"On 30 July the crews were briefed for a mission to the Duna Aircraft Factory at Budapest, Hungary. It was going to be another long mission into the German held territory.

"The first of the 39 planes lifted into the air at 0730 hrs. One plane aborted on the ground, and three others aborted after take off due to mechanical problems. That reduced the bomber formation by four planes, or forty defensive guns in case the Luftwaffe showed up."

"The fighter escort showed up out over the Adriatic. The bomber stream was headed towards the target, and finally the gunners were cleared to test fire and clear their guns."

"Just as the group reached the target area the first bursts of flak appeared.

It was intense, accurate and heavy. Before the group reached the release point the flak was getting very heavy, no matter how much chaff was thrown out of the planes. It would take the group about three minutes to clear the flak. That was more than enough time for the flak gunners to score."

"ROUGH AND READY (42-52402) from the 776th was being flown by Lt. Paul Kirkland and crew. Within seconds of the first burst of flak their plane took a devastating burst between the #3 engine and the fuselage. The burst opened a huge hole near the cockpit. Immediately, the #3 engine emitted smoke. At almost the same moment a bomb from an overhead plane struck the left wing, tearing the #2 engine from its mounts. The engine twisted off the wing, came through the fuselage, and ended up on the flight deck, near the forward part of the bomb bay. Kirkland and copilot Michael Voytish fought the dying Liberator for enough time so that the crew could bail out."

"In the nose, bombardier Leslie Schwien helped the nose gunner climb out of the turret, then both of them went through the nose wheel hatch. Apparently the navigator, Lt. Earl McDonald, hit the tail of the aircraft as he bailed out. His chute never opened."

"Back in the tail section the tail gunner had vacated his turret and bailed out of the camera hatch. The waist gunners managed to get the ball turret back up into the plane and the gunner out before they also hit the silk. On the flight deck the crew appeared trapped. They could not get to the bomb bay because of the embedded engine. In desperation these men escaped through the large flak hole in the side of the fuselage. Sgt. Fred Cook delayed his jump too long before pulling the D-Ring on his chute. It never fully opened before he hit the ground, and he was killed. Eight of the crew made it to the ground alive to become guests of the Germans."