The following is a statement by Capt. Sturgis who was Command Pilot on this mission:


This is to certify that on the mission of 02 March 1945 a transmission was made over V.H.F. which concerned the position and mechanical difficulty of Blue 3-9, the call sign used by Lt. Reid.

In this transmission, Lt. Reid called to advise the Command Pilot that he was leaving the formation. One (1) engine was out at the time and the other engine on the same side was losing power.

When instructed to hold altitude and drop back to the formation following Lincoln Blue, Lt Reid replied he was unable to hold altitude and was already behind the last unit in the Division column. When asked if he wanted fighter escort called, he stated he had fighter escort.


No further messages were received. The position at the time of transmission was in the area east of Osnabruck.