B-24 Liberator 42-50437 at Catfoss airfield.
On 31st January 1945 the crew of this 564th Bombardment Squadron, 389th Bomber Group, USAAF aircraft was part of a group of 4030 aircraft taking part in a raid on Brunswick Hallendorf but because of poor weather conditions part of the raid was scrapped after the aircraft had taken off. In all 112 B17's and 291 B24's were recalled as were nearly 200 P51 fighters acting as escorts and scouting forces. By the time the force was recalled many were well on their way to the target area. Because of bad weather around their bases in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire many crews were diverted north to land and a number of aircraft suffered damage in Yorkshire trying to land. This specific aircraft was diverted to try and land at Catfoss. Whether they had initially been diverted to try and put down at Leconfield is not yet known but just before 14.25hrs a second crash there blocked all the available runways so Leconfield diverted all other aircraft in their circuit away to land elsewhere. B-24 42-50437 had had a problem with one of the engines and No.2 engine was therefore shut down by the time they made an approach to land at Catfoss they would appear to have been running out of fuel. On their final approach the nose undercarriage leg would not lower properly but because of the low fuel level and the poor weather the pilot opted to land with the nose wheel retracted rather than risk trying to climb away and order his crew to bale out near the coast in fog. At 14.30hrs the aircraft landed at Catfoss and sustained damage to the nose of the aircraft, it may also have tipped onto it's nose when coming to a halt. The aircraft carried the name and nose-art "Apassionata".
Pilot - 1Lt Charles L Leamy USAAF (O-823643).
Co-Pilot - 2Lt Jack M Gould USAAF (O-710918).
Navigator - 2Lt Marion M Hill USAAF (O-2056594).
Engineer - T/Sgt Roland B Driscoll USAAF (13045858).
Radio Operator - T/Sgt Sidney S Williams USAAF (32446488).
Right Waist Gunner - S/Sgt William E Davis USAAF (17060817).
Tail Gunner - S/Sgt Lawrence C Enright USAAF (39420527).
Left Waist Gunner - S/Sgt William E Failing USAAF (14150506).
Nose Gunner - S/Sgt Paul V Rubio USAAF (39704889).