutte's parachute didn't open because he bailed out when the airplane was already flying too low.

In 1947, a German civilian stated that she discovered the remains of a US airman in de Vallendar forest region, who was covered by a parachute that had failed to open entirely. An identification tag found with the remains bore the inscription "Brown James P." The identification tag and papers of the deceased were removed, and after a lapse of time of one or more days, the site was again visited. The remains were left, supposedly, for disposition by the German military, but since that time, no trace of the remains has been found.

Another investigation revealed that the remains of Sgt Brown were discovered in the woods of Valendar some months after the crash, in a decomposed state. An inspector of the town gave definite proof because he showed a record book in which he had recorded his name. The body had been turned over to the German Luftwaffe and was supposed to have been buried in the cemetery of Koblenz. At this cemetery, no information about Sgt Brown could be obtained.

In any case, these statements refute Sgt Brown being killed by civilians.